Can Ausar and Duren play together in today’s NBA?

[FloridaMan78]

Players learning to shoot in the NBA is a crap shoot. As of right now Ausar is shooting 15% from three and his shot is broken. Duren doesn’t shoot threes and probably never will.

JJ Reddick was talking about today’s NBA and was saying just having one non shooter out there is a mistake and specialists don’t have a place in the NBA anymore. Curious what others on the board.
https://youtu.be/t0RL00Gu564?si=8ylVqFgLueS6_Hi8

Can you win in today’s NBA with two players you don’t have to guard out on the three point line?

[bstein14]

They can if you're elite defensively and dominant on the boards with three other starters that are great at scoring the basketball in a variety of ways. I'd essentially want 3 other guys who can efficiently average 20+ PPG as the other 3 starters.

C: Duren
F: Ausar Thompson
F: Mikal Bridges
G: Bojan
G: Cade

That lineup is probably good enough to start Ausar and Duren together. Adding a two-way all-star like Bridges is obviously not likely for us.

-----

For us right now it makes the most sense to bring Thompson off the bench to better space the floor.

[Kalamazoo317]

No and they should be staggered until Ausar develops a reliable corner three at minimum.

[joedumars1]

I think if this is true only one non shooter, we have to use ausar as backup center if we can.

[Billl]

No, and really, if ausar doesn't improve dramatically with that shot, he's not a starter in any rotation.

He's obviously a hard worker and shot respectably from the NBA 3 point line in overtime elite, so I don't think he' a lost cause or anything. The but man better be in the gym all summer getting shots up

[whitehops]

ausar's weaknesses as a prospect have become glaring weaknesses as a rookie vs. nba competition. his handle, driving/finishing at the rim and his shot all had some cause for concern. it's easier for players to develop when they only have to work on one thing at a time but the reality is ausar doesn't have much of a role until his basic skills get to an adequate level.

on top of that he really needs to learn how to play both with and against physicality. he struggles to even catch the ball in any kind of crowd which is a problem to say the least.

IF it was just his shot he had to work on i'd be a lot more comfortable saying he could work next to duren but the reality is he has a long way to go developing a bunch of different skills, kind of like stewart playing the 4. i'm not as worried about the mental side, as he seems to have a good feel for the game and a lot of the mistakes/turnovers, etc. are a product of him seeing what he wants to do but not having the ability to do it.

[WoyTreaver]

Nope

[DBC10]

I love the idea of what Ausar can become. A truly athletic and defensive specimen that has shown he has the IQ and physicality to guard in this offensively explosive league

The reality, due to the fact we are in an offensively oriented NBA, you can no longer play players that won't get you a good 10 to 15 pts a night on good efficiency and FTs. You could possibly mitigate the less points if you were getting blocks (like a center) or steals along with a handful of assists. Ausar has shown to be a willing passer but he just has to put it all together and get himself out of the "project" label at the end of his rookie contract

Otherwise we've seen what happens to non-offensive players in this league, they get run out the door

[BDM22]

When you're 3-30 and need to develop your young players? Yes.

[BDM22]

I love the idea of what Ausar can become. A truly athletic and defensive specimen that has shown he has the IQ and physicality to guard in this offensively explosive league

The reality, due to the fact we are in an offensively oriented NBA, you can no longer play players that won't get you a good 10 to 15 pts a night on good efficiency and FTs. You could possibly mitigate the less points if you were getting blocks (like a center) or steals along with a handful of assists. Ausar has shown to be a willing passer but he just has to put it all together and get himself out of the "project" label at the end of his rookie contract

Otherwise we've seen what happens to non-offensive players in this league, they get run out the door

Well good news, he was already averaging like 12ppg as a rookie when starting, and his efficiency was rising toward decent until Monty Monty'd.

[King Bugs]

Well good news, he was already averaging like 12ppg as a rookie when starting, and his efficiency was rising toward decent until Monty Monty'd.

Right, we need to be very careful making declarations of what players can and can't become, when we have a coach that has been doing a horrible job putting our players in a position to be successful.

Ausar was getting "2nd best player in the draft" hype and Shawn Marion comparisons 2 months ago and now fans are suddenly out on him.

The season's over, there's no reason for him not to be playing 30 minutes a game. Regardless of who's on the floor with him, Duren or anyone else. Let him figure it out.

[Invictus88]

I wonder how many opportunities Ausar gets to work on shooting mechanics during the rigors of an NBA season.

My impression is that practices are fairly few and far between. If that's the case why doesn't he take a hiatus and spend his energy working on his jump shot instead? Would that be more beneficial than actual playing time for him at this point?

Maybe it's not an either/or situation (working on mechanics vs playing time) but it sure seems like players take big offseason leaps in those areas. We don't have anything to play for so why not do that now? Especially if he is going to be coming off of the bench anyways?

Note that I'm not suggesting he quit playing entirely or anything. Just possibly reducing the number of appearances if it means that he would gain valuable windows of time to focus on addressing holes to his game.

[Kalamazoo317]

I think if this is true only one non shooter, we have to use ausar as backup center if we can.

Or play with with a stretch five like Beef Stew

[joedumars1]

I think if this is true only one non shooter, we have to use ausar as backup center if we can.

Or play with with a stretch five like Beef Stew

Yeah that probably works also, lol

[Canadafan]

Well good news, he was already averaging like 12ppg as a rookie when starting, and his efficiency was rising toward decent until Monty Monty'd.

Right, we need to be very careful making declarations of what players can and can't become, when we have a coach that has been doing a horrible job putting our players in a position to be successful.

Ausar was getting "2nd best player in the draft" hype and Shawn Marion comparisons 2 months ago and now fans are suddenly out on him.

The season's over, there's no reason for him not to be playing 30 minutes a game. Regardless of who's on the floor with him, Duren or anyone else. Let him figure it out.

I loved the kid at the beginning of the year. And he was playing with Hayes and Stewart as our PF in the starting lineup so that wasn't ideal. Now that we've rectified that situation with Bojan and Ivey, I'd luv to see him start again instead of Knox. Or if we make a trade for a forward then we can have him off the bench with Stew at center. Morris at PG and a shooter or 2 in Burks and/or Knox

[Piston Pete]

Not until Ausar develops a consistent corner-3 ball.

[Canadafan]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzWY0L6LE4y/?igsh=c3R4eWw1bXo5amZv


Ahhhh the good ol days

[Snakebites]

I’m not sure Ausar can play if he can’t improve from where he is as a shooter.

Full stop.

He’s not good enough to build around fully and it’s hard to be a supporting piece as a non big without at least some shooting ability- even minimally.

[bstein14]

I’m not sure Ausar can play if he can’t improve from where he is as a shooter.

Full stop.

He’s not good enough to build around fully and it’s hard to be a supporting piece as a non big without at least some shooting ability- even minimally.

We've already dealt with 3+ years of Killian being the most inefficient player in the league... If you're not great at something else like defense/rebounding/etc you can't come out and just be good at that and not be able to shoot especially as a perimeter player. The team and spacing get that much stronger even if Duren starts to knock to 12 to 15 foot jumpers at a good percentage.

Also, look at Diallo... let all guards in FG% inside the paint last year (or within 5 ft can't remember for sure which) and he also is a great athlete who brought energy and above average rebounding for a guard/wing... he's out of the NBA because he can't stand in the corner and hit threes at at least 35%.

[Uncle Mxy]

Last year, Ausar shot 30% from the FIBA 3P line, taking nearly 4 threes per game.
Do I think he'll become a great shooter? No. Do I think he'll conquer 15%? Sure.