Looking for Pons to be the biggest surprise of 2019-20 season

#77
#77
rdk4121 said:
My hope is he doesn't have to handle the ball that much. He catches it fine, but he can improve. Either way, he's a good defender that makes too many mental mistakes. On offense, if he can literally just catch a pass and shoot, or cut to the rim and finish, he'll be fine. He needs to work on the rest of his game as well, but we have other people that can score. He just needs to become not a liability on offense, that's why he didn't play. Because he would catch the ball and not know what to do with it, hence the turnover part.

Defensively he was really good at times, he was never the primary or secondary rebounder, but he was fine there as well. Rebounding isn't something we asked him to do, because we wanted him to run in transition to utilize his only real strength on offense.
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And defensively he was a huge liability. He got exposed many times, which is why his minutes went down. Where you are getting that he is a good defender is beyond me.
 
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#79
#79
Roustabout said:
And defensively he was a huge liability. He got exposed many times, which is why his minutes went down. Where you are getting that he is a good defender is beyond me.
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He certainly was not, but that's ok. You can believe whatever lie you tell yourself. He was very good at times, not so great at others. A far cry from a liability as you claim, but it's normal message board fodder to only speak in hyperbole. I see you are no different. The only place he was not very good was in the post against 4s.
 
#81
#81
rdk4121 said:
He certainly was not, but that's ok. You can believe whatever lie you tell yourself. He was very good at times, not so great at others. A far cry from a liability as you claim, but it's normal message board fodder to only speak in hyperbole. I see you are no different. The only place he was not very good was in the post against 4s.
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I guess that’s why Barnes cut his minutes so much.
Maybe you should have this discussion with him.
I love it when the b-ball forum stops discussing the subject and starts disparaging the poster.
 
#82
#82
zjcvols said:
He’s good on the ball and can guard a variety of different type of players but he’s not there off the ball.
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I wouldn't even say he is "good on the ball" yet. He has all the tools to be a great defender in elite length and athleticism, but he gets worse and worse the longer the possession goes. He has put up some solid moments, but I don't remember him going out there and shadowing the other team's best perimeter player and shutting them down with any sort of consistency.

You're right about him not being there off the ball, but when you don't have elite athletes at all 5 positions, your team defense and rotations become just as important if not more important than your on ball defense. He is clueless when it comes to his defensive assignments and rotations, which is evident when you watch him play. Combine that with a lack of skill offensively and he has a lot of work to do this summer if he hopes to ever be anything more than a rotational piece.

If he could become a knock down 3 point shooter from the corners and an elite defender, he would play in the NBA for a decade. Unfortunately I'm concerned all of his problems are above the shoulders and those issues are a lot more complicated to iron out than a hitch in the jump shot.
 
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#83
#83
Pons is one of those players who can look good against the ETSU's of the world, but not so much against the LSU's of the world.
 
#84
#84
Grant said in an interview at the combine that JJ was going to have a break out season. Not sure what he knows about his team, but when Grant speaks people listen.
 
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#86
#86
Really rough game for Pons in the first game against Montenegro. It really doesn’t seem like he has improved. He is athletic, but he seems to not have a clue on offense. He really does not play to his strengths or have any offensive strength. Pons just seems to stand in the corner and lower wings which is not a strength due to him not being able to shoot the ball. I noticed he posted up and made a pass out of the post, but he seems to not have any post moves. He doesn’t make many cuts to the basket to use his athleticism. He tried to slash to the basket, but he just doesn’t seem skilled enough handling the ball or finishing. His movement within the offense doesn’t have much purpose or enthusiasm (backup guards for the French team moved more and looked more polished). Maybe he will look better in the next game, but it was a very disappointing first game (seems like he might not get another good opportunity to shine, he started this game, but was benched the whole second half). I think Vol fans should be concerned that the light might never cut on for Pons.

France v Montenegro boxscore - FIBA U20 European Championship 2019 - 13 July - FIBA.basketball

 
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#89
#89
LAVol1 said:
Pons will improve in all areas of his game, and with his incredible athleticism, he'll be the star of the coming season. A Clyde Drexler type player.
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Pons a Drexler type player? Not even close yet. But if he becomes that? It will be fun to watch as long as some others can be Olajuwon, Anders, Young and Micheaux.
 
#90
#90
Pons needs to be in a skills camp, not a league. If he’d take two elements of his game and just relentlessly work on them he might improve his game. Ball handling and shooting should be at the top.
 
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#91
#91
Pons is good on the ball. He gets lost easily, though. Down the stretch, he played timid at times. The irony is that when he actually started playing aggressive again is when Barnes reduced his minutes.
 
#96
#96
WOW, watched his first game from france. He looked really bad. missed jump shots and free throws. Did not play in the second half when france came back and won. Looks like he has not improved at all.
 
#99
#99
Its funny how we can all badmouth Yves Pons but if even one of us questions Drew Pember the **** hits the fan.
 
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#100
#100
LAVol1 said:
Pons will improve in all areas of his game, and with his incredible athleticism, he'll be the star of the coming season. A Clyde Drexler type player.
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Wow Pons is about to make the biggest turn around in sports history I guess.

I hope Pons adapts well and becomes a solid player this year. I do feel he has the skills to do well; however I think you may be over reaching comparing Pons to Drexler.........and “over reach” is down playing things considerably.

Drexler was a 3 year starter on the best team (at the time). He averaged 15 points per game and 10 rebounds per game. Drexler is one of the all time greats. He is a hall of famer, and is still considered one of the top 50 players to ever play the game.

I hope Pons is great. I wish him the very best; however Pons is NOT a “Close Drexler” type player..........not even on the same planet.
 
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