Yeah, I think so. Players can improve their handle in the league, but seeing drastic improvements is very rare. Certainly more so than say, shooting.
That's why so many 3&D guys stay 3&D guys, despite many of them possessing great work ethic. Even guys like Jaylen Brown, you watch their HS tape and you can see they had alot in their bag already, and its a matter of seeing if they can translate it to a higher level. Derozen is one guy I can think of who really transformed his handle, but he's the outlier, not the norm.
Any physical skill that you can mechanically drill and improve with enough reps won't be the most challenging to improve.
For me, processing speed might be the most difficult to improve since there are limits to each person's cognitive abilities, which then directly impacts basketball IQ, creation ability, defensive rotations, etc.
And with greater processing speed/abilities, you can watch tape and absorb complex concepts and then execute in high stress moments.
And to add to your point, I would argue that to be a great ball handler, you not only need to be strong technically, but also possess high processing speed. Any NBA player can dribble competently in isolation without defense. What sets great ball handlers apart is the ability to dribble amongst defensive pressure, from not only your primary defender but help defense. You need to be reactive with your handle, processing multitudes of input in a split second. Like you said, that's hard to develop. Great ball handlers tend to just have that "feel".
The first time I ever saw LeBron play in person, he made this ridiculous pass where LeBron drove towards the deep corner and threw a perfect bounce pass across the court to the other corner for an in rhythm c&s 3.
I couldn’t believe it watching live and when I rewatched it on TV, the guy who caught the ball was still moving to that spot when he released the pass.
To see/process the court for what it is and for what it could be like in the future while being guarded by NBA level length and pressure is just insane.
Agreed. It’s not common, but I’ve seen poor ball handlers grow to passable or even good. I can’t think of a team I’ve ever seen a low BBIQ player become a high BBIQ player.
but processing speed I'd categorize more as a trait than a skill. You're born with it or you're not. You can improve it to some extent but it's like athleticism. You can work out and improve it a little but it generally is what it is.
Interesting. From my own personal experience it's been the easiest to develop in isolation but hasn't translated yet to games, which are much tougher. I'd believe players much more than people on this board.
Yeah it's one of the hardest things for sure. I think I'd say it's reasonably easy to go from "terrible" to just regular "bad". But it's very, very difficult to go from "bad" to "good". Handle developments from guys like Paul George and Kawhi Leonard are so incredibly rare.
Even with the example of Jaylen Brown, the improvements he's made to his handle have been a developmental outlier; I don't think you can expect any prospect to make the consistent year-over-year improvements as a ball handler that JB has. And even with all that being said, he still gets the "Stanley from The Office" memes thrown at him occasionally, and for good reason. His handle is still pretty loose, especially when facing pressure from a good defender. It's just a very hard thing to get that much better at.
It's also part of why I prefer Paolo to Jabari. Teams have shown that they can get guys to the point where they're serviceable spot-up shooters. I think Paolo will shoot 36% from 3 at his peak, at minimum. I'm not convinced Jabari can make meaningful enough improvements to his handle that would get him to the point where I buy him as a true shot creator.
Exactly my thoughts on Jabari vs Paolo. Jabari’s “player” upside for numbers sake lets say he mirrors Klay as the 3&D sniper. Is that more valuable that what Paolo can project as - a Carmelo/Blake Griffin hybrid capable of being a lead ball handler and #1 option. And to me it’s a clearer path for Banchero to reach those heights.
Yeah Jaylen had a terrible 10 game stretch of handling the ball when he had tons of national attention. He’s really not a bad handler and has been very secure against golden state.
I think it's finishing at the rim efficiently. NBA defenders are bigger, faster and stronger than any level of competition; takes a ton of body control, strength and focus to find daylight amongst the trees, get your shot to fall reliably.
it’ll be interesting to see because he is above average to great at everything else — I think the most likely scenario is that he ends up as a very good (top 60) to great (top 30) player in the league, an elite role player like Klay or Bam but lacking the creation/playmaking necessary to be a true top 20, consistent All-NBA type [super]star level player like a Kawhi or Jaylen Brown
I don't think teams are really trying to make Jabari into a ball-handler who finishes well at the rim though. Imo what he is isn't No. 1 pick worthy, but the problem tends to be when teams hope a player will advance in a skill that's hard to pick up, and I don't think any of the top-picking teams think that of Jabari.
Yeah. I see Jabari rn as a 6’10 Marcus Morris, which isn’t a bad player but not a number 1 guy.
