Keep it up Max. Looking consistently better to actually really good at times on defense now and playing smarter and stronger.
couple mental mistakes at the end, and he still just makes some odd choices at times during the game. he actually looks nervous out there. some of that should fade as his reps go up and he secures a spot in the rotation. difficult game to play as a coach, but i'm glad redick didn't just give up on him.
I think he's been fine. We forget he's only 21 if that? This is also his first time getting significant mins consistently. He'll get better as the season progresses.
And objectively Boom just like that you can get excited again about the player he’s going to for us or another team, when you start seeing consistent flashes of impressive plays. He’s quick, smooth and a really good athlete and I expect will be more than 3&D in 1-2 years.
yeah, our constant win-now mindset is tough for player development. there's only so much you can do without being willing to roll with the bumps.
we can hold the threat of trading him to washington over his head to produce these results for at least two full months!
Best game as a Laker, great to see. Ups his trading value for a REALLY GOOD player or establishes his ability to be a net positive in the current roster and addresses the biggest gap in our team. I like him, he's a pro
he's finally looking like what people were hoping for. let's see if he can sustain it and get even more comfortable playing against top line competition.
He did very well against Ja. Him and Cam in the lineup are very nice for D. Unfortunately, their offensive production is abysmal.
Really glad to see Max battle back after a rough start to the season. Even last year, some the lineup data made a strong case from him starting next to LeBron/AD/Rui and one of DLo or Austin. I'd like to see JJ really simplify things for Max offensively so he can put all his energy toward POA duties. Max is a good spot-up shooter, but just about everything else offensively needs work.
He's managed to get quicker laterally and stayed in front of Ja a number of times which is obviously not easy.
i think this is important, too. just because young guys might have the potential to develop some aspects of their game doesn't mean we have to go at everything all at once. i wonder whether it actually hampered mikal bridges when the nets tried to expand on his playmaking abilities in such dramatic fashion. in a much smaller way, just having max be a guy who shoots or moves for now might help develop confidence (using jj's direct words here) that might make future attempts to expand his game more successful. hopefully, the coaching staff and front office can sell him on the fact that now that he's signed a contract, it's ok to pace himself in terms of reaching the max potential and that the time--if any--to get antsy about getting more offensive responsibility is when that next contract is coming up. for now, just prove you belong and can do the simple things.
He's got the right combination of enough lateral quickness to stay in front of guys as well as enough strength to be able to stand his ground against most guards and some forwards. Guys like Caruso and Holiday are the 1% that have both traits at an elite level. Max isn't that, but I think he's pretty damn solid at both.
He was all over Ja, Raj pointed out on the pod after the game that he kept guessing right on his spin moves as well, which way he’d spin.
if he can consistently defend pgs, he's kind of manna from heaven as a pairing with reaves. i've always focused on whether he could play up, but i know several folks around here suggested playing him at the 1. next issue is whether he can be strong enough with the ball so as to avoid having reaves or lebron have to do all the backcourt ballhandling.
