07-24-2024, 10:16 AM
(07-24-2024, 10:02 AM)Dundalis Wrote: Hardy is not anywhere remotely close to Dinwiddie as a playmaker. Not sure how you justify that statement. And it has nothing to do with age. Dinwiddie's assist percentage has been close to double Hardy's since he got in the league. Dinwiddie has some definite weaknesses as a playmaker, but he's light years better than Hardy at it, and it's not really close.
I want Hardy to develop as much as anyone, and was super high on him after his first season, and thought he could be more than the microwave scorer people said was his ceiling, but his regression last season, and complete failure to develop whatsoever in terms of his ability to be any type of reliable primary ball handler was very disappointing. I think he has a similar issue to Josh Green (not in terms of style of play), and that is a low basketball IQ. He's like the polar opposite of Lively in that sense. I have a feeling if he does turn into anything, it's probably when he's 24-25 because that low bball IQ stunts his ability to adapt and develop quickly. I do hope I'm proven wrong.
Also for people saying Dinwiddie's regressed since he left Dallas, that's just false. He's been exactly the same inefficient chucker post Mavs as he was pre Mavs. He's not changed a bit. It's the simple fact that Dallas gave him the exact role that maximised his strengths and minimised his weaknesses. You don't want him running an entire offense for too long by himself, but he can do that as long as he has another primary initiator to hand off to when required, and you don't want him responsible for taking on the teams entire offensive burdon. Let him score and playmake in a secondary ball handler role, and feed him as many open corner 3's as you can (he shoots 40% from the corner). That's how his numbers with the Mavs are in such stark contrast to the rest of his career.
For me, I'm happy we essentially now have a 4th player who I think could reliably go on a stretch of games giving you 20+ points per night. Last season we only had two. I fully expect him to be the first option off the bench for both scoring and playmaking punch
Leaving Hardy to the side, where you and I disagree is identifying Dinwiddie as a playmaker. I don't think of him that way at all. I think Dinwiddie has been a useful player, particularly towards the end of his Nets days and while he was here, but I think he's much more of a "get his own" type than people here seem to believe. I don't think he's some cure all for lack of offensive ball-movement. The opposite, really.
Further, he's not really a 3-level scorer the way Luka, Kyrie (and yes, Hardy) are. So, as he slows and the paint is less attainable for him, he's likely to become far too "bad shots from the perimeter" oriented, which is probably part of why he fell off a cliff after leaving the Mavs and the stellar spread spacing (they had at the time). There's reason to hope the spacing here will be better than it was last season due to Thompson, Grimes and even Marshall, but it's far from a guarantee at this point.
It's all going to be very interesting.