Hypertrophy is materialized | Lakers Summer League Player Observation: The No. 17 pick has good point guard genes

Continue our Lakers Summer League Player Watch Series.

Today I want to talk about the rookie Jaylen Hood Xifino selected by the Lakers with the 17th pick this year.

Jaylen Hood Shifino

After entering the Jamesian era, the Lakers have not had a high pick for many years. So when Xifino joined the Lakers as the top pick (17) rookie selected by the Lakers in nearly three years, high hopes were placed on him. (This is also related to the high level of the Lakers' draft in recent years)

I believe everyone has seen a lot of Xifino's draft reports, and after the six games of Summer League + California Classic, we have seen the advantages and disadvantages of this player more clearly and intuitively.

The stats are at the top of the list – in six Summer League games, Xifino averaged 13.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He shot 34.0 percent from the field (32 of 94), 21.7 percent from three-point range (5 of 23) and 56.5 percent from the free throw line (13 of 23).

merit

As described in the scouting report – Jaylen Hood Shifino is a tall point guard.

In Summer League, he did show the same qualities as described in scouting reports — such as his outstanding point guard skill set: excellent vision, passing and possession.

For most of the Summer League, Hefino spent most of the Summer League as the Lakers' primary ball carrier, and in my opinion, he was quite qualified for the task — in the first two California classics, Xifino had a few more mistakes, but in the last four official Summer League games, he controlled the mistakes well, averaging only 1.0 turnovers per game.

From his passes, you can see his point guard genes:

From the moment he launched the block, Xifino already knew which direction the opponent's assistant would come from, and which direction his teammates would be open - so he could send a beautiful pass without looking like this.

When the fake cover quickly breaks apart tactics, he is able to deliver just the right amount of accurate pocket passes to his teammates.

When blocking, he can not only observe the opportunity of himself and the cover person to appear, but also keenly perceive the opportunity of the weak side due to the assistant defense, and often send wonderful passes to the shooter who ambushes the weak side.

Based on reading the defense and vision, Xifino also has a passing technique, such as the breakthrough cross above that is fast and accurate, while Lewis's secondary transfer is slightly inferior in speed and accuracy.

In the process of breaking through the line, Xifino attracted the attention of the opponent's defender on the weak side, and then he single-handed a delicate pass for Christie in the bottom corner with his left hand - not only right-handed, but also left-handed.

And what if the opponent seals the bottom corner when breaking the bottom line?

In this round, Shifino gave a different choice - when Kai Jones blocked his pass to the bottom corner, Xifino immediately adapted, magically delivering a delicate ground pass to Kilya Jones, who cut in front.

We can see that Xifino's passing is not "fixed" - he really has the ability to read the defense on the field and knows the position of his teammates on the field.

All I can tell you is not to be blinded by Hefino's humble 3.3 assists per game — which is due to a large part of the Lakers' summer league tactics revolving around Christie and Castleton — and Hefino, who is indeed a point guard and does have the potential to be a court commander.

As we all know, the point guard has a longer growth curve than other positions – he just needs some time.

In addition to his playmaking talent, another virtue of Sifino's scouting report was also on display in the Summer League – for example, he was really good at blocking offense.

A 10-16-foot stop-and-shoot jumper like the one above is one of Sifino's signature skills – he is now able to punish opponents for sinking defenses in this way, and over time, if he can continue to improve his mid-range accuracy, he will be an interesting player – after all, he is so tall as a point guard (193cm tall, 209cm arm span).

In addition to mid-range shooting, Xifino also has a mid-range killing tactic: throwing.

When Hefino is 14 feet away, he finishes with a mid-range jumper, and when he gets inside 14 feet, he is very inclined to finish the offense with a single throw.

Throwing is a fairly "modern" weapon that can help players who lack athleticism and can't attack the frame directly – and Shifino is one such player. From that point of view, he has started to practice throwing and try to use it as one of his signature offensive methods, and rightly so.

Xifino scored a lot of goals in the Summer League with throws, not only with right-handed throws like the ones above, but even with some left-handed throws:

We've seen how much attention Xifino takes on the technology, and all he needs now is to keep polishing it – just as he keeps honing his mid-range jumper.

Xifino is now a "blocker" player – he knows how to use big man cover, has the skill to punish opponents defensively, and can create opportunities for his teammates – which means he is on the right path. All you need to do is keep honing and perfecting your skills.

And in some of the shortcomings of Xifino in the scouting report, Xifino in the summer league is also a little better than I thought.

