I thought you agreed with me he is extremely athletic but now he is too slow to hang with Jaden Ivey? Maxey is a Pg and Ausar plays 1-3 but Cam can't keep up with him? Brother Cam at 6'5.75 is only a inch taller than Jalen, they might even be the same height by now lol. If he can't even stay in front of Jalen why are we wasting time talking about him? 6'6 un athletic PF is just a career role player. Just cuz he best up SL fodder doesn't mean he will bully NBA level forwards.
The difference is that Kawhi answered the question that was asked, it was simple response but was still answered. Cam's responses dont make sense. You can't compete for ROY against current all stars.
My point is he’s not “super undersized” for a 3…you’re just hellbent on pigeonholing him as a 2 for whatever strange reason…in the era of “position less basketball” no less. OK???
You’re kinda nit picking this specific 30 seconds exchange way too much. It’s been said he’s introverted and not a big talker. He’s probably nervous and just trying to answer the best he can. Maybe he’s starting to form answers in his head as he’s still listening to her questions, who knows. Not that big of a deal we don’t need him to be the face of the league. He says his biggest competition is the all stars of the league. He answered it as “biggest competition” overall, not specifically just the rookie competition. And then he did say that he think in addition to his skill set he feels athletically better than his opponents and more confident. I mean I dunno, if I just watch this 30 second video without someone pointing out every single little thing, I wouldn’t think anything of it. Just a rookie excited for the upcoming year that’s all. They all say sh*t like this. Scoot said he should be number one pick over Wemby. All these guys are confident. This specific video is nit picking. I havent seen any of his other interviews but from this one all I see is a typical rookie confident about his game.
He is very athletic for a 6’7 235 pound forward. It’s a different kind of athleticism when you compare Cam and Jalen though. Yes both of them can jump out the gym but Jalen also has the speed, quickness, agility, lateral movements, coordination, balance etc. all the things you want to see in an elite backcourt player in terms of athleticism. Cam’s athleticism is based on vertical leap, strength and power… coming from a guy with his type of build. Those are frontcourt attributes not backcourt attributes. I don’t know why you’re so adamant about playing Cam at shooting guard. He’s not a backcourt player. Cam’s got 2 inches on Jalen… I’m sure you’ll say only an inch or whatever since it seems like you’re nickel and diming him to cut him short literally to prove some kind of point. Anyways… aside from the height how can you not notice the difference in body compositions and the way they move? In regards to your statement I bolded… that’s one of the more asinine things I’ve ever read. Cam’s literally got at least 40 pounds on Jalen and Jalen has an elite first step, can stop n go on a dime and the ability to create space…. so no…. I absolutely do not think he can stay in front of Jalen nor should one expect him too. Not many players in the league can especially not other 3’s like Whitmore. Maybe top tier defensive 2 guards like Caruso or Thybulle can.
So you admit you're the one who mentioned Amen but then you turned it around and blamed me? Also you are mentioning a point guard to tell me Cam is not undersized at the 3????? How does that even make sense in your head? SO I can tell you Jalen Green can play center because he is taller than Chris Paul?
@roslolian Your opinion on Whitmore being SG has more to do with your peculiar low opinion of Green right than anything to do with Whitmore? You are doing a poor job of describing Whitmore's game. Honestly the biggest hurdle for Whitmore being a backcourt player is his handle. I don't think you want Whitmore to be one of the dudes bringing the ball up the court especially in full court press type of situations. He's a wing bully ball brusier but with decent agility. Not elite like Green and no where near the ball skills of Green.
https://theathletic.com/4695223/2023/07/21/nba-summer-league-takeaways-vecenie/ Cam Whitmore wins MVP, silences questions The Rockets were the most impressive team I saw at summer league, even though they ended up falling short in the title game to Cleveland after choosing to sit Smith and Eason after two games. They were the most athletic team by leaps and bounds, with Eason combining with the team’s two rookies to form a ridiculous trio of explosiveness that was difficult to manage for teams at this level. But let’s focus on rookies Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore. Whitmore ended up winning MVP of the event after playing in all of the team’s games and averaging 19.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.5 steals. He wouldn’t necessarily have been my pick (that would have been Cavs’ sharpshooter Sam Merrill), but Whitmore displayed all of the things, both positively and negatively, that made him such an exciting yet polarizing prospect. On the plus side, the athleticism was readily apparent, and his blend of power and explosion was real. The footwork and decisiveness on his drives isn’t necessarily quite at the level it needs to be yet — he’s a teenager and plays a very deliberate brand of basketball — but he’s just such a freight train when he decides to get downhill that it’s hard to stop him even if you get a body in front of him. He just can go through bigger, older players like they aren’t there. He attempted about seven shots per game at the rim and made them at a 63 percent clip. In terms of the positive growth Whitmore showed, the most important flashes came in his pull-ups from midrange. One of the most concerning parts of Whitmore’s profile pre-draft was a concerning lack of in-between game, making just three attempts off the bounce in that area all season at Villanova. In the six games he played during summer league, Whitmore made five such shots, looking comfortable playing at pace and getting to a stepback or side-step attempt. Whitmore also dished out 12 assists in six games after finding just 19 in 26 games during his time at Villanova. These were positive steps that went to bolster the case made by many (including myself) that teams overthought some of Whitmore’s weaknesses, given how young he is. It wouldn’t stun me to see Whitmore get some playing time this year for the Rockets — his athleticism might just force the issue — but this still is going to be a process in terms of getting him to the level where he’s a positive player out there. Largely, it’s because of how slowly he tends to make decisions. No player at summer league was a bigger proponent of the stop-and-survey strategy than Whitmore. Once or twice per game, he’d make a quick reversal. But for the most part, he’s catching the ball and holding it, and he’s rarely ready to fire from 3 directly off the catch despite the fact that he was effective as a catch-and-shoot player both at Villanova and this summer. Instead, he’s going to jab step every time then fire. He needs to speed up this whole process. These windows close remarkably fast in the NBA, especially in high-leverage moments. The end result is more contested shots than are necessary. The clip below is a prime example. Whitmore comes off a mini-flare action and has a window to shoot directly off the catch, but his prep isn’t quite there. Instead, he decides to jab step, which allows his defender to reset. The first option here is to be ready to fire immediately. But, after the jab step, Whitmore’s point guard Trevor Hudgins comes off the screen and is wide open for 3. Hudgins made 46.5 percent from 3 on almost 1,000 attempts in college and 38 percent on 11 3-point attempts per game last season with Houston’s G League team. This needs to be a reversal back for Hudgins following the jab step after the initial decision not to shoot. Instead, it turns into a contested jumper. Vid This is all fixable. But it will probably take some rewiring in the G League for half of a year unless Whitmore can really lock it in over the next few months. He’s not going to become an elite passer all of a sudden. Having said that, just speeding up the process and knowing what he needs to do before he catches the ball will help him immensely. It’s also hard to overemphasize how impressive it is for someone as young as Whitmore (having just turned 19) to be this productive in his first taste of professional action. As referenced above regarding Miller, Whitmore’s numbers compare quite favorably to other elite NBA wings in their first taste of summer league action. I had Whitmore in that tier of player pre-draft and strongly believe teams overthought all of the concerns of his intel and medical reports. As I wrote post-draft, I’d still have him as a top-five prospect in this class even after 19 teams passed on him on draft night, and his performance in summer league was a good showcase for why.
