Let’s Talk About the Rookies (Vol. 2!): Wemby, Scoot, Podz, and More | The Dunker Spot

Let’s Talk About the Rookies (Vol. 2!): Wemby, Scoot, Podz, and More | The Dunker Spot

Hi hello and welcome to another episode of the dunker spot we are part of 342 Productions I am your host nikay Duncan and joining me as always is my co-host Steve Jones Jr Steve how are you doing sir ah feeling good feeling great happy to be here excited to be here thank you

Dunkers for once again embracing your bounce dunker Nation let’s ride uh YouTube hi shout out to the Cutters and rors we will get to you’all later thank you for dropping the comments we’ll get to your New Year’s resolution later in this pod like subscribe comment we will include you we appreciate y’all and

Nikas you know I was thinking this morning Nikas okay just no matter what obstacle comes your way in life right no matter how giant the struggles may be I see it’s about weathering the storm it’s about not riding waves nikayas it’s keeping the main thing the main thing

You know right now regardless of what’s going on outside of us anything external it’s about controlling what we can you got to do the work got to do what you need to do but all you need is a crumb all you need is an opportunity we have that opportunity

Today to entertain the masses in the end it’s about how you respond Nas we have to respond and we as a team decided that it’s time to Hoop It Up absolutely sickening for you to mix in some Jaylen Herz postgame commentary into the Pod intro and as we record on

This Monday morning I am still very much upset uh I guess we are exactly like a week and some hours away from Philadelphia Eagles taking on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Buddy my confidence level is like 0.1 right now with this team but that is a different podcast

Entirely we we will I don’t want to talk about it anyway uh let’s let’s dig right into it we are back uh first well second YouTube pod I guess technically of 2024 but early in the month which means it’s time for the second rookie report so

We’re going to dig in get some updates on some of the top guys and then bring in some new guys to talk about that we didn’t really get to in detail on the first rookie report so we’re going to have some fun with that but first let’s get into some Golden State Warriors

Related news items uh Chris Paul suffered a fractur in his left hand had surgery over the weekend he is out four to six weeks uh naturally that’s going to lead to some rotation changes uh just going back to last night’s game against the Toronto Raptors we did see Moses

Moody back in the rotation um over 20 minutes scored 21 points we saw Cory Joseph in the lineup 14 minutes uh he contributed but he’s out Draymond Green may be back on the way he was reinstated by the NBA over the weekend uh I think

It was from W who also said that there’s going to be like a week or so ramp up period for Draymond to get back into game shape before REO rejoining the team rejoining the lineup up um Draymond Green as I was you know doing some prep

This morning got the tweet from W as a new episode of the Draymond Green show is out as of recording and in one of the clips one of the quotes from the episodes Draymond saying he was close to retiring and Adam Silver Ted him out of

It and the faces you seeing from Steve is because this these are his live reactions to this because he has not seen this oh yeah well Dam that that man was upset that he was that he was but um we we hope Chris Paul gets back right soon we hope Draymond Green is

Okay was very kind about Adam Silver noted that he appreciates the fact that Adam Silver is someone that is in the business of helping people versus just punishing them and throwing them away and Adam Silver you know in the conversation with Draymond he said that I feel like you’re just making a rash

Decision right now like I’m not about to let you do that let’s just calm down let’s let’s be actionable about this so Draymond not retiring apparently back in a week or so any broad thoughts about Golden State during the stretch as we’ve gotten the Chris Paul news the Draymond

Green update we got leaks or leaks adjacent from the camps of Moses Moody and Jonathan kaminga about playing time um there was like the grand opening Grand closing portion of Pascal seak talks with Sacramento but Golden State wrote into to those with also the report of Golden State not being super willing

To include John D kaminga in those talks where are we at with the Warriors this just feels like a really really weird season for this uh well lost than that is Jonathan kaminga also got a haircut so certainly lost in that yeah but anyways the last time we talked on the

Pot about this I was wondering I asked you hey how do we feel about the timing of draymond’s return and what that means for the Warriors and that was before all this happened so in my head I’m trying to figure out okay one they are trying

To win games two they are trying to find it and so you have a night where hey you actually started coming and Wiggins together but you also had a night where Steph shot two for 14 and the Raptors tried to attack him at every single time

That they could while clay was like hey I’m making Shots tonight y’all I got 25 10 to 15 5 threes hey like can they can they balance these things we’ve seen glimpses from all the pieces that need to be good we just rarely have seen it the same time so now

You’re going to have to figure out is it the defense can we get our offense back in order and not be stagnant how do we get Draymond back in as we’re just now figuring out the rotation to get kuminga and Moody back in because they’re upset while we’re also trying to figure out

Who can actually play together and oh yeah again we have to win games because we’re behind the eightball it’s a lot at one moment but I do think Draymond will stabilize some things I think if they can settle into the pattern and feeling comfortable with kaminga with Moody with pods uh tjd is

Giving them a lift and just sit in that for a little bit I think they’ll be all right as far as just being able to survive the storm and then we can get to okay now how much good is here but they’re going to have to settle in during this

Portion yeah and this portion again as you mentioned like they’re behind in the standings right now but then you throw in the added pressure of if you are trying to figure out how good is this group for a group that hasn’t gotten to play a ton together because of just

General rotation decisions or because you know Draymond has missed the last 12 13 or so games and we’ll miss a few more heading into next week the trade deadline is February 8th like it’s going to have to be a quick ramp up and let’s get our combinations together so we can figure

Out who is for lack of a better way to phrase it right now who is worth keeping on this roster heading into the true home stretch of the season because you know bad shooting night for Steph last night but ultimately Steph has played at an all NBA second Team level

Conservatively and you could argue up to first but it’s been a really strong guard class this year just strong class period but Steph has been incredible this season all balance and so you don’t want to go into Full Tilt full okay let’s just trade off all these pieces

And really just try retool for next year CU like if I’m Ste I’m like Hey so uh we’re doing what now excuse me so like there are a lot of competing uh desires here very important stretch for Golden State coming up I I would I would Circle that road trip they

Have four games Friday to Wednesday Chicago Milwaukee Memphis Utah they got a big home stand after that if they can find something on that road trip maybe that can be a Launchpad for them but we’ll probably get answers either way yeah we’re going to we keep a close

Eye on the Golden State Warriors because buddy very important stretch coming up all right let’s tap into some rookies again we have some new names that we want to throw into the frey this time but we did want to start with some updates so not super long we’re not

Going to get like a 30 minute W be conversation like we did in rookie report one like I think rookie report one kind of laid the foundation of these are our early thoughts these are the type of players these guys are right now here’s some growth areas so now it’s

Just kind of tracking progress on the guys that we’ve already talked about but we can start with Victor wiama uh all stats referenced unless noted otherwise will be from December 4th which was the first rookie report so about a month sample to see where everyone’s at but

Since then Victor wi Bama 19.4 points 53% on twos 33% on threes 76% from the line nearly 11 rebounds per game three assists uh nearly three turnovers a steal in four blocks per game for with Victor with Bama over the last month or so in a shade under 28 minutes a game

And overall he is leading the league in blocks per game which is not typically something that rookies do I’ve had a lot of fun watching Victor wiama what stood out for me as I mentioned the December 4th date I would also like to highlight December 8th because that is the day that Victor

Wiama actually started at Center just flat out versus like him and Zack Collins together Zack Collins picking up fives and wheny getting the r around wheny has just been the starting five since December 8th averaging 2011 and three with four blocks per game uh true shooting percentage nearing 58 so right

Around League average for him which is a bump from the efficiency we saw earlier in the year for him and buddy you’re starting to see one at a higher level how terrifying he is defensively as he is just now the primary run protector you’ve getting to

See more of him in drop and the way he’s navigating that you feel like you have a pullup jumper you don’t really have that you try to challenge him at The Rim he just has limbs everywhere not only is he swatting a bunch of shots he’s deterring

People from even taking shots at The Rim which is a fun thing to see from a rookie on that end so that part has been fun and then offensively just seeing the usage start to expand like he’s moved to the five so he’s being defended by more

Fives naturally which is opening up more things for him in pick and roll opening up more things for him as a driver though still waiting on the handle to tighten up even more so those drives are a little bit more fruitful digs can still bother him things like that um the

Pick and Pops putting a little bit more strain on defenses when he is being defended by fives I’ve loved the way that San Antonio has now sprinkled in more of the own ball stuff with him really po this we were hosting our watch party on Sunday again tap into those

Online dunker spot watch parties folks for having fun but watching the Spurs Cavs games from yesterday and watching Trey Jones screen for wiby and watching him get downhill like oh this is neat and watching wimy pass on the move as a pick ball handle like oh this is neat

Also the guys like S8 this shouldn’t be happening what is this uh so that kind of encouraged me to look this up see how many Peak rolls has he ran uh since the last rookie report it’s just 28 which isn’t a high number but he’s received on

Ball screen from someone in 12 of his last 13 games so even if it isn’t a heavy diet it’s still a steady diet and they’re sprinkling that in with some consistency some very excited to see how San Antonio continues to build on that and then overall with him getting

