Nassir Little

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No problem. But I would be interested in knowing how we as fans should judge a young player's motor. What are you looking for? Beyond the obvious of someone not trying or running hard. Because those examples are very seldom seen at that level. People who generally question a young players motor are not at practice or in the weight room. They are basing it on 20 minutes on the court when other factors are involved.

I'm a coach. I have a player who takes plays off sometimes. Sometimes he GOES HARD.

I talk with him all the time (he's like my nephew) about staying engaged and not quitting on plays.

I question his motor because sometimes he's giving all of his effort and other times he seems disinterested or disengaged.
 
The guy is a piano player and has excelled in school! To me that shows commitment, drive, creativity and balance.
He reminds me of Gerald Wallace some?
 
Here's my rundown on Little.

Strength and length stands out. Fluid pull up with good elevation. Very left handed and predictable off the bounce and struggles with his handle in traffic.

Not a great one foot leaper, but pretty explosive off two. Combines that with his strength and length to make an impact on the boards when he's aggressive. Should be a good finisher on cuts to the basket and in transition.

Still really learning to play on both ends. Game looked too fast for him on both ends for much of last year.

Don't love him as a prospect. IQ, Team defense, passing, shooting are all question marks. Dampens his role player potential so you are really betting on his tools and his shot making developing to the level that he can be a relatively efficient scorer on solid usage.

And while I'm down on his overall defense, he does have the potential to be somewhat versatile as an on-ball guy. Doesn't move that well laterally and can be a bit of a turnstile at times (gets out of his stance, gambles for steals), but if he can get into optimal shape and regain some of the fluidity I saw in HS, he should have a chance to guard 2-4 with some effectiveness.

Shorter / longer Wilson Chandler is the comparison I made early in the season and I'm sticking with it. Plays with a bit more passion than Wilson and obviously was more highly recruited so he may have more upside, but I'm not really sure.

Has a sliver of star scorer upside if he becomes as truly great tough shot maker, but in likelihood, I think he tops out as a rotation level / avg. starter type player. Think it takes him a while to get there to.

Rooting for him though.
 
This is probably all completely fair. Unmentioned, however, is the culture and context into which a lot of those project wings entered the league. It's not hard to predict that many/most of them came into situations worse than ours in terms of room to develop, grow and learn. As much as we all hate on ET, Moe and Aminu, those guys are all big parts of the team culture and (assuming they're around this next season) will be influential in both helping Little along as well as buying him time to learn the ropes before the pressure is on.

the culture is important of course, but it isn't going to overcome a player's limitations. Meyers has been around the culture for 7 years and he's still a minor role player averaging 15 minutes and collecting DNP-CD's on a healthy roster.

Also unmentioned is the situation he was in in college. I genuinely think he was misused at UNC and as a result, somewhat hidden (as a prospect).

I did mention that in terms of the criticisms of his motor

Maybe this is nitpicking but a low/negative assist to turnover ratio doesn't mean he can't have good handles. In videos I've seen outside of UNC games he appears to have rather nice handles.

Certainly time will tell, but two areas I would dispute. First, from the video I have seen, Little has no worse handles than anyone on the team not named Dame, CJ or ET (on a good day).

maybe I should clarify: I don't think of handles as just dribbling...that's only one part of ball-handling. There needs to be dribbling with purpose and a big part of that is dribbling with court vision and making passes and decisions off that vision. Dame, CJ, and even ET have shown that ability. And off of last year's team I'd say Hood, Curry, Stauskas & Simons all showed things we haven't seen from Little yet. For all we know, Little may have handles comparable to Aminu, which is a pretty low bar. I think he'll be better than that, but there's no certainty. And for damn sure, having decent handles in transition may be a relatively unused skill on a Stotts team

Second, I loved Kersey, but he had to work for years on his shot to get it to be respectable in games. Little has a nice looking shot and whenever I saw him play as a wing (not PF) then he seemed very comfortable shooting. I know his UNC numbers were less than optimal, but I don't think that puts him at or below Kersey or Wallace as a shooter..

yeah, but I wasn't talking about just shooting; I was talking overall game....scoring, passing, rebounding, defense
 
Here's my rundown on Little.

Strength and length stands out. Fluid pull up with good elevation. Very left handed and predictable off the bounce and struggles with his handle in traffic.

Not a great one foot leaper, but pretty explosive off two. Combines that with his strength and length to make an impact on the boards when he's aggressive. Should be a good finisher on cuts to the basket and in transition.

Still really learning to play on both ends. Game looked too fast for him on both ends for much of last year.

Don't love him as a prospect. IQ, Team defense, passing, shooting are all question marks. Dampens his role player potential so you are really betting on his tools and his shot making developing to the level that he can be a relatively efficient scorer on solid usage.