I don't have a low opinion of Green, I have a high opinion of Cam at the SG position and think he'll only be average to above average at SF/PF and elite at 2. He doesn't need to bring the ball up does Klay Thompson always bring the ball up? When Harden was the pg and Beverly the SG, how many times did Beverly handle and bring the ball up? Dude literally gives the ball to Harden the moment they cross the line. Whitmore can be the SG because he is wired to score. A small forward in modern NBA does all the little things, they reb they defend they pick up loose balls etc Eason is a good example. Cam can do that too but if you want him to focus on scoring the ball then he is better of as a shooting guard.
Cam was able to hang with Cason Wallace the entire game and Cason was called the best perimeter defender in this class so he is pretty agile and shifty himself. Ok so you are saying Jalen is unstoppable and nobody but the top 0.1% can stay in front of him. So why does it matter then if Cam can or cannot stay in front of Jalen? Obviously majority of sgs can't stay in front of Jalen anyway. The question is can Cam defend at the SG spot? The answer is yes because he defended guys like Cason Wallace pretty well and draft combine stats he had better sprints than Anthony Black and the same agility drills as Jarace Walker, two guys noted for being able to defend 1-4 in this class. His numbers are also a lot better than Kobe Buffkin, a lotto level SG in this class. Also how does Cam have 2 inches on Jalen? Cam is only 6'5. 75 without shoes. If you believe the Rockets press Jalen is already 6'6 so he should be taller than Whitmore. I don't agree with you saying Cam has front court attributes. His vertical leap, strength and power helps him drive to the rim for slams. Do you know Anthony Edward's? What about Dywane Wade? In fact Jalen himself in the highlights you showed dunked with power and speed multiple times. That's Cam's game. There's no trade off putting Cam at the SG spot it's like Tim Duncan playing PF or Tmac playing SG. It's all positives no negatives.
Yeah and you were talking about elite Handles being necessary for the SG right? Or are you saying Klay is also one of the best ball handlers of all time? What about Ray Allen? Reggie Miller? Rip Hamilton? These guys weren't known for their hesis and isos.
Elite handles? Buddy Green doesn't have elite handles. Whitmore doesn't have average handles for a guard. Rip Hamilton, Reggie Miller and Ray Allen we're all better ball handlers and more importantly they were elite off ball movers. They had the bodies of elite long distance runners for a reason.
This is all based on eye test how do you know? Elite off ball movers? You mean like Whitmore in Villanova?
Are you a troll? No, I'm not going to compare the level of off ball play of Reggie Miller to Whitmore using D1 highlights.
Also isos aren't even the most prevalent play for guards in the NBA. In fact wings such as small forwards and even score first power forwards probably do more isos than guards. Do you know anything about the sport. The type of half court set possessions guards do the most is PnR primary ball handler possessions. Whitmore would be doing more isos at the wing position than as a guard. As a guard he'd be asked to do more pnr playamking which isn't Whitmore's game at all
Cam will be more versatile as a defender and creator against quicker players than people realize. The strength helps you shield and direct players who may be faster but still have to go around you as opposed to through you. Even if an opponent is faster, they probably aren't quiet fast enough to go around Cam's larger frame to beat him to the spot. Additionally, any bumping into Cam from a quicker guy is going to put the quicker guard at a major disadvantage so you would need a hell of a first step and Cam playing very aggressively to beat him. Its hard to explain but when I was younger I played a lot of ball against college and professional players from lower leagues and similar to Cam I am built for power and found it easier to guard quicker players than me as long as I could get some kind of body contact because they would lose much of their speed advantage once they had resistance to the spot.
Whitmore at least in his early career will benefit from playing a Chandler Parsons style offensive game where he is at the wing allowing guards to break the defense down and they proceeds to kick it out to Parsons against a unset defender which allows him to blow by that defender and do his thing with his talent. We had KJ Martin at that position that past two years but Whitmore can be far more creative than someone like KJ Martin, more similar to what Parsons was capable of. KJ Martin at the role just straight line drives and tried to yam it. Whitmore got more self creation skills than a player like KJ Martin do be more creative in that role. That's probably going to be his role his first few years at least.
