[The8thDeadlySinParticipant]

Improvement vs Adjustment

IMO, these are the 2 most important things to consider when looking at a potential prospect for the NBA.. The question comes to this:

Is this player going to have to improve his game or adjust his game??

When a player has to improve, they could probably just an extra year of school. When a player has to adjust, he is probably ready to go.

Now just because you have to improve doesnt mean you cant be successful. It just means that this player probably isnt going to be the ROY.. The guy that has to adjust is going to be successful much earlier than the guy that has to improve.

Lets look at the lottery and you tell me who has to adjust or improve…

John Wall –
Evan Turner –
Derrick Favors –
Wesley Johnson –
Greg Monroe –
Demarcus Cousins –
Al-Faroug Aminu –
Cole Aldrich –
Patrick Patterson –
Ed Davis –
Donatas Motiejunas –
James Anderson –
Xavier Henry –
Hassan Whiteside –

When you put these players into categories, look and see what their skill set is and are they going to have to add alot to their games or do they just need to do something faster.

Key examples of Improve vs Adjust…

Dwight Howard is a guy that had to improve and still needs to. He was a great athlete with great size but no real skill. He had to learn to do something to be successful.

Brandon Roy is a guy that had to adjust. He is the same player now that he was in college. He adjusted his game to fit the NBA and was immediately successful.

[paint intruderParticipant]

I agree with you, that some players come in more ready than others, but I would say that every player who comes to the NBA has to improve, since it’s a whole new level of play and the players you’ve listed haven’t reached their ceilings yet.

Maybe the question is which player hast to improve significantly in more areas?

As far as that goes I would say that “potential players” like Ed Davis and Aminu have to improve more than allready defined players like Wall, Turner, Monroe, Aldrich.

But that’s just my opinion. 😉

[juves4783Participant]

ADJUST
John Wall – super quick. could improve his jumper, but it won’t prevent him from succeeding.
Greg Monroe – high bball iq and already has size to play.
Demarcus Cousins – huge body with nice skill set.
Patrick Patterson – wide body. not going to get any taller. needs to adjust to playing against taller, longer guys. already improved to pick and pop.
Donatas Motiejunas – typical, big euro dude. going to be used to spread the floor.
James Anderson – can score right away and at 6-6, has the size.
Xavier Henry – 6-6- 220 lb and can shoot. unselfish player with great skill set. needs to be more selfish.

IMPROVE
Evan Turner – no doubt this guy can play right away, but he seriously needs to improve his jumper to be successful. ask corey brewer.
Derrick Favors – playing with bad guards is not going to help you learn the game. he needs to improve on his bball iq. relied a lot on his size and athleticism. has the size and skills to be a star. needs to put it all together in a way that works with 4 other players.
Wesley Johnson – needs to improve against athletic perimeter defenders. being a zone guy, i’m guessing their will be a slight difference into the nba man-to-man defenses.
Al-Faroug Aminu – needs to improve on his perimeter skills. nba ready size and potential through the roof.
Cole Aldrich – going to have to learn to score over athletic, longer guys. rebounding and blocking will not be an issue though.
Ed Davis – needs to develop a consistent 12-15′ jumper and hit the weight room before he can be effective.
Hassan Whiteside – obviously, this guy still has a lot to learn. has only played bball since high school. won’t be able to depend on just size and athleticism in the nba.

[JNixonParticipant]

ADJUST
John Wall – He’s good already and will be an above average starter off the bat. Not quite polished enough to be truly elite as a rookie though. Elite status will be in his 2nd or 3rd year.

Greg Monroe – Has NBA ready skills offensively, and is a good rebounder already. Not a great defender, but not exactly poor either.

Demarcus Cousins – He’s going to get points and his share of rebounds. Not going to be as great a rebounder as he was in college if he doesn’t show more effort boxing out and leaping up for boards though.

Patrick Patterson – Not tall for a PF, but tall enough to play the position. The development of his mid-range game is a plus and makes his NBA transition easier. Also a better rebounder than he’s been able to show at Kentucky.

Evan Turner- Possesses NBA-ready skills, and the size and athleticism to be an immediate factor. My favorite for R.O.Y and has been for a while. Not a great shooter, but can score from mid-range pretty well. Decent defender too.

James Anderson – Already a good shooter. Can score off of 2 or 3 dribbles better than he can iso. Will at least have a shooting role as a rookie, so he has a skill to hang his hat on.

Xavier Henry – Decent athlete, can shoot, defend and is an unselfish player and passer. Just needs to get handle up to par and he’ll be a potential 2nd option. As NBA ready as any freshman in this class, possibly including Wall.

Cole Aldrich- Won’t be asked to score alot, but he is definitely a passable offensive player. He will always be a presence on D with his unreal wingspan and strength. Also a great rebounder.

Wesley Johnson- Can shoot is very well. Also can score in transition and in straigh-line slashes. Not more than mediocre handles though, which makes him a little worse than he could be right now.

IMPROVE

Derrick Favors – Not very polished offensively, but could still score. Doesn’t seem to have a high basketball IQ, nor does he have the power moves that someone who’s as physically gifted as he is should.

Al-Faroug Aminu – Needs to polish his handle and shot before he’s a legit SF. Can be a mismatch though offensively because of his quickness and athleticism, and is already an elite defender.

Ed Davis – Needs to develop a consistent 12-15′ jumper and hit the weight room before he can be effective. Also needs more than a jump hook in his post arsenal

Hassan Whiteside – Raw offensively, but not really bad though. A long-armed shot blocker who struggles to defend the post because he’s weak. A streaky mid-range shooter. More Samuel Dalembert than David Robinson. lol

[sc0rebuckets11Participant]

I agree with his post, everyone entering has to improve.. just some (mainly the extremely raw products) have to improve more than others.

[The8thDeadlySinParticipant]

See, in my opinion, a player must add something new to improve.. Adjusting is just using what you already have. Brandon Roy didnt really add anything to his game. He just adjusted it to the point that he was successful in the NBA. Kobe made a recent improvement because he add a post game to his play. Dwight Howard improved because he added a running hook and a drop step to his game. Those are things he didnt have before the NBA. Kobe didnt have a post game before recently.

Get what I am saying. I think that Derrick Favors has to IMPROVE in order to be successful in the NBA. Thus far, he has gotten by using mainly athleticism. I know he has a couple moves but they are athletic move. In the NBA, he wont be a greatly superior athlete. He will have to learn to do something in order to play.

On the other end of this perspective, I see Xavier Henry having to only adjust his intensity to be successful. He already has to skill set, the ability to attack the basket and ability to knock down shots. Now he just has to adjust to the NBA style. He has to get his shot of quicker and get to the rim in one less dribble. Those are adjustment, not improvements. While it improves your game, it has not added anything to his game.

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