F it! Prince got shades of Kawhi Leonard. He looks a lot like him

[macdaddy]

2 hours ago, Spud2Nique said:

Better play Prince. I'd send Bembry to the D league first if I had to, then Edy I guess but he's been looking good too. Again, we are a deep ball club, I'm not used to this. Lol.

I thought that last year then Splitter got hurt, Edy and Moose didn't get off the bench and Scott/Millsap were playing the 4/5 half the time.   

[Lurker]

I mean Bud is a good Xs and Os coach but some of his choices in the rotation and lineup wise just leave me scratching my head. Bazemore is not a long term small forward but he seems to think he is. I appreciate very hard workers like Muscala but Muscala is like a 10th man at most. Not all first year draftees need to be completely concealed from playing at all in their first year, but yet he treats this like it's Major League Baseball and does it.

[Lurker]

I'm OK with Bazemore starting the year at SF, but his transition back to SG needs to start this year and Korver's transition to the bench for good (he'll be in Atlanta for the rest of his career, even if it's just in a diminished role) also needs to begin.

Edited October 19, 2016 by Lurker

[macdaddy]

15 minutes ago, Lurker said:

I'm OK with Bazemore starting the year at SF, but his transition back to SG needs to start this year and Korver's transition to the bench for good (he'll be in Atlanta for the rest of his career, even if it's just in a diminished role) also needs to begin.

On the one hand i do agree with this.   Baze seems like he'd be best at the 2.   But Korver really doesn't look much different than 2 years ago when he was a big key to our success.   If he starts out in good shooting form then I can see the reasoning of leaving him the starter.    His presence on the court provides so many advantages.   If he's struggling with his shot though that's different.

[High5]

12 minutes ago, Lurker said:

I mean Bud is a good Xs and Os coach but some of his choices in the rotation and lineup wise just leave me scratching my head. Bazemore is not a long term small forward but he seems to think he is. I appreciate very hard workers like Muscala but Muscala is like a 10th man at most. Not all first year draftees need to be completely concealed from playing at all in their first year, but yet he treats this like it's Major League Baseball and does it.

There's really not much evidence to back up Bud being overprotective of rookies. Dennis got chances as a rookie and he was awful.  He made a big jump in his second season. Payne is 25 now and he's still awful. Plus we were kind of breaking records en route to the #1 seed while not playing him.  Meanwhile Prince and Bembry have played in every preseason game so far. 

[AHF]

7 minutes ago, High5 said:

There's really not much evidence to back up Bud being overprotective of rookies. Dennis got chances as a rookie and he was awful.  He made a big jump in his second season. Payne is 25 now and he's still awful. Plus we were kind of breaking records en route to the #1 seed while not playing him.  Meanwhile Prince and Bembry have played in every preseason game so far. 

Agreed.  If he doesn't play Prince or Bembry then I'll be up in arms but I don't think he's missed by not playing rookies more so far.  That speaks both to Bud correctly identifying duds and to our GM screwing the pooch on some pretty good picks.

[Guest]

NBA Market Watch: Situated For Success, Part Two

Quote

TAUREAN PRINCE

PERSONALITY FACTORS 

Player Type: Collaborative
Goal-Oriented: 27% Above NBA Norms
Serious: 24% Above NBA Norms
Confident: 22% Above NBA Norms

SITUATION FACTORS 

Experiential Status: Over 100 RSCI Recruit
Projected Environment: .400 to .600 Team WL%
Projected Opportunity: Under 20 MPG 
Projected Workload: Under 18 USG%

Prince was drafted in the lottery by a playoff team, which is an a-typical scenario for our projection model. Player's with Prince's key traits typically enjoy a great deal of success when allowed to slot into a projectable role, work within a system, and move themselves up the food chain. Prince's elevated serious-minded approach to opportunity and goal-focus gives him value beyond his four years of collegiate experience. The attack mentality that earned him a lotto-nod from the Hawks may have left Prince a bit out of control at times on-court at Baylor. But, his sense of perspective should serve him well as he refines his decision-making within the context of the standards of the team. 

