knicks1248 wrote:The bottom line was that BOL is one of the best 3 point shooting big men in the league...
The distinction you want to make is Bol Bol will be able to get his shot off at plus three point range anytime he wants to BUT ONLY in any catch and shoot situation.
Unlike this father, who shot the ball basically against one of his ears ( Manute was taller, so that changed all the variables of his shot), Bol Bol tends to set much lower, even lower than other big men shorter than him relatively. Bol Bol's natural mechanics begins to negate the advantage of his height/standing reach. In short, he needs to change his shot.
He moves well for his size, but not well for the speed of the NBA. If he can rework his shot, he can offer extreme floor spacing, which is valuable, and reduces his wear and tear. Jason Kidd played for so long because he stopped going to the rim, he basically cut the floor into one third, he only ran from three point line to three point line.
People are going to argue more weight/more strength, but that's only going to create a multiplier effect on his injury risk. He's just not built that way. To be effective ( reduce the size of the court like Kidd), he needs to actually be able to guard on the perimeter and use his length there. But he can't do that because his lateral movement is clunky/too slow/too uncoordinated. For his size, in a vacuum, that he can move like he does now is incredible. But for his size AGAINST NBA SPEED/STRENGTH, he just can't physically do it. He's a low BBIQ guy so that negates a lot of his value protecting the rim. His footwork and timing and situational awareness on the defensive end is kind of shitty. In short, he has no real projectible defensive role.
Here's his one true advantage on defense. He can knock the fuck out of anyone he wants. The refs are going to just walk away from it. If you let a walking Pocky stick give you a forearms shiver then you deserve it. Other big men are going to test him and try to bully him down, he's going to need to beat someone down. Take the suspension, take the fine and lay some motherfucker out. I suspect someone will argue he will be foul prone. Well if your ceiling is 12-15 minutes a game, I don't see how that's going to be matter all that much.
Bol Bol hasn't proven anything with his three point shot. BUT if he works at it, he can be lethal at plus 3 point range and offer a team extreme floor spacing in some VERY SPECIFIC MATCUPS. But something like that takes years. More critically he has to actually fill a role on defense to stay on the court. Until then, it doesn't matter how much he shoots from downtown.
The real problem is his low BBIQ. It impacts everything.
