latin jazz
Well-Known Member
Glad he is getting some love:
Source: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23025857/zach-lowe-2018-luke-walton-all-stars-nba
Amid the post-Gordon Hayward free-agency frenzy, Dennis Lindsey, Utah's GM, dispatched his coach, Quin Snyder, to watch a fringe NBA prospect play for the Pelicans' summer league team in Las Vegas. It was O'Neale, and he scored only four points. Jazz brass were dismayed: How could that possibly impress Snyder?
But Snyder already knew O'Neale, who played two seasons overseas, was tough. O'Neale had practiced as a unsigned guest with Utah's summer league team a week before, and in his first drill, a defender knocked out one of O'Neale's teeth. O'Neale kept going. He thought he might have a bruised lip. Alex Jensen, a Utah assistant, stopped play: "We have a tooth on the ground!"
Utah sent him to the hospital, and he was back that evening, ready to go.
Toughness alone doesn't earn an NBA roster spot. Snyder saw something more: an unselfish player who made instant decisions with the ball. Snyder covets decisiveness. Few things bother him more than aimless dribbling that allows a scrambled defense to reset itself.
When O'Neale sees a defender running at him, he doesn't waste time with a pump fake. He just goes. Once on the move, he has a knack for passing one step ahead of defenses. He's especially comfortable walking the baseline tightrope, and slinging kickout passes -- a piece of hoops art O'Neale says he learned from watching Ricky Rubio.
O'Neale is a fierce, switchable, in-your-jersey defender. The Jazz pride themselves on foul avoidance, but their perimeter defense last season softened into squishiness. That isn't a problem with O'Neale, Rubio, and Jae Crowder.
O'Neale is enjoying NBA life. He is a fixture in Uno games on the team plane, and teammates give him crap over the new obsession O'Neale and Donovan Mitchell share with high-end Supreme brand clothing.
Tougher tests await. O'Neale is shooting only 33.6 percent from deep; playoff defenses will give him more space. He's not quick enough to dust balanced defenders. He is a little turnover prone, and can go haywire finishing over bouncier athletes.
But he looks like a rotation NBA wing.
But Snyder already knew O'Neale, who played two seasons overseas, was tough. O'Neale had practiced as a unsigned guest with Utah's summer league team a week before, and in his first drill, a defender knocked out one of O'Neale's teeth. O'Neale kept going. He thought he might have a bruised lip. Alex Jensen, a Utah assistant, stopped play: "We have a tooth on the ground!"
Utah sent him to the hospital, and he was back that evening, ready to go.
Toughness alone doesn't earn an NBA roster spot. Snyder saw something more: an unselfish player who made instant decisions with the ball. Snyder covets decisiveness. Few things bother him more than aimless dribbling that allows a scrambled defense to reset itself.
When O'Neale sees a defender running at him, he doesn't waste time with a pump fake. He just goes. Once on the move, he has a knack for passing one step ahead of defenses. He's especially comfortable walking the baseline tightrope, and slinging kickout passes -- a piece of hoops art O'Neale says he learned from watching Ricky Rubio.
O'Neale is a fierce, switchable, in-your-jersey defender. The Jazz pride themselves on foul avoidance, but their perimeter defense last season softened into squishiness. That isn't a problem with O'Neale, Rubio, and Jae Crowder.
O'Neale is enjoying NBA life. He is a fixture in Uno games on the team plane, and teammates give him crap over the new obsession O'Neale and Donovan Mitchell share with high-end Supreme brand clothing.
Tougher tests await. O'Neale is shooting only 33.6 percent from deep; playoff defenses will give him more space. He's not quick enough to dust balanced defenders. He is a little turnover prone, and can go haywire finishing over bouncier athletes.
But he looks like a rotation NBA wing.
Source: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23025857/zach-lowe-2018-luke-walton-all-stars-nba