If Atlanta continues to hum along at the level of system efficiency they've enjoyed recently, Prince should quickly find ways to positively make an impact. Much as Justise Winslow in Miami, Prince is looking at a Year one season where he'll be surrounded by a number of established veterans with a more definitive hierarchy to work within than most lottery picks. As the twelfth pick, Prince may be given the chance at unseating Mike Scott???- and his expiring contract - as he has the demeanor to do so. But, Atlanta's frontcourt depth was bolstered by the team's investment in Dwight Howard, making the competition for minutes fierce. 

Consistency from the perimeter will likely be an important factor in this roster coming together this season. Prince's ability to be solid on both sides of the ball could give him a leg up on minutes in a switch/swing combo with Kent Bazemore if Korver continues to show signs of aging. But, he'll have to adjust to NBA three-point range first. However, it would not be surprising to see Prince in the starting lineup at some point this season. His size and versatility on the defensive end provide some intriguing matchup options and his personality is ideally suited to 

http://www.draftexpress.com/article/NBA-Market-Watch-Situated-For-Success-Part-Two-5706

[NBASupes]

Still shows shades of Leonard. If he could ever be consistent, his potential could be stardom. 

[Lurker]

The hand injury might have bothered him more than what was thought on the surface.

[KB21]

The factors that have adversely effected Taurean, in order of priority are:

 

1.  The losing environment he is now in.  

2.  There are no good veterans that he can lean on.  

3.  His role has been increased too much due to the situation the team is in. 

[NBASupes]

5 minutes ago, KB21 said:

The factors that have adversely effected Taurean, in order of priority are:

 

1.  The losing environment he is now in.  

2.  There are no good veterans that he can lean on.  

3.  His role has been increased too much due to the situation the team is in. 

1. His +/- is has high as it's ever been throughout his career since ASB. I can't agree with that statement. 

2/3. I don't agree that this hurts him. The biggest issue I had in the first half of the season with him was he has a lot more defensive responsibility. Similar offensive responsibility. The personnel dropped tremendously causing him to be a similar offensive player to the previous year with better spot up and on the move three point shooter while being a much worse defense. 

He was measuring out at a below average starting role player from the wing position. He was looking like a bust. Then ASB changes and Bud makes changes to Prince's game. He did so for Bazemore and it saved his career this season but Prince's changes were for the better. Made Prince the #2 ball handler and playmaker over Baze. He took the ball out of Dennis's hands a lot more which was to the detriment of the offense. This caused Prince to have a much higher usage. From there, we saw Prince use this to become a slasher. Something he has shown in the summer league but not so much in the NBA. His finishing improved as well as he ball handling. This lead to him creating for others, scoring while slashing forcing teams to respect his dribble drive. He makes them pay with threes where he even has a hand in his face which is something he struggled at for most of the 1st half of the season. 

He now has become an efficient offensive player and at times has been unstoppable and causing teams havoc. He has clearly become our best player since ASB when before, you could say he might be the 5th best player on the team and closer to 10th than he was to 2nd. This might have never happened if Bud didn't change the pecking order. This was a smart move by Bud. Maybe Bud wanted to showcase Prince but what ended up happening is Bud is finding that Prince is the gem he thought he was when he drafted him. 

Defensively, he's still the same player he was at the beginning of the year. He's never going to be the 3/D player that many want him to be but he might be a 20+PPG scorer with good playmaking to boot. As I said in the draft thread, bigs should be what we are focused on. We are horrendous in the paint. 

[bleachkit]

Next year could be a break out year for him. I like his competitive fire, he's a gamer. 

[NBASupes]

4 minutes ago, bleachkit said:

Next year could be a break out year for him. I like his competitive fire, he's a gamer. 

Should be. Bud needs to continue to up his usage and playmaking abilities. He's the best playmaker on this team just due the fact that he has playmaking skills mixed with being a good decision maker and he moves after he passes the rock. Dennis is a natural playmaker but he doesn't always make the best of decisions and he likes to stand around after he makes a pass. 

