Brandon Ingram Discussion: He Is Who We Thought He Could Be

Him playing point forward is good foresight on Luke's part as Russell is looking more and more like a James Harden type player than the pass first wizard some were making him out to be. With that being said, having two guys who can initiate the offense, but also have the ability to just pull up and score will keep defenders on their toes.

 

As I said earlier in this thread, I'm not concerned about Ingram. I think he'll be the best young player on our team in three years. He does remind me a lot of Prince, but I think he'll be even better. He's a smoother offensive player with more facility in the playmaking department and more weapons in the arsenal with his developing NBA three point range, and his ability to take opponents off the dribble. He is really fundamentally solid already. He's quite the talent at 19. Love Luke using him as Point Forward. Wasn't he a point guard in high school before his big growth spurt? He's a natural doing it.

 

Well Ingram is taller and can look over the defense plus he doesn't have quicker guards pressuring him.

 

"Knows" is a strong word... My friend knows a guy who works with one of Jerry's sons up in the bay area. My buddy got to sit in the West suite at a Laker/Warriors game last year and got to chat with him a bit. Jerry made it clear that he wasn't a huge fan of Julius because he says he didn't have a head for the game. Jerry was more into Russell and liked Clarkson a little, but he wasn't into Julius. Said he had talent, but not a mind for the game.

edit- He came in today for the team, so maybe he feels a little more connected than he lets on.

 

If you watched Prince then you know that he made few mistakes. He was an efficient player that excelled in a team concept. He was an excellent defender, made the extra pass, spaced the floor, and attacked the seams when he saw the opportunity.

Those are the same aspects we see in Ingram. Every person who has repeated the name of Prince as a comparison notices that Ingram plays with that same mindset with a similar frame. Ingram will make the correct pass, not the coolest pass. He will rarely make mistakes with the ball. He will very rarely take bad shots outside the scope of the offense. He will defend well and smartly use his body around the court. These are all aspects the two players share.

Ingram is more naturally gifted than Prince, which is something all of us who compare Ingram and Prince have said, so sure he has a higher ceiling. That doesn't mean his approach to the game is not very Prince-esque. Ingram certainly plays the game far more like Prince than he does play it like Durant.

 

Oh! "His" referred to West. I gotcha, man.

 

You disagree that he plays with a mentality more like Prince than Durant?

 

Agreed all around. Someone mentioned earlier too that we might have issues in the future with Russ and Ingram playing together as 2 alphas, but I don't think we would. I'm not so sure Ingram is an alpha, and I don't think that's a bad thing. He's a scorer, a playmaker, but a team first player. He at least so far doesn't come across as someone who needs the ball a lot, who will demand it, who needs the spotlight. If anything he seems like an excellent compliment to Russell to me, I think these 2 are our best bet for the future, with Clarkson being a really good 6th man if the team is to improve to the point of being any good. I don't see this as a Westbrook/Durant thing, because Russ isn't as hot headed as Westbrook, and I can't see Ingram being bothered by Russ taking a lot of shots, again he seems like a team first guy. A guy who will make the plays to get you wins, whether it's defense, passing, scoring, whatever.