Post by DERRENMATTS on Feb 19, 2007 18:23:00 GMT -5
Al Jefferson
-needs to improve on banging his way inside. He's already got an understanding of how to get his man off his feet using a pump fake and how to blow by him after that. And he's beginning to use his jumper more (which will set up his pump fake even more). But what Big Al needs to work on now is how to power his way closer to the basket, where he can execute a myriad of his post moves to get off his shot. This will make him a complete post player.
Paul Pierce
-well, he's a proven All-Star so there's not much to improve in his game. I just want to see Pierce continue to play in the team game.
Wally Szczerbiak
-I still think Wally is a good fit for us (when healthy). But he's got to trim off all the excess junk in his game. He's got to become a deadly perimeter marksmen and leave all the dribbling and cute stuff out. Just work on perfecting the kickout jumpers and catching and shooting off the picks and curls and I think he'll be a big weapon for us. He's got to have healthy ankles first though. He's of little value to us if he can't shoot off his sore ankles.
Gerald Green
-His jumpshot is coming along very nicely. Where I would like to see Gerald improve leaps and bounds is his ball handling. Without being able to dribble, a wing player is severly handicapped. Once Gerald becomes a solid ball handler, he'll be able to dribble drive a lot more to set up his pull up jumpers, or take it all the way to the basket. If I'm Gerald, I'd constantly be asking Pierce for advice on how to become good at finishing at the rim (Pierce is a solid finisher). Gerald can also be a nice defensive player and rebounder. If you guys haven't noticed, Doc has been using Gerald to guard the team's best perimeter players (Iverson, Vince, etc.). Gerald can be a complete player if he puts in a tremendous amount of work.
Delonte West
-Delonte has got to stop trying to be a PG. He's taking away from his best attribute (his shooting) and forcing himself to be a lead guard. What Lefty has got to work on is quickly getting his shot off. He's not good at catching and shooting (yet), and this is where he can greatly benefit us. Once he goes back to being a perimeter threat (at one point last season, he was shooting better than 50% from the field, 40% from beyond the arc, and 90% from the FT line), he'll have a greater niche on the team.
Ryan Gomes
-He's been really good at knocking down those elbow and baseline jumpers and he has made a steady transition to the SF spot. But I want Gomes to get back to attacking the offensive boards and being the garbage man that he was so good at playing. We're missing the offensive boards and second chance points, and this was once his calling card. Its nice that he's knocking down 15 footers, but Gomes can't forget that his body was made to tangle down low and we need some of that.
Rajon Rondo
-This is a simple one--his jumper. Rajon is a jumpshot away from making it onto future All-Star squads. He's only a rookie and still hasn't proven anything, but its easy to see how amazing and how talented this kid is, both offensively and defensively. Because of his big and strong hands, Rajon has difficulty incorporating touch in his shooting. But he is working hard on his jumper and if he improves it to the point where he can knock down 40% of his shots, he'll be scary. There's already so much to like about him that even without a jumper, he's still spectacular.
Sebastian Telfair
-Bassy could also stand to tighten up his jumper. He's got the ability to be a consistent midrange shooter (he showed glimpses of it early in the season) and just needs more work on finding a rhythm that works for him. Telfair is not going to be as versatile a PG as Rondo and his bread and butter will be knocking down the midrange jumpers off of picks. This will set up the pick and roll game. Sebastian also needs to do a better job of knowing when to pass and when to shoot.
Tony Allen
-Gosh, what might have been if he never attempted that useless dunk in that Pacers game that ruined his season? I'm hoping that Tony will return back to the form in which he left off. If he does, all Tony needs to do is tighten up his game, i.e. his dribbling, his jumper, his focus.
Kendrick Perkins
-First off, he needs to get healthy. He can't do much with a sore foot. When he gets healthy, Perkins needs to become an immovable mountain in the paint and let no man take his rebounds away from him. He's got to learn how to create a ton of space in the paint by using his body. I think he knows a bit of how to do it, but either loses his concentration at times, or else is hesitant to bruise and bully around people. He's a big teddy bear deep down inside. Perk also needs to work a ton on converting offensive rebounds into points, as well as going straight up with the ball instead of always pounding the ball into the ground first and crouching down before going up for a shot attempt. He makes dump off passes an adventure.
Brian Scalabrine
-Like Szczerbiak, what Scal needs to do is leave out all the cute stuff, like prancing around the court with the ball. I like his hustle and energy and he's improved his accuracy with his jumper. The next step for Scal is to consistently offer these things. He needs to create a niche for himself.
Leon Powe
-Hard to say what he needs to improve on because Doc never gives him playing time. From what I know of Powe, what I think he should work on is his 10 - 12 foot jumpers. More than any other big man on the team, Powe is good at spinning on his pivot foot when he's driving into the paint, and if he starts setting up his drives with a pump fake from 10 feet out, he's going to get buckets or trips to the line regularly.
Allan Ray
-He's gonig to be a solid role player off the bench, having the niche of being our catch and shoot weapon. Ray needs to keep working hard on this and he'll be fine. His dribbling can also be tightened up because as a backcourt player, he'll need to handle the ball.
And finally, as a team, I think we already have a strong core of talents to build on, a core that can one day challenge for a title (praying that we'll land a stud player in this draft). Along with players improving their games, we absolutely need this team to have strong chemistry with one another. We have to bond and play as a single collective unit. This is what will put it all together and bring us our next championship.