For example, scouts reported that he would not shoot three-pointers, but in fact, Xifino's willingness to shoot three-pointers is still very strong, and the shooting percentage is not very bad:

In one-on-one, he often chooses to take the ball and withdraw three points as a finishing means, and the range can reach one step beyond the three-point line.

When blocking, he will also choose to step back for three points according to the opponent's defense - this is very important, and I also said on Weibo before, whether the range can cover beyond the three-point line when holding the ball will determine whether Xifino is a "triple threat" player, or just a "double threat" or even a "single threat" player. (The three threats here refer to three-pointer, mid-range, and under the basket)

At least from the summer league, although Xifino prefers the mid-range, he is not a player with a "three-point fetish" like DeRozan.

When given a small chance, Xifino also chose to finish with a three-point shot after dribbling.

If you remove the California classic, Xifino actually shot 35.7% from three-point range (3.5 three-point shots, 1.3 shots) in four official summer league games - rookies have a process of adjusting to the NBA three-point line, and in that sense, Xifino even shot well.

He's not a player who doesn't want to shoot threes or won't shoot threes at all, and his speed, shape and height of his three-point shots don't seem to have a problem — which is definitely good news for the Lakers.

shortcoming

Having said the advantages, let's talk about the disadvantages.

In fact, the current Xifino is still a player whose shortcomings clearly outweigh his strengths. (Of course, this is a common phenomenon among rookie players)

Next, let's list some of the shortcomings or deficiencies of Xifino that we observed in the summer union.

1. Shooting percentage

In six games in the summer league, Xifino only shot 34 percent overall from the field, which is obviously unsatisfactory. As a player whose main offensive style is shooting. He has a good shooting style and creative skills, but he's not accurate enough at the moment. (Whether under the basket, or mid-range, mid-range, or even three-pointer, it is not accurate enough)

How to transfer shooting skills from college to the NBA has always been the number one issue for rookies, and polishing shooting skills is a career that runs through their entire careers.

During his time at Indiana University, Shifino shot 46.3 percent from mid-range range and 41.1 percent from mid-range range—not good enough compared to the true "mid-range masters," but qualified.

The first thing Xifino needs to do is try to translate college shooting to the NBA — as an offensive initiator, you have to have a minimum of efficiency in order for the coach to have a reason to keep you on the court.

I'm still optimistic about Xifino's mid-range and throwing conversion - he is really good at height, has a wide body, and is really good at using blocking to create shooting space.

But for others, it may not be so rosy.

2. Attack other than blocking demolition?

Yes, Xifino is a potential mid-range master of blocking. But the question is, beyond that, what else is his offense?

Can he break through to the basket to score?

Can he score one-on-one singles?

Can he attack misalignment?

Can he play without the ball?

We know that modern basketball actually has more comprehensive and higher requirements for point guards' skill sets — and these questions, in fact, Xifino can't give a definite answer at the moment.

As the scouting report says, his explosiveness is rather mediocre, which not only affects his finishing at the basket, but also makes it difficult for him to really get rid of opponents in one-on-one situations.

Against the Spurs' 2-metre Sadie Sissoko, Shifino looked unadvantageous in speed and his throws were interfered with.

In the conversion offense, after Shifino hit the box, the last step lacked explosiveness, and the layup was covered by Champani.

Against the Grizzlies, facing the 193cm, 115kg "meat mound" David Roddy, Xifino was also unable to pass the opponent, but was judged by David Roddy and forced to stop the ball.

The strong can't fight, so on the other hand, what about facing the Grizzly Bear's 185cm tall and weighing only 85kg Ferrari?

We saw that with a huge advantage in height and weight, Xifino chose to play Ferrari on his back, but it didn't go well - as a tall, strong defender, Xifino seems to be lacking in back singles skills?

(I know there is a defense, but if it's a player with a skilled back, this round can completely turn the bottom line and turn over the jumper, imagine what they would have played this round if it was Murray or Irving or even Johollodi...)

Facing the Grizzlies' 205cm tall and thin center Matthew Hurt, Xifino operated fiercely together, but he actually failed to pass his opponent, and the final layup was absurd...

In Christie's absence from the game, Shifino was completely unable to digest Christie's vacated ball. Not only is he unable to beat his opponent one-on-one in the same position, but it is also difficult to effectively form punishments in the face of misalignment.

This situation was particularly evident against the Grizzlies, but it actually ran through the summer league.

And the lack of the ability to get rid of the defense alone has caused Xifino's attack to rely extremely heavily on blocking and even covering quality.

