Reaves who’s not an uber athlete figured out, or Handy taught him, how to use his footwork “during” the crossover to make him effective getting past defenders. JHS has better handles coming in at a younger age than Austin had so maybe this isn’t a big issue.
He is young and seemingly very determined. Now that he has all the time he needs to work on shooting it is almost a certainty he will improve. His first step seems to be a bit deceptive. I think I've seen him dusting a few guys too. I love that term. Eat my dust!... that was a great for racing dirt bikes and four-wheelers. Didn't work as well snow machining. Eat my snow! just doesn't ring the same...lol.
I don't know I'm just not that impressed. Yes he can beat some guys but it's summer league and as you noted he has to use his handle to create an advantage for him to get a step. He is strong and had a nice floater but from my view nothing that really woahs you. Compare this to Reaves who isn't an explosive athlete but you immediately notice the handle and vision just pop out at you. JHS vision seem ok nothing special (in comparison, Brandon Miller had a bad game from him but man that dude is a spectacular passer), his handle is ok, explosive is meh, lift is meh, jump shooting range is meh, he doesn't really have a catch and shoot game. Didn't see him to try to post up: kind of looks small out there despite his listed height and I didn't notice an impact on the glass I don't know just bunch of ok with a few clear positives (strength). Sure if he becomes 40 plus 3 PT shooter all bets are off but that's basically every guard prospect in the association nowadays
He's got good feel from mid range. I'll be happy if he can eventually reach 35% from three. I'm concerned his number is going to be closer to 25% the first couple of years though.
I like his game for a 20 year old kid in summer league. He's not polished, he didn't play 4 years in college, he has room to grow, he already got some size at an early age, he will get bigger, stronger and better.
i trust both pioneer and our scouts. wish i had some time to catch these games and form a stronger opinion. also need to check on how my other targets are doing. did whitmore show out, for example?
Whitmore looked strong and dunked everything, but it’s SL lol I hope Christie develops into something good. One of the Thompson twins from Houston looks like prime Iceman Gervin
Have to say he's sticking out more on defense then offense. Really good feet at the POA, his strength prevents guys from dipping their shoulder, and really quick hands. Really needs the step back jumper to work: poor man's Deron Williams if he can get that to work. Big bully PG with a handle
I’m not super impressed so far, but it is summer league, and it is the 17th pick, not the 7th. He doesn’t have a shot, so he’s kind of stuck when the defense is playing up on him, he has to be able to get to the hoop to be effective because again, he has no jumper. Better on defense yes, and solid handle, but tonight the defenders on GS have really pushed him pressuring 3/4 court if not full court. He was just doubled near the end of the game here out near halfcourt, and rather than pass it quick, he got trapped and had to call timeout. He’s definitely got a ways to go, little stuff like that you have to be better at. I wasn’t super impressed with Whitmore either, he looked good, he looks athletic, but it’s the NBA, everyone is. Way too early to start saying one way or another if we missed on him. I can see the thinking with JHS at least, he fills a need and he has some nice tools, but man he’s gotta get a jumper
He doesn’t have any individual component of his game that screams out as being particularly impressive. But he still seems like he has a good feel for the game. I think I see the vision of him as a “positionless” player who could be effective as both a primary or secondary playmaker. He may not crack the rotation this year, but we don’t need him too. While nothing I’ve seen so far in summer league has me absolutely convinced he was the correct pick at #17… nothing I’ve seen has me convinced he was the wrong pick either.
All these kids need time, professional coaching, and experience against superior competition. Just got to give it time. Max may turn out to be a gem, but if he was judged solely off of last year’s Summer League performance, he’d be out of the league already. Patience matters in developing young talent.
He’s a project. He’s not flashy and definitely needs a lot of work on his shot, but it’s still very early for him. He wasn’t picked to come in and play much at all year one. I like Pioneer’s comp of Deron Williams. Strong within the ball- strong on D. I trust Jesse and our Scouting Dept.
Yeah, he looks like he belongs but I haven't seen any one thing that pops or will immediately translate. I trust our scouts, but I am glad we don't need him this year because I don't think he's ready. Physically, he is but his game isn't.
Second half of game one. First half he had jitters. I don’t know, I’ve liked him in every game so far. He’s very solid IMO. No flash but really under control- zero turnovers last night for example. He doesn’t seem to get rattled. I like his attitude, work ethic, defense and ball handling. I think he’s got all the pieces but the shot. Give him a year with Handy and I think he will be ready to get minutes. This coming year probably not so much. But I think overall he was a really good pick and I can see that he’ll be an NBA player. Glad we got him.
Honest assessment? Not impressed by JHS. He has zero jump shot, and he's not as good at getting to the rim as folks touted him to be. He's an OK passer. Like others have said - nothing is jumping out about him. Really hope we don't regret passing on Whitmore - to be fair, he wasn't impressive either in his debut but he has a higher ceiling imo than JHS. I hope I'm wrong about JHS...but so far, I actually like Castleton the most out of our 3 rookies (JHS, Max Lewis, Castleton). He's been very impressive in every game