Downhill 40 1% of his shots are coming at The Rim since the shift to Center that was at 31% beforehand so getting easier shots that’s also helping the efficiency very duh analysis here but I have really enjoyed the Victor wiama experience he he is one of the most fun

Prospects coming to the league in a very long time it’s been very fun to watch and track the progress as you mentioned last time on the last rookie report we talked about defensively how the off ball responsibilities are huge and how he’s taken away portions of the floor

And of course at the five it just pops in different ways you know you mentioned the fact that he’s kind of baiting people when he’s in that drop and just closing windows where you know in your mind you’re saying hey he’s a little too far back on that drop and then you

Realize oh he opened up to just let you have this Lane and now I’m just going to contest or take away that window and I felt bad for poor Caris LeVert because he tested him one time and then he was like H I’m not going to do that again

That window is just not there the heesy did not help me out um I think the the biggest thing is just watching him mature on that end you kind of see more of the okay multiple efforts can be there he can get to the level he

Can show help I me you go back to that Cleveland game they started out the game for a lob play for Donovan Mitchell wimy was guarding Jared Allen at the elbow and immediately sniffed it out and said no that’s not happening literally went to go as the ball was being passed and

Donin was like well let me get it back to Jared but those kind of instincts are are very fun to watch and you kind of see it pop more for San I think that the baiting can get him in trouble against some of the quicker guards whether it’s ajaran or Damen

Lillard where they have a little bit more experience as far as I can get in your body and get into you uh but I think defensively he’s done a really good job of showing that help and recover aspect of his game uh you mentioned the offense the usage is fun I

Just think you you never know what you’re going to get you might see him bringing up in transition he might be a screener he might pick and pop the off ball actions they run for him where they used uh they hit at the elbow and now wm’s in the corner flying off screens

And back cutting I think the cutting has been really fun that’s really intrigued me uh I’ll ask you a question real quick yeah he got Giannis in a way that like usually like that’s movement Shooters do that as far as let me back cut come back

Off back cut again and then you realize that’s a giant person doing that uh I’ll ask you one question I don’t want to hang too long shot selection or screening which one would you like to see improve uh it is screening in five for me especially since he’s at the five and

Can now just open more things up and there those aren’t going to be Auto switches for him to the same degree that it might have been when he’s defending fours and the point guard being defended by bigger Wings Etc it’s got to be the screening because I think that’s going

To help as he becomes a more threatening scorer and he’s naturally just going to draw a bunch more attention if he can also make his guards more of a threat and this is where think recently I brought up like the numbers with him and Devon Vel as part of the New Year’s

Resolutions like I want to see more of that developed I think part of that is going to be Wendy doing a better job of freeing Deon Vel because as we’ve seen over this recent stretch once Devon gets going with the pull-up there isn’t much you can do with him he’s not the biest

Of athletes but he’s really good at getting Defenders off balance with this handle so he can just flow into pull-ups and now he’s hitting you with hesitations and now he’s just gliding in for some of those scooping layups it’s a fun time and if you’re committing two to

Him and now it’s a swing back the wi be on the pop he’s comfortable taking that shot or here’s this incredibly large human who can drive and also sprinkle in passes on the move which again I can’t stress enough how fun of a development that is and how much fun I’ve had

Tracking the passing grow from him even going back to like our wimy streams um before entering the league but I think some a lot of that is going to start with him being more more physical and I think some of that’s just going to grow with him getting stronger

Etc but the technique has to get better like you’ve tossed out the footwork as he’s coming up to set screens through many watch parties brought up on the Pod and I’m echoing those sentiments like that has to be better because once he gets better at that like Twan actions

With wimy are going to be incredibly difficult to deal with like you can already see the glimpses of that now if he Nails the screening portion hey we’re gonna have a lot of fun so I lean towards the screen what would you say before we uh I have one more thing

Than you no you’re good I think it’s probably just the screening the positioning he’s got to get his footwork right do his work early I think that will open more things up you can kind of see where you know a pick and roll just becomes an under for a team where

There’s no hit they’re able to the big is able to stay at home they’re not able to engage uh so I I want to see what that looks like as that gets better especially with this San Antonio team that is just we don’t want to contain

Wimy we don’t want to contain this team into one box we’re going to let them play and figure out who they are uh and develop in that kind of manner I want to see how that continues to go going forward uh the shot selection for me he’s large and believes he could can

Make him he’s going to take a few that MH you know hash question mark and also when they run post upsets for him sometimes he’s catching at the three-point line anyways he’s getting knocked off the spot yeah that’s what kind of is what it is on that front Al

So a couple quick things for me just to empty the notes before we move on to Chad hren um over wm’s last five games across six total for San Antonio he’s averaging 248 and three and 4.4 blocks on near 67 true shooting he’s shooting 37% from three on six attempts he’s

Getting to the line nearly seven times a game and knocking those down the offense has been really fun and he’s been doing that in 25 minutes per game because he’s still on the minutes restriction following the ankle tweak that was gonna be my that was going to be my thing but

For for the last five games you got 20 and four blocks in under a minute restriction this feels like his lost like it feels like is Angels year wow on but yeah he he’s doing the thing and then just very quickly on the defense which honestly we’re going to have to

See see where the minutes land and how many games he ultimately ends up playing like obviously you don’t want to get hurt but San Antonio shown early on if something does happen we are slow playing this we do not want to rush this season one with you so we’ll keep an eye

On if he ends up playing 65 games or not but he does legit have an all defense case already as a rookie which taking me back to like the Evan Mo year like I love when rookie show that kind of impact early Evan Moy herb Jones Etc I

Love when rookies have that kind of immediate impact already mentioned the Blox for game which is wild enough opponent shooting I think 51.6% at The Rim against him and among a large list of players that have defended at least 100 shots like that is a top 10

Mark for wimy funny enough you know who he’s tied with if he go per J out at The Rim who Chad hren ah of course so that’s a fun one as we talked about chat with all defense as well so again it’s fun to watch the rookies have that kind of early impact

But here’s the fun one for me the Spurs with a 116.3 defensive rating with wimy on the court per clean of glass that filters out garbage time that would be tied for tied with Dallas for 17 so average slightly below average with him off the floor that jumps to 124.32607 the general Rim

Deterrence and the impact is there like I there’s a case to be made if he stays healthy so I just wanted to quickly throw that out there uh any closing thoughts on wimby before we move to Chad uh this is quite the turnaround from when I asked you are you ready for

Wimby all defense I wasn’t ready for wiy defensive player of the year and like I still can’t get all the way there but all defense yeah I think it’s easier to sell top 10 versus the best defender in basketball as a rookie it’s it’s going to be interesting to see if how people

Balance the eye test and what they see against hey yes you guys are better defensively with you on the court but you guys aren’t very good So yeah like 17 still ain’t good but like from 17th to 30th with a bullet is kind of it’s kind of tough but yeah gonna be fun to monitor but all right let’s move to Chad hren uh former number two overall pick because I messed that up on the last

Part my apology um but since December 4th 17.2 points per game 64% on twos 40% from three 76% from the line nearly seven rebounds per game 2.6 assists to 1.6 turnovers which is interesting 3.1 blocks per game which would be a top Mark since that date if wimy didn’t

Exist which brings me back to the wimy qut where it’s like yeah he’d be number one if I didn’t what a bar from wimy anyway but for Chad hren for me the defense remains fun the pick and pop SL pick and roll uh variability that he has is also fun the

Drives continue to be fun with Chad and he’s getting even more comfortable attacking the basket just him being a five that can space draws big Defenders out he’s able to attack from there he’s self-creating more I’ll quickly look this up before the P I was like it feels

Like he’s creating more of his own shots it’s not just the straight line drives against tilted defenses sometimes you want to go into delay action with him and he’s like actually no I can just go actually this guy in front of me just cannot guard me so before December 4th

About 32% of his twos were unassisted um since then SL since the last rookie report that is up to 39.5% nearly 40% of his twos are unassisted that’s generally not a center Mark especially a center that is playing with an MVP candidate so the fact that he is

Getting this kind of usage and growing with it and still remaining very efficient um again since December 4th 117 drives which more than Jimmy Butler we have the games play stuff but like the fact that you can say Chad hren has driven the basketball more than Jimmy

Butler over the last month is insane because centers generally aren’t supposed to be that number like 117 is a full season Mark for your traditional big man and he’s at that over last month anyway 1.13 points per possession on any trip featuring go chat drive over the

Last month remains a very high level Mark there so the drives have been fun looking more comfortable as a self-c Creator uh one thing I wanted to ask you about before you get into your notes with Chad defensively I think it’s fair to say he is a ridiculous interior Defender and

Because of the length and the mobility he’s more comfortable than most defending on the perimeter but how do you feel about his perimeter defense right now just as a whole I feel fine it it’s less about pure one-on-one and more the fact that he can

Do his job he can contain OKC is going to help him if he does get beat and he doesn’t feel out of place with the off ball rotations to a massive degree to where you feel like this is not something that’s sustainable or something we can do wanted to peep there

