His stroke has no arc on it - it has to be a perfect shot to go in .... that's something you would think would have been addressed w/ his pedigree over the years. DJ will always be a sub-32% 3-pt shooter as a result.
Why is DJ shooting 8 Three Pointers and not getting into the paint?
- Thread starter catben
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His shot during the Canadian tour wasn't flat at all. He just needs to let the game come to him. He was forcing it against Kansas. Thank goodness we haven't needed him to be THE guy. His time will come. When it does, we'll be much better for it.
His shooting form was something I noticed from the very start. Like you, I am AMAZED that his father and Grandfather had not worked with him to correct his release. Knowing that the NBA and even college now is almost EXCLUSIVELY a perimeter game, shooting the ball well is paramount to being successful.
Then you add to this his struggles finishing at the rim or even in the paint, and we see the SAME problem Cal has had lately with PG's that STRUGGLE to score. Hope DJ figures it out because we will need him to reach the highest level.
He went 3/8 from 3 this last game. That's 38%. That's a good Percentage. I'll take that from every guy on the team.
Looking at the box scores so far, the only really bad game DJ has had was against KU where he forced everything. He was better last night, though and much better in our first two contests. I'm not worried about DJ.
I did c Highpoint game but . I do Remember in the previous games he jacked up threes much too early in the shot clock for a point guard .
Literally answered your own question in the first 7 words.
In other words, it's wildly inconsistent. That's the issue. At this stage, a world class basketball player shoots with the same form on his jumper pretty much every time.
Yeah.
He asked how many assists to act like DJ wasn't passing enough. Then when he gets called out for moving the goal posts, he changes his tune.
The guys with the agenda are going to find something to complain about no matter what DJ does.
You have to be able to read context man.
The thread was started after the Stone Hill game. The title of the thread references the 8 3's he shot against Stone Hill. So most of the conversation is about...get this...the Stonehill game.
The Original point was that DJ shouldn't shoot 8 3's. But he hit 3 of them. 3/8 is 37.5%. That's considered good at every level. When I pointed that out--"Well, he didn't pass the ball enough though."
He absolutely had a rough game vs Kansas. But the conversation was about his decision making--and taking "too many" 3's.
So if you want to criticize the kid for 1 rough game vs Kansas. Be my guest. I'm not here to fight you on it. If you want to say he shouldn't have shot so many 3's vs Stonehill, that's a dumb take.
Yeah, how dare anyone question if he is taking too many perimeter shots.
Actually this thread IS about MORE than the Stonehill game.
DJ should concentrate on getting to the rim WAY MORE than jacking up 3's!!! Bragging about hitting 38% from 3 against one of the WORST teams in all of college basketball is a "dumb take". Especially when the opponent is not even guarding him. The kid from Kansas was averaging 1 pt a game and made 5/6 when we didn't guard him.
DJ needs to get the ball to his team mates. This team isn't going far if DJ isn't getting into the paint and either finishing or distributing the ball to the players that shoot it MUCH better than he does.
I didn't start a thread to brag on his shooting. You made a thread to criticize him or shooting. I'm just pointing out that he actually shot the ball well.
I'm not saying he's Steph Curry after going 3/8 vs Stonehill. But you started the thread after the STonehill game. You referenced 8 3's--the number of 3's he took vs Stonehill. It sure seems like this is about the Stonehill game. You EVEN MENTION STONE HILL IN THE POST! Where is the mention of Kansas? You didn't mention Kansas.
But when your original point is flawed--you change the argument. You move the goal posts.
You literally started a thread about DJ's performance vs Stonehill. Now we need to go back and talk about Kansas. Now that someone's pointed out his shot selection wasn't bad and he hit a good percentage--Well now DJ isn't passing enough.
So, to be clear:
You start a thread after the Stonehill game. You put the number of 3's he took vs Stonehill in the thread title. You talk about Stonehill in the Original Post. But it's...not about the Stonehill game?
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This is a Message Board and ANY thread can be diverted to ANY nuance that APPLIES to the topic at hand.
It is you putting a LIMIT on the discussion to TRY and make YOUR point that's the problem!!!
After the way DJ has shot the ball, especially in the PREVIOUS game to Stonehill, the topic of SHOOTING too many 3's is MOST DEFINITELY a part of the conversation!!!! Especially when his STRENGTH is driving and either scoring in the Paint, drawing fouls OR distributing the ball to his team mates that are MUCH BETTER than he is at MAKING 3's!!
He must play to HIS strengths for this team to reach it's highest level. IMHO, he should NEVER shoot over 4 a game unless he suddenly catches fire and drills all 4, that's what the kid from Kansas did to us. Hopefully DJ will work on his shot to a point where he can make them more consistently. But RIGHT NOW he is NOT, so that's WHY I made the thread.
Blah blah blah blah.
When your bashing of his Stonehill game didn't work out, you "divert" the topic to bash him for the Kansas game.
You can discuss whatever you like. But be consistent. If you take a position, make sure you can defend it. You couldn't. Now you want to talk about other things.
Right.
You started a thread about Stone Hill. Then when that argument was challenged you say it isn't about Stone Hill.
That's fine. You can message board however you like. You just don't come off as credible. You come off as someone that's whiny and twists your argument to appear "right"
It doesn't matter what they did defensively; there was no excuse for a brick layer to jack up that many 3s. He did it because he is a selfish player who can't stand watching teammates get the positive attention that he seeks.