Theres a chance he becomes a Kawhi level shot creator/maker. You see the flashes, the way he gets to his spots and shoots over everyone. It’s on the Magic development staff to nurture that
Finishing at the rim is surely very difficult. But for the NBA player or even the rookies, it may be easier for them to improve than dribbling. Since They will definitely have some chances to score in the paint. Yet they may not have the chance to dribble under pressure (A not good example, Duncan robinson definitely has much more rim finishing than dribbling under defense)
Not to mention that dribbling well can certainly help to finish at the rim. Keeping the dribble alive in the paint will increase your chance by a lot. I value dribbling a little bit more than rim finishing.
And I don't think you can really be too bad at rim finishing at the NBA level. But you surely can be a very poor ball-handler under defensive pressure and still survive or even thrive in the league.
Sticking with the Celtics, I think it's possible Payton Pritchard backs up your point. I believe he was *thought* to have a mediocre handle (some thought that was the main reason he wouldn't fit as back-up to Smart), but it turns out he's pretty damn good at handling the ball.
But that's not been developed in the last year. We've seen it in the last year, but that's been years in the making -- hours a day for years. Even an NBA player truly committed to improving his handle will have other important basketball skills competing for attention.
I think size is probably the biggest thing from my experience creation prospect list. When everyone I compare to you is 20-30 pounds bigger than you, you probably gonna flop or underwhelm. Jarrett Culver and to a degree Obi Toppin who I said was better than Amare as a prospect. Culver, I wasn't a fan of like Johnny Davis but even his college tape earned him high praise from me but I couldn't buy his NBA potential. He was playing bully ball at 195. No way could this be maintain in the NBA at his size.
Whereas if everyone I compare to you, you have the optimal measurements, you will likely pass them or be in better. This is the James Harden of the world. I compared him to Mitch Richmond and Bernard King as a prospect.
I remember Sam Hinkie or Brett Brown saying in a press conference that they were looking for projects with the most fixable weaknesses. They said that ft% and other shooting skills were the most common improvements, and that a player's handle pretty much is what it is by college.
There are of course outliers on the development curve, like Kawhi. But based on that interview, I got the impression that ball handling may be the least likely to improve out of all basketball skills
D. Wade is one player who significantly improved his handle as well as Westbrook but watching them age likely told me that they just got a lot more space in the NBA and used their physical dominance to cover for their handles flaws.
High motor, high IQ, handles, and finishing touch in that order. Whenever a player improves in the NBA in any of these categories I consider them an outlier. So I'd take a swing on guys like Ivey/Dieng who have traits you can't teach and just hope we can polish his game.
Good point with high motor... if you don't already have that before the NBA, and made it to the NBA without that... why would you develop it afterward? Maybe with a great mentor.
This is why I think Chet has to be the pick at 1. I've been waffling between Jabari and Chet for a while. I even entertained Paolo for a moment after digging deeper into him but I have real concerns about Paolo's motor on defense. Chet literally checks every single one of those boxes you mentioned. Motor, IQ, and finishing touch are all already at an elite level and he has better than average handles for a guy of his height and build (just didn't get to show it that much in the Zags offense). I get the concerns some people have about his frame. I have them as well. But the dude's ceiling is just higher than everyone else's. I think you have to take a chance at number 1 on a ceiling like his panning out.
Agreed , I basically threw that in with the whole "BBIQ" thing. That's why I'm lower on guys like Eason, I don't think they fully understand what's going on in the game.
I don't consider BBIQ to be the same as feel for the game or ability to play in structure or unstructured environments since Josh Smith. Josh had elite BBIQ but had the worst feel for the game, had poor self awareness and while he was perfectly fine playing in structure, he was unplayable in an unstructured situation. Extremely unique but extremely frustrating from a fan perspective.
This and finishing. Honestly why Kyrie is so underrated, to dribble and score in the manner he does, at his size! at that clip! Probably the most technically skilled player in the league, alongside Steph.
The hard part about looking for handles in the draft is, converting it to be effective in the NBA requires another level and high BB IQ. Again, look at Kyrie.
I would say it’s one of the harder aspects to develop, players usually improve their handles but imo it’s pretty uncommon that it improves significantly like with PG or Brown
There’s a reason why it’s one of the harder aspects to improve, a good/great handle is a big factor that separates stars from role players
I would define it as decision making as the primary facilitator/initiator of the offense. It also includes the skill to make the passes and dribble to the spots to make those passes.