-needs to improve on banging his way inside. He's already got an understanding of how to get his man off his feet using a pump fake and how to blow by him after that. And he's beginning to use his jumper more (which will set up his pump fake even more). But what Big Al needs to work on now is how to power his way closer to the basket, where he can execute a myriad of his post moves to get off his shot. This will make him a complete post player.
Paul Pierce
-well, he's a proven All-Star so there's not much to improve in his game. I just want to see Pierce continue to play in the team game.
Wally Szczerbiak
-I still think Wally is a good fit for us (when healthy). But he's got to trim off all the excess junk in his game. He's got to become a deadly perimeter marksmen and leave all the dribbling and cute stuff out. Just work on perfecting the kickout jumpers and catching and shooting off the picks and curls and I think he'll be a big weapon for us. He's got to have healthy ankles first though. He's of little value to us if he can't shoot off his sore ankles.
Gerald Green
-His jumpshot is coming along very nicely. Where I would like to see Gerald improve leaps and bounds is his ball handling. Without being able to dribble, a wing player is severly handicapped. Once Gerald becomes a solid ball handler, he'll be able to dribble drive a lot more to set up his pull up jumpers, or take it all the way to the basket. If I'm Gerald, I'd constantly be asking Pierce for advice on how to become good at finishing at the rim (Pierce is a solid finisher). Gerald can also be a nice defensive player and rebounder. If you guys haven't noticed, Doc has been using Gerald to guard the team's best perimeter players (Iverson, Vince, etc.). Gerald can be a complete player if he puts in a tremendous amount of work.
Delonte West
-Delonte has got to stop trying to be a PG. He's taking away from his best attribute (his shooting) and forcing himself to be a lead guard. What Lefty has got to work on is quickly getting his shot off. He's not good at catching and shooting (yet), and this is where he can greatly benefit us. Once he goes back to being a perimeter threat (at one point last season, he was shooting better than 50% from the field, 40% from beyond the arc, and 90% from the FT line), he'll have a greater niche on the team.
Ryan Gomes
-He's been really good at knocking down those elbow and baseline jumpers and he has made a steady transition to the SF spot. But I want Gomes to get back to attacking the offensive boards and being the garbage man that he was so good at playing. We're missing the offensive boards and second chance points, and this was once his calling card. Its nice that he's knocking down 15 footers, but Gomes can't forget that his body was made to tangle down low and we need some of that.
Rajon Rondo
-This is a simple one--his jumper. Rajon is a jumpshot away from making it onto future All-Star squads. He's only a rookie and still hasn't proven anything, but its easy to see how amazing and how talented this kid is, both offensively and defensively. Because of his big and strong hands, Rajon has difficulty incorporating touch in his shooting. But he is working hard on his jumper and if he improves it to the point where he can knock down 40% of his shots, he'll be scary. There's already so much to like about him that even without a jumper, he's still spectacular.
Sebastian Telfair
-Bassy could also stand to tighten up his jumper. He's got the ability to be a consistent midrange shooter (he showed glimpses of it early in the season) and just needs more work on finding a rhythm that works for him. Telfair is not going to be as versatile a PG as Rondo and his bread and butter will be knocking down the midrange jumpers off of picks. This will set up the pick and roll game. Sebastian also needs to do a better job of knowing when to pass and when to shoot.
Tony Allen
-Gosh, what might have been if he never attempted that useless dunk in that Pacers game that ruined his season? I'm hoping that Tony will return back to the form in which he left off. If he does, all Tony needs to do is tighten up his game, i.e. his dribbling, his jumper, his focus.
Kendrick Perkins
-First off, he needs to get healthy. He can't do much with a sore foot. When he gets healthy, Perkins needs to become an immovable mountain in the paint and let no man take his rebounds away from him. He's got to learn how to create a ton of space in the paint by using his body. I think he knows a bit of how to do it, but either loses his concentration at times, or else is hesitant to bruise and bully around people. He's a big teddy bear deep down inside. Perk also needs to work a ton on converting offensive rebounds into points, as well as going straight up with the ball instead of always pounding the ball into the ground first and crouching down before going up for a shot attempt. He makes dump off passes an adventure.
Brian Scalabrine
-Like Szczerbiak, what Scal needs to do is leave out all the cute stuff, like prancing around the court with the ball. I like his hustle and energy and he's improved his accuracy with his jumper. The next step for Scal is to consistently offer these things. He needs to create a niche for himself.
Leon Powe
-Hard to say what he needs to improve on because Doc never gives him playing time. From what I know of Powe, what I think he should work on is his 10 - 12 foot jumpers. More than any other big man on the team, Powe is good at spinning on his pivot foot when he's driving into the paint, and if he starts setting up his drives with a pump fake from 10 feet out, he's going to get buckets or trips to the line regularly.
Allan Ray
-He's gonig to be a solid role player off the bench, having the niche of being our catch and shoot weapon. Ray needs to keep working hard on this and he'll be fine. His dribbling can also be tightened up because as a backcourt player, he'll need to handle the ball.
And finally, as a team, I think we already have a strong core of talents to build on, a core that can one day challenge for a title (praying that we'll land a stud player in this draft). Along with players improving their games, we absolutely need this team to have strong chemistry with one another. We have to bond and play as a single collective unit. This is what will put it all together and bring us our next championship.
