Austin Reaves Discussion: Overachiever Who Underachieved

this dude is just a very good glue guy already. that one play were he caught it ahead and was able to find the trailing three point shooter was gold. most players would have felt forced to try and convert on the long lead pass, but that was going to be a turnover. instead: three points.

 

Alaska is getting hit with heavy snow and freezing rain. Temps are above normal. I'm in the bay area visiting my daughter missing all of that...lol. They have had lows around -40 and highs in the 20's. Big swings. The interior close to Fairbanks.

 

Reaves, Bradley,Johnson, Tucker and Ariza...all of a sudden we have some solid perimeter wing defense.

 

That's one area I think will really help THT that hasn't been discussed much... even if he's only here another two weeks.

At one point he was being asked to guard the other team's best player. He can't do that. But if Stan and Ariza are tackling that assignment and THT is your 3rd or even 4th best defender on the floor, I think he can thrive in a strong team D lineup and get blocks (like the Bron-esque one last night) or steals with his length.

 

It's a collective thing, having other solid defensive guys out there with you, helps everyone raise their game up a notch. It's a subtlety, if guys simply make the proper rotations, there are less mistakes to cover for. I see reasons to be encouraged moving forward...Ariza missed most of the season, Tucker a big chunk, Reaves a decent amount, and Johnson just got here. Fingers crossed that we can get a break, and play a bunch of games, as a relatively whole squad, for this upcoming month and moving forward.

 

I had such a big smile on my face watching that play. Little things like this are what give me so much hope for this kid. He’s always composed and just has a natural feel for the game.

That 3 point play in the fourth quarter as well. Took the defender off the dribble from the perimeter and crossed him over to get a good lane to the basket, spun away from the shot block, absorbed hard contact from the help defender, and knew to use his left hand from that contorted position to get the best angle to bank it in.

Yeah it was garbage time, but man there is a lot of talent involved in plays like that.

 

All true. That defense carries over to offense as well. Fast break is faster. Extra passes are made, go to the hoop harder. Players start having fun again. Basketball is a game of attitude. You get that right you can go along way.

 

Very encouraging to see a young player blossom well. Skilled fella

 

that move is sort of insane. great crossover to get the step, redirect the dribble over the help defender's swipe, then a bizarre inside pivot born only of years in the gym and a deft finish with the off hand, off balance.

this guy can play.

 

And here’s the play you mentioned:



Nothing too crazy, but just the awareness to look back and realize he had multiple trailing players ready to spot up instead of trying to force it up, you don’t see that too often. Even with more experienced players, seems they feel pressured to try to convert in the paint after getting a full court pass, even when it’s congested and not actually a good look.

 

yeah, i suppose if you're a great athlete, you just go up for the finish there, but there were two guys, one a big who had caught up. instead, he basically drew all five defenders and found our best catch and shoot guy in rhythm.

 

Heck of a chest pass from Russ too three quarters of the court.

 

ugly a** uniforms

 

My thoughts too first time I saw them and since then may be mistaking numbness to that dislike for them having grown on me a tiny bit. The powder blue in that scheme seems kind of like oil added to water.

 

Since I didn't watch the game, I actually had no idea that was a Laker highlight.



Yeah, not my favorite. That is simply not a Laker uniform IMHO. That's a gimic to sell more merchandise.

 

did he just call them underlings and make it sound good?

Only Kings can pull that off and not have backlash.

 

Maybe my imagination but AR looks a little lighter and weaker from where he was the game he buried all the 3 pointers and set a new personal high for points and hit the last second game winner …. right before he caught covid.

That said, my WMC is his teammates have such short memories they seem to have forgotten that night just 2 games prior …. or even worse with Russ who just farted that memory away completely and would prefer to take the long shots in crunch time himself rather than look for and get the ball to Reaves. Who doesn’t handle it nearly enough.