That moment when Exum "got it."

[framer]

In the fourth quarter of the Clippers game, Exum and Austin Rivers played the whole way through. At about 2 minutes in, Exum shuts Rivers down on a couple of consecutive possessions, then gets a little heady and starts to drive on Rivers, possibly to show him up. Everytime he gets the ball, he plays with Rivers, drawing him out so he can blow by him. At the same time, Rivers almost quits trying to do anything on his drive on the offensive end when defended by Exum. At one point Exum takes the ball high above the three point line on the left and starts fancy dribbling, seemingly calling Rivers out. Rivers goes out, Exum turns him around and goes toward the basket I believe bounce passing the assist to a cutter. It was nasty.

Seriously, it is the first time I saw any sort of chip on Exum's shoulder, and it was a beautiful thing to behold. Obviously, Exum needs to set his sites higher than Austin Rivers, but the fact that he realized that a fellow NBA player was no match for him and he could impose his will was like watching one of my children take his first baby steps. In order to succeed like we want him to succeed, he is going to need a bit of nasty. Tonight was the first time I actually saw him bring it. It was also nice to see Snyder recognize what was going on and continue to let Dante do his thing.

More please. . .

 

[fgcamel]

You may have already seen this article, but I'm gonna link it here anyway because it is quite relative to this and I thought it was a good read.

https://saltcityhoops.com/the-exum-game-coming-soon/

 

[framer]

You may have already seen this article, but I'm gonna link it here anyway because it is quite relative to this and I thought it was a good read.

https://saltcityhoops.com/the-exum-game-coming-soon/

Thanks! I missed the last game and that article. But yes. Exum has the ability to dominate fools. Once he starts a list, things are going to get fun!

 

[Nate505]

If Hayward sticks around, a core of Rudy/Favors/Hayward/Exum/Hood/Lyles will be very solid. I hope Burks is still around too.

It's the Pistons model to win a Championship. It's a long shot for sure, but it's about as good as the Jazz can do without lucking into a #1 pick or attracting a big name FA. I can't fault the strategy at all.

 

[dipship31]

Exum needs to set his sites higher than Austin Rivers, but the fact that he realized that a fellow NBA player

Some would say those statements contradict themselves Regardless love what we're seeing from Dante

 

[framer]

If Hayward sticks around, a core of Rudy/Favors/Hayward/Exum/Hood/Lyles will be very solid. I hope Burks is still around too.

It's the Pistons model to win a Championship. It's a long shot for sure, but it's about as good as the Jazz can do without lucking into a #1 pick or attracting a big name FA. I can't fault the strategy at all.

I'm not sure. If Rudy's offensive game is really improved, there's your first star. and if Exum pans out, there really isn't anything in the league currently like him either. There is your two "stars" and that is excusing Hayward and Favors who would probably be East All Stars. Notice I didn't even mention Lyles. The Warriors weren't "superstars" until one day they were. Sometimes you just have really good pieces buried on bad teams. After this year we should know almost exactly what we have, no excuses. It is pretty exciting and scary all at the same time.

 

[framer]

Some would say those statements contradict themselves Regardless love what we're seeing from Dante

Dude's making close to 11 million a season. His dad isn't cutting the check. Someone somewhere spent that amount thinking he qualified.

Glad it isn't us. . .

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Austin Rivers has gotten a lot better. He is actually a decent bench player.

 

[framer]

Here is the video (Starting at about 5:40):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjpEN7DmP9s

It doesn't show the stops Exum made, but it is obvious that he develops a disdain for River's ability to do anything about him. It appears that the "call out" that I remembered is Exum getting into middle then shoveling the ball to CJ for he easy lay in when the help materializes. His body language going the other way was cocky as Hell. It happened after Rivers finally broke through for a driving score and Dante wanted to answer.

 

[Getting Traded]

Didn't anyone notice in the first quarter after Redick got by him for a layup on the left side, that they went down the court and Redick got up on him and Dante just pushed him off very hard almost knocking him over and got called for a foul. I haven't seen him do that before either.

 

[8]

Dante is cocky (got that swag), it's been on display before. Very verbal and confident in that summer league game he balled in against the Celtics. He talked some ish to the Brooklyn bench last year when he hit a bunch of threes in front of them. To me, he's always been a highly confident player who's got that on court demeanor that annoys all the fans for the other team. Just hasn't had the opportunity to run his mouth and get under the other teams skin because he ain't **** in the league yet.

The whole 'confidence, or lack thereof' narrative that has been present on this board during his career thus far is a joke (as are pretty much all fan-built narratives about an athletes mental makeup). Expecting a guy to score and to finish around the rim when he has no ability to do so is nonsensical because it's expecting a guy to make undoubtedly inefficient plays when his team is trying to win games. Smart people don't do that.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

I dont think the moment Exum "got it" can be during a preseason game. This stuff has to happen in a regular season game.

 

[8]

Austin Rivers has gotten a lot better. He is actually a decent bench player.

Yup. He was a solid bench guy last year. He seems so much more athletic than in the past.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Yup. He was a solid bench guy last year. He seems so much more athletic than in the past.

He still can't shoot worth a damn, but his cross-over is pretty dirty. If he ever fixes his form he could actually be a pretty good 6th man.

 

[8]

Exum has already got it, he has always pretty clearly understood the game of basketball. He's just an under-skilled, skinny perimeter player at the moment. I'll bet he 'gets it' more and more as his game improves (like anyone else does with his potential and basketball IQ).

 

[♪alt13]

Exum isn't a superstar and he never will be. Can we appreciate him for what he is yet?

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Exum has already got it, he has always pretty clearly understood the game of basketball. He's just an under-skilled, skinny perimeter player at the moment. I'll bet he 'gets it' more and more as his game improves (like anyone else does with his potential and basketball IQ).

I think it was just the major jump in competition. He went from playing Australian HS basketball to sitting out for a year to playing NBA. That's just an insane talent jump.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Exum isn't a superstar and he never will be. Can we appreciate him for what he is yet?

Super-star ya bish.

 

[8]

Exum isn't a superstar and he never will be. Can we appreciate him for what he is yet?

So many Franklin Jr's on this board, and the other half are idiots.

 

[Lakers_Slapper]

Exum isn't a superstar and he never will be. Can we appreciate him for what he is yet?

It's fair to say that Exum is not a current superstar. It's fair because it's extremely obvious and a no-brainer to make that statement. To say that he never will be? How the hell can anyone make that statement this early in his career? I am not saying that he will be, but it's unfair to make a statement to that degree, either in his favor or against him, for at least another 2 years. He's spent one rookie season playing in the NBA, and saying that after one year of watching him play NBA basketball at the age of 19 is enough to make the assumption that he will never be a go-to man in the NBA, is ridiculous. Obviously you have not been watching NBA basketball for very long. There are a lot of players that come into the league at a younger age and take a few years to develop. If your giving up on him before his 2nd year in the NBA (not including last year where he was injured the full season), that you have a lot of research to do.