Dalton Knecht Discussion: The Struggle Is Real

I think KCP came to us already a great defender, but we have drafted some good defense haven’t we?

 

James Plowright @British_Buzz I am uncertain about the Hornets' plans for Mark Williams for the rest of the season, but I have confirmed he has returned to Charlotte and is in town during the All-Star break.

 

DK getting his dunk on

 

Gotta have goals! Good to see him aspire to be like other dominant white players in the past who won the dunk contest like McClung.

 

Defensive stopper with 2 stocks… that rejection against Joker, exquisite

 

I really don't like how he's playing.
Just trash on defense - Klay went off because he somehow didn't understand that Dallas was going to get the dude who can't drive anymore catch and shoot 3's.
His shot selection is terrible and instead of playing like a scorer he's just jacking long 3's.

I know he's probably frustrated being pseudo traded but time to grow up. He's an older prospect to begin with so his agent should be in his ear is he doesn't have that many years to earn the bag after his rookie contracts ends

 

i'd hoped his defense would have come along faster with the reps he's gotten. at this point, i don't think you can play him at all in the playoffs.

 

He's a rookie..Max wasn't ready as a rookie either. They won't all be like Austin.

 

austin may not have been playoff ready his rookie year, either, but we didn't get there.

 

He's also older then Max - those are the breaks

 

Age doesn't make them ready, they still have to adjust to the level of competition, lifestyle etc. Some guys take a bit longer than others.

 

Judging from JJ's patience and how he and the staff positively affected the performances of AR, Rui and Max this year I wouldn't be surprised to see by the time of the playoffs Dalton too will be a better version of himself both sides of the ball whether he gets any run in the playoffs or not. These guys are doing a great job with our young guys.

 

Knecht’s defense isn’t where we need it to be, but he strikes me as a kid who will work his tail off to improve in this area over the summer.

 

I'm sure he can watch a ton a film over the summer, but the fastest way to develop defensive awareness is to actually play in games.

We'll have to deal with the growing pains if we are serious about developing him. Whether we keep him or not, a better version of Dalton will help us in the long run as a player or asset.

 

If there was a type of player I thought he'd understand how to guard it's another movement shooter. Guess not. Old Klay had him looking like a lost puppy out there.

 

in fairness, it was only a couple of plays, right. on the first one, it looked like it was a miscommunication as dalton was expecting a switch, but when the screener didn't make contact, the primary defender stayed home while dalton was following. i'd have to know what the internal switch rules are to know whose fault it was (probably dalton's, but not necessarily). the next shot dalton flew by and klay nicely reset and nailed it. not a lot of guys can make that shot, and at least knecht forced him to re-set in the first place.

he also had a good contest and rotation in the first half that i noticed.

overall, though, yes, he's just not ready to be part of a high-level team defense right now.

 

May work hard but he doesn't seem to bright - the number of times other Lakers are re-directing him is more then even Rui

 

Another December type of shooting lol

 

With Rui and AR missing time. Let it fly Rook