Watch the NBA | The 10 most surprising players since the start of the game (Part II)
5th place Lonnie Walker
I was about to write about Lonnie Walker about 2 weeks ago, but I never got the chance. If it drags on for a long time, the risk is that the state of the players at this level may not be maintained. Walker's form has certainly dropped a bit, but overall, he's still a big surprise to mention so far.
Walker's current advantages can be summed up in one sentence:
If you don't ask him to make complicated decisions and make a firm move, he's efficient right now.
Thomas Jr. of the Nets is also this type of player. The difference is that Thomas Jr. has a set of operation control techniques that forcibly develop shooting space in the middle distance. Walker doesn't have the good offensive instinct of Thomas Jr., but Walker's ability to create shooting space out of nothing with good physical fitness is also online.
So far this season, Walker has shot 44 percent from mid-range — a passing level. But the most important reason for his surprise was his explosive 46.2 percent three-point shooting. Strike resolutely, respond deadly.
Speaking of resolute and lethal, we have to mention that last season, Walker delivered the famous fourth quarter in the series against the Warriors. His advantage as a roll call partner is that he does have the ability to score. And being used to cooperate with the roll call, in fact, it means that you are already the weakest link in the opposing defensive selection, the ball comes to you, the opportunity is always relatively good, you can do it, you can do it, and the opposing defense has no room for adjustment.
When you can pitch in and don't need to make a decision, Walker is very useful.
However, even if Thomas and Walker played well, Coach Vaughn still restrained their use. It took some time for Thomas to gain the trust of his coach before he was injured. And Walker still looks like Vaughn is used as a countermeasure card, not a core part of the Nets' rotation.
This is normal. From a coach's point of view, a defender who can't make decisions is relatively one-sided for the team's overall offensive help, and it's okay to take it up to grab points, but after all, the team still has a group of puzzle pieces that need to be driven. And it doesn't seem like there's enough reason to have the team play entirely around you. Today you are right, you have saved the world. Tomorrow you are not allowed, the integrity of the team is still there?
That's probably why it's common for these players to contribute energy to the bench.
4th place Edwards
Huazi averaged 26.2 points per game this season, with a true shooting rate of 58.2%, an average of 5 assists per game, and an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.55, a slight improvement from the previous season (in the 22-23 season, he averaged 24.6 points per game, a true shooting rate of 56.4%, an average of 4.4 assists per game, and an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.35). However, if you take any of the items alone, Huazi's data may not be so noteworthy. However, the 4 items are improved at the same time, and the effect after the superposition is very impressive. Huazi's BPM is a career high, and the increase has more than doubled, which can be described as a qualitative change.
The data may still not reflect the comfort of the Huazi game.
In this article during my vacation, I talked about the focus of Huazi's need to improve to use his strong physical functions to take out the performance of the pull-up jump shot from any position. And the middle distance is a top priority. In the chapter on Huazi in this article, I even used a title like "He has to learn from Jordan". This is not only because he has a Jordan's face, but also because of his basic package and the characteristics of the Timberwolves, which requires Huazi to be able to solve problems from mid-range.
Huazi has a 28% shooting frequency and a 34% shooting rate from near and mid-range this season, which is difficult to say excellent. But the frequency of shooting from the long two-point area has increased to 19 percent, and the shooting percentage is as high as 55 percent, which is undoubtedly the best performance of his career so far. Huazi's ability to get rid of defense in a small space has gradually improved, and his ability to create pull-up jump shots has become more and more mature, which has also become the only way to break the game after the Timberwolves' offense is constipated.
Hanako's "stickiness" of dribbling, his breakthrough steps with both speed and rhythm, and the flexibility of the end of the air are also becoming more and more fascinating.
You can also see that Hanako dominated the weak side at the critical moment of the game, at the moment when everyone thought he was going to be his savior.
In the past, it was hard to believe that Huazi would make such a decision.
In addition, although the Timberwolves' defensive resources do not require Huazi to play the role of leading the defense, when he appears in front of the opposing ace, his quick reflexes are also part of the Timberwolves' sense of oppression.
Hanako is really great. Of course, there is still a gap between him and the league's top stars, and even his peers are now stronger than him.
But Huazi's slight transformation from magic ball to retro style, the sublimation of temperament from brainless to winner, and the background of the rise of the Timberwolves will make him a high-profile and responsible darling of the new generation.
Huazi has shot 77.6%, 78.6% and 75.6% from the free-throw line in the past three seasons, and that number is 86.4% this season. We will continue to monitor the changes in this statistic, and if it can be extended to the end of the season, it will not only mean that Huazi's upgraded jump shot will have more reliable support, but it may also mean something like this:
Huazi's sense of identity and mission is being activated, and he knows very well who he is and what kind of prospects and challenges await him. And he embraced this mission with improved performance.
That's the awareness that the Timberwolves lacked before them.
