The Athletic also notes: “McCullar is just a 29.8 percent 3-point shooter for his career, and that’s the reason he’s still in college. He needs to show improvement to grow his professional stock.”
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The other issue with Reece is defense normally does not immediately translate in the NBA. The pace, offensive schemes, and players are so much more challenging to guard. On the other hand, dudes with decent size who can hit 3s from the corner might be who you use those extra spots on
For example, Dre has not been much of a + defender (and some would say has been a bad defender) in the NBA and he was a national defensive player of the year
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Thats is interesting but Reece!! Defense is predicated on the on ball shit specifically point guards using ball screens etc. he is exceptional at both position and steals
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I think Reece has a higher chance of being a successful pro defender than Dre. But the issue will be if he can be exceptional. If Reece is an above average defender, mediocre shooter, ok handles, and ok finishing, I doubt he would stick around. If he is a phenomenal defender in the pros it heavily increases those odds
The other obvious difference is Dre was an all-time team defender in the Virginia system, Reece is instead a phenomenal individual/counting stats defender
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Might be because of his injuries, too. He definitely doesn’t seem like he moves as well as he used to.
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The injuries certainly don’t help.
But Dre was also never a counting stats defense guy. He was the glue that held a phenomenal defense together but he was not getting 3 steals a game or anything like that. That was actually a pre-draft knock on him if I recall
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But with so many ball screens for the ball handlers - does that mute Reece’s effectiveness as an on ball defender? I think it does unless a team specifically designs defense when he is on the floor around his uncanny ability not to stay screened.
He’s the best guy I’ve ever seen on any level at not staying screened when guarding the ball.
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For sure and i think you may have answered your own question there hahah. My opinion
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Yeah, his superpower is not staying screened.
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Weirdly this has also been true for Brogdon. Consistently + on offense and average to below-average on defense in the NBA, which is the opposite of what I would have predicted for him.
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Is Brogdon kinda slow compared to the freak athleticism of NBA guys?
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Yes, but not sure if that explains it fully for me. Derrick White, for example, doesn’t jump out as a quick twitch athlete and he still grades out pretty well as a defender. I don’t really have an explanation.
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Not unlike Reece!!?
The main reason I’ve seen Beekman should come back is his 3 point shot. I don’t think that’s it. Finishing around the rim is something that sticks out to me. And honestly, he can improve both whether he stays or goes, probably more so if he goes. There is only so much you can work on in college. The pesky classes probably get in the way.
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White is a significantly better athlete than Brogdon on measurables … Brogdon is simply a minus NBA athlete. And really struggles to elevate defensively when on ball contesting shots.
Celtics have big guards but none of them are plus NBA athletes … it’s one of the reasons they are so inconsistent offensively. None of them are very good at creating offense for others.
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Without knowing enough this is what I suspected. Thanking you
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Yeah you’re right, I am underrating White’s athleticism; I just checked his combine numbers and they were really good both vertically and speed-wise.
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White was also nearly a 40% 3pt shooter at 4 attempts per game. Reece worked up to 35% this year on fewer attempts and is also burdened by the 2 other years.
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