Like as I was looking at like driv stuff yesterday and then this morning uh over 1.3 points per possession allowed on possession feature go drive against Chad which is not a very good number and then going through some of those it’s like I was with you like it didn’t feel like he

Was awful but you can kind of see guys getting inside leverage it I don’t know how much the ding a rookie Center for being beat off the dribble by guards but like looking at the two Nets games in particular it felt like they felt very comfortable driving against them it’s

Like okay with OKC now having these heightened expectations like this seems very friendly not just like a playoff team but a home Court team is that something that teams can maybe pick at within a playoff context not that it should be like a red flag on Chad’s

Career or anything like that but just kind of monitoring where he is as of January 8th is that something that creeps to the back of your mind at all I mean I guess just depends I think that becomes a concern if a team downsizes their lineup to be able to play better

Defensively and also you have to nail this portion of the program against this guy you know not the Rudy gobear package but we can tap that button and maybe bring you closer to the liability Zone I think in a regular context if he’s just a five and he’s defending fives I don’t

Necessarily have the same issue because the volume’s going to be lower but if we’re talking playoffs and this is a team that says you know we go Brooklyn esque and we go smaller and we feel comfortable with the person that can guard you and you not being able to

Guard them it’s always Dorian FY Smith isn’t it well we have found our our audio version of the you of the Pod title that’s a that’s a great shot but anyway any general chat notes for you or updates rather uh the blend is still really fun

For me you know you have a guy who shoots 72% in the restricted area 40% on above the rate threes that’s fun it’s always the sequences for me and how he really keeps pressure on defenses and I go back to when they played at Denver and you have the moment in the first

Quarter early Chad takes and makes a trail three in transition while he’s spaced then it’s a pick and pop with Williams where jic was in a drop and now has to close hard because Chad had just made that three now he drives and finishes then he scream for Shay y’s in

The drop thinking hey I got to contain this I got to recover now Chad rolls and he finishes and just like that he’s scored in three different spots and he’s made you think about what’s coming next I think that’s an underrated part of his game game I feel like his timing and

Feel is underrated uh I think it’s easy to talk about how good of a fit he is with OKC because of his ability to hit threes because of his ability to drive because of the defense and how he elevates them on that end I think his

Cutting is really fun I think the way that he reads the floor the way he clears different areas the timing on his relocations there are possessions where he may start in the corner he may rise to the wing he may dive back to the block and he also becomes a little bit

Of a moving Target that way and so you mix in some of the times where Chad has brought it up or is involved with a guard screening for him which is important because OKC loves their guard screening on the ball and now you can tap you can tap into him playing in

Those kind of actions and passing and cutting out of that so my mind I’m thinking like if you defending Chad right you’re defending him in transition as a big and he runs to the wing you’re you’re helping CU that’s your natural instinct but oh wait he’s on the wing he

Can shoot oh no he relocated to the corner oh let me drive out he might actually let me close out he might actually shoot this oh he’s driven by me that’s the fun stuff for me like just watching if you watch OKC watch where Chad starts on a possession and as they

Keep moving that’s where it gets really fun like even if he starts in the corner he comes to set of screen which is a fun trick that OKC likes to do we’re running pick and roll but it’s we’re not just like we’re going Sprint from the corner

And now all of a sudden I can choose my angle based on where my Defender is or I can find a way to slip into space those little things like just the ways that he can punish teams you want a late switch that’s your idea to counter Shay well in

This opportunity I’m just going to ahead and drive and shoot over your guard and now you don’t want to do that again do you that that helps got you I got you a very quick check question for you and it’s okay if you don’t have one off top of your head

Um do you have a Chad comp I don’t think this anything I’ve actually before a cck comp what do you mean yeah I guess just who does he remind you because like I think early on you could see like the shades of christops type beat but like he doesn’t feel like he’s

In that box because of how comfortable he is with the ball in his hands I mean you’re not going to like it but probably the vision that everyone has of Christ Ops back then okay are you leaning him more towards like are you leaning him more towards Anthony Davis is that what

You’re telling me uh I don’t know I guess that’s why I also wanted to pick your brain about it because I’m just like this dude isn’t I not he he is just Chad like that’s the that’s the actual answer but I want to know if he remind you of

Anyone else I’ve seen you mentioned brow which is funny because like I’ve seen brow obviously we’ve seen krists I’ve seen I can’t I wish I could remember who it was that brought up kg as a comp and I was like that seems rich but like also I see how you kind of get

In there with like just the the loose outline of what kg was and the multiple ways that he could be used so I was like huh let me let me ask Steve as someone who has more basketball experience than I do let me see see what he thinks uh

But any closing thoughts on chat well I got a question for you okay you mentioned the defense right so what archetype are you more worried about with Chad the traditional post up big that could potentially overpower him the point guard that could pressure on him in pick and roll or the wing

Defender that could cause chaos on both ends uh for me I probably lean towards the wing defender on both ends and like I think that’s why watching the Boston game in particular was interesting for me in addition to just being two really good teams um I want to see who they

Placed on chat and like what they would do to like the chat shape picking roles and how they would handle that because that not everyone has Boston’s personnel which is why Boston is one of the best teams in the league but in theory okay will you feel comfortable about this guy

Defending Shay or as comfortable as we can we will find we will put Center on Josh giddy we will put Center on you don’t really want to do that against Jaylen Williams because of how comfortable he is with the ball in his hands but like in theory if you want to

Just commit to we want wing on chat so we can switch this and we want to bog y’all down and then show help from there like you can put Center on Jaylen and so I just want to see like that’s probably what’s at the back of my

Mind when it comes to chatting that end and then to the other end okay how well is he navigating drives and not just the straight lines though because I think he has the length that he’ll just get better at that it’s what happens when Chad is spaced and then someone sets

Like a pin in on him and then he has to navigate that and then close out and then contain the drive which is also something that like Brooklyn was able to sprinkle in is like okay I don’t want to Dingle too hard because one he’s a

Rookie two he is a big and bigs aren’t supposed to be good at that stuff but if this team is going places and then you throw in the fact that if chat’s on the perimeter and this OKC team already isn’t a good rebounding one and now

You’re pulling him away from the rim on top of that like what is the multiplying effect to that and like how well can you navigate that so that’s kind of where uh my mind was going with that uh but if we don’t have any more chat thoughts who’s been incredible we

Can slide to Brandon Miller very quickly uh since December fourth 15.1 points per game 39% on twos not great 39% from three very good 86% from the line three and a half boards 2.4 assists 2.2 turnovers so almost one to one there uh nearly a steal per game uh I’ll go very

Quickly on to Brandon Miller front I continue to enjoy him off the ball like the shooting obviously pops he does not care about contest at all but more than that like I just love how he reads the floor knowing how deep he needs to space in the corner if he’s

On the how high up he needs to be when his guy drives okay let me let me not jet to the corner let me not jet all the way above the break and remove myself from my driver’s line of sight let me just take a subtle step here let me

Throw in a Juke and then get to where I really want to go he’s just really good at finding that space and also having the appropriate pacing for when he wants to get to those spots so he can always be available and so you’ll see that on

Some of the swings from Charlotte and the ball finds him or even if he relocates and the shots taken in his Miss after an offensive rebound he’s so far away from where his Defender was because of the movement he did his work early now he’s rewarded with one of

Those wide open threes off of an offensive rebound so like I’ve continued to enjoy that portion and then the only other thing I wanted to bring up with him is continuing to monitor the drives objectively a good thing that he is driving more and getting downhill more

Uh per second Spectrum he was at about roughly nine drives per 100 possessions uh through December the 3D that is up to 13.3 so just a very solid leap in the driving aggression from him the efficiency not very good for him right now he’s still trying to parse through

How to finish over guys and in general just what types of shots he wants to take and what kind of reads he wants to make from there and I know we talked about this recently so I want to pass this off to you so you can educate our

YouTube Watchers Etc uh but those are my two general Thoughts with Brandon Miller other than that like continues to compete on defense getting more on ball reps especially in light of some of the injuries that Charlotte’s dealt with but just tracking the drives and seeing how much more comfortable he gets with that

Uh is going to be important uh but that’s where I am with Brandon what say you well just bouncing off that with the drives I I do like his mindset when he wants to he’s going to work to get in the paint he’s shown a good first step

And you know with that size with the length with the strides he can get in the paint that’s really important especially as The Scouting Report is going to get updated where hey he’s knocking down shots he’s a shooter we don’t want to let him get Loose as you watch Brandon

Miller tape you can see different teams reacting differently to him when he spaced I think we were watching a Denver game and Nicole y was like who not you not him no I’m like okay the shooting is really prospering and that’s good he shot 42.5% from three the month of

December back to the drives though for me it still feels like sometimes once he gets in that paint it’s shooting time it’s shooting time it’s going up and that’s where I want to see yeah how how do we progress that to where it doesn’t feel like it’s

A 2K animation or I have to get one up because I got in here I would like to see how that grows and develops because whether it’s off a closeout or in pick and roll or even on a broken play you can tell that he’s gearing up to let it

Fly even if a shot isn’t there and he’s got the size and length to be able to get one off but he that’s where you want to see him find the gaps because there’s sometimes where he gets that P rtion and there’s a kick there MH uh but if you’re always thinking

