Iman Shumpert: Gone! Thank God!

[spydy13]

I watched Iman's interview. Didn't really like his demeanor. I don't know if that is just how he is or if he doesn't like talking to media, but it felt like he didn't want to be here. I don't think it is the case but I'm just saying it feels like it.

I'm sure we will get a better idea over time, but my initial reaction is that he is just a subdued dude. He was smiling quite frequently throughout his answers so I don't think he is unhappy.

 

[Anglefan]

my initial reaction is that he is just a subdued dude.

He's subdude.

 

[mds]

Not to be a debbie downer but doesn't the value that the Celtics got in return for Jeff Green bring you pause and cause you to question what we just spent on our moves?

Not really. Green has never really lived up to his potential and is a somewhat unmotivated tweener. He's not worth a ton.

 

[wuck]

Is Shumpert athletic and quick enough to guard top-tier speedy point guards?

I'm not convinced that Irving can do this consistently, even though he showed signs earlier in the season and the best solution would be for him to up his defensive game. Dellavedova and Harris are too slow. LeBron and Marion might be able to do this in spurts. I don't trust JR Smith as a defensive stopper in any situation, although he is obviously athletic. Which is why I ask the question about Shumpert.

 

[MirORich]

Is Shumpert athletic and quick enough to guard top-tier speedy point guards?

I'm not convinced that Irving can do this consistently, even though he showed signs earlier in the season and the best solution would be for him to up his defensive game. Dellavedova and Harris are too slow. LeBron and Marion might be able to do this in spurts. I don't trust JR Smith as a defensive stopper in any situation, although he is obviously athletic. Which is why I ask the question about Shumpert.

I'm not sure he can do it at all times or against all PG's but in a sense you answered the question yourself: He can do it as well or better than Kyrie and better than anyone else on the roster.

I think once he's here you have to have a combo of at least one of him, Kyrie, or even Delly on the floor for the full 48. Ideally, you just make sure Shumpert is on the floor for the 8-12 minutes a night that Kyrie is not. No other player on this roster should/could cover a PG.

 

[Sebastian]

Is Shumpert athletic and quick enough to guard top-tier speedy point guards?

I'm not convinced that Irving can do this consistently, even though he showed signs earlier in the season and the best solution would be for him to up his defensive game. Dellavedova and Harris are too slow. LeBron and Marion might be able to do this in spurts. I don't trust JR Smith as a defensive stopper in any situation, although he is obviously athletic. Which is why I ask the question about Shumpert.

Better than what they have, currently. He can't be worse than an uninterested Kyrie.

 

[wuck]

He can do it as well or better than Kyrie and better than anyone else on the roster.

Well, I wasn't asking if he could do it better than Irving. I had pretty much answered that question. I was asking if he could still do it effectively...

I'm more worried about the 36-40 minutes when Irving is on the floor. Wondering whether the Cavs might in some situations be able to "hide" Irving by having him guard someone else who is not a big offensive threat.

 

[CavsHomer]

Is Shumpert athletic and quick enough to guard top-tier speedy point guards?

I'm not convinced that Irving can do this consistently, even though he showed signs earlier in the season and the best solution would be for him to up his defensive game. Dellavedova and Harris are too slow. LeBron and Marion might be able to do this in spurts. I don't trust JR Smith as a defensive stopper in any situation, although he is obviously athletic. Which is why I ask the question about Shumpert.

I think Shump definitely can do it.
As soon as I heard we traded for him, I went and rewatched some Knicks games this season (yeah, bad idea). But still, I wanted to know more about this kid. I wanted to know about his defense and his overall athleticism.
And while his defense for most times looked below average, I think it was more due to effort, which should be no surprise given the tank ambitions of the Knickerbockers.

But I can tell you this:
He still looked as quick and athletic as ever pre injury. Obviously I don't know how that will change when he returns from his shoulder injury. But still, if he gives his usual effort on D, which we especially saw in his rookie season and (in spurts) last season, I'm sure he can guard close to anybody from 1 to 3.

So imo, his athleticism or speed hasn't really regressed. I'm actually more worried about his shooting. But that's a diffenrent story right now.

