thecampster

My direct quote, "Which is my point. He was super hyped by everyone and then fizzled to average NBA starter. On fire is an excited stance to take. I like the kid, but he's not Jesus. Most players dont hit their stride till their mid 20s. Give him room to breathe. You wont know what he is for a few years." Taken from here: My other general comments about this draft, "The reality is there are going to be a lot of disappointing players in this draft. A lot of teams are going to look back at this draft and wonder wtf were they doing. The Hawks avoided every one of those players. Its a huge win based on that only." Taken from here: If you'd like my current spot on takes, "I charge $20 to connect and $5.95 for every 10 minutes after.

I did? I think you have me confused with some other attractive suave grandfather?

Considering your original fan boy over the top on him, let me be the one to pump you back up. 1) Being drafted with Hunter is the very best thing to have happened to Cam. Hunter is exactly the type of under control, hands inside, steady with the ball in his hands type of player that Cam should learn from/emulate. If Cam can learn the nuances of keeping your feet, getting a defender on your hip, squaring in your mind before squaring in your body, He'll be elite. He is a better athlete than Hunter and that is his biggest drawback. He is going to have to learn those skills to take the next step and Hunter is the best person to show him. Learn from him daily. 2) He doesn't have to be superman (yet). He can grow into this role. Unlike most top 10 picks, he isn't expected to be the savior of the franchise. It isn't boom or bust with him. He can just "learn, grow, mature". I envy him. I wish I could do that daily in my job. 3) Vince is on the team. I would venture to say there is no better vet to have coach him up than Vince. Despite great hops, Rookie Vince did those little things that earned him RotY attention. That getting a defender on your hip with pace, hesitation, turning your body before going thing is key. If Cam dedicates himself to just that this year, the sky is the limit for him offensively. 4) He is a really, really, super nice guy. People root for the good guys. He'll have a way longer leash and less negative attention to any struggles he faces along the way. The expectation for the Hawks this year is still to miss the playoffs. Cam isn't on any national media's radar. That is a bigger blessing than anything a rookie can hope for. 5) he is in the right city...omg is he in the right city to learn in right now. No big lights, forgiving fan base, great owner, coach, facility, city. Your expectations for him out of the box were way too high. Your current criticism is far too harsh. As rookie's go, he is par for the course. The effort is there and that's the most important thing.

Me 18 months ago -

So the first few games have followed my general assessment....Cam is going to take some time. One day...he is going to be very good and the Young/Reddish for Doncic trade is going to look incredibly lopsided. That day just isn't today. He's really got to work on those feet and popping up on the pull-up and not gliding...bring the ball straight up in the jumper and not loose/angled. One on one defense has been better than advertised but he does get lost in switches and loses his man occasionally off-ball. It's just going to take time. IMHO, he'll make the biggest leap year 2 of this entire class. We just need to be patient.

We are 10 games of Reddish getting a feel for NBA offense, 5 games of Huerter getting his wind back and 20 games of learning to play together away from being a very scary young team. The defensive improvement over last year is impressive. Hunter making Taurean Prince an afterthought.

My avatar has my mama in it...I get some kind of special award.

Might be the best you've written...not enough likes no matter how many it gets.

I'm a few weeks in now and you get used to it after about a week. You don't even recognize the tongue thing.

He had the release point right though which is the hard part. But for big hands, big bodies you got to get those feet square or you'll build bad muscle memory.

Coming out of his hard during the explosion though. Just needs to get those week about 6 inches farther apart and lead less with that right foot.

Going crazy waiting. Look at his feet they aren't square.

So I bought one of these It's called a tongue sleeve...yah I know it looks like a baby's binky and/or a well something dirty but consider this a public service announcement. It works! It really does work. 3 straight nights, no snoring. Only a little weird to get used to, way better than a CPAP only a small bit of discomfort and you'll sleep great. How does it work. I'm not kidding. You pinch the end. Stick your tongue in it up to your fingers....release and it sucks your tongue into the binky part. Then, wear it like a binky as you sleep. It keeps your jaw and tongue stretched forward opening your airwaves. it's weird but it works well. Okay, that's 10 more good guy points for me...you're all welcome. If you need one...search anti-snoring tongue sleeve in google or amazon. And yes...it looks really weird when you sleep but its worth it.

See the block at the 4 second mark. Dude has a clear lane to a layup. This was uncommon because Willis scared the bejesus out of people. They just didn't go inside. and well...if they did...see this 1988 blog entry...http://lexnihilnovi.blogspot.com/2010/05/1988-nba-playoffs-kevin-willis-is-foul.html

You know I'm the biggest Josh supporter there is...but Willis was hella impactful at the 4...more than Josh. In his best 3 season span Willis averaged 18.4/13.5. He was a control machine around the basket. His career blocks were very low by comparison but mainly because he was so dominant in traffic he was completely avoided at times.