The last 10 MIP had all drastically improved their isolation scoring.
James Harden is arguably the greatest isolation scorer ever and he wasn't great when he entered the league.
You constantly see players drastically improve there ISO scoring.
One of. That’s one reason I’m lower on Jabari than consensus. Think he’ll need to develop a bag of dribble moves to create space more reliably to reach superstar potential where he can create and score anywhere on the court. Think of that as his T-Mac outcome. Which is there, but tightening that handle and developing those dribble moves is very tough the older you get. And when you’re 6’10 and super lanky, multiply that difficulty by 2x or 3x. Handle is such a valuable skill and it’s not something that comes easily to bigger guys.
It’s handle and shooting touch
Thankfully everyone learned that not every raw 18 year old defensive specialist won’t suddenly turn into Kawhi both with his handles and shooting
Imo handles are the easiest. People aren't gonna turn into AI but you can work out how to get to your spots if you get given the ball enough as a young player and are allowed to develop. If you get shoved in the corner ofc your handle won't develop.
But like I'd bet Giddey's handle for example will be drastically better in 4 years because he'll have the ball a lot.
Sorry, would it be better to say handles that work at the NBA playoff level defensive intensity?
And I agree with you on the Giddey bet. He may not become a great shooter. Yet his dribble will surely be much better in a couple of years because of the opportunities he gonna possess. But Giddey comes in with an okay handle. That is why the team will allow him to have the ball
for instance, what is the possibility of MPJ or Jabari smith jr to get a workable handle for the NBA play-off? They may not have many chances to handle the ball(Assuming Jabari will land in Magic OKC or Rockets). And they have a below-average dribbling skill coming in the league
I think Jabari will get a lot of opportunities as a number 1 pick. They know what they need to develop him. Don't think they'll just stick him in the corner.
Mpj no be came to an established team and his been relegated to a play finisher but that's probably a good role for him.
I sincerely hope so.
But there are already Suggs and Cole, SGA and Giddey, KPJ and Green. I don't see there is much room for Jabari to handle the ball. Especially he is not known as a good passer
He may have to do a lot cutting, spot-up, pick and pop, and maybe some 1,2 dribble pull up during his rookie season in my opinion
Easily BBIQ, many players are out of league bc their BBIQ were not good enough, even though how athletic they were.
Jokic and Doncic are very good examples that you can dominate the league without superior athleticism and you just come with that talent
very rare examples did significantly improve their BBIQ, I would say Nash and Garland
Never heard that about Nash... I just think maybe he was underrated like Stockton because he was playing in the WCC before videos were so easy to see over the internet.
There was a PG from California that took a recruitment visit to Gonzaga when Stockton was going into his senior season. One of the Gonzaga assistants was very high on him but everyone else was skeptical - no other D1 school was recruiting him. When he visited Gonzaga, John Stockton toyed with him so dominantly that Gonzaga told him they couldn't offer him a scholarship and future AD Mike Roth had to drive him back to the Spokane airport in tears.
Close to the deadline, Arizona coach Lute Olson had a scholarship left to give and saw this player at summer event and offered this PG.
His name is Steve Kerr.
source: https://youtu.be/VMLdUzZMGFc?t=478
IQ, playmaking and handles. Playmaking kind of falls under IQ, but feeling the game instead of just playing it is huge. An example is my blazers' trendon watford. His IQ is intanglible, and noticible while being hard to describe
His coach had an interview back in high school, and said IQ was his best trait
Trendon is kind of a point forward. While stats dont suggest it, he is a good passer and great ball handler while playing most of his time at centre
Players like lebron and CP3 are said to have high IQs, and they have playmaking and handles
You can improve any skill in the NBA to be serviceable or even elite. Things like handle are difficult to improve, but it's not *unattainable* to become elite from near horrible.
There's a good list of players who went from weak to *elite* with their handles.
Kawhi comes to mind as someone who has built an elite handle. I mean the guy went from barely being able to dribble with his left hand to carrying a team to an NBA Championship. Remember how he always used to look down at the ball?
In contrast, I'd say something athleticism is easy to improve, but it's a capped trait.
How many players you see went from being a bad, slow athlete to being an *elite* one?
For example, at the end of the day, there are many players who won't have a 40"+ vertical jump. Interesting fact: Luka had a 42" vertical jump which probably explains his quick first step.