No. 3 Shin Kyung
Shen Jing became the big winner in the head-to-head duel of the three generations of fire dragons. Neither Sabonis Jr. nor Jokic were able to get a bargain with him. Although this is not a decisive matchup result, it should be a big confidence boost for Shen Jing, who is on the rise.
Of course, self-confidence may not be something that Shen Jing lacks too much. Even, the temperament revealed by Shen Jing's game seems to show that self-confidence is what he overflows, for example, If there is a chance to finish in a more brutal way, Shen Jing will not refuse ferocity and savagery:
Recall his roars and gasps after scoring a goal under the basket, a hormonal man.
Toughness should be brought up first, not because "toughness" occupies the most important place in Shin Jing's skill set. At the end of the day, he's a technical flow center. But it's precisely because he's a technical center that his muscular and energetic attitude shouldn't be overlooked — he's going to punish misalignments hard, he's not afraid to face big-tonnage players, and he's part of the Rockets' defensive team, fighting as hard as he can every night.
Of course, these tough guy moments are inseparable from the foundation laid by core competitiveness. Shen Jing can be the tactical axis, this is not just now, the potential has always been there. But the problem with his past is that he's not an interior player with a mid-to-long-range threat and can't score once he's away from the basket, which makes him a fulcrum of much less value. Shin's most important improvement this season has been his more consistent mid-range, where he has shot a career-best 53 percent from the near basket and has been able to shoot in the long two-point area.
After the threat radius expands, Shen Jing becomes a three-dimensional attacker, and it is even more difficult for you to defend against him.
PS: Before Sabonis Jr. became what he is now, an important weakness was that he was sure that the scoring area was under the pure basket. Near the basket can hook hands, but it is not accurate all the time. Starting in the 21-22 season, his hook shooting percentage increased by about 10 percentage points, which was a key step in the qualitative change.
The same is true for Shen Jing.
2nd place Holmgren
About Holmgren, a whole article was blown and no longer repeated.
What was lacking in the Thunder at that time? They had N station space type interior options, but none of them had a comprehensive level that really met the requirements of their offensive and defensive systems. Their paint protection is all about hitting people with dribbles, and the No. 5 offense has almost no open shots, and the league rarely has a center who can kill a defender with a pure three-point shot. The Thunder needed a big man who could meet the requirements for small-ball defensive mobility and could provide basket protection. They also need this big man to be versatile on the offensive end, not only to continue the Thunder's spaciousness of the five-outside position, but also to be one of the fulcrums of the tactics, interact with a few of their outside ball carriers, and make full use of the Thunder's spatial environment and ball-making ability to attack the opposite paint area with his height. Fang Ke swept on all sides, and the town Tang persuaded him to retreat. Attacking requires both internal and external repair, Mobley sighed. The Thunder didn't panic, because they knew they had Holmgren.
Jing Yimo, public account: Jing Yimo can be expected in the future? No, no, no, now, in the future, they all want it
1st place Halliburton
About Halliburton, two articles were blown.
The point is that Halliburton has a sense of scale that connects creation to end. We always say, "the opportunity is fleeting", but the real situation is that from the appearance to the disappearance of the opportunity, it also has a curve, whether it is a big empty shot, or a small empty shot, whether it is a comfortable basket, or you need to go to the basket and throw, of course, the test of the terminator's ability is different... If a rough passer will make a 100% chance play a coefficient of 0.5~0.7, then Haliburton can even magnify a 50% chance to 100%.
Jing Yi Mo, public account: Jing Yi Mo Harry's magic awakening, the Pacers' happy basketball
A little more needs to be added.
Someone asked, how does Haliburton break down the defense, and is this one of his limitations?
Breaking the defense must be one of the things that Haliburton will need to prove in the future. When it comes to high-end defense, Haliburton's performance in this area will determine the safety we give him the description of "one of the best offensive players in the league" - fans have extremely strict evaluations of young people's strength levels, and it is easy to trigger a crusade from all sides if the non-ultimate winner receives a title with the word "most".
However, the reality is that there are very few teams that target the Pacers with a switch. After all, the ideal change of defense is that most of the players on the field can switch to the No. 1 and No. 5 positions, or, at the very least, to the players who are the main ball carriers and screeners, they can change the defense indiscriminately, which is not so easy to achieve. Like the Raptors, using OG and Barnes to dismantle Harry and Turner in the last 2 minutes is certainly not the norm.
More often than not, most teams are afraid that the big players will not be able to defend themselves when they switch defenses. For example, is it because he can't keep up with thick eyebrows that he doesn't change guards?
No, it's because after he pulled it out, there was no one behind him to protect the basket.
And the other thing is:
The best thing about the Pacers is that they can see very small changes in defense and use those momentary changes to create opportunities.
The change of guard itself is such a "small change".
You only need to leak a little flaw and Harry will see it.
If we say, players like the peak Curry, the peak Harden, and Embiid are the gods who can fully change the opponent's defense. Haliburton, then, is a weapon to amplify the opponent's defensive changes.