Great quote from LP on Trae...

[AHF]

Trae is definitely more likely to put up significant steals totals than to be a shutdown defender in the short-term but I suspect Pierce won't want him gambling like the AI, Westbrook, etc. types which does tend to promote higher steal totals so I'm not hoping he is among the lead leaders.  I'm hoping he focuses more on positional defense.

[Peoriabird]

14 minutes ago, AHF said:

I suspect Pierce won't want him gambling like the AI, Westbrook, etc. types which does tend to promote higher steal totals so I'm not hoping he is among the lead leaders. 

I was referring to getting in passing lanes and steals during double team like picking the pocket of a player on a dribble post up. Those are not gamble steals. Similar to what Bembry does.

[AHF]

5 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

I was referring to getting in passing lanes and steals during double team like picking the pocket of a player on a dribble post up. Those are not gamble steals. Similar to what Bembry does.

I don't disagree.  I just don't want to see him start moving toward gamble steals.  He was a 1.0 steal per 36 player last season.  Bump that up to 1.3 or something.  I think he'd have to gamble to get much higher.

[Peoriabird]

3 minutes ago, AHF said:

I don't disagree.  I just don't want to see him start moving toward gamble steals.  He was a 1.0 steal per 36 player last season.  Bump that up to 1.3 or something.  I think he'd have to gamble to get much higher.

I'm assuming you're taking about man defense or post defense which I'm not. Otherwise I don't follow how averaging more steals per game is bad thing

[hazer]

1 hour ago, bleachkit said:

Can't believe LP said Trae was 6'3". Why are NBA coaches/players so bad at judging height?

Maybe he’s counting the poofy hair?

[REHawksFan]

55 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

That's not taking into account their growth and play in the 2nd half of last season. That's why I keep saying, people projecting us is lower than the reality

Yep. Since January 1 (last 45 games of season), Trae avg 24.6 pts / 9.6 ast per 36 min.  

[AHF]

1 hour ago, Peoriabird said:

I'm assuming you're taking about man defense or post defense which I'm not. Otherwise I don't follow how averaging more steals per game is bad thing

I don't think he is capable of getting a large increase in steals without gambling.  He gets his steals through anticipation and quickness not through length so he can improve those things but can't physically overwhelm other points.  That caps how high his numbers can go while playing disciplined on his assignment whether we are playing man or zone.  I'm not even considering post defense as I don't expect he will spend much time defending in the post.

[sturt]

"Well, we're movin on up........."

[Spud2nique]

4 minutes ago, sturt said:

"Well, we're movin on up........."

me some Trae day!

[Peoriabird]

29 minutes ago, AHF said:

I don't think he is capable of getting a large increase in steals without gambling.  He gets his steals through anticipation and quickness not through length so he can improve those things but can't physically overwhelm other points.  That caps how high his numbers can go while playing disciplined on his assignment whether we are playing man or zone.  I'm not even considering post defense as I don't expect he will spend much time defending in the post.

He averaged more steals per game in college than Cam Reddish. So he has the ability regardless of length. He did it in college without even trying to play defense most games.

[AHF]

3 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

He averaged more steals per game in college than Cam Reddish. So he has the ability regardless of length. He did it in college without even trying to play defense most games.

What are you predicting as his 2019-20 steals per 36 rate then?  (Given that Schlenk says he'll play 35 mpg that should be roughly the same number).  I'm expecting his p36 rate to increase but only slightly to something like 1.1.  He averaged 1.72 steals per 36 in college.  IMO, though, he gambled to jump the passing lanes some in college (likely because he didn't care as much about his positional defense.)

[Peoriabird]

1 minute ago, AHF said:

What are you predicting as his 2019-20 steals per 36 rate then?  (Given that Schlenk says he'll play 35 mpg that should be roughly the same number).  I'm expecting his p36 rate to increase but only slightly to something like 1.1.

I don't know whether he will be interested in playing defense or not.  Its all on him as to whether he wants to do it or not.  He obviously is good at it when he is interested.

[AHF]

2 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

I don't know whether he will be interested in playing defense or not.  Its all on him as to whether he wants to do it or not.  He obviously is good at it when he is interested.

Agree to disagree.  From watching him some in college and then in SL and his rookie season, I have never seen him be good at defense.  I hope he is in the future and I think that will hinge on his positional defense and not his steals total.  (High spg doesn't necessarily mean good defense although it can certainly be part of someone's good defense.)

[Peoriabird]

2 minutes ago, AHF said:

Agree to disagree.  From watching him some in college and then in SL and his rookie season, I have never seen him be good at defense.  I hope he is in the future and I think that will hinge on his positional defense and not his steals total.  (High spg doesn't necessarily mean good defense although it can certainly be part of someone's good defense.)

When I rewatch some of the games, there were a couple where he was super aggressive on defense...wish I could remebrr the exact one because they jumped out at you. The rest he just didn't try.

[AHF]

8 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

When I rewatch some of the games, there were a couple where he was super aggressive on defense...wish I could remebrr the exact one because they jumped out at you. The rest he just didn't try.

Trae has a ways to go to be average on D.  Getting there will be super important for him like it was for Kyle Korver.  A guy who just plays competent defense and can do some elite things on offense is so much more valuable than the guy who is elite on offense and gives it all back on defense.

[sturt]

22 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

He averaged more steals per game in college than Cam Reddish.

Not inserting myself into this one, but that statement just caught my eye.... it's not all that unusual that PGs exceed SFs in steals. In fact, it's the norm. Am I wrong?

[Peoriabird]

2 minutes ago, AHF said:

Trae has a ways to go to be average on D.  Getting there will be super important for him like it was for Kyle Korver.  A guy who just plays competent defense and can do some elite things on offense is so much more valuable than the guy who is elite on offense and gives it all back on defense.

We are talking passed each other...we both agree that his defense has to improve but from what I saw, it was 70% lack of effort.

[Peoriabird]

3 minutes ago, sturt said:

Not inserting myself into this one, but that statement just caught my eye.... it's not all that unusual that PGs exceed SFs in steals. In fact, it's the norm. Am I wrong?

Did Barrett play the 2 guard position? Lets pick him then. Or Culver...whomever you want to pick.

[AHF]

1 minute ago, Peoriabird said:

We are talking passed each other...we both agree that his defense has to improve but from what I saw, it was 70% lack of effort.

I don't think it is all about effort at this point.  He lacks in defensive tools, he has a lot to learn about positioning and rotations, and there is also the effort issue you raise.  To me, the biggest factor in his control is about learning how to play D - where he should be, how to track his man, how to rotate, how to deal with screens, etc.  Improved effort will help but it will take a lot more.

[Peoriabird]

3 minutes ago, AHF said:

I don't think it is all about effort at this point.  He lacks in defensive tools, he has a lot to learn about positioning and rotations, and there is also the effort issue you raise.  To me, the biggest factor in his control is about learning how to play D - where he should be, how to track his man, how to rotate, how to deal with screens, etc.  Improved effort will help but it will take a lot more.

Agree to disagree