NYRaider Posted November 30, 2018 Author Share Posted November 30, 2018 19 hours ago, RandyMossIsBoss said: How the hell could anyone come away from that UK game with anything bad to say about RJ? Says all I need to know. He was the catalyst behind the initial large Duke lead, and made so many highlight, back breaking, plays during that 1st half when it was at least somewhat competitive. BTW, it was 33 pts on 13 for 26 shooting. That's efficient... Also had 6 assists to just 2 TOs. People also forget that he's doing all of this when he should be a senior in high school this year, he reclassified to come a year early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
showtime Posted November 30, 2018 Share Posted November 30, 2018 8 minutes ago, NYRaider said: People also forget that he's doing all of this when he should be a senior in high school this year, he reclassified to come a year early. That's fair. I think a lot of the RJ Barrett criticism comes from their loss vs Gonzaga. Down the stretch of that game, he ballhog'd so much, but other than that it really hasn't been a problem. As you said, he's very young. Hopefully he lands with a really good coach at the NBA level that can get the most out of his potential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
11sanchez11 Posted November 30, 2018 Share Posted November 30, 2018 (edited) 47 minutes ago, NYRaider said: People also forget that he's doing all of this when he should be a senior in high school this year, he reclassified to come a year early. he's like a month younger than Zion and if he was like two months older he would've been college freshman age/class. is that really that big of a deal? edit: but to be fair I remember hearing about a study that the students who were older in a grade did better in school/athletics than the younger kids. But three months when you are eight in significantly different than when you are 18/19, so who knows. Edited November 30, 2018 by 11sanchez11 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beekay414 Posted November 30, 2018 Share Posted November 30, 2018 36 minutes ago, NYRaider said: We'll see what happens. I'd wager Duke is still the favorite to win it all this year and RJ Barrett will be their most important player on that journey. In college Wiggins averaged 1.5 apg and Parker averaged 1.2 apg. Barrett is averaging around 4 assists per game right now, pretty good for a guy that's a "get mine" empty stats type of player. Also impressive that Duke is 6-1 with their only loss coming against another top 3 team by 2 points in a game RJ struggled in. I'm utterly shocked you're not getting this. Shocked, I tell you. Its ******* college. Call me when he has a legit impact on the NBA court which is exactly what I was talking about and you know this. You come back to this forum, after getting banned multiple times, and you just can't help yourself, man. Your true colors always show. Might wanna pick different teams to "root for" next time you make an account here. It's always a dead giveaway lol. As is your posting style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYRaider Posted December 1, 2018 Author Share Posted December 1, 2018 9 hours ago, beekay414 said: I'm utterly shocked you're not getting this. Shocked, I tell you. Its ******* college. Call me when he has a legit impact on the NBA court which is exactly what I was talking about and you know this. You compared him to Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker, neither of those guys ever showed they could create at the level that Barrett is right now. Both for themselves or their teammates. He's averaging almost triple the assists that those guys did as college freshmen. I'll call you in a year when he's in contention for ROY as a member of the Hawks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYRaider Posted December 1, 2018 Author Share Posted December 1, 2018 9 hours ago, showtime said: That's fair. I think a lot of the RJ Barrett criticism comes from their loss vs Gonzaga. Down the stretch of that game, he ballhog'd so much, but other than that it really hasn't been a problem. As you said, he's very young. Hopefully he lands with a really good coach at the NBA level that can get the most out of his potential. His ability to shoot the 3 will be a huge factor in his success at the next level. You don't really see too many wings with his size and ability to create off the dribble. If he can improve as a shooter he's going to be a lethal offensive player. He needs to become much more efficient scoring the ball, but an improved jumper would really help that efficiency. He also needs to be much better defensively but those are things that come with time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beekay414 Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 (edited) 42 minutes ago, NYRaider said: You compared him to Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker, neither of those guys ever showed they could create at the level that Barrett is right now. Both for themselves or their teammates. He's averaging almost triple the assists that those guys did as college freshmen. I'll call you in a year when he's in contention for ROY as a member of the Hawks. No, I didnt compare him to Wiggins and Parker, you goof. I mentioned them as to why high school pedigree doesnt matter and how they are get mine types. Holy hell, read what's written, Bo. Quit caping for Duke players like they are related to you. And I could give two ****s about ROY. MCW won ROY. Empty stats win ROY most years. It's a meaningless award 90% of the time. Edited December 1, 2018 by beekay414 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYRaider Posted December 1, 2018 Author Share Posted December 1, 2018 Taking a deeper dive into Barrett's season thus far and how he can become a more efficient scorer. On the season he's scoring 22.7 ppg on .420 FG | .333 3FG | .625 FT with a .491 TS% and .469 eFG%. If he can simply improve as a shooter his game and his efficiency are going to skyrocket. So far this season he has taken 37 two-point jumpers with 34 of those attempts being unassisted, off the dribble pull ups. So roughly one-quarter of his offense is being generated off the bounce in the mid-range. He's currently only shooting 27% on these attempts but has massive room for improvement in this area. If he were to improve his efficiency to