MAVS NEWS:

[KillerLeft]

You know it just may be that WCj felt comfortable here playing for a coach he knows. Some rookies really stiffen up the first couple of years, so we might be lucky if the real WCj has now made an appearance. It would be as Chicago said, an "epic steal" if that's the case.

He just looks like a real PG - not a combo guard or an extra playmaker.

Agreed on both counts. 

How comfortable a player feels with coaches and teammates, how comfortable they are in a particular city, with their apartment or house...their drive to work...whatever. How valued they feel by the team...how fairly they think they're being treated, relative to their role and the chance they're being given to succeed. How mature they are in general (which changes over time and at different ages for all of them)...ALL of this has a real, tangible effect on what they show on the court. We tend to talk about them like they're video game players with numerical values listed next to certain skills, and that's the easiest way not to understand the right way forward. I suspect some front offices operate that way, even, which is crazy to me. If the Nelsons (for all their faults) didn't understand how this stuff really works, Nash/Dirk would never have happened.

And, YES! WCJ is 100% PG. At times he has driven the offense at a very competent and effective NBA level this season. There have even been stretches during which he outright controlled the flow of the game, which is something we haven't seen around here in a while. What seals it for me is that even when he's not playing particularly well the TEAM still looks better on offense because he's out there. When he initiates, he makes quick decisions. Even if no advantage is created as a result, the ball doesn't stick with him until the shot clock has expired (I think even Flagg and Kyrie struggle with this from time to time). Once he gives up the ball, he's effective off ball and uncommonly good in the role of connector, making the correct and timely swing pass, etc. He's just as interested in making the pass before the assist pass, which is what's needed from your main ball-handlers to have an effective, ball-sharing, unselfish offense. He's not Haliburton, but he's got some of that good PG DNA. 

Players go harder when they get to touch the ball. Their offense comes more confidently and in better rhythm. Those catch and shoot 3's start to go down more often because they stay engaged out there and are having fun. And, maybe most importantly, they work harder on defense.

I hope it lasts!  I wish they had one more of those guys.