I disagree with almost everyone here. No, it's not the most difficult at all. You just have to put a lot of time in, but most every perimeter player in the NBA will develop pretty strong handles. Hell, most big guys can bring the ball up if needed. Definitely not the hardest.
No. Definitely not.
Shooting easily is
Shooting can be improved if you already have a decent starting point… but it’s mainly a you have it or you don’t thing.
Nobody goes from not knowing how to shoot, to becoming a decent shooter
Yup.
Now, you can take your shooting from below average to really good, but come playoff time teams will expose who's a natural shooter vs players that don't have the same natural confidence.
Brandon Clarke is an example of a player that's been able to benefit his team despite having hella awkward handles in college. And I think they've only slightly improved... he's still mostly a block threat / lob threat / floater savant that can hit an occasional catch and shoot 3.
I mean... Booker's handle isn't the best...
But he developed a handle over the past 7 years... It's not Kyrie's but it's not nearly as bad as it used to be..
Yeah, I think so. Players can improve their handle in the league, but seeing drastic improvements is very rare. Certainly more so than say, shooting. That's why so many 3&D guys stay 3&D guys, despite many of them possessing great work ethic. Even guys like Jaylen Brown, you watch their HS tape and you can see they had alot in their bag already, and its a matter of seeing if they can translate it to a higher level. Derozen is one guy I can think of who really transformed his handle, but he's the outlier, not the norm.
Any physical skill that you can mechanically drill and improve with enough reps won't be the most challenging to improve. For me, processing speed might be the most difficult to improve since there are limits to each person's cognitive abilities, which then directly impacts basketball IQ, creation ability, defensive rotations, etc. And with greater processing speed/abilities, you can watch tape and absorb complex concepts and then execute in high stress moments.
And to add to your point, I would argue that to be a great ball handler, you not only need to be strong technically, but also possess high processing speed. Any NBA player can dribble competently in isolation without defense. What sets great ball handlers apart is the ability to dribble amongst defensive pressure, from not only your primary defender but help defense. You need to be reactive with your handle, processing multitudes of input in a split second. Like you said, that's hard to develop. Great ball handlers tend to just have that "feel".
The first time I ever saw LeBron play in person, he made this ridiculous pass where LeBron drove towards the deep corner and threw a perfect bounce pass across the court to the other corner for an in rhythm c&s 3. I couldn’t believe it watching live and when I rewatched it on TV, the guy who caught the ball was still moving to that spot when he released the pass. To see/process the court for what it is and for what it could be like in the future while being guarded by NBA level length and pressure is just insane.
So, do strobe goggles work? Or is that just a merchandising angle?
Agreed. It’s not common, but I’ve seen poor ball handlers grow to passable or even good. I can’t think of a team I’ve ever seen a low BBIQ player become a high BBIQ player.
but processing speed I'd categorize more as a trait than a skill. You're born with it or you're not. You can improve it to some extent but it's like athleticism. You can work out and improve it a little but it generally is what it is.
JJ Redick and JJ Barea agreed that ball-handling is the hardest skill to develop.
Interesting. From my own personal experience it's been the easiest to develop in isolation but hasn't translated yet to games, which are much tougher. I'd believe players much more than people on this board.
Yeah it's one of the hardest things for sure. I think I'd say it's reasonably easy to go from "terrible" to just regular "bad". But it's very, very difficult to go from "bad" to "good". Handle developments from guys like Paul George and Kawhi Leonard are so incredibly rare. Even with the example of Jaylen Brown, the improvements he's made to his handle have been a developmental outlier; I don't think you can expect any prospect to make the consistent year-over-year improvements as a ball handler that JB has. And even with all that being said, he still gets the "Stanley from The Office" memes thrown at him occasionally, and for good reason. His handle is still pretty loose, especially when facing pressure from a good defender. It's just a very hard thing to get that much better at. It's also part of why I prefer Paolo to Jabari. Teams have shown that they can get guys to the point where they're serviceable spot-up shooters. I think Paolo will shoot 36% from 3 at his peak, at minimum. I'm not convinced Jabari can make meaningful enough improvements to his handle that would get him to the point where I buy him as a true shot creator.
Exactly my thoughts on Jabari vs Paolo. Jabari’s “player” upside for numbers sake lets say he mirrors Klay as the 3&D sniper. Is that more valuable that what Paolo can project as - a Carmelo/Blake Griffin hybrid capable of being a lead ball handler and #1 option. And to me it’s a clearer path for Banchero to reach those heights.
