I'm starting a thread here because people are really down on Rocco. I get it a lot of us were hoping I would say even expecting to see him take a leap this year. I'd argue if you compare him to last year in su.mer league he did do that actually he just isn't as far as we had hoped. That's ok.
When I watched him warm up one of the things that jumps out at me is he does basketball things easily. Like he moves like a basketball player his shot is often free and easy he does things near the rim and it just looks like a guy playing ball. I'd describe him looking more like a toolsy SF than some guy with measurements that he has. Some guys that size you wish they looked more like a basketball player they are really working to have skills. Rocco has skills he needs to work to refine them become more disciplined in mechanics etc.
The other thing is that because he plays a little easy he needs to find ways to play with more force. He did a much better job in the 2nd half yesterday of doing this. Keep in mind when the Wolves drafted him one issue was he for some reason wasn't a guy that could play for more than a few minutes without getting tired. He seems like he has made legit progress in that area but likely has a ways to go. Contrast what with Beringer and he looks like he could play hard and play for hours. Rocco is still growing into being a guy that can play with energy.
This was discussed some in the game thread but I saw progress in how Rocco moved. He did still get blown by but that seems more a function now of positioning and knowing what he is doing than being slow. Still often he got back into the play and in quite a few cases still affected the shot. The Canishopus best case scenario comp was a healthy Porzingis. Idk if he moves quite as well and Porzingis and he is also taller. I remember Porzingis as a prospect and my thing was with his skillet and his size that was just a great combination. Rocco's size is a pretty big deal and as Kevin Mchale always said you can't teach height.
So let's not get ahead of ourselves with Rocco. Lets look at him as a guy about to turn 20 years old big man prospect with some skills that may not be ready for the NBA yet and may need another year in the G-league. That's totally fine. I do think we will see some more good things in games this summer league but I think we were maybe getting ahead of ourselves a little.