Shoot shoot shoot you miss some of those opportunities and then you combine that with some of the pick and rolls where he’s got great Pace he’s got great Tempo on pick and roll he knows how to attack space if he’s on the side does he over penetrate and miss the window does he

Predetermine his read if a team decides you know what we’re going to be at the level is he ready to handle that responsibility of I need to come off the screen get two and now create Advantage for my team that’s stuff that he’ll grow into but if we’re talking drives those

Are probably my concerns but the shooting is the shooting I I think the catch and shoot obviously is huge you don’t need me to break that down for you but I do like that he is mixing in more of those drives against those Closeouts to where it’s not just I’m gonna let it

Fly from three automatically no I can shop fake and drive get to my pullup uh I like to pull up uh he’s got a really solid base as far as the footwork goes and you can tell with more reps he’s understanding where his shots are the shots he knows he can

Get to pick and roll you’re going to drop I can get right to my spot handoffs I can get right to my spot I think you can see when he’s off ball still is the most Comfort when he’s in movement is the most Comfort uh when

He’s able to set his man up and come off for a screen he knows the space he can get right to his shot that’s theun that’s the fun stuff for Brandon Miller back to the drives Nikas okay I had I did have a number to illustrate my

Point let’s all let’s all throw a party so six 6.8 drives per game right 25% of those end up with a pass ah I see it is indeed time to Hoop It Up which I mean some of that is just going to be like the context being baked

In right where it’s like well they’re helping off of this guy for a reason I don’t really want to do that also hey no lamelo no Gordon Hayward depending on which games you’ve been watching over this recent stretch like You’ either had Terry roier or you haven’t had him or

He’s just been on the bench during some of these minutes so some of this is just him enhancing the mindset like okay I do have to take some of these I do have to grow into this because ultimately if we’re looking at year three year four year five Brandon Miller if you’re

Charlotte the highend is gonna be what like going be averaging 2122 game 225 and five or something like that is kind of where you want that Trend to go on the highend or the moderately highend depending on how high you were on Brandon Miller this is a lot of high but

Anyway um so like I understand wanting him to be more of a scorer in that regard don’t don’t do this to me don’t do this to me I know where you’re going don’t do this to me it’s not what I meant but but yeah he is GNA have to parse through that decision

Making as a driver so it’s going to be interesting to watch that unfold uh any closing Brandon any closing sober Brandy Miller Thoughts I suppose we’re just going to lean into the bit all right goe let’s go ahead Boogie well appropriately let’s head to Portland uh let’s talk about scoot

Anderson who over the last month then some change averaging 14.3 points per game 40% on twos not great we’re going to talk about it 37% from three like 36 and a half% rounds up 37 81% from the line three boards nearly six assists to three turnovers uh about half a steal

Per game first and foremost the passing from scoot Henderson is very fun to me I love the passes that he I love the pass that he throws I love the windows that he tries to hit which factors into some of the turnover stuff but like I don’t

Super mind that like I I am cool with rookie guard sees small window and tries to hit it because the fact that you can see it is a positive for me now once it’s proven that you can’t and we get into that year three and it’s a it’s

Just a turnover issue like that changes the map for me but ear like I’m glad he is exploring really good at finding his big he’s not uncomfortable throwing skips so that part is fun for me the drives continue to grow comfort and changing Pace we know how fast he can be

In the open floor we know how fast he can be in the half court but it seems it’s getting better figuring out okay I can just kind of come off here slowly kind of read what’s happening and it flow into something and then here it’s

Like oh I just have a gap I’m chewing up all this space let’s have some fun so that the P the general pacing for him contined to grow um over the last month 0.97 points for position possession on any trip featuring a scoot Henderson Drive which isn’t a great number but

Once you consider where it was before uh December 4th 0.89 points per possession that is a pretty solid lead you factor in again the injury missing time ramping back up all that stuff so the fact it’s training up in that way within the context that he’s had seems like a

Positive to me would not surprise me if when we do the rookie report again in February if it’s not above a point per possession that is solid progress so continue to track that last couple things I wanted to hit on before I toss it the when it comes to scoot inside the

Arc like I mentioned the spa the pacing excuse me but just monitoring the footwork when he’s flowing into some of these pull-up tubes when he’s flowing into those floaters uh just over the last month or so 36% on floaters and two-point jumpers that is not a great

Number it’s nice that he is starting to seek out that shot a little bit more and you’re starting you’re definitely seeing him seek out just to catch a shoot threes and some of the pull-ups against unders but the footwork on the pullups and floaters can get a little bit wonky

When he does speed up some uh that was something that we were talking through during one of our random watch watch parties um just going through Clips there so that’s something to work out and then off the ball is not just going to be the shooting for me he needs to

Know where to space and where he how quickly he needs to get there he can’t just be off ball and just kind of lounge around and cramp spacing when other guys are trying to cut through and stuff so like that’s something I’m keeping an eye on but uh those are the early updated

Scoot thoughts what say you good sir I mean for me it’s just how do you analyze scoop Henderson because you have that start but Nas there is a one rookie in the league that has 20 point and 10 assist game you know who it is I would imagine that it’s

Scoot Henderson it’s Scoot and he’s done it twice 22 and 11 against the Spurs 23 and 10 against the Jazz so it’s been fun to watch some of the improvement from scoot even if the box scores don’t always match the energy I feel a lot better about his tempo

As far as how he’s changing speeds and as far as how he’s attacking defenses it’s less full-time turbo button it’s more hesitation it’s more changing speeds it’s more knowing when he needs to get to that turbo button it does feel like more paint touches you mentioned

The drive numbers he’s able to get 10 drives a night for Portland that’s really important for that team especially with their current context for me I guess it’s what’s the next step and what does that unlock because we’ve seen the progress as far as once he slows down

Oh he can make the reads he can see the plays he sees where the shot is what does he do to build on top of that so you mentioned the footwork okay he’s come off with enough Tempo to where he can see the biggest drop back he can see

There space for that shot is he comfortable taking that pullup is his footwork going to be okay so he take one dribble and bounce right up into it or does he have to load up and set up for that because he has to load up and set

Up for that does he feel more comfortable taking another dribble and going for a floater M maybe that looks smoother but if he’s not making that floater what do we have where’s the Rhythm there how does he balance going to the pullup versus going to the floater being

Able to get downhill and hit that turbo button is great and fantastic and you drive hard you get in the paint are you finishing through contact at this stage probably not getting a ton of foul calls so what what contact are you initiating how are you finishing through that can you improve

Those numbers and if one of those tweaks happen what does that open up for you that’s where I’m trying to figure out okay what’s going to be the progress and Improvement in that area for scoot okay makes sense uh before we move from scoot uh any defense thoughts for

Him so far I’ve generally in for me like I’ve enjoyed the effort and like watching especially within the earlier context when Portland was just switching a ton before they dealt with even more injuries like watching him scram out like okay this is better than I would expect from Rookie guard and seeing him

Try to battle in front against bigger guys like okay like scoot is a strong guard for someone his age like okay this part is neat and as we get into some of the screen navigation stuff like half the time oh this is neat cool he’s reattaching he’s not too handy this is

Dope other times it’s like you’re not really doing your prep work early and now you’re getting slammed into the screen and now you’re trying to recover and like you don’t have the most length to get those RI you contests so it’s been hit or but uh do you have any early scoot

Defense thoughts so he’s a young rookie guard he is indeed a young rookie guard with uneven play on and off ball that would track that would track breaking news at 10 yeah yeah yeah all right well I figured I’d ask friend I figured I would ask all right let’s

Let’s go to let’s go to Detroit let’s go to assar Thompson who’s averaging six points per game 56% on twos that’s good 17% from three not so great 67% from the line four boards 1.6 steals 0.6 steals 0.5 blocks over the last month or so so for

Assar again it’s kind of stunk to see the minutes drop for him and find himself out of rotation and then back into the rotation but I’ve enjoyed some of the usage that we’re seeing from him he does seem a little bit more comfortable as a driver which is a nice little micro Improvement

Within the context Chang for him also Monty Williams he noted I think it was December like hey we could probably use him more as a screener they have done that and they’ve gotten good stuff out of it uh 50 on ball picks since December 4th 1.25 points per possessions on trips

Featuring and oar Thompson on ball screen which is very cool like half of those are being switched but it does open up some interesting slip opportunities for him and his footwork is good on that he gets out of that early opens up some early lobs depending

On what the spacing is like they flow out of horns a lot when they do want to use AAR as a uh as a screener and there’s one com like they’ll run it a lot of teams in the league run it but they’ll flow out of horns um if you kind

Of like the cross screen get up to the wing type look but I saw a screen for a big that big will go get a shooter normally Buy on or someone in the corner and while that’s happening and occupying Defenders on that side then it’s just a

Step up ball sping for rard he slips out of there and if that corner is empty now it’s just a lot of opportunity for him and so like watching them run that against Brooklyn they ran it against Milwaukee like okay they’re at least trying some different things even if