[JTB]

I couldn’t agree more that we need a big probably over a perimeter player now that prince is starting to really showcase his skills but I wouldn’t mind seeing Doncic or especially Mikal Bridges next to Prince!

I think dedmon left a lot on the table defensively and can do better. Collins need to just get some balls and start challenging shots at the rim but he could be holding back aggressive defensive rim protection since it’s a down season.

im not saying I’d take mikal or Doncic over ayton if we had the chance to pick him up but I would certainly be intrigued to have mikal or Doncic paired next to prince and Dennis and sign dedmon to a long contract until we find the right center. 

Also perhaps JJJ is a great draft pick cause we do need interior defensive help. But we need rebounding help too.

[NBASupes]

1 hour ago, JTB said:

I couldn’t agree more that we need a big probably over a perimeter player now that prince is starting to really showcase his skills but I wouldn’t mind seeing Doncic or especially Mikal Bridges next to Prince!

I think dedmon left a lot on the table defensively and can do better. Collins need to just get some balls and start challenging shots at the rim but he could be holding back aggressive defensive rim protection since it’s a down season.

im not saying I’d take mikal or Doncic over ayton if we had the chance to pick him up but I would certainly be intrigued to have mikal or Doncic paired next to prince and Dennis and sign dedmon to a long contract until we find the right center. 

Also perhaps JJJ is a great draft pick cause we do need interior defensive help. But we need rebounding help too.

JJJ is not a great interior defender at center in the next level due to his frame which limits him to PF for the first 3-4 years. 

I am not sure Doncic is a NBA SG. He's more of a 2/3 who needs defensive SF responsibilities. 

Mikal is nice. I like him but not at 1-4. I like others. At #5, we will see... maybe Mikal is the guy at that spot.

Edited March 18, 2018 by NBASupes

[KB21]

LOL at JJJ is not a great interior defender, but somehow MB3 is going to be a superstar when he has Center skills in a small forward body.  

[NBASupes]

5 minutes ago, KB21 said:

LOL at JJJ is not a great interior defender, but somehow MB3 is going to be a superstar when he has Center skills in a small forward body.  

He's not. Doesn't have the bulk and doesn't have a frame that will allow him to bulk. He has an Al Horford frame but doesn't have the BBIQ, defensive awareness, and strength to play center in the NBA. He could play PF in 

Bagley has extremely athletic tools which is a plus for offense and defense and he's versatile. He plays hard and smart and if he wasn't an impact, it would show on defensive ratings like it did for other defensive weaklinks. I don't see you option holding water. Bagley is a PF in the NBA.

[KB21]

1 minute ago, NBASupes said:

He's not. Doesn't have the bulk and doesn't have a frame that will allow him to bulk. He has an Al Horford frame but doesn't have the BBIQ, defensive awareness, and strength to play center in the NBA. He could play PF in 

Bagley has extremely athletic tools which is a plus for offense and defense and he's versatile. He plays hard and smart and if he wasn't an impact, it would show on defensive ratings like it did for other defensive weaklinks. I don't see you option holding water. Bagley is a PF in the NBA.

A power forward that can’t space the floor and absolutely can’t defend his position because he is clueless on defense.  

JJJ is by far the best interior defender in this draft.  He has not rim protection ability and switch ability.  His defensive BPM is much higher than Bagley’s and Ayton’s.  

[davis171]

 

19 minutes ago, KB21 said:

A power forward that can’t space the floor and absolutely can’t defend his position because he is clueless on defense.  

JJJ is by far the best interior defender in this draft.  He has not rim protection ability and switch ability.  His defensive BPM is much higher than Bagley’s and Ayton’s.  

 Being the 5th leading scorer on your college team is scary though. He's been 3/17 from 3 the last 6 games which is one quality I'm worried about at the next level that flourished in college for most the year. Idk if he has a very high offensive ceiling.

[aali34]

8 hours ago, NBASupes said:

 Dennis is a natural playmaker but he doesn't always make the best of decisions and he likes to stand around after he makes a pass. 

I like to call it Westbrook Syndrome