I think you nailed it. He’s a good player, and does a lot of good things. He just needs to work on finishing. When he starts taking it straight to the rim, and he will, he will start finishing, or getting fouled, or both. It just takes time to get figured out, but he will be fine.
It is starting to look like his pedigree played a huge role in his ranking and maybe he should never have been ranked in the top 5.
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What are the good things he has done this season? If he is better than Dilly and Shep, why hasn't he been able to figure it out when it appears that Dilly and Shep have.
Not really he was constantly at the top his entire HS career, you don’t stay in the top 5 that long based on name alone. Even Lebron’s Son couldn’t do that and he would get the biggest boost of any kid IMO.
One thing is for certain, he hasn't come close to demonstrating on the court where it matters that he was worthy of all the attention that he received. He doesn't drive well, he doesn't finish well, he doesn't shoot well, and he doesn't generate a lot of assists. So, what does he do well?
He hustles, plays good D and takes care of the ball. I didn’t say he was better than anyone else. I said he will figure out how to take the ball to the rim.
If he focused on doing the things that you listed and not jack up a lot of bad shots, his play on the court would be less detrimental.
You realize,, it's 4 games.
90% of the board seems to agree that we know DJ is a bust. I don't think most NBA scouts have already written him off. I think we need to see him more than 4 games to really draw any conclusions about him.
We've had other kids start slow and figure it out. I think he can do it too.
I realize that it is only 4 games. Do you realize that it is 4 games for Dilly and Shep? You act as if Dilly and Shep are returning players.
Do you really think anyone was saying "That's Dejuan Wagner's kid, we better rank him high?" Even if you believe the recruiting services behave that way, I just don't think Dejuan has that kind of name value.
But let's say they do care about who your dad is. Why would they rate DJ over Bronny? I know people disagree about LeBron vs Jordan, but surely we can agree LeBron has been better than Dejuan Wagner. So if they boost you because of who your dad is--Bronny should be higher.
In my reply to you, I didn't mention Dillingham or Reed. I wasn't speaking of them. So I don't know how I'm acting like they are returning players. I was only speaking on DJ.
Reed and Dillingham have been better through 4 games. I'm not arguing it. But it doesn't mean DJ is a bust. And I'm not sure it means long term they're better than DJ. They've been better through 4 games, zero question. But can we really know anything after 4 games?
Some of you act like it's DJ vs Reed and DJ vs Dillingham. I wish you guys would root for DJ to succeed like you do Reed.
In my reply to you, I didn't mention Dillingham or Reed. I wasn't speaking of them. So I don't know how I'm acting like they are returning players. I was only speaking on DJ.
I said nothing about him being a bust, but he certainly should be coming off the bench until he can earn the right to start and not just start because he came in with greater hype. I don't think anyone is rooting against DJ. Fans are just tired of Cal showing preferential treatment to certain players.
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I know what the narrative says.
But Reed and DJ played the same number of minutes vs Stone Hill. Reed played really well vs Kansas, and got 10 more minutes the very next game.
Some of you REALLY care about who starts. I don't. I do think Cal worries about hurting a kid's confidence by benching him. And people act like "Well what about Reed's confidence not getting to start." Reed seems fine. Reed is playing very well off the bench.
I trust that if Reed continues to outplaying Wagner, at some point, Cal will switch who starts. Four games into the season, I REALLY don't think it's that big of a deal. Some of you just want to gripe about Cal.
You REALLY care too because if you didn't you wouldn't keep trying to convince people that starting DJ and Edwards is the right thing to do.
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I'm just saying against the real competition he came up short. Time will tell if he delivers.
I can’t imagine what it’s like being as a big a POS loser as you are. Must be pretty great because you sure seem to love it.
It really irritates me when we have posters who have been here for a long time write players off so early. I know many of you saw the growth of Richards. I know many of you saw the growth of Teague. I Know many of you saw the growth of the 2014 team. What we are seeing now may not be what we see at the end of the season.
I’m not ready to write DJ off. I do think his time at the point should be scaled back some. I think you have Reed and Dillingham each start a half at the point with DJ off ball. Then for 5 minutes each half DJ can play point while the starter goes off ball or gets a breather. Or something similar. But I want the staff to keep trying to develop DJ as a point guard until at least mid-SEC play. If he is still playing this far behind Rob and Shep you stick him at the 2G and start focusing on your most successful rotations.
DJ does need to chill a bit with all the shots. I agree with that. But this guy has been THE guy in all his teams. Even when him and 7ft Bradshaw were on the same HS team DJ was the guy. He also grew up rich and probably hasn’t struggled for anything thus far and is starting to face the first real adversity in his life. So changing his mentality is going to take time and it may not happen, we’ll just have to see.
But to expect all that to happen when we’re still in November is a bit of a stretch imo.
I’m not ready to write DJ off. I do think his time at the point should be scaled back some. I think you have Reed and Dillingham each start a half at the point with DJ off ball. Then for 5 minutes each half DJ can play point while the starter goes off ball or gets a breather. Or something similar. But I want the staff to keep trying to develop DJ as a point guard until at least mid-SEC play. If he is still playing this far behind Rob and Shep you stick him at the 2G and start focusing on your most successful rotations.
DJ does need to chill a bit with all the shots. I agree with that. But this guy has been THE guy in all his teams. Even when him and 7ft Bradshaw were on the same HS team DJ was the guy. He also grew up rich and probably hasn’t struggled for anything thus far and is starting to face the first real adversity in his life. So changing his mentality is going to take time and it may not happen, we’ll just have to see.
But to expect all that to happen when we’re still in November is a bit of a stretch imo.
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