From my buddy who is an nba scout: “Such a tweener. Euroleague star”
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Despite being a 20 ppg scorer in the G league, he didn’t shoot well (30% from 3 over his 2 partial seasons). He’s not a good defender, can’t handle the ball, and his shot since college has been…questionable. That’s not a great combo!
That’s what I mean by in between roles. He’s a bucket getter. Dude will find a way to score 20 points. But the competition for the “bucket getter” roles on an NBA team are pretty fierce and he’s not gonna win that. He doesn’t have an obvious skill to fall back on for teams to give him a role.
Are you suggesting that the Sixers do not want to get the ball to Ignas over tossing it to Joel Embiid in crunchtime…
I think your comment is an interesting way to look at all basketball players - including when you think about rotation minutes for Michigan. What skill do you bring to the team that will get you on the court?
Charles Matthews was an inefficient shooter, shaky ball handler, and didn’t pass much. He was okay in those areas, just not great. But he became a 30mpg guy because of his defense.
Luka Garza is an absolute bucket in college. He scores at all three levels and rebounds and if he’s on your team you’re going to build your entire approach around him. But when the NBA looks at him and realizes that he isn’t the primary alpha on an NBA team because of his limitations…what’s the one thing he can do that earns him a roster spot on the bench?
That’s why some college stars who were awesome (Stauskas) struggle in the NBA because their college role in the NBA is filled by some future HOF guy like Steph Curry. So you need to have your one thing that gets you minutes in a bench role - defense, facilitating, shooting, etc.
Duncan Robinson would probably lose a 1-on-1 game against a lot of other former Michigan guys because he isn’t a very well rounded basketball player…but his ONE THING got him a shot and he’s going to make millions from it. Iggy is good at a lot of things, but not great at any one thing.
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The thing about Stauskas though is that he should have had that one skill. But his 3pt% has been awful in the NBA
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Same with Moe honestly. Moe was never going to be big enough to be a true center and never going to be athletic enough to be a stretch 4. What made him special at Michigan was his ability to stretch the floor as a 5. He hasn’t shot well in the NBA…thus bringing his future into question.
Makes you wonder about our former Beilein alums. GR3 improved his shooting in the NBA for sure. THJ maybe a little. But DJ, Moe, Burke, Stauskas, Levert, Trey…hasn’t been as big a strength as you’d think.
Seems like the only rational explanation is that John Beilein is the best college basketball coach of all time.
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I just think that the talent required to do something really well in college is way lower than the talent required to do it well in the NBA, and conversely there are lots more guys capable of taking advantage of your weakness.
Robinson learned how to shoot quickly, and basically on the move - he improved TREMENDOUSLY to basically be able to retain his college role. Tim Hardaway is the same.
Burke is a ball dominant guard - there were enough people to pick on in college, not really in the NBA.
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#2 max. Juwan exists…duh.
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This is definitely true if you’re getting minutes, but might not be if you’re nailed to the bench like Darko was on the Pistons. My understanding is that because of the grind of the season, teams don’t necessarily practice that much (and a lot of what they do is walkthroughs and such).
If you’re not playing in the games you’ll still be doing skills work. And teams are making more use of the G League.
Agree with both of you here. There are guys in the NBA who are worse than guys not in the NBA at a number of things, but very good at something that an NBA team needs.
If I might borrow hockey for a moment, I believe the guy on the fantastic 2003 team that was a glove away from a national title with the longest pro career was David Moss. Moss wasn’t a top scorer on that team; a lot of guys were better. He wasn’t even the top option on his line with Jason Ryznar and Milan Gajic.
But put the puck on the boards and he could control it with strength and good hands.
It took me over a year of watching every game to finally notice what Moss did well. It wasn’t nearly as spectacular as guys like Jeff Tambellini or TJ Hensick.
But those guys were scorers. Only 6 spots for that on an NHL team, and there were better options. Moss was a guy whose skills fit the other 6 forward spots. And he played in the NHL for 10 years.
So it is in the NBA. If you’re good offensively, you’ll be benched in favor of someone who is elite. Even the backups are guys who are great shooters or have fantastic handles.
And in today’s NBA, you have to shoot 3s. Really well. Except for the elite of the elite rim protectors and ball handlers. Like, everyone in the NBA needs to shoot 3s in the high 30s except for Giannis, Ben Simmons, and 20 guys that are 7 feet tall and super athletic.
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It should be noted: Ignas was not elite offensively at the NBA level, nor was he good or average. Defensive liabilities who can’t shoot and score most of their points at the rim with a 6’6” frame…he was bucket getter in college. Even in the G League he couldn’t crack average efficiency this year.
Shooting threes is important, but guys make do without - Giannis, Jimmy Butler, even Kawhi is mostly a mid range guy.
Was someone arguing that? Frankly, I don’t think he’s ever really played at all in the NBA. He’s played 68 minutes in three years. He did pretty well at the G League, but he’s just not great at one thing and not the right size to fit we’ll into a clear role. If he were 6-10 and could play PF…maybe there’s a role.
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Poole with 12 points on 8-11 shooting, 3 of 5 from 3, and 4 assists in just 25 minutes.
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Dang, not sure I have ever seen a stat line like that before…
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Ahh the good ole 1 point field goals
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Some late night dyslexia apparently as I did a double take too. 21 points…not 12.
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What I figured, just chuckled.