Player The blessed howl's moving Castle of Stephon Javonte

If you all watched any of his summer workout videos, you'll know he prepared himself for this stuff. His workouts with Olin Simplis (The Guard Whisperer) and also there was video of him doing old school training (not sure if a lot of players still do it) running up the sand dunes. He put in the work to be able to do this. During those offseason workouts, I thought TGW was maybe putting a bit of pressure on him by talking all-star this season during some of those workouts, but Steph is living up to it.
 
I'm get angrier every game at the disrespect from the refs, the guy is hit all over the place and rarely gets a call smh

He's an Allstar already and should be called by the coaches
 
PanameSpur said:
I'm get angrier every game at the disrespect from the refs, the guy is hit all over the place and rarely gets a call smh

He's an Allstar already and should be called by the coaches
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This is an interesting point - I wonder if there is such a thing as "ref fatigue" or diminishing returns where getting hit more does not result in more calls in your favor.

Castle's free throw rate this year is 0.522 - this is comparable to SGA's FTR in his highest season (0.535), higher than Harden's career average (0.509), and fairly comparable to Jimmy Butler's career average (0.538).

I don't doubt that Castle should probably be going to the line more - multiple times a game I see him getting hit going into the lane with no call, but you wonder if this is the hidden cost of having a team that gets into the lane constantly and being known as a physical player who doesn't really embellish contact, that your free throw rate is throttled to some degree
 
SpursBills said:
This is an interesting point - I wonder if there is such a thing as "ref fatigue" or diminishing returns where getting hit more does not result in more calls in your favor.

Castle's free throw rate this year is 0.522 - this is comparable to SGA's FTR in his highest season (0.535), higher than Harden's career average (0.509), and fairly comparable to Jimmy Butler's career average (0.538).

I don't doubt that Castle should probably be going to the line more - multiple times a game I see him getting hit going into the lane with no call, but you wonder if this is the hidden cost of having a team that gets into the lane constantly and being known as a physical player who doesn't really embellish contact, that your free throw rate is throttled to some degree
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I didn't expect those numbers tbh

Not sure if the needed data is even available, because it combines numbers of attempts at the rim per game + number of attempts to draw a foul (how is it even possible to count that tbh...)

Castle is going at the bodies and trying to draw fouls, not avoid the defender like many for ex

It's just a naked eye impression and I could be wrong, didn't take much time into it but it even seems to me that Castle gets less respect than last season. (not total FTA but the amount of FTA/ tentative to draw a foul)
 
Spurs being almost 6 points per 100 possessions better on offense with Castle off the floor is starting to match the eye test.

Hopefully he can develop a reliable 3 point shot otherwise this is going to be a OKC Josh Giddey thing where his value/impact drops significantly playing off the ball next to a far superior initiator in Shai/Fox.

Included Fox and Harper for comparison.

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IMG_0969.webp
 
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STAT88 said:
Spurs being almost 6 points per 100 possessions better on offense with Castle off the floor is starting to match the eye test.

Hopefully he can develop a reliable 3 point shot otherwise this is going to be a OKC Josh Giddey thing where his value/impact drops significantly playing off the ball next to a far superior initiator in Shai/Fox.

Included Fox and Harper for comparison.

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View attachment 257

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that's why they let him initiate the offense a lot more, so teams have to guard him on the perimeter. His jumper will get there, just needs more offseason work.
 
I think it's time for Castle to rest a game or two. He plays so hard and is tough on both sides of the court that I think his legs are starting to wobble a bit. It's that part of the season. Also, teams are figuring him out a bit and he needs to re-adjust. He'll get there.

Pacers game would be a great one to sit he and Wemby and let Harper play through his tough stint.

Castle will be fine, just banged up and fatigued. We know what he's capable of so far and his ceiling continues to raise.
 
ginobilized said:
I think it's time for Castle to rest a game or two. He plays so hard and is tough on both sides of the court that I think his legs are starting to wobble a bit. It's that part of the season. Also, teams are figuring him out a bit and he needs to re-adjust. He'll get there.

Pacers game would be a great one to sit he and Wemby and let Harper play through his tough stint.

Castle will be fine, just banged up and fatigued. We know what he's capable of so far and his ceiling continues to raise.
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He probably needs to go to the middie a bit more. That will draw defenders out a bit, opening a few cracks in the lane for him to finish.

I do like that his mistakes are pretty much mistakes of aggression, like driving into an overcrowded restricted area.
 
Exstatic said:
He JUST turned 21. You’re going to see periods of “he sucks ass right now” from time to time.
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I think his ceiling is pretty limited and he should be held more accountable for his turnovers and bad mid range chucking
 
Him and Harper have been struggling the past few games. Either Teams are learning to take away what they like to do (work inside), or they are hitting the Wall. Probably both things are true to be honest.
 
Fireball said:
I think his ceiling is pretty limited and he should be held more accountable for his turnovers and bad mid range chucking
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I don't get your logic there mate.

He's progressed regularly, why would he stop considering his ambition and work ethic?

His shooting efficiency will get better with time, he's shown touch and just needs his Chip Engeland like TP9 who also had good touch around the rim and ended up finding the right shooting form later in his career.

He has stuff you can't teach, his size, strength and poise are here to stay. The rest in workable.
 
Castle has that special ability to create offence out of nothing. Don’t show the last three games but he has shown that in the last 30+ games so I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt. Reading the defence and then making the correct move isn’t easy, so he is fine with making mistakes as long as he’s learning and improving.

Castle is smart in knowing his strengths over his defender and uses it well. He isn’t ridiculously athletic but he is most definitely athletic, he’s not the strongest guard but he is certainly strong. He can finish well around the basket and he gets to his spots through a combination of skills and using his physical advantages as well as anyone can hope for for a 2nd year player.
 
I love Castle on many levels but his atrocious shooting is the kind of thing that will get targeted in a playoff matchup and be an even bigger liability in that setting.
Our recent success means teams are scouting us more than usual and making specific adjustments for our strengths and weaknesses.
The 3 guards have worked in large part because Fox has shot well from 3. Without that we’d be in trouble.
 
couchman said:
I love Castle on many levels but his atrocious shooting is the kind of thing that will get targeted in a playoff matchup and be an even bigger liability in that setting.
Our recent success means teams are scouting us more than usual and making specific adjustments for our strengths and weaknesses.
The 3 guards have worked in large part because Fox has shot well from 3. Without that we’d be in trouble.
Click to expand...
I won't claim to be Steph's number one fan, but I believe I'm in the top 5 here since about his 1st week of his rookie season, I've believed in him ever since, but even I am starting to waver on his shooting now. It's not looking good. He can't hit anything and I'm starting to believe (just looking at his misses) he might not have any feel at all for shooting the ball. His mechanics look OK with decent ball rotation and he seems to be shooting with confidence (which are both great things), but this past week or two, I'm now starting to think that he just has no feel for shooting and I don't believe players can improve if that don't have at least a tiny bit of feel. To me, it doesn't matter how good you are mechanically and technically with your form, and also shoot if with confidence, it's still not enough if you don't have any feel for shooting, you're still likely to not improve your shooting. I've believed he has a little bit of feel and I thought with his work rate, he'll get there due to how hard he works on his game.

Every time he misses one now, I'm starting to get dejected for him and I hang my head just watching a miss. I keep thinking to myself please make one (just for his own confidence), Air-balling shots inside the free throw line is also not a good sign. He's even starting to miss free throws now too.
 
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