01-02-2024, 04:48 PM
I had pretty high expectations with Lively, but he has blown away my expectations.
His touch around the rim is way beyond what I thought he would be. I thought we would be in year 2-3 before he showed any touch inside. No need to worry about the three at this point. Focus on what you are good at. Maybe it will come down the line. One small nitpick, fast break ally oops are a little underwhelming. I am sure it is mostly a timing thing.
His rebounding has been what I was expecting. Some great eye opening stuff with some frustrating moments. Despite averaging almost 8 boards a game, I think there are 5-7 extra rebounds he may eventually get. I feel like he is good locating the high rebounds where he can locate the ball and go up and get it. When the ball comes off low or at a weird angle, I think this is really where he struggles. Both getting into the right position and locating the ball.
The area I was expecting a little more was his rim protection. I don't know if it is the rest of the defense, but I thought you would see more really bad rejections similar to what Kessler does. I actually thought this is where he would have the least concerns with. He does stay out of foul trouble and his length does cause some problems, but hopefully in time we see more of a deterrent of people going to the rim.
All in all, I think we should all be very happy.
His touch around the rim is way beyond what I thought he would be. I thought we would be in year 2-3 before he showed any touch inside. No need to worry about the three at this point. Focus on what you are good at. Maybe it will come down the line. One small nitpick, fast break ally oops are a little underwhelming. I am sure it is mostly a timing thing.
His rebounding has been what I was expecting. Some great eye opening stuff with some frustrating moments. Despite averaging almost 8 boards a game, I think there are 5-7 extra rebounds he may eventually get. I feel like he is good locating the high rebounds where he can locate the ball and go up and get it. When the ball comes off low or at a weird angle, I think this is really where he struggles. Both getting into the right position and locating the ball.
The area I was expecting a little more was his rim protection. I don't know if it is the rest of the defense, but I thought you would see more really bad rejections similar to what Kessler does. I actually thought this is where he would have the least concerns with. He does stay out of foul trouble and his length does cause some problems, but hopefully in time we see more of a deterrent of people going to the rim.
All in all, I think we should all be very happy.
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