around 40% it would do so much for his game and ability to score. Additionally, he has shot 42 three-pointers with 39 of those attempts being assisted, catch and shoot opportunities. These attempts account for roughly one-third of his offense. He's currently shooting 33% on these attempts which is worlds better than he was as a shooter even last season and he still has a lot of room for improvement here as well. If he were to improve his efficiency here to around 38% it would also do so much for his game as well. His FT shooting could also be much better especially because he's a player that's going to get to the line a lot. He's currently a 62.5% ft shooter but you'd like to see him get into that 75-80% range. At the end of the day, the two main things hurting his efficiency are his mediocre mid-range game and slightly-below-average 3 point catch and shoot game. If he improved to be a 40% shooter in the mid-range, 38% shooter from deep, and a 75% FT shooter he'd be a much more efficient scorer and those aren't even huge jumps. He's far from a finished product but his main weaknesses are two things that can be improved by getting reps in the offseason and working on his game. He's the star child of Canadian basketball and a guy that has steadily improved so I have faith in RJ as a prospect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYRaider Posted December 1, 2018 Author Share Posted December 1, 2018 1 minute ago, beekay414 said: No, I didnt compare him to Wiggins and Parker, you goof. I mentioned them as to why high school pedigree doesnt matter. Holy hell, read what's written, Bo. Quit caping for Duke players like they are related to you. And I could give two ****s about ROY. MCW won ROY. Empty stats win ROY most years. It's a meaningless award 90% of the time. I mentioned why I like Barrett. He has a lot to improve on but I think he definitely has potential to be more than an empty stats "get mine" guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beekay414 Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 1 minute ago, NYRaider said: I mentioned why I like Barrett. He has a lot to improve on but I think he definitely has potential to be more than an empty stats "get mine" guy. Of course he does but thats on him to change how he plays. I've seen this so many times before that it's almost a broken record. Thus, I tend to side with the evidence over the "what could be IF" side of things. If he can be effective with a lower usage, I'll believe it. Right now, that's not the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYRaider Posted December 1, 2018 Author Share Posted December 1, 2018 Ja Morant needs to cut down his turnovers big time, he's averaging 6.5 TO per game and 7.8 TO per 40 minutes. But I'm impressed with how he gets his offense, he's perfect for the modern game. He either gets his shots at the rim or from beyond the arc. On the year 51% of his attempts have come at the rim and 31% of his attempts have come from beyond the arc with the 2/3 of those 3 point attempts coming off of the bounce. He's shooting 78% at the rim this year, he's an insane finisher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beekay414 Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 1 minute ago, NYRaider said: Ja Morant needs to cut down his turnovers big time, he's averaging 6.5 TO per game and 7.8 TO per 40 minutes. But I'm impressed with how he gets his offense, he's perfect for the modern game. He either gets his shots at the rim or from beyond the arc. On the year 51% of his attempts have come at the rim and 31% of his attempts have come from beyond the arc with the 2/3 of those 3 point attempts coming off of the bounce. He's shooting 78% at the rim this year, he's an insane finisher. Yep, a 23% TOV% wont cut it even if your name is James Harden. He's gotta stay consistent from the perimeter and be a little less aggressive with the ball. He does that, he's the best player in this class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYRaider Posted December 1, 2018 Author Share Posted December 1, 2018 Just now, beekay414 said: Of course he does but thats on him to change how he plays. I've seen this so many times before that it's almost a broken record. Thus, I tend to side with the evidence over the "what could be IF" side of things. If he can be effective with a lower usage, I'll believe it. Right now, that's not the case. His big problem is he shoots way too many mid-range jumpers. Not only is it an inefficient shot to begin with he's also not a great shooter from that range. Barrett: 25% of his offensive usage is coming from mid-range jumpers and he's shooting 27% on these attempts. Morant: 18% of his offensive usage is coming from mid-range jumpers and he's shooting 38% on these attempts. Morant is a better finisher at the rim, better three-point shooter, uses his mid-range game less but is more effective from Barrett in this area as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYRaider Posted December 1, 2018 Author Share Posted December 1, 2018 1 minute ago, beekay414 said: Yep, a 23% TOV% wont cut it even if your name is James Harden. He's gotta stay consistent from the perimeter and be a little less aggressive with the ball. He does that, he's the best player in this class. Morant's ability to finish around the hoop is unreal. On the year he has made 29/37 of his attempts at the rim. 9.25 attempts per game at the rim at a near 80% clip at 6'3" 180 is unheard of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYRaider Posted December 1, 2018 Author Share Posted December 1, 2018 A quick comparison of Ja Morant in comparison to other guards finishing around the rim. These are the PG's that have been lottery picks over the past few seasons. Ja Morant: 9.25 FGA at the rim per game, 78.4% FG percentage on shots at the rim 2018 Trae Young: 6.3 FGA at the rim per game, 53.4% FG percentage on shots at the rim Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 4.5 FGA at the rim per game, 67.4% FG percentage on shots at the rim 2017 Markelle Fultz: 9.4 FGA at the rim per game, 61.6% FG percentage on shots at the rim Lonzo Ball: 3.4 FGA at the rim per game, 78.9% FG percentage on shots at the rim DeAaron Fox: 6.0 FGA at the rim per game, 64.2% FG percentage on shots at the rim 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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