Somebody I worked with this summer played high school ball in the same league as Davis and said he has a legit three point shot.
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He doesnât need to be a 40+% 3 point shooter, especially with his quickness. Walton was an anomaly as a shooting PGâTrey Burke shot .367 from 3 over his 2 year career (.348 as a freshman) and he was sensational at running the pick and roll. X just has to be enough of a threat (34-35%) on open 3s to force guys not to lay off him. Put another way, Jaaron Simmons shot.346 from 3 last year, and no one seems concerned.
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Although at the same time, Burke had a lethal pull up game and could hit shots off the dribble with regularity. If the opposing PG can go under the screen without having to worry at all about Simpson hitting a three over him then it definitely limits the effectiveness of our offense a bit.
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@johnmiller - With all due respect, while these reports are very encouraging, I have to be a little skeptical. In the Kornacki article, Ibi was hardly even mentioned. And the article wasnât particularly gushing about Matthews either. Both of these guys are athletic and this can be dazzling in a no-coach scrimmage situation. You have always been one of the most reputable posters, but there really is a clash here. OTOH, great to hear you confirm the positive buzz around Davis.
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Shooting off the dribble is pretty important and getting more so. There are other ways to score but in todayâs game itâs a big weapon.
And while Iâm not necessarily âworriedâ about Simmonsâs shooting, I do think that whether he can get back to how he shot the year before (41%) or at least close to that by taking better shots (and maybe chance) could significantly impact just how effective he and our offense can be.
One of the great things about Burke was he shot that percentage while shooting quite a few very deep 3âs. The threat from very deep and off the dribble really made me happy with anything better than 35% because it provides awesome spacing. I think Poole and Simmons might provide a deep 3 threat. Not sure.
Who is assuming Watson canât or wonât improve? Doubting that a player will in fact do that is not the same. Dramatic improvement is not guaranteed even under JB. For every Caris and DJ there is a Chatman and Dawkins.
Iâd love for Watson to be a contributor and there are encouraging signs but he still has to do it.
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Based upon what we have been seeing from Brooks, Livers, and now Poole: It looks like most people were right that we likely see a 9 man rotation, at least in the near term. I do wonder who our 7th, 8th, and 9th men will be in terms of minutes?