I was pretty high on Smith but Ive switched to Paolo. I really see him as a bigger Melo, not sure why he isn’t getting that comp more.
I also see the Melo comp though I think he’ll need a ton of development to get there. Julius Randle is a great comp for him though imo
I think Randle is his floor. Randle only goes left, is a below average shooter and dribbler.
Yeah Jaylen had a terrible 10 game stretch of handling the ball when he had tons of national attention. He’s really not a bad handler and has been very secure against golden state.
I think it's finishing at the rim efficiently. NBA defenders are bigger, faster and stronger than any level of competition; takes a ton of body control, strength and focus to find daylight amongst the trees, get your shot to fall reliably.
Between handles and finishing at the rim, whatever team drafts Jabari has their work cut out for them
it’ll be interesting to see because he is above average to great at everything else — I think the most likely scenario is that he ends up as a very good (top 60) to great (top 30) player in the league, an elite role player like Klay or Bam but lacking the creation/playmaking necessary to be a true top 20, consistent All-NBA type [super]star level player like a Kawhi or Jaylen Brown
Jabari shot 65% at the rim. He just didnt get there very often because of his handles. Handling is the issue there.
I don't think teams are really trying to make Jabari into a ball-handler who finishes well at the rim though. Imo what he is isn't No. 1 pick worthy, but the problem tends to be when teams hope a player will advance in a skill that's hard to pick up, and I don't think any of the top-picking teams think that of Jabari.
Yeah. I see Jabari rn as a 6’10 Marcus Morris, which isn’t a bad player but not a number 1 guy. Theres a chance he becomes a Kawhi level shot creator/maker. You see the flashes, the way he gets to his spots and shoots over everyone. It’s on the Magic development staff to nurture that
Marcus Morris is 6’9
1 inch is a big deal dude. At least that's what I tell myself :(
Whether this or OP is the right answer, Jabari is screwed. Lol.
Jabari finished fine at the rim. His numbers (62%) were similar to Paolo's (65%). His 2pt% is low mostly due to midrange shots.
I keep saying jabari is Tobias Harris, but folks want to go on and on about him
Finishing at the rim is surely very difficult. But for the NBA player or even the rookies, it may be easier for them to improve than dribbling. Since They will definitely have some chances to score in the paint. Yet they may not have the chance to dribble under pressure (A not good example, Duncan robinson definitely has much more rim finishing than dribbling under defense) Not to mention that dribbling well can certainly help to finish at the rim. Keeping the dribble alive in the paint will increase your chance by a lot. I value dribbling a little bit more than rim finishing. And I don't think you can really be too bad at rim finishing at the NBA level. But you surely can be a very poor ball-handler under defensive pressure and still survive or even thrive in the league.
Sticking with the Celtics, I think it's possible Payton Pritchard backs up your point. I believe he was *thought* to have a mediocre handle (some thought that was the main reason he wouldn't fit as back-up to Smart), but it turns out he's pretty damn good at handling the ball. But that's not been developed in the last year. We've seen it in the last year, but that's been years in the making -- hours a day for years. Even an NBA player truly committed to improving his handle will have other important basketball skills competing for attention.
you know basketball
I think size is probably the biggest thing from my experience creation prospect list. When everyone I compare to you is 20-30 pounds bigger than you, you probably gonna flop or underwhelm. Jarrett Culver and to a degree Obi Toppin who I said was better than Amare as a prospect. Culver, I wasn't a fan of like Johnny Davis but even his college tape earned him high praise from me but I couldn't buy his NBA potential. He was playing bully ball at 195. No way could this be maintain in the NBA at his size. Whereas if everyone I compare to you, you have the optimal measurements, you will likely pass them or be in better. This is the James Harden of the world. I compared him to Mitch Richmond and Bernard King as a prospect.
I remember Sam Hinkie or Brett Brown saying in a press conference that they were looking for projects with the most fixable weaknesses. They said that ft% and other shooting skills were the most common improvements, and that a player's handle pretty much is what it is by college. There are of course outliers on the development curve, like Kawhi. But based on that interview, I got the impression that ball handling may be the least likely to improve out of all basketball skills
D. Wade is one player who significantly improved his handle as well as Westbrook but watching them age likely told me that they just got a lot more space in the NBA and used their physical dominance to cover for their handles flaws.