They aren’t just giving him 30 minutes A Night to try to explore and stuff so like I appreciate that portion of the program with AAR also turnovers are down only three multi-turnover games since December 4th so that’s progress like some of that is just the minute load but

Also again does seem more controlled as a driver handle seems tighter um there are some possessions I feel like he’s kind of taking a dribble and then passing it versus really exploring what he can get there and trying to bend the defense but I guess you just got to mix

It in versus some of the super early aggression we saw when the turnovers were high so he’s still trying to find a balance there uh any updated assar thoughts or anything that’s popped for you over the last month uh it’s the potential with the drives that really

Stands out to me especially when he’s able to understand what he wants to get to when he has the ball in his hands I think that he has the athleticism he can hesitate and go he’s not afraid to initiate contact you really feel it in transition when he can push or run in

The floor uh I think it’s it’s interesting to see kind of the adjustment to where yes teams are helping off of assar yes he’s probably going to get the kick he’s also mixing in some Closeouts I mean mixing some drives against the Closeouts if you close short when teams

Are helping off him and I want to see how much more he can get to that to where you know what I don’t have to default just to catch and shoot let me see if I can still get a paint touch out of this at least keep an advantage going

For our team uh the other thing I’m keeping an eye on that I’ve been intrigued by just the timing on the cuts if teams are going to continue to to help off of him to this degree can he find the gaps can he find the timing whether it’s back door from the corner

Or maybe a quick dive from the wing if he’s spaced there is that another way that he can be a threat I’m glad you mentioned the screening because I am intrigued by it I guess for me it’s like how many lineups can Detroit really throw out there where they can get to it

But it’s definitely something they should keep in the back pocket you know if I’m Detroit probably looking to continue to develop him but how do we find different ways to make him a threat to where he can impact defenses and open things up for us I think as a screener is a big

One uh he’s got really natural footwork when he screens and rolls and gets into that pocket so it’s fun uh I’m having a weird dynamic because since December I believe he’s four for 27 from three but I like the fact that he’s still looking to go right up with those

Catch and shoot threes sometimes the result may not be great but you need the confidence to be able to still take them so I’m fine with that defensively great activity flies around the one thing I do want to keep an eye on ball watching sometimes Closeouts can get wonky sometimes very rare very

Nitpicky for me right now but he’s got a great feeli defensively as far as having that combination of being active on ball being in the right spot off ball to help and being able to recover so two thumbs up okay good stuff good stuff like definitely work like I don’t know that’s

Gonna be a fun bounce for him to find defensively because obviously he wants to create Havoc all over the floor and so he certainly can’t fall into that Loop of just eying thing so it’s going to be worth noting um especially with some of the quicker hooks that he’s

Gotten in terms of playing time he’s definitely going to have to nail that portion of it uh but we will continue to monitor it uh while we’re on an athletic defensive Wing that’s having a lot of fun on that end let’s go to Washington very quickly bow kabali averaging 8.8

Points over the last month or so 54% on twos 35% on threes 59% from the line on Super Low volume but you still want the number to be up 4.6 rebounds 1.6 assists nearly a steal and a block per contest for me with blow when we talked about

Him the first time I mentioned the Intrigue that I had with the drives and with some of the on ball reps he was getting like okay he’s getting dropped let’s see how he’s able to carve out that space let’s see what the drives look like etc etc and I mentioned I

Think towards the end of the commentary I want to see what happens when teams start to sit on some of the moves on the drives and in general like when The Scouting Report updates on them buddy before December 4th teams were switching around 33% of his pick and

Roles since then that is up to 52% he is not seeing the same Windows when he’s in ball screens Now teams are kind of keyed in okay like he’s shooting fine from three but they Ain really his back like that want to take away these drives want

To keep him in front so watching him navigate that it’s been encouraging to me to see him get more comfortable just taking pullup threes it’s not anything of like the trade variety or something like that but it is very much screen you duunk under oh cool this is space let me

Just stop right here and take the shot it’s nice to see him knock those down or just in general take those shots within Rhythm the drives do remain fun uh the pick and roll volume has perked up from him overall uh slightly so so continue to watch that and then defensively again

He remains a monster when he’s at the nail like you can’t get away from all those limbs he makes some fun reads off the ball B has like a weak side Rim proteor weak side rim protector excuse me and also someone that could just play the passing Lanes there so I’m continue

To enjoy the defensive portion and like one thing that I meant to bring up on the the initial rookie Report with him and then we end up I think talking about either post pot or during the watch party was with him defensively and navigating screen like he’s generally

Good at it but I feel like because he isn’t the strongest dude yet he’ll like navigate a screen and then try to reattach to the driver and that driver is able to just wield him off or immediately draw a foul because he’s trying to lean in and reattach and he’s

Not strong enough to just ride that drive out um is that something that PO for you or am I just going like super Galaxy brain or something like that is that anything worth monitoring moving forward I don’t think you’re going super Galaxy brain I I think that’s just uh

Part of repetitions and part of getting stronger and understanding okay how much room do I really have as far as riding this drive or being able to use my length on this drive so I don’t think it’s Galaxy braining it I think it’s part of the package I think the the

Other thing is the context for the Wizards defensively he’s going to feel a few more of those especially with some of the matchups that he has to take on um especially with the way that he helps and recovers so I don’t think it’s I don’t think it’s the worst thing in the

World at all I think the fact is that he’s taking on some of these challenges to where he’s guarding you know the Damen lillards the Donovan Mitchells of the world and holding his own to where hey that screening that screen might not work on me I I’m I’m staying in front on

All your moves and and feeling like he’s holding his own I think the overall sense for me with bow is just Comfort he feels comfortable when he’s out there he doesn’t feel like it’s forced on either end of the floor which feels interesting because of what you may think of

Washington defensively and what you may forget how good they kind of are offensively as far as at least putting the ball in the basket multiple times in a game I think for me offensively not afraid to shoot it from Deep you mentioned as far as defens is changing their coverage that’s a

Compliment as far as hey you know what not as much as that from you we we’d like to not do that I think some of the drives have stood out to me but it’s the fact that you can see him build and keep putting things together whether it’s a

Shot faking a drive oh that’s nice I like that come off pick and roll or a handoff stop and pop from three adding some movement to it I think I my eyes at least have opened to some of the passing ability that he has especially if he’s

In the corner and he’s able to drive and you see him spray one out to the weak side it’s like oh that’s fun I think that’s been my overall deal with bow he’s not he’s not a finished product by far but I do think he’s ahead of where a

Lot of people had him at schedule wise and so the fact that he can mix in these shots he can play defense he’s added in the playmaking he’s got the driving ability he’s not afraid to get off the ball and make those type of plays you got a pretty strong Foundation I mean

Shoot honestly you my mind goes to some of the timing on the weak side defensive plays where all of a sudden you know what I’m spaced I see this coming let me get there and help or let me get this block I mean there’s there’s only four

Rookies with 20 Steals and 20 or more blocks we already talked about three of them this is the fourth there you go and stats Jones Jr has left the building we love to see it but no Bow’s been a lot of fun you didn’t like that

One huh okay we’ll work on we’ll work shop it give me a suggestion in the chat uh stat Jones Jr ain’t going to do going to need something creative all right let’s get get to Dallas very quickly before we get into some of these new guys Derek Lively over the last month

8.9 points per game nearly 73% of his twos have been converted free throws we’re not going to talk about has been great but the volume’s low anyway anyway 7.3 boards over two offensive rebounds per game in that stretch 1.3 assist to 1.2 turnover so a slight positive there

Over a block per game for Derek Lively I mostly wanted to give this to you because I know you have been very high on the continued growth of Dereck Lively particularly on the offensive end defensively just wanted to kind of note at least statistically uh just what

He’s being asked to do in Dallas is being spread out a little bit more he’s blitzing more pick and roles switch numbers have dropped a little bit drops kind of dropped a little bit but he’s still having to execute multiple coverages that’s something that we talked about in rookie report one so you

Can hang there uh in terms of points per possession allowed with pick and rolls being defended by Dereck Lively uh 1.01 points per possession before December 4th 0.91 points per possession since then that is pretty darn good it is both impressive that Derrick Lively’s been able to hold his own defensively and

Also a bit concerning within the broader context of Dallas that he is as important as he is to this team already because so many things just fall off of a cliff on both ends when he is not on the floor so I’ve been impressed with that portion and actually I’ll I’ll end

It there what has impressed you with Dereck Lively over the past month or so uh well number one before I go to that I uh based on feedback from the cutters and rors from our first rookie report I am obligated to say this uh against Oklahoma City drik Lively had 20 point

16 rebounds and seven blocks against the San Antonio Spurs Derrik Lively had 16 points and 10 rebounds there you go uh it’s been about it’s been about the fit for me it’s been about building on the fit and I’m glad you mentioned and started with the defense because his ability to execute multiple

Schemes really adds value to this Dallas team and helps them build a base on both ends of the flooor I think that’s really important to where when you talk about Rookie of the Year you you could mention Lely is number three because of just the

Impact that he has for that team on both ends of the floor not even on ball just the timing that he’s developed off ball as far as showing help defensively for me I go back to the offense though and it just the the the work that he has

