this offseason, has DerMarr been addressing his..?

[flava]

I was wondering if this offseason, DerMarr has been addressing what I perceive to be his biggest weakness - his ballhandling?

it sounds like he has been bulking up, which he certainly needed to do, and his shot has always been there, although his confidence hasn't, but even at the end of last season, his ballhandling remained suspect, at best.

i believe his failure to handle the rock lead to his starting at SF, while Ira played more of a SG role. unfortunately, this negates his size advantage.

DJ's inability to control his dribble also negated any chance of him driving to the rack and using his explosive jumping ability (you know what i'm talking about - we've all seen him throw down!). adding this dimension to his game would do a lot for him overall. he would go from a 'spot up' or 'coming off a curl' shooter to a shooter/slasher/defensive player.

so to wrap it up, i am wondering whether anyone else sees DJ's ballhanding to be as big a question mark (his biggest question mark) as i do and if so, has he been working on it at all?

flava

[Guest]

Young players usually tak at least 2 or 3 years to become productive i.e. T.Mac, Kobe, KG and J.O'Neal

[Gray Mule]

The taller the body, the longer it takes to learn to control it.

That is one reason a potential point guard, at 6 ft or less, is

a lot better at "putting the ball on the floor" than the tall drink

of water that is closer to 7 ft than 6 ft.

DerMarr is a prime example. While he is a great athlete, having

awesome skills as a jumper and has developed a defensive presence

on the floor in his second season in the NBA, I believe his ability to

dribble the ball will improve naturally as he matures, but he does need

to work on this part of his game to really improve.

The more he works on this now, the more he will improve. He will not get

taller now, so it should be easier for him to really improve this part of

his game.

Gray Mule

[cyman3]

is great at ball handling (as i remember).

But during his rookie season, i kinda questioned his dribbles.

But the more he touches the ball the better he will get.

[flava]

i think i saw the same thing. it said he had run the point at Cincinnati for a couple of games when someone got injured.

i've barely ever seen the guy dribble down the lane without the ball being swipped or it bouncing off his foot - so needless to say, i found this to be quite a suprise.

and although i know there isn't a lot he can do about this, when he leans over to dribble he looks very mechanical and not very fluid. i wonder whether that's DJ learning the odds and ins of his 6'9" frame or whether he is somewhat uncoordinated.

i guess only time will tell.

flava