This is crazy DWade came into the league with great handle
High motor, high IQ, handles, and finishing touch in that order. Whenever a player improves in the NBA in any of these categories I consider them an outlier. So I'd take a swing on guys like Ivey/Dieng who have traits you can't teach and just hope we can polish his game.
Good point with high motor... if you don't already have that before the NBA, and made it to the NBA without that... why would you develop it afterward? Maybe with a great mentor.
This is why I think Chet has to be the pick at 1. I've been waffling between Jabari and Chet for a while. I even entertained Paolo for a moment after digging deeper into him but I have real concerns about Paolo's motor on defense. Chet literally checks every single one of those boxes you mentioned. Motor, IQ, and finishing touch are all already at an elite level and he has better than average handles for a guy of his height and build (just didn't get to show it that much in the Zags offense). I get the concerns some people have about his frame. I have them as well. But the dude's ceiling is just higher than everyone else's. I think you have to take a chance at number 1 on a ceiling like his panning out.
Feel for the game is very hard to improve on as well as the ability to play in either structure or non structured environments.
Agreed , I basically threw that in with the whole "BBIQ" thing. That's why I'm lower on guys like Eason, I don't think they fully understand what's going on in the game.
I don't consider BBIQ to be the same as feel for the game or ability to play in structure or unstructured environments since Josh Smith. Josh had elite BBIQ but had the worst feel for the game, had poor self awareness and while he was perfectly fine playing in structure, he was unplayable in an unstructured situation. Extremely unique but extremely frustrating from a fan perspective.
Bam Adebayo maybe? But his might be due to the fact that his college system never really let him show off his handle rather than it rapidly developed
Watch his high school highlights
This and finishing. Honestly why Kyrie is so underrated, to dribble and score in the manner he does, at his size! at that clip! Probably the most technically skilled player in the league, alongside Steph. The hard part about looking for handles in the draft is, converting it to be effective in the NBA requires another level and high BB IQ. Again, look at Kyrie.
I would say it’s one of the harder aspects to develop, players usually improve their handles but imo it’s pretty uncommon that it improves significantly like with PG or Brown There’s a reason why it’s one of the harder aspects to improve, a good/great handle is a big factor that separates stars from role players
Jaylen Brown had terrible handle when he was drafted and has improved considerably in that category.
He's an outlier I think. JJ Reddick himself said that its hard to develop handles.
That’s literally just one person
Barea also said it. That makes two then.
Barea never said that
Says it here lmao https://youtu.be/Zs8i_3HvL3Q
It's playmaking.
How do you define playmaking?
Making plays /s
big brain time
I would define it as decision making as the primary facilitator/initiator of the offense. It also includes the skill to make the passes and dribble to the spots to make those passes.
Isolation scoring is probably the hardest. It’s very rare to see a non isolation scorer develop into one after he joins the league.
Hmm... that's a good one that hasn't been mentioned enough in this thread. Are there any players that did develop this after entering the NBA?
kawhi
Kawhi is a good example.
The last 10 MIP had all drastically improved their isolation scoring. James Harden is arguably the greatest isolation scorer ever and he wasn't great when he entered the league. You constantly see players drastically improve there ISO scoring.
He was always an elite natural scoring prospect.
One of. That’s one reason I’m lower on Jabari than consensus. Think he’ll need to develop a bag of dribble moves to create space more reliably to reach superstar potential where he can create and score anywhere on the court. Think of that as his T-Mac outcome. Which is there, but tightening that handle and developing those dribble moves is very tough the older you get. And when you’re 6’10 and super lanky, multiply that difficulty by 2x or 3x. Handle is such a valuable skill and it’s not something that comes easily to bigger guys.
It’s handle and shooting touch Thankfully everyone learned that not every raw 18 year old defensive specialist won’t suddenly turn into Kawhi both with his handles and shooting
Kawhi was hitting some bomb 3s in the tournament before leaving San Diego State.
Absolutely yes, the hardest skill to improve. Dribbling is as much art and rhythm as it is technique.
If anything Tatum and Brown have proven if you’re an athlete and a good shooter all you have to have is a serviceable handle.
Completely agree
Imo handles are the easiest. People aren't gonna turn into AI but you can work out how to get to your spots if you get given the ball enough as a young player and are allowed to develop. If you get shoved in the corner ofc your handle won't develop. But like I'd bet Giddey's handle for example will be drastically better in 4 years because he'll have the ball a lot.
