Dalek wrote:junot111 wrote:Am I the only one that thinks we've seen this before? His effectiveness is largely predicated on his shooting. He'll have stretches where he looks like he can contribute as
a floor spacer that can handle the ball a bit but then when his shot stops falling, it drastically decreases his value on the floor and his minutes decrease. Unless he can maintain at least 38% from 3pt, I still expect the same cycle to repeat
I don't feel like this is completely correct. The bonus to me is the shooting which definitely has moments where you feel it can swing the game.
The non-negotiable elements are defense and playmaking. He really couldn't defend previously because he was not as strong or experienced or confident enough. It seems like he has bulked up enough to the point he can play really impactful defense. I mentioned it before, but he is either the leader or close to being the team leader in deflections per 36 mins.
He is also a quick decision maker off pick and roll. Under Nurse he rarely ran it and was often in a position where he had to create amongst the chaos. Things seem more organized under Darko and it gives Malachi the structure he needs. Not sure if he will end up a long-term solution but right now the bench keeps playing better each game.
You can disagree but I think it's pretty disingenuous to call his shooting a bonus. It's clearly a big part (if not the biggest) of his value to the team, especially this particular roster.
His defense is okay, I haven't really noticed this new bulk and strength but even with that, he is still limited physically which is the root of his problems defensively, as it certainly wasn't due to a lack of effort. The deflections are nice but he's never going to be a plus defender due to his lack of size and athleticism.
His playmaking is still unimpressive. He clearly doesn't look like a play initiator and can only act as a relief ball handler or secondary playmaker after someone else creates an advantage. His main threat is to shoot, and if the defense is playing up on his shot then he has more options like attacking the closeout (which is what happened last night on the play where he got fouled)
Not trying to hate, like I said if he can maintain 38% from 3 he'll be serviceable to this team. We've desperately needed a second guard that can shoot and dribble for years now since Kyle left and Flynn has been the closest thing. But the same limitations are still there and not enough talent to overcome them so I'm not really convinced by a hot shooting streak, but would be happy to be proven wrong