Done as a young big in pick and roll or handoffs has been fun the ways that he gets to his roles the ways that he opens Pockets up I I don’t want to use the gravity word but he makes himself a threat out there on the court He makes himself available when

You watch Dallas watch his footwork watch the way that he gets out and explodes into that pocket even when he slips he sets it up the same way so teams over and over have to fight over which is not the point of a slip we’re

Not supposed to have two on the ball in this scenario and this made us Jet and down the lane the bigger build on that obviously we know he can roll we know Luca likes to throw it to him that’s part of their chemistry the short roll decision making has grown and because

You put that all together if you show early help because you know he’s looking a roll you know they’re looking to hit him look at what he does when he catches it he’s surveying the floor he can kick to get a shot or keep the advantage going for Dallas both important things

For their offensive philosophy it’s a big key for him to be able to nail that portion because of the pressure that Luca Andor Kyrie puts on teams to where we’re going to try and take this away at some point you’re going to have an advantage can you play out of it if you

Don’t he’s going to finish that role or they going to get that late lob you know that’s there but to have that kind of trait to survey the floor as a young big actually a big in general is really good the other portion of it they don’t do it

As much as I personally would like but when they mix in some of the elbow action and they get it to Lively he has made some nice passes as far as being able to hit Cutters so I would just keep an eye on that if can they lean into

That does he become a little bit I don’t want to say a hub but someone they can lean on with their movement sets uh but the worth he’s doing now is building a good foundation for Dallas’s playoff ront got you got you and on the short

Roll front there’s one number I want to drop and there some fun with filtering with second Spectrum if you just look at Derek lovely in short role like it’s hard to just replicate that with filters you can look at how often like the pick roll being screened by him is getting

Blitzed etc etc but you look at the blitz number with pick rolls involved Derrik Lively it’s 0.76 points per possession which is awful it’s like wait a minute that doesn’t match etc etc but a lot of that number is Lively screens for Luca Luca draws two instead of

Passing it the Lively Luca skips into the corner and that guy is normally going to be a grant Williams who can knock down shots for teams okay helping off of or Derek Jones Jr who has knock down shots this year Etc you’ve seen a lot of my threes there and that brings

The overall number down if you filter to just Luca gets blitzed or whoever the ball handler is gets blitzed Derek Lively receives the pass and then he does something from there it’s at one point per possession one point per possession which is a solid number especially for a rookie big that wasn’t

Known for that portion of it heading into the league and continue to mix that in with as you said getting more aggressive more aggressive as a finisher being able to convert those looks it is positive growth for Derek Lively uh one last update and he’s only last because

Of just the draft slot as you notice we went basically in draft order Jame hakz Jr averaging nearly 16 points per game was your rookie of the month along with Chad hongren in the west side uh for December with 16 points per game nearly four boards nearly three assists over a

Steal per game 56% on twos 28% on threes we’re starting to see the dip how much of that is just shooting Randomness how much of that is increased roll how much of that is season just getting longer Etc we’ll see where the shot normalized for hame

But only thing I really want to note with hame who continues to play well overall is what he’s doing as a driver and also what he means to this heat offense just in terms of their transition flow as someone that can grab and go or someone that can get an outlet

And get downhill immediately he is not scared he puts a level of immediate pressure on defenses that they’ve been missing throughout the history of this podcast I’ve talked about Miami’s lack of Rim pressure aside from Jimmy Butler consistently it even then it depends on the nights Jimmy wants to shoot during

The regular season at least and so having hame as we talked about during the first rookie report has been one of the most effective post options in the League this year you can sprinkle that into the half court he’s comfortable getting downhill and either taking shots or making the

Next pass you know generating paint touch when attacking the scrambling defense and now you add in the transition value add there as someone that can grab and go or again receive an outlet and put pressure on defense I think it’s very important The Craft on the Block is still there

Defensively being more challenged I think as The Season’s gone on like okay let’s see what this rookie can actually do and so that’s been that part’s been hit or miss I think it’s worth even if it’s not on this PO maybe it’s the next R report is worth discussing hey is the

Defense playoff ready enough for him as the team hopefully gets healthier whatever version of healthy Miami is as we know how that generally goes for them but the fact that he’s even in that conversation speaks to how well he’s played this year that he is he’s pretty

Firmly a closing option right now since Jimmy’s out but the fact that you even have to think can he hold up well enough because we love what he does elsewhere I think is a positive for hame uh did you have any new Thoughts with hame well I just think it’s interesting

How the conversation has changed based on his play you know if you had thought about this maybe a month or so ago or even early in the season where hame is able to play at such a level with the three-point shooting with solid enough defense with the postup play with what

He can do on the ball and be this important to Miami that’d be huge win right so for me I think it’s more and I put it in the vein of Miami can he take these lumps can he still impact the game if the shot does

Continue to dip for a few more games can he still find the right gaps can he still attack Closeouts defensively how much of it is him how much is it the team context how much of it is he’s important so he has to be able to hit this portion of the defense

I think off ball I don’t have much of an issue he’s really good timing he shows help at the right times on ball can get tricky but how many Defenders can we say that with uh for the Miami Heat right now yes except for bam

But to a lesser degree I guess like Cy low but even then if that’s number two for you while Jimmy Butler is naturally out but if that’s number two for you that’s also part of the yeah and I mentioned the drive that uh in the New Year’s Revolution episode where it’s

Like hey guess who’s dead last in points for possession allow drives it’s the Miami Heat so certainly not just a hom Centric issue I’ll continue well no I’m thinking in my head these are all very important Reps for him when it comes playoff time to where you know that he’s

Seen this already you’re going to have a game plan in place and you’re trusting him to carry over what he’s done so far in the playoffs maybe in a different way or with different timing so I think the reps are more important for me than just thinking hey this won’t copy and

Paste you know got you I got you um let’s get into some of the new folks before we get into the YouTube comments to close it out uh we start the Pod with golden state news let’s start with the Golden State rookies we’ll start with Brandon Pinsky

And Trace Jackson Davis with pods over the last month 10.9 points per game 53% on twos 41% on threes 53% from the line which isn’t great but only 1. .3 attempts you still want that to be up but super low volume imagine that can normalize form 6.3 rebounds for pods two

Offensive rebounds per game which is not normal for a guard 4.2 assist 1.4 steals I have enjoyed watching this dude play and if you’re just talking about stylistic scheme fit pod feels like someone that just fits into everything Golden State wants to run with D full til willing screener

Knows where to space knows when to cut knows when to relocate which quietly not super high volume but shooting 40% on relocation threes per second Spectrum which is another fun stat that they track so when he does move off the ball and get to a different spot he can still

Knock those down and you know how dangerous that is within golden states ecosystem so that part’s cool a good ball mover he is a daring passer I think it was it was the Christmas game I believe that was the first time I heard like the Manu comp

For pods I was like oo that’s a little rich but I do understand how you at least start to get there in terms of just the stylistic comp like obviously Manu is one of the best guards we’ve ever had in the league it’s kind of

Unfair to put that on a rookie but I can at least see like in terms of the off ball value of the off ball value that he provides on both ends of the floor guess who second in the league and charg has taken over the last month it’s pods in

Addition to him flying around for steals in addition to him just challenging guys at The Rim he’s not afraid to get guys at The Rim on top of that then again off ball can shoot willing cutter will set those early screens for Steph and then relocate off of that like he’s just all

Over the place in the best way like the passing for me is going to be something to monitor just because he feels like he can hit just about anything and I was chuckling as I was going through some Golden State Portland film earlier and so golden state has this play with Steph

As a screener in the corner it’s normally like a post-up set for either Andrew WIS or Jonathan kaming when they run it for him it’s like all right cool Steph’s going to set the screen we’ll see if you botch it if you do botch it it’s probably going to be a layup or

Dunk for kinger or Wiggins if not Steph’s now just going to lift up receive a screen from a big and they can play out of that so pods has the ball as the screen’s happening and like Portland doesn’t really botch the screen but you

Can see like the a sliver of a of a window for the pass to kaminga and pods lets this thing go and naturally it is a turnover and it’s just like I love that he saw a 0.2% chance of that pass hitting and he just fired it in there without even thinking

About it like obviously you don’t want you don’t want turnovers you don’t want rookies throw it away but again going back to the earlier scoop point it’s encouraging to be that you’re even seeing that and feel the freedom to try that stuff out and so like I’m excited

To see what updated Scouting Report slash POS just gets more comfortable within the group slash Golden State finds some level of cergy just to see like what he grows into this year and moving forward but it’s been a really fun stretch for him he just firmly played his way into the

Rotation I don’t think it was the plan this early in the season for him to be this important but the Warriors have just Blitz those minutes with him on the floor him and Trace I have a stat for that a little bit later it’s been a lot

Of fun watching pods uh what have been your early Impressions uh I mean he’s the only rookie in the month of December to average 11 points six rebounds four assists has the most 10.5 rebound five assist games by rookies it’s the passing for me uh it’s very fun especially

Fitting in how he wants to play I think it’s more you know you nailed a whole lot of it so I won’t hang too long the extra passes that he makes the extra plays that he makes the feel that he has when he’s off ball knowing the

