Marshall has some liabilities, but he sure can pass the rock. Seems to see the floor about as well as a PG can. Like proverbial jedi reflexes...sees things before they happen.
But in the NBA if you can't shoot, those passing windows get alot narrower. If you can't shoot ft's as a pg, you tend to lose an additional point or two a game. If you can't defend, well for us, we'll continue to have a hole there which also continues to make every other position weaker.
With the ball in his hands if someone gets open, he's going to find him. Passing wise he's exactly what we need.
We've also sucked big time on the fast break compared to years past. He seems to be very good at getting the ball up the court.
Seems to fit our offense at least before setting up, and at least the rest of our team is used to a pg who can't defend so it won't create a new situation.
Given who was on the board, I like the pick. Don't know if a trade down would have been any good without a lottery team (or possible expected one) 1st next year thrown in.
Seeing how that's hard to pull off, and for our FO pretty much impossible as whenever another GM picks up the phone they are probably conditioned to ask for a draft pick from us, staying put and taking a chance was probably the best way to go.
He should be able to run an offense and capitalize on fast break opportunities. Because of this, he very well might surprise and have alot more upside then we currently think.
Hope we make him shoot 500 ft's a day, and start intensively coaching up his defense. It's muted, but there's a hint of excitement in this pick for me. He just looks like a Suns type of pg in the areas that we're accustomed to. If he fits our offense like it appears he could, at #13, IF he achieves that it isn't a bad pick.
FWIW Roy Williams said that if we want to continue playing fast break basketball, we picked the right PG. He also said he was the best (I think...passer) he's ever had. Might have said PG.
Combine that with the tape, and we have multiple confirmations that the highlight reel is what he tends to bring to the table.
One last thing.....if sometimes it appears he plays slow...it might just be more like a deliberate slow (offensively wise I'm talking about ofc)...which was always my concern with Harden going into the NBA. But it works in the NBA with Harden. Not saying he's Harden, just saying being deliberate and making good decisions can outweigh fast and medium control, let alone fast and out of control. Being able to push the break on passes also creates a good dichotomy of confusing defenders as it gets them feeling like they need to be overactive, and then you slow it down to your advantage. If he has these two qualities, it might also bode well for him and us.