In the summer league, whenever the Lakers' center changed from Castleton, who had a solid cover, to Fuch, Xifino's offense was often affected immediately, and even the situation of eating hats was repeated.

Let's be serious — if Xifino wouldn't play without a center with solid cover, that's not good news for the Lakers.

I know that many people see Xifino as a replacement for Russell. But for now, there's a huge gap between Xifino and Russell — in addition to blocking, Russell is a great off-ball shooter, a clearly above-average singler, and a misplaced penalty player — which Xifino can't offer at the moment.

(Even at the moment, Russell is fundamentally different from him in the blocks that Xifino excels at — Russell's range covers the three-point line, and opponents must squeeze through cover or even delay interference.) Xifino does not currently have this threat, and opponents can choose to go off the line to bypass the cover and only defend him from mid-range. ）

So having said the obvious advantages and disadvantages, let's talk about some "questionable" aspects.

Areas that are in doubt and need to be examined

There is one important question about Xifino's game that we need to continue to examine: it is about his defense.

Seriously, I've struggled for a long time whether to put Xifino's defense in the "strengths" column or the "disadvantages" column - in the scouting report, we have seen many positive comments about his defense, such as excellent defense with the ball, ability to target opposite arrows, a certain degree of resilience, etc.....

But unfortunately – and I have to be honest – I didn't feel these qualities very clearly in Summer League.

Let's start with the disadvantages.

The first is the traverse speed problem:

Scored by Heat Drew Smith for a layup, Xifino did not lower his center of gravity and stood loosely on his feet.

Stepped by Heat center Orlando Robinson? Some are incomprehensible.

Again forced by the Heat players using speed, Castleton completed the frame, but resulted in a loss of rebounds in the front court.

It is easy to eat the opponent's fake movement to be shaken.

The most "humiliating" moment of Xifino's first game - Christie, who was erased by Wesley and watched his opponent make up for the defense.

As shown above, in the first game against the Spurs, Xifino not only did not show his ability to "lead the defensive arrow", but made frequent mistakes - in the later games, although he gradually adapted and performed better, there were still many moments when his shortcomings were exposed:

Davidson, who was wiped by the Celtics, scored consecutive layups.

Passed by Banton one step at a time.

We can see that as a big point guard, Xifino's current traverse speed is not very good.

On the other hand, he is not particularly good at squeezing cover.

Completely blocked by the cover of the heat.

Once again, he was completely hung up by the cover of the Heat, allowing the opponent to go straight to the basket.

Hang up under cover and give the opposite a chance to hit the basket directly.

Blocked by cover, leaving Castleton in a one-defensive three-way situation.

Although the Lakers' summer league is mainly defensive and there are not many opportunities for Xifino to lead the opponent, in my opinion, the gap between Xifino's defensive ability and Christie of the same team is still obvious.

It's true that he's not a bad defender (except for the first game), but it's too early to say he can "lead the opponent's arrow" or even be a "defensive gate".

Next, let's talk about the advantages of the defensive end.

Despite some traverse speed issues, Shifino's defensive aggressiveness is actually excellent.

In the Summer League, Xifino averaged 1.5 steals per game, and many times "broken" opponents like the picture in one-on-one situations - which shows that he has good judgment on where the opponent dribbles and where he travels.

He would show great defensive aggression in some rounds.

Even if he is pulled away by cover, he will fight back and finally successfully form a "closed circle" with his teammates to send out the block.

Another advantage is Sifino's defensive judgment.

There are many players who often feel lost when defending and can't make the right defensive choices, but Xifino doesn't fall into that category – he knows which direction the opponent will pass the ball and what offensive approach the receiver will take – as this round shows.

Shifino first recovered the basket to defend Azubuke, and then judged

Davidson would pass into the bottom corner, immediately return to the position, and finally when the Green Army bottom corner player broke through the bottom line, he raised his arm to seal the pass route to the center, which eventually led to the Green Army's mistake.

Looking at this round, when the Lakers were defended, Xifino accurately defended to two positions where offensive opportunities were possible (Kai Jones and Nick Smith Jr. at 45 degrees), and finally successfully helped the team complete the defense of this round.

Xifino is a high-ball merchant, not only on the offensive end, but also on the defensive end.

Overall, you can see that Xifino has good potential and some correct awareness on the defensive end, but for now, we still need to observe him more - NBA players have bigger stature, more athleticism, and more cunning skills than college basketball, and Xifino may need more time to adapt to these and improve himself.

Let's give young people more time.

And like we said earlier – point guard is originally a position that needs more time to grow.