Difference on when to drive when to keep it moving you know when to make sure I set someone up to come off a screen those little things add value to the Warriors I think the off ball cutting has been fun I think he just fits right

Into what Golden State wants to do uh I’ve liked the activity off ball defensively I think he’s got really good positioning he does does a good job of help recover you mentioned charges drawn in the month he’s third in the league and charges drawn per game for the whole

Year fourth in total charges drawn uh which I’m sure Draymond will try and come back on at some point but uh I think I wonder sometimes as good of the con as the context is for him offensively to Showcase his game and how he fits defensively does it hurt him to

A degree because teams are like hey you are also someone that we can say come here buddy to so why don’t you come over here do you feel like he’s overtasked or does it uh does his overall fit just make it work um like I lean towards like it’s

Just worth it because of what he’s adding elsewhere but like it does feel like he gets some of the size stuff particularly in the minutes that Steph isn’t on the floor and so honestly I’m curious to see like what this looks like now if like he’s not starting right now alongside

Steph with Chris Paul out I do Wonder now without Chris Paul in that second unit if some of that defensive attention or offens attention rather goes to okay cool if we’re not able to just get in the flow how about we just get him since he’s not the smallest guy on the court

Now unless it’s Cory Joseph beside him in which case it’s probably gonna be Cory Joseph but I do wonder how much more pod sees of that like he competes on that end like I don’t feel like he’s someone that people just drive through Etc but I think he will just get that by

Virtal of the side so we’ll see we’ll see but I think the offense and even defensively like if you do attack him you still have to worry about him just taking the elbow and now it’s going the other way and like watch him navigate screens if you aren’t set he’ll draw

That call too like you have to be on it when trying to attack pods he he doesn’t make it easy for you so I’ve enjoyed that portion um as for his rookie mate Trace Jackson Davis over this recent stretch 9.8 points per game over 71% on

Twos 65% from the line seven boards an assist and a half 1.1 blocks in 20.3 minutes per game a recent starter for the Golden State Warriors now and so like part of this for me is is he just looks the part and similar to pod just kind of fits into what they

Want to do very willing screener willing handoff partner knows how to fi space will flow from pick and roll go to the dunker spot and then know when to seal in he’ll screen his own guy if he has to like he does those little things and then defensively it’s kind of Looney

Esque as to do I think he’s an elite Defender at any particular coverage I do not do I see him on a random switch like okay this should be okay I don’t want him to defend 15 isos but like this should be okay if he switches in p

If they have at the level this should be okay like 71 Wings span isn’t great for a 69ine guy but like it’s fine it’s plus4 I feel fine if they play him a little bit more aggressively he seems fine in a drop and like again as a

Rookie big if you are fine in multiple coverages you are ahead of the curve because it is very hard to play defense in this league and so like defensively he feels solid offensively knows how to fill the gaps and he gives them a play finisher that frankly they’ just needed at the

Five Spot since that’s never really been cavan Looney but in light of the year that he’s had this year like they just need someone that could provide more of a vertical presence and someone that can just make the tough catches and convert through traffic like Trace is V able to

Do that so I’ve enjoyed him on both ends I will say the one thing I’m kind of monitoring with him is the processing speed in the decision- making on short roll opportunities especially when he’s screening for Steph I like that he’s already come it’s kind of like the

Inverse of Derek Lively to where it felt early on he gets it and okay where am I passing this to and then kind of turn into oh I can just take this space I can just get more aggressive with Tracy feels like oh cool I have the ball I’m

About to bully you if this Defender is small which is good you see enough you see more of those reps growing it’s like okay it’s not a bad decision that you decide to take this shot there is a skip available here and so we’ve seen some flash of

That but I want to see how he finds the balance as he gets more playing time especially as he continues to screen for step or set those off ball for clay like how quickly can you make those decisions but it’s been good stuff for me with Trace how have you felt about so

Far I think the biggest thing for me is he he has he uh they need what he brings to the table and what he does well he does consistently I think his ability to roll really pops uh cavon Looney a little bit slow over roller sarich more

Of a popper not going to explode as much I think what Trace Jackson Davis does as far as off ball screens especially with pin downs and being able to explode but then there’s an empty side as valuable pick and roll he gets right to that pocket and he’s gone he’s just solid and

The Warriors have needed solid plus a little bit of athleticism I think defensively I like that you said he’s fine I like that hey sometimes we might switch you onto someone let’s see what that looks like you just give us this drop be solid be consistent do the Dirty

Work box out run the floor screen roll this is your job do it well and he’s passed most of the tests so I think it’s more I don’t know how much more he can do at the current moment but they need what he does and so maybe it’s mixing in

Or knowing when to slip I think that’s an intriguing element watching his film to where okay I think he’s got an understanding of where to space the timing the cutting the flashing it’s just they need that so badly yes uh any kind of any kind of

Athletic pop they can get I think would be a super helpful for them and since we’ve talked about both of the Golden State rookies very quick stat per PVP stats Golden State in 188 minutes A Plus 24.2 net rating with pods and trace on the floor together that’s plus 95 in 188

Minutes that is not what rookies are supposed to look like especially on a team like this but they have both come in and provided value on both ends of the floor okay rapid fire to get through these two and then we going to the YouTube comments am in Thompson finally

Starting to get some playing time he’s back healthy in the rotation for Houston Five Points four boards two assists and steal in roughly 16 minutes per game uh early thoughts for him like super early when he came back I like oo I still like the passing this handle is a little

Loose players are really starting to bother you on the digs that seems to have calmed down buddy I I’m so ready for a man to just average 25 minutes a game already like I’ve seen enough and we’ll dig in deeper with him as the sample grows with him but I watching him

In garbage time which it just kind of happens with how C’s played on both ends they’ll get the blowout win also be on the other end of it and just getting to see random pick and roll and live dribble skip to Jo landelle in the left corner it’s just

Like okay why is land there but also this is a rookie just making a live dribble skip pass and not even thinking about it that part’s fun watching him Glide as a driver is also fun there was a play against Minnesota I think late first quarter I

Want to say where he has Kyle Anderson at the top of the key he starts to attack I think he’s going right he goes behind his back Rudy gobear steps up he then leaps like very quick gather after the behind the back move he goes with this scoop underneath Rudy goar misses

It and before Rudy could even react to the Miss he’s up again gets the offensive rebound gets a hand one I was like that’s not normal that’s not what any human is supposed to be able to do and so as the shot comes around he’s honestly looked more comfortable on

Those pull-up twos than I anticipated the three ball is we’re not going to talk about it right now just with the THS and twins we knows where the threes are right now but inside the arc looks more comble getting into pull-ups than I anticipated so I’m kind of intrigued to

See if that continues because if it does not that that’s going to bring like real gravity he’s not to be taking eight pull-up twos a game or anything like that but if he’s comfortable there like maybe the projection to get to the catcher shoot three is going to go more

Smoothly in year two year three than I thought and if that comes along I trust the drives I trust the passing I trust the defense or eventually I will trust the defense as he gets up the NBA speed he just has the tools he has the instincts he’s going to

Be incredibly fun uh did do you have any early upend thoughts uh I’m intrigued by The Cutting potential and what that could bring for the Rockets they lean into it to add on to you uh it’s the drives for me being able to get downhill when he’s spaced I

Think in pick and roll he’s shown that he can handle some of that responsibility uh you mentioned being comfortable getting to that pullup I think for me it’s just the mix and the blend uh as far as those plays where it’s clear he has a comfort it’s clear

He knows that he can stay patient uh it’s clear he knows and feels comfortable attacking the drop and getting in the paint and being able to mix speeds which I think is a positive so I do want to see what it looks like if Houston does lean into more of him

Being able to have some of those on ball reps depending on who he’s out there with I’m sure Rockets fans will add that to their list of things they want to see um I think when he’s able to draw help for this Houston team is very helpful especially for them to have another

Playmaker or someone else who can get in the paint and it’s not just heavily relying on we need this to happen so the defense will shift I just want to see how much they lean into that aspect and how much he grows within it but I think

There’s a lot of potential there based on the drives that he shown and I think the playmaking comes through the more he has the ball in his hands got you got you uh two quick things one I’m in related and one just generally Houston related I’ll sprinkle

This in on the defense for a in like I’m keeping an eye on just what his stance is cuz I feel like he’s very upright sometimes I don’t know how much of that is just a technical you just have to get NBA coaching to get better at that

Versus Houston is switching nearly half the screens that he’s involved in per second spectrum and maybe he’s just prepping okay this screen’s coming I’m just going to get out of here and make sure I get a body on them so like that’s something that’s G I’m going to track

Over the next month or so so I’ll probably have I’ll have a better feel for that portion of the defense moving forward and just as a cursory note not going to talk about him on the Pod today but cam Whitmore scoring showing some fun stuff as a scorer in the limit

Amount of time that he’s gotten recently so just keep an eye on him if he ends up breaking into the rotation in Earnest that’ll probably be someone we talk about moving forward but did want to say his name at least last guy Julian staler shade under seven points per game

