Devin Booker - What is being said

[JCSunsfan]

Booker looked very good today. He doesn't need to dominate the ball to impact the game and he just moves effortlessly.

Wow.

 

[Victor Oladipo]

dbook is the real deal!

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

My point is that we can afford to wait and keep developing Goodwin if he continues to be patient and work hard. It's stupid to get rid of young talent too soon without good reason. He might yet turn out great.

I think we have a good two guard rotation with our two starting combo guards, Archie, Weems and Booker. Should replace McNeal and Ronnie Price with a small classic PG that can shoot open 3s and just bring the ball up.

One problem I have though is with his stance. His feet are too close together when he shoots so he does not get proper balance. They should square up with his shoulders. Jeff or jumpshot #8 should have pointed this out by now...

That's a myth. The best shooters in the league today shoot with their feet close together as it actually creates better balance on the shot.

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[leclerc]

The shoulder wide stance is mainly to ensure that you elevate straight up when you come off screens or pull up the dribble. I think it's easier to go straight up when you have a little space between your feet. I'm not talking about the set shot from the floor (ft, 3pt).

He has to keep working on it. Take hundreds of shots from left and right shoulder three (corner three is for forwards) and pulling up from dribble around the ft line. Get really good from a select few spots.

 

[leclerc]

Would love it if Booker and Goodwin kept Weems on the bench. Obviously Booker offers a lot of promise as a classic shooting guard. Goodwin has a more all-around game but he must work on his defence and shooting. I don't know much about Weems.

Exciting to see how it turns out this year on all positions really. Chandler and Len, Kieff without his twin and how Teletovic performs, seeing if TJ replaces PJ, how the guard rotation plays out and perhaps most importantly how Bledsoe and Knight work together.

I'm most pessimistic with the ongoing dual combo guard project. Knight can shoot and Bledsoe has improved, but I'm not convinced they can run an offence to get easy shots and shots in the paint. I hope I'm wrong!

 

[JCSunsfan]

Would love it if Booker and Goodwin kept Weems on the bench. Obviously Booker offers a lot of promise as a classic shooting guard. Goodwin has a more all-around game but he must work on his defence and shooting. I don't know much about Weems.

Exciting to see how it turns out this year on all positions really. Chandler and Len, Kieff without his twin and how Teletovic performs, seeing if TJ replaces PJ, how the guard rotation plays out and perhaps most importantly how Bledsoe and Knight work together.

I'm most pessimistic with the ongoing dual combo guard project. Knight can shoot and Bledsoe has improved, but I'm not convinced they can run an offence to get easy shots and shots in the paint. I hope I'm wrong!

I am not sure where Goodwin has an advantage over booker. He seems to be the same or better in every category I can think of. Maybe Archie is a tad quicker, but not by much. But even that doesn't matter if Booker finishes as well or better at the rim.

 

[Chaz]

I am not sure where Goodwin has an advantage over booker. He seems to be the same or better in every category I can think of. Maybe Archie is a tad quicker, but not by much. But even that doesn't matter if Booker finishes as well or better at the rim.

Archie is much better off the dribble.
Booker is more likely to work off screens away from the ball or spotting up for a catch and shoot.

Last season there was a play where the defender played off him at the three point line (as they should with his shooting numbers) Archie drove right around him anyway and dunked it.

Archie has elite speed and can beat his man just about any time he wants. When the game slows down for him a little more and he learns to set guys up or develops a little floater in the lane he will be deadly.
There is a lot of value in a guy like Archie that can break down a defense and get the other team in foul trouble early in the quarter.

 

[Errntknght]

Regarding the video CardsSunsDbacks posted...
Its too bad the guys microphone wasn't turned on... all the other sounds were there but not his voice.

I tried another of the videos (voice missing again) - the one about bending knees. In that most of the made shots were by guys with their feet spread varying amounts, unlike the video where the focus was on feet together.

You don't really get much out of it without the voice - lets face it, you can edit a video to make any point you want.

The guy might be right about keeping the feet together when shooting but I don't think one is more stable with the feet together - wouldn't pro golfers be using that stance if it were true? Defensive lineman would tumble onto that fact, too. In ballroom dancing you definitely have to spread your feet to remain stable while supporting a partner, its pretty obvious, too. The one sport that comes to mind where you're taught to keep your feet together is skiing but I think thats about changing direction quicker, which means shifting weight from foot to foot quicker and the closer the feet are together the less distance you have to shift.

