Game Theory Podcast (Sam Veceni): 50 plus minutes of Hawks talk

[JayBirdHawk]

3 minutes ago, kg01 said:

The lost me with the Zion stuff.  Kid is 6'7" and almost 300lbs.  Has no offensive game to speak of and plays no defense.  What's to like about this guy other than the dunks?

Give me Nassir Little all day long over Williamson.  Actually, I kinda think that's who we'll end up with.

Whaaaat? Seriously?

[kg01]

15 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Whaaaat? Seriously?

Even if that's inflated by 40 lbs .... #EZPassLane

[JayBirdHawk]

Just now, kg01 said:

Even if that's inflated by 40 lbs .... #EZPassLane

Good grief - he's a mack truck. That weight can't be sustainable for playing over a long time can it? Regardless of how athletic he is?

[MaceCase]

18 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Whaaaat? Seriously?

The kid is a Game of Thrones character.  

[kg01]

1 minute ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Good grief - he's a mack truck. That weight can't be sustainable for playing over a long time can it? Regardless of how athletic he is?

Depends.  Are we talking about a dunk contest or actually playing basketball?

Just now, MaceCase said:

The kid is a cartoon character.  

Now that's not nice.

[JayBirdHawk]

1 minute ago, MaceCase said:

The kid is a Game of Thrones character.  

So fiction...got it 

[MaceCase]

1 minute ago, kg01 said:

Now that's not nice.

 

1 minute ago, JayBirdHawk said:

So fiction...got it 

Why do I get the feeling the two of you are giggling at each other across a table at a coffee shop while watching Sturt sweep the street outside the window?

[JayBirdHawk]

7 minutes ago, MaceCase said:

 

Why do I get the feeling the two of you are giggling at each other across a table at a coffee shop while watching Sturt sweep the street outside the window?

That's exactly right, lol.

[kg01]

12 minutes ago, MaceCase said:

 

Why do I get the feeling the two of you are giggling at each other across a table at a coffee shop while watching Sturt sweep the street outside the window?

If by 'coffee shop' you actually mean the 'welfare check pickup office', then 'yes'. Oh and if by 'sweep the street outside' you mean 'yell and tell us how we're lazy and not 'Merican enough' then double-yes.

[AHF]

20 minutes ago, MaceCase said:

The kid is a Game of Thrones character.  

He needs to get drafted by Minnesota so he can travel to work like this:

[MaceCase]

8 minutes ago, AHF said:

He needs to get drafted by Minnesota so he can travel to work like this:

I see him showing up to the draft more like this:

[Spud2nique]

I’m sorry I was busy not being at work and missed this whole convo. 

 

Zion is a fatty I still like. But agree with the cagey one Little (in the middle but she got much Zion) as in Nasser is my preference as of now...but we are still like 8 months away.

 

 

I don’t follow rules and sturt don’t like that!-

[Spud2nique]

19 minutes ago, MaceCase said:

I see him showing up to the draft more like this:

I want Zion to show up in what Wendell Carter wore to the draft!

#swahililove

[KB21]

This is the most recent photo of Zion that I've seen.  

[KB21]

1 hour ago, nathan2331 said:

Nice find KB. All of their takes were reasonable. I don't get why everyone outside of Atlanta pins Collins as a center though. Even if his perimeter game doesn't develop fully I'd still rather play him at PF and sign a stretch 5 like Myles Turner who could provide more rim protection. I suppose he could flex both positions and we could have a backup like Dedmon available to take on matchups like the Cousins or Embiid's of the league. It'll be a bit difficult to find the right pairing in free agency though considering the lack of available quality bigs any given year.

 

I really like the suggestion of Zion on this team too. Not with our own pick, but right now I'd take him with the Mavs or the Cavs pick if his stock falls in College. I have no idea what he's gonna do on offense, but I think he could at least work defensively next to guys like Prince and Collins. We have a nice personnel grouping right now, but we really need to figure out a way to utilize our cap space in free agency on the next two years. I know we're not a premiere free agent destination, but we also don't need to be tanking past this year.