48% on twos 32% from three two boards an assist and roughly a steal in 15 minutes per game the shot hasn’t fallen for him but you can definitely see the scoring instincts like it’s kind of just a Caro for me like watching him in summer league a little bit of preseason like oh

No this guy can just light it up when necessary as long as he’s taking good shots like I’m mostly okay defensively is kind of where my eyes went as a unnamed friend of the program as we were expressing some early Julian Stalter excitement like yeah wait till you see

Him on defense though not going to put that person on blast so let let me key in let’s see look like he does compete it isn’t great though like I think he can do a better job of just prepping for some of the off ball stuff that he faces

It feels like he’s given a lot of space and he ends up doing the little hop like oh okay I got to start running now and by then like that’s already too late defending movement Shooters in the league and stuff like that and so just general awareness off ball being

Prepared to navigate those screens especially C is particularly good at it right now uh that’s going to be important but I do generally enjoy the effort that he’s showing and if he can just be below average to neutral defensively like I do think shots are going to fall for him it’s very clear

That he can shoot it it’s clear that he’s comfortable booing One-on-one you get him into some lineups where he’s actually playing alongside yic like he’ll just get easier looks there and stuff so like I’m not super concerned uh so some interesting early flashes from Julian so far uh what do you have on that front H just a really

Good fit for Denver I think the off ball movement is really fun to watch especially within the context of that offense uh I think the pressure he can put on teams in that way to blend in is very good I think the mixture of off ball and on ball creation or threat is

Very good especially for that team you space the floor Let it Fly you can run sets for him run him off screens can mix him in in pick and roll or handoffs he just fits what they want to do the only thing with him hopefully once he’s able

To come back one I’m intrigued by what do the drives look like what does it happen how often does you go to it what does he look like against contact and then what is the next part that’s going to allow him to stay on the court is it

Just defense is it just consistency knowing hey it’s not going to be a shot every time maybe it’s driving kick what is going to be the next step for him or is he just going to be in this phase early with Denver where I know he could

Score we all know he could score if we don’t need the scoring it may not be his night but if we need the scoring we’re going towards him but I think it’s it’s been good development for him to at least establish a good base for Denver

Got you got you all right well uh we’ll get into more rookies uh naturally I always break the call out if you have basketball questions for us about the rookie class or just anything basketball related you don’t have to wait for a specific mailback episode we just dig

Into those on Thursday sometime so email us at dunkers spot yahoo.com if there are some rookies that we didn’t get to talk about I know like K Wallace is one that we probably end up spending some time on moving for but you know email us we can talk about it we’ll get our

Rookie thoughts in to these YouTube comments though appreciate everyone that actually participated I did appreciate I should have copied the name in here uh the one guy like I’m not a dunker or a RoR I’m just a listener sorry I don’t have a resolution I got a good chuckle

Out of that one uh so I guess you were just a spacer we we’ll settle in on that that’s fine anyway let’s let’s get into some of these um this one from Jeremiah I want to say Krug it might be kug 94 my New Year’s resolution for my team Detroit is to not

Go on another 20 plus game losing streak matter of fact don’t break your own record you should have lost like this last year the tank for wimy I got a good laugh out of that one uh we have one from Michael uh D chameleo I want to say I

May have said that wrong my apologies if I did uh resolution for the Cavs try two big lineups with Tristan Thompson last year they got smoked on the offensive Glass by New York in the playoffs I think putting out a Moy Thompson obviously after Mo returns from injury

Or an Allen Thompson lineup gives you better rebounding on offense and defense also on offense I think having Thompson out there in a two big lineup gives more screening and pick roll options for Mitchell gar stre Etc to pick from Steve you have thoughts on that one gotta

Raise my hand uh yeah yeah here’s the thing I did some research so I think they’ve done it in 11 games over 46 minutes and that Twan Duo has a 107.1 offensive rating and a 11 18.8 defensive rating and that really can’t be the bit considering you are looking for that to

Be kind of the defensive unit so I do think it’s a good idea it’s something you can tap into in the playoffs depending on the matchup but you do have to be careful because it’s it’s it kind of becomes like a slightly less expensive version of Moy and Allen to a

Degree but I like the idea I would just say Tristan Thompson and George Nang very good together okay there we go there we go uh next one from I take major lves which is a tremendous tremendous name who Among Us man who Among Us uh New Year’s resolution for the Lakers please stick

In guard Austin reev or D’Angelo Russell in the starting lineup and don’t let reddish and Vando share the court together at any point in the game well we got one of those things at least Austin Reeves now starting um hey hey hey you might want to start to begin

Take some major W’s go buy a lottery ticket because Austin re started every game in 2024 and I checked the Clippers game off memory Bandero came in for reddish in the first quarter and I think he did so in the third and I think DLo also came in for Reeves start the game

So hey hey it’s coming might be honest something take a major w we like that uh this one from Bryce Griffin 4792 Ash dunker engagement the hashtag will always get you here uh for the Kings I think our New Year resolution should be shaking things up with either herder or

Barnes I was hoping we’d be in the OG sweet Stakes but that can’t happen now well they were in talks with for Pascal cakam and then 17 minutes later they were no longer in talks with Pascal seum so I guess at least Sacramento brass seems to be thinking along those lines

At the very least so we’ll see we got a month until to trade that line very cool um next one from Phantom aisle Celtics New Year’s resolution and this wasn’t the only Celtics comment that we got but just the first I just chose this one there were like three or four that had

The same message Drive the ball in all caps please and also in all caps stop going ISO whenever the game gets remotely close just run your offense it’s one of the best in the league I think I can speak for Stephen I would to say yes maintain your Tempo keep doing

Things versus slowing it down and taking side step threes anyway next we G to come from I think it’s Ringo 77 uh New Year’s resolution for the Sixers to make a trade for a wing to replace Tobias Harris using their draft picks Mel Bridges is likely to be

Unattainable but I’m hoping they can get Cam Johnson or Dorian FY Smith I even settle for a trade with the Hawks for the jont Murray and DeAndre hunter or with the Blazers for Jeremy Grant and Malcolm brogon I do appreciate that’s the settle portion I was about to say if you

Settling for those those those kind of feels like W’s I’m not going to lie to you you might get one of those people but uh I would say Jeremy Jeremy Grant is a little closer to the bias than than some folks may think you take that

However you want but I’ll throw that out there okay I see I see uh would no longer be the Jeremy Grant Revenge game at the very least it’ll be return anyway um next one from Andrew Livingston 973 uh a faithful commenter and consumer of the pop really appreciate you Andrew uh

Raptor’s New Year’s resolution is to stick to their starting five of quickly Barnes ptle cakam and Barrett as it lets others like Gary Trent Jr and Dennis shuder to shine in their roles Off the Bench well if the Warriors game was any indication uh I think they’ll be all

Right um and the last one from Jay Wilson TV our dear pal Jeremy Pelicans New Year’s resolution use their two best players in action during the clutch with CJ and Trey on the wings your 0 and six in games decided by three points or less please I beg of

You just a wonderful wonderful you know well you see you could just you could use bi and then the ball swings to Zion so does that technically count or is this is asking for bi Zion pick and roll I feel like the answer is yes okay well then I’ll just I’ll

Apologize for that immediately after to take away the impact of what I just saw on TV oh okay all right well tremendous content all right well with that being thank you for listening to and or watching this episode of the dunker spot really appreciate y’all checking us out

If you haven’t already please subscribe to us we are on Apple Spotify Google Stitcher pot Bean wherever you get your podcast you can find us and if you’re watching this on JJ R’s YouTube channel and for some reason you aren’t subscribed to JJ R’s you Chan YouTube Channel please subscribe to JJ reck’s

YouTube channel good content also we are here every Tuesday every Tuesday every Tuesday every Tuesday for to remove any confusion in 2024 hey it will be us better get torn up than that than that first Tuesday we ain’t here that’s true every Tuesday unless noted otherwise but we are scheduled to be

Here on Tuesday so we are not tricking y’all when the video appears on Tuesday as scheduled anyway you can follow me on Twitter at nmba follow Steve on Twitter s Steve jones2 join us in the dunkers spot Community we’re having fun discussions in there on Twitter join us

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Who hey who made you mad about the Tuesdays Man

Nekias Duncan and Steve Jones Jr. are back with another episode of The Dunker Spot! It’s time to talk about this year’s rookie class once again, but not before checking in on the Warriors first.

0:00 Intro
2:20 Warriors Update
7:50 Rookie Report, starting with Victor Wembanyama
19:20 Chet Holmgren
29:50 Brandon Miller
36:35 Scoot Henderson
42:50 Ausar Thompson
47:50 Bilal Coulibaly
52:50 Dereck Lively II
58:20 Jaime Jaquez Jr
1:02:35 Brandin Podziemski
1:08:35 Trayce Jackson-Davis
1:12:50 Amen Thompson
1:16:50 Julian Strawther
1:19:20 YouTube shoutouts

Subscribe to The Old Man and The Three podcast w/ JJ Redick (ESPN / First Take) and Tommy Alter YouTube channel today for more NBA analysis, player interviews and highlights.