Did Buddy Breakout Last Night?

I didn't get to watch the game. Very interested in what you guys saw.

He didn't look any different other than he seemed more relaxed and his shots went down. He has just been noticeably tense the first 4 games. I missed the first half so I don't know if the fear was there but went away when he finally started knocking down shots or if he came into the game loose.

I think he'll be fine. Just needs to adjust to the speed of the game and the length of players.
Like I said, his defense has looked good, which is great, and he's shown he can penetrate. If he can find creative ways to finish in the paint, he'll be a very good player. I don't think he can finish at the rim consistently like you see Kyrie do, and I don't want him forcing it and missing all the time like Rivers. Get a nice floater going, keep kicking it out for open 3's. He'll be fine. Thing with him kicking it out is he hustles to the 3 point line after he passes and many times he will be open for that.
I am not at all concerned about his shooting. I think he should work more on the mid range game too. Another option for when he penetrates. instead of trying to get to the rim, just get around your guy and hit the easy jumper, like Ray Allen and Reddick do. That's the two guys he should be watching tape of everyday.

A couple of shots went in instead of missing by 4 inches. On another night, a couple will miss by 4 inches instead of going in. That's life as a shooter

Whether he becomes a valuable player or night will depend on everything else. That is what people should be watching. Not his FGM and FGa

Literally, his first NBA possession was a play run for him.

A few shots were four inches to the left or right in the other games. That was the sole difference. Him and/or the team did not turn some mythical corner or figure things out last night. The shots just went in

Just like Sean Kilpatrick did not magically figure something out last night. He just had shots go in. At a much higher rate than Buddy or anyone else by the way

quote:

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Whether he becomes a valuable player or night will depend on everything else. That is what people should be watching. Not his FGM and FGa

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Whether this is true or not, Buddy will always be measured by his FG%. Always.

Honestly I kind of like what I see on the defensive end. Is he good yet? No.

But he seems to have some tools there, and tries really hard, for the most part. I think he'll be ok on that end, better than I expected.

But Buddy is a shooter. He needs to hit shots.

Didn't say it didn't matter at all. Just saying that there are 5-8 other things that matter more

Example- he shoots 7-15 from the field and 2-5 from deep. That's great for a guard FG% wise. But he goes 0-0 from the line. 16 points on 15 shots and he didn't get anybody in Foul trouble or help get us in the penalty. He is an average guard in that scenario offensively, despite great percentages

I think it benefits us to hope that is the case. But I try to be objective. Is every other player in the NBA who is struggling nervous?

I get fandom, I am just not a fan. If he was on some other team, I would not be giving him this "nervous" pass, so I am not going to give it to him because he is on the team I like a little bit

The announcers(or maybe it was Jen Hale) mentioned(and I am recalling from memory so correct me where I am wrong) the coaching staff last game and this game reduced the responsibilities they were asking of Hield and narrowing and defining his role to get him more comfortable because they felt they may have asked too much, too quick. That they were going to focus on getting him good shots in his comfort zone.

Which you can kind of tell in the last two games. More plays ran for him in areas of his strengths and his role seems more focused and defined. Players actively setting him up and getting him involved. Which is different from the first few games where it seemed like Galloway and Stephenson just played your turn, my turn.