It's all about what is the current trend in the NBA.  To be a four in the NBA today, you have to have position versatility on defense (be able to switch onto multiple positions), and you have to be skilled from the perimeter.  Many have doubts about John Collins in both aspects.  They are still caught up in the idea that his ceiling is as a rim runner on offense and sub standard defender at the five.   He's actually shown a lot of improvement in his perimeter skills, which include his catch and shoot jump shooting and his ability to play off the bounce to attack the rim.  He has also shown a lot of improvement in his defensive awareness and clearly has the feet and athleticism to be able to switch.  Mike Budenholzer did a great job of developing this guy.  

[KB21]

1 hour ago, kg01 said:

The lost me with the Zion stuff.  Kid is 6'7" and almost 300lbs.  Has no offensive game to speak of and plays no defense.  What's to like about this guy other than the dunks?

Give me Nassir Little all day long over Williamson.  Actually, I kinda think that's who we'll end up with.

Sam also clearly said the Zion stuff in a joking manner because he was basically discussing the excitement of having John Collins and Zion dunking off Trae Young's passes.  Cole brought up how Nasir Little was a better overall fit, and Sam was like "of course".  

They also both believe that Trae Young and RJ Barrett together would be "fun".  

[EazyRoc]

2 hours ago, kg01 said:

The lost me with the Zion stuff.  Kid is 6'7" and almost 300lbs.  Has no offensive game to speak of and plays no defense.  What's to like about this guy other than the dunks?

Give me Nassir Little all day long over Williamson.  Actually, I kinda think that's who we'll end up with.

Zion is a better ball handler than he gets credit for. He’s also a very good finisher around the basket, not even counting the dunks. He will always be limited by how well he can shoot, but there’s a foundation there at least. He’s shown flashes of being a great defender. He loses focus at times as most #1 options tend to do..

[KB21]

11 minutes ago, EazyRoc said:

Zion is a better ball handler than he gets credit for. He’s also a very good finisher around the basket, not even counting the dunks. He will always be limited by how well he can shoot, but there’s a foundation there at least. He’s shown flashes of being a great defender. He loses focus at times as most #1 options tend to do..

Being a number one option is not the reason he loses his focus on defense at times.  That's nothing more than an excuse, and I'm not real certain where that baloney excuse originated.  He loses his focus because he has never been pushed by the coaching he has received to this point, and guess what?  He's not going to be pushed at Duke either.  Sorry, @falconfan13.  That's one of the big problems with these AAU products.  The AAU circuit does nothing to exploit these young players for the shoe companies.  AAU coaches breathe sweet nothings into their ears and tell them how great they are, and when it comes to pushing them and developing their skills, they get absolutely nothing at that level.  

[EazyRoc]

2 minutes ago, KB21 said:

Being a number one option is not the reason he loses his focus on defense at times.  That's nothing more than an excuse, and I'm not real certain where that baloney excuse originated.  He loses his focus because he has never been pushed by the coaching he has received to this point, and guess what?  He's not going to be pushed at Duke either.  Sorry, @falconfan13.  That's one of the big problems with these AAU products.  The AAU circuit does nothing to exploit these young players for the shoe companies.  AAU coaches breathe sweet nothings into their ears and tell them how great they are, and when it comes to pushing them and developing their skills, they get absolutely nothing at that level.  

The reality is that neither of us knows the true reason why. Good thing is we get to find out more this season now that he’s gone to team with 2 more polished offensive players on the team with him. A lot of players whether AAU products or not tend to have a ton of holes in their games at 18-19 years old.

[EazyRoc]

2 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Good grief - he's a mack truck. That weight can't be sustainable for playing over a long time can it? Regardless of how athletic he is?

There are concerns that at that weight with his leaping ability he could hurt his knees and blow up from the lack of activity during recovery.