Mid-season seems to have more questions than answers about James Wiseman, the 7-foot center that the Warriors designed with the No. 2 selection.
Wiseman’s rookie season was marked by potential lightning bolts, frustrating mounting pain, and a disciplinary bench on Thursday night. Despite these ups and downs, the Warriors understand that it is rare for a newbie to contribute to winning, and they have publicly preached patience.
Still, there is a group of Warriors fans watching what LaMelo Ball – the likely rookie of the year and number 3 in the draft – does as point guard in Charlotte. You apply the same expectations to Wiseman. These expectations are unfair for many reasons.
Primarily, ball plays for a team with no lofty goals and in a position where he can control more of what is going on around him. Wiseman doesn’t have the same opportunity to act out mistakes. And while this will slow his development, it shouldn’t stop Wiseman from realizing his potential.
The warriors themselves may have expected too much too soon from the 19-year-old, who has played 30 organized basketball games since senior year 2019. Last week, head coach Steve Kerr seemed determined to push Wiseman into more minutes.
« He has to play more where we are right now, » said Kerr. « There is no doubt that we need to develop him further. And I would say that he hasn’t played as much as he wants in the last few weeks. »
But since returning from the All-Star hiatus, Kerr seemed to be turning around in his approach. Now the coaching team will focus on “comprehensive development” through more “live action” in practice, rather than prioritizing raw playing time. For missing a workout after failing to take a coronavirus test during the All-Star hiatus, Wiseman was punished by being benched for the first three quarters of Thursday’s loss to the Clippers. This decision by Kerr signaled the importance of these practices.
« Whatever we can do to move him forward, so that he can catch up with his talent as soon as possible, we will do, » said Kerr. « But we also recognize that you can’t just wave a magic wand. It takes a lot of work and we will work with him and help him grow. »
A steady approach is the right approach when it comes to Wiseman development. The Warriors haven’t managed to nurture a lot of young talent over the years, but if they get it right, Wiseman could extend the team’s success for the next decade.
The steepest part of Wiseman’s learning curve is Defense, where it adapts to detect opposing offenses, communicate with teammates, and recognize the physicality of opposing NBA players. Perhaps because of his size at 7-foot-1 with a 7-foot-6 wingspan, he still has a slightly positive impact on this side of the place. However, he and the Warriors recognize that there is much room for improvement. Every other day Wiseman and Kerr meet to talk about his development.
« I ask him questions about » How can I get better every day and how can I improve? « Said Wiseman. » And he gives me a lot of details on how to improve on both ends of the floor, especially on defense. »
On the offensive, it was the hardest part for Wiseman to adapt. In high school and his three college ball games in Memphis, it was the Wiseman show. Any possession seemingly ended with finding Wiseman in the color.
However, this does not work in Golden State, where the offense revolves around Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. Wiseman has less control of the ball. Playing alongside the starters is not one of Wiseman’s strengths. He struggles to find opportunities in Kerr’s read and reaction offense that don’t require a large dose of pick and roll.
His box score statistics are admirable: 11.9 points at 52% shooting (39.3% from 3-point range) and 6.0 rebounds per game. According to Cleaning the Glass, the Warriors’ offensive rating with Wiseman on the ground (102.4 points per 100 possessions) would take last place among the NBA teams by a wide margin.
To make matters easier, the Warriors Wiseman are dropping a reserve unit to begin the second and fourth quarters. His run mates are Nico Mannion and Jordan Poole, young guards who make pick and roll easier and benefit from Wiseman diving as an outlet to the edge or spacing the floor from outside the arch.
« This is something a lot of the guards do, especially now in the NBA. That’s 50% of what the NBA does with just high pick and roll, » Mannion said. « Well, I’m getting better at getting better with James now in a second session with him is really big. »
Over the next few weeks, the Warriors will see if Mannion and Poole can take on this responsibility or if they need to acquire a more skilled point guard before March 25th.
This is where Wiseman should play for the rest of the season. The warriors do not want to get into the habit of alternating between him starting and coming from the bank and different expectations. Instead, let him settle into a role. Yes, the Warriors need Wiseman to develop chemistry with their cornerstones, but there is something to be said so that Wiseman can learn the NBA game first, in order to later facilitate the Jelling process with his high profile teammates.
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Warrior fans shouldn’t concern themselves with the fact that the Warriors passed Ball or any other freshman. It’s not like Wiseman lags far behind his design class. Among the newcomers to the per-game stats, Wiseman ranks fifth in points (11.9), first in rebounds (6.0), and third in blocked shots (1.0), while he is 15th in minutes Position is (20,5).
Check out past designs and tall men take longer to bloom. For example, Lonzo Ball, De’Aaron Fox and Donovan Mitchell made an immediate impact on their respective teams in 2017 while Bam Adebayo was playing minutes off the bench in Miami. Four years later, it can be argued that Adebayo is as good as anyone in his class outside of Jayson Tatum.
For the Warriors, number 2 in November should always be a luxury – a reward for a freak accident a season in which Curry and Klay Thompson were injured and the team stumbled to 15 wins. It’s time to remember and stop acting like Wiseman’s immediate contributions. If the warriors rely on him for this, they will be far further from returning to the fight for the title than anyone thought.
Ref: https://www.mercurynews.com