 

[TyGuy]

Is Shumpert athletic and quick enough to guard top-tier speedy point guards?

I'm not convinced that Irving can do this consistently, even though he showed signs earlier in the season and the best solution would be for him to up his defensive game. Dellavedova and Harris are too slow. LeBron and Marion might be able to do this in spurts. I don't trust JR Smith as a defensive stopper in any situation, although he is obviously athletic. Which is why I ask the question about Shumpert.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz8sp-qh8jA

 

[Pioneer10]

That video was from his rookie year I believe. I don't think we should be expecting pre-injury Shumpert to suddenly arrive on defense. He looked like a future Bowen/Allen during that season but if he can give us Danny Green type of defense that would be more then adequate.

I have three big questions with him:
-First one is obvious - how much has defense regressed after the injuries

-can he hit wide open 3's. Throw 3 point percentage out the door because with Lebron it's a weird dynamic. He gets you a lot of looks that are so wide open I wonder if players choke because they over think the shot (normally on a catch and shoot you don't have time to think about it but the Cavs generate a lot of 3's where you could literally take a dribble and still be wide open from the same spot). I mean Delly has just bricked open 3 after open 3 this season that if he took in practice would drill probably a 100% of them.

-can he play PG? Someone posted the other day that he played PG for Georgia Tech and that is a skill we need. I do not want Kyrie Irving assigned to bringing up the ball and initiating offense any longer: he breaks off too many plays and over-dribbling. Team has looked best with Lebron running the point but if we can both free him and Kyrie to play off the ball I think this will be big bonus

 

[TyGuy]

That video was from his rookie year I believe. I don't think we should be expecting pre-injury Shumpert to suddenly arrive on defense. He looked like a future Bowen/Allen during that season but if he can give us Danny Green type of defense that would be more then adequate.

I have three big questions with him:
-First one is obvious - how much has defense regressed after the injuries

-can he hit wide open 3's. Throw 3 point percentage out the door because with Lebron it's a weird dynamic. He gets you a lot of looks that are so wide open I wonder if players choke because they over think the shot (normally on a catch and shoot you don't have time to think about it but the Cavs generate a lot of 3's where you could literally take a dribble and still be wide open from the same spot). I mean Delly has just bricked open 3 after open 3 this season that if he took in practice would drill probably a 100% of them.

-can he play PG? Someone posted the other day that he played PG for Georgia Tech and that is a skill we need. I do not want Kyrie Irving assigned to bringing up the ball and initiating offense any longer: he breaks off too many plays and over-dribbling. Team has looked best with Lebron running the point but if we can both free him and Kyrie to play off the ball I think this will be big bonus

New York has actually started him at point, 2 guard and small forward this season. He was playing extremely well the first month then went into a slump before he got hurt.

He has pretty good shooting mechanics. He hops into all of his spot up shots (like Harris).

His athleticism looks fine to me. I think he is capable of guarding 1-3 if he puts his mind to it.

Remember, Tony Allen tore his acl awhile back in Boston and bounced back just fine.

 

[Frank Reynolds]

Do you guys remember when we brought in Delonte West we were all impressed by his killer defense?

How does Iman compare to Red defensively? I know he's not going to have that killer post-up turnaround J that brother Red had......

Defensively, how does his physique and talent compare?

 

[roozy]

New York has actually started him at point, 2 guard and small forward this season. He was playing extremely well the first month then went into a slump before he got hurt.

He has pretty good shooting mechanics. He hops into all of his spot up shots (like Harris).

His athleticism looks fine to me. I think he is capable of guarding 1-3 if he puts his mind to it.

Remember, Tony Allen tore his acl awhile back in Boston and bounced back just fine.

That Tony Allen came back from his ACL as a still capable defender has me feeling a lot better, thanks.

 

[mcfly]

Is there a specific aspect of his knee injury that makes people think he will not ever fully recover?

 

[roozy]

Is there a specific aspect of his knee injury that makes people think he will not ever fully recover?

I was kinda worried because there has been talk that his defense has completely fell off since his injury, but maybe a change of team can get him going again.