Is JC as good as he is going to get?

[Wurider05]

Too many times this season where JC was should have been the best/2nd player on the floor he wasn't. He consistently gets outplayed by hustle guys. Some thought should have been given as to how much better he was going to get as a player and would that work for us. He didn't play particularly well in the playoffs last season. It was other guys that stepped up when Trae was out or having a bad game. Dude hasn't really improved in a few years and if what we have now is a finished product--can we work with it?  I am not saying that is a bum or anything but I just don't see much growth left. We see the growth potential still apparent with Huerter, Cam, Big O and to a degree with Hunter. 

[BangHolman]

Many people thought he was as good as he was going to to get before he signed a monster contract. He's the third best player, at best, on a contending team.

[Sothron]

He's improved every season in the NBA so far. He is a super efficient scorer which should mean the team runs play for him. However, Nate just liked LP refuses to run plays for JC. It makes no sense. I'm not saying JC would suddenly be a 26 ppg player but he certainly could be a 20 ppg player with slightly more touches.

[Diesel]

Best he's going to get is a trap question.

Best he's going to get in our system under Nate?  Maybe. 

But best he's going to get as far as being used correctly... maybe not. 

This can be said about many players.  He may be misused.  His efficiency and ability to score in various ways means that he's being underutilized... But his inability to create for himself makes him reliant on a system (made for him) to help him to reach the top of his potential. 

[AHF]

If there is anyone who should have earned the respect that we don't think he is done developing at age 24, it is JC.  He has improved major pieces of his game every season since we drafted him.  I've seen him develop some on defense this season too.  I don't think he is capped out.

[macdaddy]

1 hour ago, Sothron said:

He's improved every season in the NBA so far. He is a super efficient scorer which should mean the team runs play for him. However, Nate just liked LP refuses to run plays for JC. It makes no sense. I'm not saying JC would suddenly be a 26 ppg player but he certainly could be a 20 ppg player with slightly more touches.

I love JC.  I think he's the heart of this team and dont want to see him go.

But i don't really understand the idea that we don't use him enough.   He's super efficient because he's smart and only tries to score when he knows he can which is typically mismatches in the post or open 3s.   We do run plays for him in my opinion.    But we see over and over that he can't generate offense much outside of those scenarios.   And when we try to give him the ball against a tough defender or on the perimeter to create he usually will pass out or sometimes turn the ball over.   I'm not criticizing him.  It's just what his game is. 

He's exceptional at a lot of things but creating offense as a go to scorer isn't one of them. 

That said I feel like JC / OO frontcourt would be better than JC / Capela.  Those guys made it work well last year but i think it's still not ideal.   OO's movement would open things up better for JC

[ATLHawks3]

The answer is no. He really needs to improve his shot creation ability. Too many times he gets pushed out of position when he gets touches in the post, and he really doesn't have any off the dribble shot creation ability yet. I think if he gets better in one of those 2 areas, he can raise the ceiling of this team. 

[Diesel]

1 hour ago, macdaddy said:

I love JC.  I think he's the heart of this team and dont want to see him go.

But i don't really understand the idea that we don't use him enough.   He's super efficient because he's smart and only tries to score when he knows he can which is typically mismatches in the post or open 3s.   We do run plays for him in my opinion.    But we see over and over that he can't generate offense much outside of those scenarios.   And when we try to give him the ball against a tough defender or on the perimeter to create he usually will pass out or sometimes turn the ball over.   I'm not criticizing him.  It's just what his game is. 

He's exceptional at a lot of things but creating offense as a go to scorer isn't one of them. 

That said I feel like JC / OO frontcourt would be better than JC / Capela.  Those guys made it work well last year but i think it's still not ideal.   OO's movement would open things up better for JC

Everything was good until we got to "the narrative".   Capela is more complete on defense than OO.   Watching the game yesterday shows that clearly.   It's more than just being able to stand in front of a big man like Embiid.  It's also being able to rebound, it's also being able to stop smaller guys from getting position.   OO is learning those things, I hope.. but Capela has those things together.   Capela gets a lot of hate because of the FTs and missed Bunnies.  Eventually, OO will replace him but let's not rush to that.   OO is not quite ready in my opinion. 

As far as JC goes, he's smart... but it makes him look tentative.  Our offense isn't built on post/repost with him.. our offense is a PNR/PNP offense.  Either he or Capela is the 1st/2nd option there.. but if they don't have it, then passing is what he's coached to do.   I would love to hear what He believes would work better for him?  I hope it's not post repost because he's not that guy.  PNP ought to be his calling. 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

3 hours ago, Wurider05 said:

Too many times this season where JC was should have been the best/2nd player on the floor he wasn't. He consistently gets outplayed by hustle guys. Some thought should have been given as to how much better he was going to get as a player and would that work for us. He didn't play particularly well in the playoffs last season. It was other guys that stepped up when Trae was out or having a bad game. Dude hasn't really improved in a few years and if what we have now is a finished product--can we work with it?  I am not saying that is a bum or anything but I just don't see much growth left. We see the growth potential still apparent with Huerter, Cam, Big O and to a degree with Hunter. 

 

No . . but he must work on his individual offense off the dribble and finishing in traffic.

[Cwell]

4 hours ago, Sothron said:

He's improved every season in the NBA so far. He is a super efficient scorer which should mean the team runs play for him. However, Nate just liked LP refuses to run plays for JC. It makes no sense. I'm not saying JC would suddenly be a 26 ppg player but he certainly could be a 20 ppg player with slightly more touches.

I'm starting to understand why. Ofcourse Capela clogging the paint reduced his PPG, but have you see him try to post people up? It's comedy. It's like trying to stop a massive water leak with scotch tape. He would struggle battling Mugsy Bogues for position in the post. His lack of ball handling/shot creation hurts him as well. He has to grow in these areas, to become more than just a product of Trae

[Sothron]

1 minute ago, Cwell said:

I'm starting to understand why. Ofcourse Capela clogging the paint reduced his PPG, but have you see him try to post people up? It's comedy. It's like trying to stop a massive water leak with scotch tape. He would struggle battling Mugsy Bogues for position in the post. His lack of ball handling/shot creation hurts him as well. He has to grow in these areas, to become more than just a product of Trae

He can post people up. He usually settles for that turn around jumper which he is killer at hitting. I would love to see him continue to push down and actually do low post moves/get fouled. He's an 80% FT shooter. he should always be trying to get contact.

[NBASupes]

He's a lot better this year than he was on defense last year. Offensively, it's the same ole JC. He's seemed to peak last year on that end. 

[Cwell]

3 hours ago, Sothron said:

He can post people up. He usually settles for that turn around jumper which he is killer at hitting. I would love to see him continue to push down and actually do low post moves/get fouled. He's an 80% FT shooter. he should always be trying to get contact.

He has to get the ball to even attempt that jumper. He struggles to even seal his defender behind him for the entry pass. We’ve damn near wasted entire shot clocks waiting for him to seal off his man. He’s too little