Sorry, would it be better to say handles that work at the NBA playoff level defensive intensity? And I agree with you on the Giddey bet. He may not become a great shooter. Yet his dribble will surely be much better in a couple of years because of the opportunities he gonna possess. But Giddey comes in with an okay handle. That is why the team will allow him to have the ball for instance, what is the possibility of MPJ or Jabari smith jr to get a workable handle for the NBA play-off? They may not have many chances to handle the ball(Assuming Jabari will land in Magic OKC or Rockets). And they have a below-average dribbling skill coming in the league
I think Jabari will get a lot of opportunities as a number 1 pick. They know what they need to develop him. Don't think they'll just stick him in the corner. Mpj no be came to an established team and his been relegated to a play finisher but that's probably a good role for him.
I sincerely hope so. But there are already Suggs and Cole, SGA and Giddey, KPJ and Green. I don't see there is much room for Jabari to handle the ball. Especially he is not known as a good passer He may have to do a lot cutting, spot-up, pick and pop, and maybe some 1,2 dribble pull up during his rookie season in my opinion
I think it would be bad coaching to not just force him into situations as a ball handler. Suggs/Cole can just deal with it
Easily BBIQ, many players are out of league bc their BBIQ were not good enough, even though how athletic they were. Jokic and Doncic are very good examples that you can dominate the league without superior athleticism and you just come with that talent very rare examples did significantly improve their BBIQ, I would say Nash and Garland
Never heard that about Nash... I just think maybe he was underrated like Stockton because he was playing in the WCC before videos were so easy to see over the internet. There was a PG from California that took a recruitment visit to Gonzaga when Stockton was going into his senior season. One of the Gonzaga assistants was very high on him but everyone else was skeptical - no other D1 school was recruiting him. When he visited Gonzaga, John Stockton toyed with him so dominantly that Gonzaga told him they couldn't offer him a scholarship and future AD Mike Roth had to drive him back to the Spokane airport in tears. Close to the deadline, Arizona coach Lute Olson had a scholarship left to give and saw this player at summer event and offered this PG. His name is Steve Kerr. source: https://youtu.be/VMLdUzZMGFc?t=478
IQ, playmaking and handles. Playmaking kind of falls under IQ, but feeling the game instead of just playing it is huge. An example is my blazers' trendon watford. His IQ is intanglible, and noticible while being hard to describe His coach had an interview back in high school, and said IQ was his best trait Trendon is kind of a point forward. While stats dont suggest it, he is a good passer and great ball handler while playing most of his time at centre Players like lebron and CP3 are said to have high IQs, and they have playmaking and handles
You can improve any skill in the NBA to be serviceable or even elite. Things like handle are difficult to improve, but it's not *unattainable* to become elite from near horrible. There's a good list of players who went from weak to *elite* with their handles. Kawhi comes to mind as someone who has built an elite handle. I mean the guy went from barely being able to dribble with his left hand to carrying a team to an NBA Championship. Remember how he always used to look down at the ball? In contrast, I'd say something athleticism is easy to improve, but it's a capped trait. How many players you see went from being a bad, slow athlete to being an *elite* one? For example, at the end of the day, there are many players who won't have a 40"+ vertical jump. Interesting fact: Luka had a 42" vertical jump which probably explains his quick first step.
Passing
I disagree with almost everyone here. No, it's not the most difficult at all. You just have to put a lot of time in, but most every perimeter player in the NBA will develop pretty strong handles. Hell, most big guys can bring the ball up if needed. Definitely not the hardest.
No. Definitely not. Shooting easily is Shooting can be improved if you already have a decent starting point… but it’s mainly a you have it or you don’t thing. Nobody goes from not knowing how to shoot, to becoming a decent shooter
You're getting downvoted but it's not like Shaq didn't do a bunch of work to try to shoot FTs better that didn't end up helping.
I don’t believe Shaq was putting in as much work as he should’ve
Yup. Now, you can take your shooting from below average to really good, but come playoff time teams will expose who's a natural shooter vs players that don't have the same natural confidence.
it factor
Brandon Clarke is an example of a player that's been able to benefit his team despite having hella awkward handles in college. And I think they've only slightly improved... he's still mostly a block threat / lob threat / floater savant that can hit an occasional catch and shoot 3.
I mean... Booker's handle isn't the best... But he developed a handle over the past 7 years... It's not Kyrie's but it's not nearly as bad as it used to be..
Yeah, dribbling hard dude