Well, it's Summer League. Think a slightly better organized pickup game.
I can only surmise what your comment means, but I take it that you are referring to his performance this past season.
You got it right.I can only surmise what your comment means, but I take it that you are referring to his performance this past season.
I know it was frustrating for me to watch him play this past year. For all the reasons, everyone has already stated. I don't think anyone here discounts his talent or potential. But that's the very cause of my frustration.
I got the distinct impression he was holding back, at times, in deference to the veterans - namely Shack and JQ - but that was just my impression.
Also, I got the impression that JD did not feel at liberty to play "his" game. It almost appeared that when he was on a roll, the others weren't rolling with him.
All of the above has to be seasoned with the glaring point that he did not seem to be quite mentally prepared for SEC basketball, and did not seem to completely adjust as the year went on - especially his ball handling skills.
Just my impressions - I could be very wrong - my wife often tells me that I am
I noticed that after the Gonzaga game teams started defending him differently and it caused him to become tentative. Both Memphis and Houston realized that JD would drive to goal, leave his feet, and then instead of shooting he would kick out to wing almost every time, so they started defending the wing. Once that part of his game was taken away, he wasn't able to adjust quickly enough and had a long stretch where he was mostly ineffective. I don't think he ever learned how to play without the ball in his hands and at times would not even be paying attention to what was going on (i.e. he was not an alpha dog looking to get the ball back). Later in the season his outside shot seemed to come around some and he also would drive to the goal and shoot instead of always be looking to pass. He did show an ability to kiss the ball high off the glass for a layup when he did this that he didn't seem to have early on in the season. There were glimpses of what he could do at times at that is what is frustrating, knowing that he could have been so much more had he stuck around for one more year and dedicated himself to working on his deficiencies. It isn't that he can't be a good NBA player, it's whether or not he can adjust and adapt quickly to whatever the defense throws at him (as you said in your post). The physical ability is there, he just has to have the work ethic and dedication to learning from his coaches and teammates to have a successful career. I hope it works out for him.
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