His arms could be bigger and will be. Already looking a little bit stronger, but they’re not rookie KD or BI thin. His legs though are good! He’s solid in his lower body it’s pretty obvious. Or else he couldn’t box out or hold ground like he does against much bigger guys.
Gunnels says Reaves has the highest total net rating on the Lakers, and only behind Bron in net offensive ratings. WTF? Crazy.
He has a great feel for the game, good IQ, doesn't try to do things he can't do (yet). He is also scrappy, just like Caruso was. Plays hard and is tougher than he looks. He's gonna be epic next season after he builds some muscle, you'll see.
I still love the kid. With his effort and Melo’s shooting, it almost makes some of these game watchable.
So, this guy might be the best rookie we have had in the last ..... what, like 10 years? Sure, we have had a lot of rookies with higher ceilings, like BI but was he even better as a rookie with frigging 10 pro games under his belt? I don't think we have had a rookie more ready to play meaningful minutes than this guy. I am pulling for him. Dare I say, and I am the one to know, this kid reminds me of Jerry West.
I have thought of Jerry also ….. because he was tough too for a physically unimposing player but just kept coming and competing broken noses and all. With a pure jump shot. More elevation but in the same ball park with the purity of their strokes. Both are / were smart players and competitive as hell, which is how HbK was described by his OU coaches and has proven to be the case in the NBA.
I agree with this hot take, he is great. I absolutely love what he does on the court. He is in my closing lineup AD - Melo - Bazemore - Reaves - LeBron (Rondo)
Speaking of “tough” ….. that’s something else Vogel and staff have been throwing at Reaves to see what he can do with it each game. Some meaningful minutes guarding the best back court player on the other team. And he hasn’t really been doing bad with those stints. You could even say he’s been handling those assignments pretty well and better than any of our other guards except maybe AB in some instances.
good lord we can't catch a break in the early going. hopefully ellington will be able to fill in a bit, but we're down maybe our best guard defender now, weirdly enough.
So, Zeke from Cabin Creek and Hillbilly Kobe. Interestingly Jerry hated that nickname, whereas Reaves seems to be OK with his—more like ‘whatever.’ Doesn’t seem to love it or hate it from what I’ve seen.
Wonder if from running / jumping or from wrestling with the bigger players boxing out and denying? Bleep Bleep Bleep Bleep Bleep
I didn’t know that he was already 23 years old, was in college for 5 years, played 4 years with 1 year off in the middle because of transferring. That absolutely helps explain why he already is so NBA ready, he’s not a 1 or 2 years and out kid. Anyway, awful news with the injury, just have to hope it’s not a ton more than the initial 2 weeks.
he's older than most rooks, but he's also adapted to the nba game faster than rooks of any age, imo. i'm really surprised. i said in summer league that he looked advanced, but i expected him to get worked by the pros. nope.
More minutes for Monk, but it seems we're never going to be 100% healthy at this pace. Someone returns, another player gets hurt... are we going to be able to build any consistency like this? And it's the young guys getting hurt, go figure.