And while I'm down on his overall defense, he does have the potential to be somewhat versatile as an on-ball guy. Doesn't move that well laterally and can be a bit of a turnstile at times (gets out of his stance, gambles for steals), but if he can get into optimal shape and regain some of the fluidity I saw in HS, he should have a chance to guard 2-4 with some effectiveness.

Shorter / longer Wilson Chandler is the comparison I made early in the season and I'm sticking with it. Plays with a bit more passion than Wilson and obviously was more highly recruited so he may have more upside, but I'm not really sure.

Has a sliver of star scorer upside if he becomes as truly great tough shot maker, but in likelihood, I think he tops out as a rotation level / avg. starter type player. Think it takes him a while to get there to.

Rooting for him though.
How long until somebody comes on here and tells you how WRONG you are?
 
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Here's my rundown on Little.

Strength and length stands out. Fluid pull up with good elevation. Very left handed and predictable off the bounce and struggles with his handle in traffic.

Not a great one foot leaper, but pretty explosive off two. Combines that with his strength and length to make an impact on the boards when he's aggressive. Should be a good finisher on cuts to the basket and in transition.

Still really learning to play on both ends. Game looked too fast for him on both ends for much of last year.

Don't love him as a prospect. IQ, Team defense, passing, shooting are all question marks. Dampens his role player potential so you are really betting on his tools and his shot making developing to the level that he can be a relatively efficient scorer on solid usage.

And while I'm down on his overall defense, he does have the potential to be somewhat versatile as an on-ball guy. Doesn't move that well laterally and can be a bit of a turnstile at times (gets out of his stance, gambles for steals), but if he can get into optimal shape and regain some of the fluidity I saw in HS, he should have a chance to guard 2-4 with some effectiveness.

Shorter / longer Wilson Chandler is the comparison I made early in the season and I'm sticking with it. Plays with a bit more passion than Wilson and obviously was more highly recruited so he may have more upside, but I'm not really sure.

Has a sliver of star scorer upside if he becomes as truly great tough shot maker, but in likelihood, I think he tops out as a rotation level / avg. starter type player. Think it takes him a while to get there to.

Rooting for him though.
Man, are you just salty about Grant Williams going at 22? Just kidding JDC!

I don't know about you but I'd take a prime Wilson Chandler with a late 1st round pick and be very happy with it. Little has a bit more bounce than Chandler did but it's not a bad comparison.

He was playing with a PG that went #7 overall and behind a forward that went #11 overall (still think that pick was really insane). Almost all the negatives you mentioned are correctable if a player puts in the work to become great so despite how negative your post seems it is actually quite encouraging.
 
Man, are you just salty about Grant Williams going at 22? Just kidding JDC!

I don't know about you but I'd take a prime Wilson Chandler with a late 1st round pick and be very happy with it. Little has a bit more bounce than Chandler did but it's not a bad comparison.

He was playing with a PG that went #7 overall and behind a forward that went #11 overall (still think that pick was really insane). Almost all the negatives you mentioned are correctable if a player puts in the work to become great so despite how negative your post seems it is actually quite encouraging.
He's good value at #25 for sure. Said that right after the pick.

There is bust potential here (as with every #25 pick) where he lacks the ancillary skills to be a plus role player and isn't good enough at things he's comfortable doing to be used that way in the NBA. But's nitpicking and probably looking too far into the future.

And I agree that Nas is a little more athletic. Just not sure it's in ways that are difference making.

I'm good with the pick. All the guys I liked more for us were off the board.
 
Then shouldn’t you be working? I thought you didn’t like me and my posts anyway. Why reply to me? Go sell something.
Wow, I apologize for not knowing how sensitive you are. I never said anything about not liking you. I said you ruined the Melo thread, nothing more.

I've worked my ass off the past 7+ years to get my business to where it is now. I'm certainly not going to take advice from you on what I should be doing with my time.
 
We will get our first look less then 2 week. It will be at least 5 games and due it just summer league a lot people will evaluate what they see. But summer league has came a long ways since they started the league. I am looking forward looking at the rest of the young guys too.
 
He's good value at #25 for sure. Said that right after the pick.

There is bust potential here (as with every #25 pick) where he lacks the ancillary skills to be a plus role player and isn't good enough at things he's comfortable doing to be used that way in the NBA. But's nitpicking and probably looking to far into the future.

And I agree that Nas is a little more athletic. Just not sure it's in ways that are difference making.

I'm good with the pick. All the guys I liked more for us were off the board.

There's a lot of different ways to parse it, so it's very possible many of us are saying similar things without necessarily knowing it... Without question, Naz has a fairly low floor. Yes he's long, athletic, bouncy and looks to have a decent amount to build from, but to others' points -- there are quite a few different aspects of his game that need improvement, and then from there, will need refining.

