My Zach Collins thoughts

[Wizard Mentor]

Actually, has anyone else been reminded of Malone when watching Swannigan? Especially when he takes that one footed fade away style shot ala Karl?

a la Dirk!

 

[Eastoff]

Yep, and Qyntel Woods was a summer league stud.

Players like Batum (and Collins) do much better in a structured environment. Players like Woods excel at rat ball.

KAT looked like shit in summer league, but won ROY.

Summer League Bayless looked a lot more like Real Russel Westbrook than Summer League Westbrook did.

Randy Foye, Adam Morrison, Jeremy Lamb and Kris Dunn all looked better in summer league than Steph Curry did.

I could go on. There are literally over 100 examples of why summer league stats are less than meaningless.

Everyone at least seems to agree that Collins looks to have good potential on the defensive side off the ball.

Offensively, I don't think it's unreasonable to think he will look better once:

• He's playing with real guards who can get him the ball in a position to score
• He is playing with teammates that can make a wide open shot that will help space the floor
• He's playing in a structured offense that actually runs some plays
• He gets more playing time under his belt to adjust to the faster pace and stronger, more athletic competition
• He stops pressing and realizes it's an 82-game schedule

BNM

Damian?

 

[Boob-No-More]

Do you think defense in summer league translates to the regular season? What about rebounding?

Somewhat. I think the basic instincts and fundamentals translate. Of all the skills that translate from one level to the next, rebounding has the highest correlation (but still isn't universal).

The caveat is the stupid 10 foul rule. 10 fouls in a 40-minute game??? Are you kidding me? I know the refs suck, but you are giving these guys a free pass to hack away. So, beware of guys who are posting good rebounding or defensive stats, but also racking up 7 or 8 fouls a game. That simply isn't realistic at any level and doesn't teach these guys how to play good defense without fouling.

That was one of the negatives about Collins in college, that he racked up a lot of fouls for a bench player that only averaged 17 MPG. So far, and it's only been two games, he has shown the ability to play good defense without committing excessive fouls. I find that mildly encouraging.

But, it's only been two games of summer league play. I try not to overreact, one way or the other, to such a limited sample size in a compromised setting.

BNM