Going back to what Kevin McHale said about the release point, I think its the repeatability - of the release point and everything else. I suppose putting the feet together is a little more repeatable than putting them shoulder width apart. If I remember anatomy correctly, our pelvis, hips, knees and ankles are 'designed' for our legs to angled inward a bit so our feet are just an inch or two apart at the heel. You'd expect that to be the most repeatable position.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I heard the video just fine. The point he was making was that a shoulder wide stance is NOT optimal. YOu are not more stable, in fact less stable with it and you are not as quick with it. He also pointed out that the best shooters do not use it.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

Watched him closely yesterday. This kid is going to be good. Active, rangy, and his shot will get hot but his stroke is nice. That face up 3 in the 4th Q was superstar stuff but well see how it all plays out. He passes the eye test for sure.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

Also think you guys are crazy on Archie and definitley see some Joe lite in him. Especially love his intensity. This year will be the ultimate decider but absolutely he should get 15-20 mins a game and well see where his numbers go from there. I could see 7-9 pts from him if things break right and with our guard rotation thats pretty good.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

The shoulder wide stance is mainly to ensure that you elevate straight up when you come off screens or pull up the dribble. I think it's easier to go straight up when you have a little space between your feet. I'm not talking about the set shot from the floor (ft, 3pt).

He has to keep working on it. Take hundreds of shots from left and right shoulder three (corner three is for forwards) and pulling up from dribble around the ft line. Get really good from a select few spots.

Also another myth. Most of the best shooters sway their shoulders back and sweep their feet forward when they shoot. They do not elevate "straight up" when they shoot. When I say sweep and sway I'm not referring to a fadeaway either as the fadeaway is an off balance shot that usually results in the shooter kicking one foot forward and landing on one foot. With the sweep and sway you still land on both feet and the point is to help you get proper elevation/arc on your jump shot. Some of the other shooting myths out there are that you shouldn't dip the ball after you catch it and that your feet and shoulders should be squared up to the basket. There is some really good information in the 10 video series if you care to watch:

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[Errntknght]

I heard the video just fine. The point he was making was that a shoulder wide stance is NOT optimal. YOu are not more stable, in fact less stable with it and you are not as quick with it. He also pointed out that the best shooters do not use it.

Rather clearly there multiple tracks of sound and my computer doesn't play them all - or I may have it set so it doesn't. It must be a rarely used track because I've never had this happen before. I really wish I could hear it because I can't ever argue about it if I can't hear his thoughts.

I'm not too convinced about the original thing of putting the feet together. I watched all 10 videos and he has lots of great shooters firing away - virtually none of them put their feet together on the floor when they shoot. (They often bring them together in the air but that's an entirely different thing.) They're not shoulder width, either, but they definitely are not together on the floor.

I also noticed that most of them bend their knees early in their shooting motion - its not that awkward looking knee bend that he had the three kids doing though. It happens before they lift the ball up and doesn't look it's something they're consciously trying to do. I would say it is the natural preparation for the jump they make as they shoot. I'd go so far as to surmise that its not a good idea to introduce extra knee bend.

I did like video ten - it talks about the players who significantly improved their shooting after they came into the league - probably all of us remember that quite late in his career Jason Kidd improved his 3 pt shooting. Jordan and LaBron are two others he mentions.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Watching Booker grow game by game in summer league.

It is possible that the best player on our team is 18 years old.

Just some observations:

1. Movement: He glides when he runs. He doesn't bounce. It makes him deceptively fast and that type of movement helps avoid injuries.
2. He has the ability to catch BAD passes. He has made Mike James look better than he is. If you go back and watch the tape you will see how often he has to catch passes that many other NBA player would miss. Not only does he catch them, he is often able to collect himself, shoot and score without dribbling to set up. That little skill is huge and it translates into the NBA from summer league or anywhere.
3. He is a decent defender. Summer league doesn't have the same defensive challenges that the NBA does, but it is much better than I expected.
4. He has a knack for knowing just how much room he needs to get off a shot, and he has a deceptively quick release. His release point is very high because of his leap on his jumper and his form. This makes the trajectory much higher and harder to block for bigs that lay back from him.
5. He has that shooter's lack of conscience.

Man, am I excited about having this kid.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Pels fans reactions to Booker:

http://www.pelicansreport.com/showthread.php?84763-SL-Game-Thread-Pelicans-vs-Suns

 

[leclerc]

So glad we got rid of Green and Marcus so the young guys Booker, TJ and hopefully Archie will get a chance to become NBA players this year. Much more fun than the end of the Nash and Hill years. Too bad we couldn't get some youngsters in at that time.