What makes me the most hopeful is that most of those aspects are either easily enough understood and/or already look like they're becoming fixed. Case in point: as a top recruit coming out of HS and the MVP of THE HS all-star game, who could blame him if he felt a little out of sorts or had an inconsistent motor coming off the bench for limited minutes at UNC? The way basketball coaches recruit, Williams probably had him believing he was going to be the next MJ at UNC. If that's the case, sure, that also speaks to his mental makeup and mindset, but it would have me less concerned than if he WERE thrust into a star role and sort of zoned in and out of games...

I've got high hopes for this kid and am a believer in the culture and developmental mentality of this organization. People around here are giving him multiple redshirt years, but I'll guess that he sits and learns for the first half of the season, gets serious burn after the deadline, and is basically in Ant's shoes coming into next year, in terms of being ready to be a key part of the rotation.
 
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Wow, I apologize for not knowing how sensitive you are. I never said anything about not liking you. I said you ruined the Melo thread, nothing more.

I've worked my ass off the past 7+ years to get my business to where it is now. I'm certainly not going to take advice from you on what I should be doing with my time.
Only 7 years? I wouldn’t take advice from me either.
 
There's a lot of different ways to parse it, so it's very possible many of us are saying similar things without necessarily knowing it... Without question, Naz has a fairly low floor. Yes he's long, athletic, bouncy and looks to have a decent amount to build from, but to others' points -- there are quite a few different aspects of his game that need improvement, and then from there, will need refining.

What makes me the most hopeful is that most of those aspects are either easily enough understood and/or already look like they're becoming fixed. Case in point: as a top recruit coming out of HS and the MVP of THE HS all-star game, who could blame him if he felt a little out of sorts or had an inconsistent motor coming off the bench for limited minutes at UNC? The way basketball coaches recruit, Williams probably had him believing he was going to be the next MJ at UNC. If that's the case, sure, that also speaks to his mental makeup and mindset, but it would have me less concerned than if he WERE thrust into a star role and sort of zoned in and out of games...

I've got high hopes for this kid and am a believer in the culture and developmental mentality of this organization. People around here are giving him multiple redshirt years, but I'll guess that he sits and learns for the first half of the season, gets serious burn after the deadline, and is basically in Ant's shoes coming into next year, in terms of being ready to be a key part of the rotation.
This is all fair.

People need to stop referencing the McDonald's and Jordan Classic MVP's though. *(this is not directed at your post glaze, just thought this would be a good time to note it)

Even during those glorified pick up games, I saw the same flaws then that I saw at UNC.
 
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This is all fair.

People need to stop referencing the McDonald's and Jordan Classic MVP's though.

Even during those glorified pick up games, I saw the same flaws then that I saw at UNC.

I only reference them to show that he can more than hang with the elite of his age group, nothing more, nothing less. It's just a measure of what could be. He's not a finished or perfect product or he wouldn't have fallen to 25, but the fact that he DID means that our staff get to address those flaws with him without him having an excuse to go prima dona on them, which is a good thing.
 
Here's my rundown on Little.

Strength and length stands out. Fluid pull up with good elevation. Very left handed and predictable off the bounce and struggles with his handle in traffic.

Not a great one foot leaper, but pretty explosive off two. Combines that with his strength and length to make an impact on the boards when he's aggressive. Should be a good finisher on cuts to the basket and in transition.

Still really learning to play on both ends. Game looked too fast for him on both ends for much of last year.

Don't love him as a prospect. IQ, Team defense, passing, shooting are all question marks. Dampens his role player potential so you are really betting on his tools and his shot making developing to the level that he can be a relatively efficient scorer on solid usage.

And while I'm down on his overall defense, he does have the potential to be somewhat versatile as an on-ball guy. Doesn't move that well laterally and can be a bit of a turnstile at times (gets out of his stance, gambles for steals), but if he can get into optimal shape and regain some of the fluidity I saw in HS, he should have a chance to guard 2-4 with some effectiveness.

Shorter / longer Wilson Chandler is the comparison I made early in the season and I'm sticking with it. Plays with a bit more passion than Wilson and obviously was more highly recruited so he may have more upside, but I'm not really sure.

Has a sliver of star scorer upside if he becomes as truly great tough shot maker, but in likelihood, I think he tops out as a rotation level / avg. starter type player. Think it takes him a while to get there to.

Rooting for him though.
It sounds a bit like you are describing Kelly Oubre.
 
It sounds a bit like you are describing Kelly Oubre.
Yup.

Made that same comp on realgm in February...

" Kelly Oubre type prospect.

Similar college seasons and strengths and weaknesses. Tools are a little different, but both feel like they'll take a while to become positive players (if they ever do) but bring enough pedigree, size and potential shooting to get plenty of opportunities to figure it out."
 
Just had a chance to watch the video of Olshey talking about Paul and his love of the game and his participation/preparation for draft night. I thought he presented his thoughts on Paul very well and sincerely. I appreciate Neil's enthusiasm and candor.
 
Dude seems much more mature than other recent draft picks like Zach or Anfernee. I think being at North Carolina at least got him savvy in talking to the media. Seems excited and coachable.
 

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