Chet Holmgren- Basketball's Next Unicorn?

[Aqua Buddha 14581]

34 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Have you watched him play or are you just looking at %s? 

Maybe I should say - have you watched the Spurs (try and) play offense?

Just looking at %.  

I've watched the Thunder for the last few years.  I've seen enough purposeful tanking to last a lifetime.  Wait until Wemby is out for the season with an "injury" and you're watching 1 potential started and 4 G league guys.

[Kermit 3156]

30 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Just looking at %.  

I've watched the Thunder for the last few years.  I've seen enough purposeful tanking to last a lifetime.  Wait until Wemby is out for the season with an "injury" and you're watching 1 potential started and 4 G league guys.

Goddamnit Aqua. Please, no. 

[TexasHooch 5122]

"Remains to be seen" is such a weird phrase to me. It remains to be seen whether anyone can stay healthy, or refine a shot, or develop a defensive presence, stay out of legal trouble, or anything. It's literally in the future! Everyfuckingthing remains to be seen.

 

[ztejas 43411]

1 hour ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Just looking at %.  

I've watched the Thunder for the last few years.  I've seen enough purposeful tanking to last a lifetime.  Wait until Wemby is out for the season with an "injury" and you're watching 1 potential started and 4 G league guys.

He's a good shooter and he will only get better. KD slashed 43/28 at 19. 

His shot selection can improve. His ability when it comes to doing anything on a basketball court shouldn't be in question for anyone that watches him play. Taking into account his size he's the most talented 19 year old I've ever seen. 

[Catdaddyhorn 3444]

9 hours ago, Aqua Buddha said:

I watched him play in college for about 10 minutes so I'm surprised about how athletic he is and how good of a finisher he is.  I remember one of the scouting reports said he was limited in college because all Drew Timme could do was stand in the post with his arms in the air, which clogged the lane and forced Chet outside.  That turned out to be correct.  Much better scorer than Jabari in that same class.  Also a borderline elite shooter and much better shooter than Wemby, quite frankly.

Also this:

 

It's counter intuitive, but college ball is the more restrictive game in terms of movement and space. Zones and poorer shooting in the college game have the effect of a more restrictive game that prevents players from show casing their athleticism without racking up fouls. 

[shadow_operative 15932]

 

 

[Blotto 23484]

Dudes got a lot of talent. Growing beards aint one of them. Needs to shave off that aids infested amish thing he's got going on.

Edited December 22, 2023 by Blotto

[TexasHooch 5122]

 

[MNLonghornFUKM 8817]

Dudes got a lot of talent. Growing beards aint one of them. Needs to shave off that aids infested amish thing he's got going on.

Better watch what you say or chet will 54 from treball is odee shooting hang pulls on yo ass

[ztejas 43411]

9 hours ago, shadow_operative said:

 

 

Lol. He's putting up 17 a game next to one of the toughest covers in the league. He's a great player already but he isn't close to "unstoppable" yet.

If you want to measure him against the "unstoppable" bar Chet is at 17 ppg on slightly better TS% than KD who's putting up 31 ppg and having a meh shooting season by his usual standards. 

Here are a couple of breakdowns for their FG attempts:

- 87% of Chet's FGA are either within 10 feet or catch-and-shoot outside of 10 feet

- 50% of his FGA are classified as either "open" or "wide open"

- 49% of KD's FGA are within 10 feet or catch-and-shoot outside of that (meaning 51% are "pull ups" past 10 feet)

- 74% of his FGA are classified as either "very tight" or "tight" coverage (meaning 26% are "open" or "wide open")

 

Chet is playing very efficiently and scoring at a decent clip but to be "unstoppable" typically defenses need to be trying to stop you in the first place. He is not enemy #1 for opposing defenses and as a result he is getting very good looks from the floor.

Edited December 22, 2023 by ztejas

[shadow_operative 15932]

i actually agree with the guy, and i more or less said the same thing as him upthread. his exact quote:

When he is aggressive and confident he's close to unstoppable. 
 

in my aforementioned post i talked about chet looked like a freshman getting his first run in varsity, and how when he realizes/remembers that he’s the man, that he’s going to take off, and could be an mvp candidate a few years down the road. i think that’s more or less what this guy is saying here. we’re seeing it in spurts now. if/when he starts playing like that every game, watch out.

[ztejas 43411]

I'm just not sure how a guy is "unstoppable" who no one is going out of their way to try and stop yet. That's extremely strong verbiage that I'd only apply to like 15 guys in the history of the league. He's not scoring on Kawhi and PG in those clips. He's not being doubled. Breaking it down:

- wide open 3

- Zubac trying to cover him past the 3 line, no help defense

- gets through a screen that is very poorly defended 

- Zubac leaves him for an open 7 footer

- Impressive and-1 against pretty good D from Zubac

- fairly open 3 that's contested late, good make

- Zubac again trying to cover him past the 3 line with no help D

 

Of course an OKC honk would say something like that about him. Admitting that he's one of the best rookies we've seen this century isn't enough - we need to make shit up about him like he's "close to unstoppable". Let's see him put up 20 every night first. 

[shadow_operative 15932]

2 hours ago, ztejas said:

I'm just not sure how a guy is "unstoppable" who no one is going out of their way to try and stop yet

again, you keep putting “unstoppable” in quotes when that’s not the quote.

“When he is aggressive and confident he's close to unstoppable.”

that’s the quote. he’s 7’2”, he’s got the handle of a guard, he’s slashing 53/38/88 on 4 3PA/gm, and he’s throwing lob dunks to himself off the backboard, as a rookie. he’s pretty damn unstoppable when he’s on. 

[Aqua Buddha 14581]

He's also still figuring out the NBA game.  Before this year, he hadn't played in almost a year and that was in college, which is largely garbage.  He couldn't even go to the rim in college because Drew Timme could just stand in the paint with his arms in the air.

I was at the same last night and I've seen him both against GS and Philly.  He's a lot more aggressive now.  He's starting to realize he can easily score on most other big men.  He'll never put up big numbers on that team because of the other players.  He won't be a volume scorer but a very efficient one.  He'll average high teens with the occasional +30 point game.  He'll prolly also be a good clutch shooter.  They're already letting him take important shots and he's doing pretty well with those.  

[Braff Zacklin 13551]

Been super impressed with Chet's play. I think that year off helped his game, and it's obvious to me that he really, really spent a lot of time on the practice court, working on his shot, handle, mental approach, everything.

Gotta admire and respect that. It's the foundation for greatness.

 

Hope Wemby has the same ethic. Suspect he does; time will tell.

[Catdaddyhorn 3444]

He's doing what he's doing on usage rate less than Jonathan Kuminga. Chet is literally only being held down by his own team. 

[ChiTownDoc 21135]

When he’s aggressive and at his best - those are massive qualifiers - he’s *close* to unstoppable.  No big deal saying that.  The best 100 players in the league are close to unstoppable at their absolute best while also being aggressive.  Can’t believe any of that has to be said.  But we are on Surly.  

Edited December 23, 2023 by ChiTownDoc

[Aqua Buddha 14581]

 

[Derka 6135]

where do OKC’s 1-2 best players and their top 4 players respectively stand compared to other contending teams? for example tatum and brown, or KD, booker, beal, and nurkic?

Edited October 25 by Derka

[aggie08 21481]

If this isn't the worst bench in the league, I'd be curious to see who is. Braun has to start now, so I'm not sure there's a single player coming off the bench I'd trust. 

[aggie08 21481]

Oops, wrong thread.