The data doesn't lie|19 years old elected summer league MVP: Whitmore's four strengths and three flaws
On July 17, Beijing time, the Las Vegas Summer League came to an end, and the Cavaliers defeated the Rockets to win the championship. Whitmore, a 19-year-old Rockets rookie, didn't play well in the final, shooting 6-of-17 from the field, 2-of-8 from three-point range, with 14 points, three rebounds, three turnovers and no assists. Just before this game, Whitmore was named Summer League MVP. In this issue of "Data Don't Lie", let's explore the strengths and weaknesses of the No. 20 pick.
Four advantages are emerging
On Whitmore's scouting report, his four strengths were mentioned. In his six summer league games in Las Vegas, he has all demonstrated these advantages. It has to be said that the Rockets were able to pick him with the 20th pick in the first round, which is indeed a big leak. In six Summer League games, Whitmore averaged 19.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 2.5 steals per game.
The first advantage, and the most obvious, is that Whitmore is very strong and powerful. Scouting reports described him as "like a central defender in rugby". At the age of 19, he already meets NBA standards in terms of stature. At 2.01 meters tall and weighing 105 kilograms, Whitmore does not fall behind in any confrontation in the same position. On more than one occasion in summer league matches, we have seen Whitmore score the ball under fierce physical confrontation.
Second, among players in the same position, Whitmore's speed is superior, especially the start of the first step of the breakthrough is fast. This will give him the upper hand in attack.
Third, his ability to bounce, Whitmore measured a vertical jump height of 40.5 inches, or about 1.03 meters, in the joint trial, ranking third among rookies in the same year. This jumping height, combined with his explosiveness, makes it very easy for Whitmore to dunk under the basket.
Fourth, Whitmore has an arm span of 2.05 meters and has a good ability to defend the ball-holder. This can also be seen from the steal data of the summer union. Whitmore is averaging 2.5 steals per game, and if he can carry this defensive intensity into training camp, preseason and even the regular season, he will be able to get more quality playing time.
Three major deficiencies need to be improved
How prominent Whitmore's strengths are, how obvious are his flaws. Judging from the 6 games of the Summer League, the problems reported by Whitmore scouts were also completely exposed to everyone.
The most important and intuitive point is that he plays too alone. Whitmore often fell into one-on-one singles, with only the basket in his eyes and no teammates. In the final game against the Cavaliers, Whitmore had 0 assists but 3 turnovers. After six games, he averaged only 1.8 assists per game, which is really too little. Of his 3 errors, 2 were passing errors.
Overall, his passing is not only a lack of consciousness, but also a lack of technique. This is not something that can change overnight.
The second flaw is his dribbling ability. Whitmore has already had problems dribbling in some rounds under the summer league-level defense, and this flaw may be further amplified in the future NBA-level defense. Whitmore needs to be careful to avoid unnecessary mistakes, after all, a serious coach Uduka will not let a player who makes too many mistakes stay on the field. In the final game against the Cavaliers, Whitmore also made a dribble error, allowing the opponent to seize the opportunity to fight back.
Third, Whitmore's three-point shooting is also problematic. While playing at Villanova University, he averaged 4.2 three-point attempts per game while shooting 34.3 percent from three-point range. The outside world predicts that under the training of NBA-level coaches, this shooting percentage may increase. However, in the six games of the summer league, he did not perform well on the outside, averaging 8.2 three-point shots per game, almost twice as much as the university, but his three-point shooting percentage has dropped a lot, only 29.3% shooting.
His three points were inaccurate, in large part due to decision-making problems in the game. Many of his three-point shooting were too reluctant to be the best option found by reading defense. The 19-year-old Whitmore is immature when it comes to judging the distance between him and defenders, which also causes most of his three-point shots to be projected under opposing interference, and his shooting percentage is reasonable.
Uduka values space on the pitch and likes that his strikers can open up space. Both Gwi and Horford are forwards who can shoot three-pointers in the Green Army system, and if Whitmore can improve on three-point shooting, with his overall strength, he can still get a spot in the Rockets' rotation. However, as Rockets noted Iko said, the Rockets have enough patience to develop him, and in order to get him more playing time and gain game experience in the new season, it is not ruled out that he will go to the G League first.
The summer league MVPs of the past 6 years are Whitmore, Keegan Murray, Cam Thomas, Clark, Hart and Ball Brother. Will Whitmore's future be brighter than theirs? Let's wait and see.