vslice02
Well-Known Member
Burks and Kanter have both shown promise and flashes of brilliance in limited minutes. Seeing two promising rookies with seemingly unlimited potential - feels an awful lot like like Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors at the end of their rookie seasons last year.
-Just for fun-
https://jazzfanz.com/showthread.php?7516-How-many-points-Hayward-will-average-this-season
https://jazzfanz.com/showthread.php?6249-Let-me-do-a-FAVORs-and-do-a-non-draft-thread
Fastforward to now - midway through their 2nd seasons Hayward is struggling and relegated to the bench while Favor has been terrific defensively and shown some flashes but he's still a major work in progress at the offensive end.
As fans, it's easy to fall into a trap where because a player's a rookie - mentally you overlook the negatives because you instantly rationalize in your mind 'Hey it's okay he's just a rookie - he'll learn and get better.' while weighing more heavily the positives because in alot of ways you have no idea what he's capable of doing on the court. While it's true players can improve by leaps and bounds in their late teens and early 20's, it's also easy to incorrectly assume that progression will be both automatic and exponential. For some that significant leap may not happen until year 3, and for others it may not happen at all.
The Jazz started the 2002-03 season with Andrei Kirilenko and DeShawn Stevenson in the starting lineup - and both the team and Andrei struggled until Sloan replaced AK and DeShawn with veterans in Harpring and Calbert Cheaney. The Jazz instantly became a better team, and AK played much better and finished in the top-3 in 6th-man voting. The following year, AK made the leap from "promising role player" to NBA All-Star.
The point is, the promise we see from Burks and Kanter now - doesn't mean they'll morph into above average starters by next season and it doesn't mean Hayward and Favors still won't become the Jeff Hornacek-lite SG and Jermaine O'Neal-caliber bigman we compared them to in the offseason.
A young players' development will suprise or disappoint you - but you will never know how it's going to progress until you actually see it. I think it's important we keep our hopes high for Hayward and Favors and our expectations realistic on Burks and Kanter.
-Just for fun-
https://jazzfanz.com/showthread.php?7516-How-many-points-Hayward-will-average-this-season
https://jazzfanz.com/showthread.php?6249-Let-me-do-a-FAVORs-and-do-a-non-draft-thread
Fastforward to now - midway through their 2nd seasons Hayward is struggling and relegated to the bench while Favor has been terrific defensively and shown some flashes but he's still a major work in progress at the offensive end.
As fans, it's easy to fall into a trap where because a player's a rookie - mentally you overlook the negatives because you instantly rationalize in your mind 'Hey it's okay he's just a rookie - he'll learn and get better.' while weighing more heavily the positives because in alot of ways you have no idea what he's capable of doing on the court. While it's true players can improve by leaps and bounds in their late teens and early 20's, it's also easy to incorrectly assume that progression will be both automatic and exponential. For some that significant leap may not happen until year 3, and for others it may not happen at all.
The Jazz started the 2002-03 season with Andrei Kirilenko and DeShawn Stevenson in the starting lineup - and both the team and Andrei struggled until Sloan replaced AK and DeShawn with veterans in Harpring and Calbert Cheaney. The Jazz instantly became a better team, and AK played much better and finished in the top-3 in 6th-man voting. The following year, AK made the leap from "promising role player" to NBA All-Star.
The point is, the promise we see from Burks and Kanter now - doesn't mean they'll morph into above average starters by next season and it doesn't mean Hayward and Favors still won't become the Jeff Hornacek-lite SG and Jermaine O'Neal-caliber bigman we compared them to in the offseason.
A young players' development will suprise or disappoint you - but you will never know how it's going to progress until you actually see it. I think it's important we keep our hopes high for Hayward and Favors and our expectations realistic on Burks and Kanter.
