I see EP as a David West replacement. Pretty good size comparison, at least as good shooter. Not sure about rebounding. DW played a lot w/o Draymond it seems to me.
I'm not so sure. He feels more like a baby Dray than a DWest replacement. I remember D.West even in his younger days was a reliable 10-15 pts and 5-6 boards kinda guy when he was at Charlotte and Pacers.
I would love for EP to be able to provide some consistent J off the corner of the key like DWest but feels like EP has a tendency to grind. Feels like right now, he is a nice to have and if can play the 4 and develop J, I think there will be a slot for him.
Great article. Sophomore seasons get a little sideways for a lot of pro athletes, so I would take EP's overall season with a grain of salt. Learning what we had in Poole & EP was a big Q that needed answering this year. Poole, check. EP, small ball center minutes in match-up situations, check. But we needed to find out what other positional rotation minutes he could be slotted into and that question remained unanswered. I believe the loss of Chriss had a huge impact on EP's season. EP not a spot up shooter and works best while threatening drives to give him space for his pop up mid range jumper. Without Chriss, who plays well at the high post, the lane was clogged a lot, whether by Wiseman or multiple defenders who didn't bother with the perimeter because we were devoid of shooters. If Wiseman really does have a perimeter game and can play some of that high post more effectively, I think EP and Wiseman can coexist on the floor at the same time and that, more than anything else, will determine EP's future with the Warriors.
I'm a big fan of a guy in the second unit who can go out there and hit the often maligned 2 point shot. It slows the game down. It limits transition opportunities. It's the 'adult in the room' basketball transaction. It's the 'we are not going away' on court declaration. EP has to overcome having his game impacted by the rotations he finds himself in and Kerr needs to meet him halfway by putting him in better rotations to begin with. But having a guy who can come in and give you the reliable Mo Buckets/West/Livingston type of offense out of the second unit is as our dear friend Martha Stewart would say ... "A good thing."
Kerr philosophy is not 3 & D, it's high efficiency shooting on offense and the reverse on defense. If EP is efficient on the offensive end and holds his own on D, he has a place. The big Q with EP is will his game continue to be one dimensional, or will he grow more comfortable in offensive and defensive team concepts ala JTA? It's nice to have a pipe wrench, but you can really only use it for one or two things. That's EP right now. Next year, EP and Kerr have common goal of expanding EP's usefulness in different rotations and this year we should find out if he is going to be a long term fit.
What I noticed about him as the 2nd unit small ball center was that it started out great for him, then after 8-10 games it wasn't working so well because the other team would have their 1st string center sub out in the last part of the 1st qtr so they could start the 2nd qtr playing against Paschall. And since our options at center were very limited, it kind of went downhill from there.
I'm not sure that the energy to try and fit Paschall into the lineup will be worth it considering JTA's presence and rise, as other posters have pointed out. JTA fits easily and there will be at least two new players that the Warriors will be bringing on board next season.
Because of Paschall's tweener size, his midrange shot is his biggest asset. In a sense, he reminds me of David West and Speights who had good midrange shots. So, the Warriors need a player(s) who can do that but that would cut out playing time for players who are more valuable to the team. I also don't see his future here but I'm wondering if any team would want him. Maybe Paschall needs to spend time in the Gleague to rediscover how he can best use his talents.
"I think we’ll win the Finals again next year. Zero doubt," Green said Wednesday on a Bleacher Report AMA when asked how far the Warriors will go next season with Thompson back.
I mean, if Klay gets his wind back by midseason? And Steph plays like this year? With Draymond, Wiggins, plus JTA, Poole, and whoever else steps up? I can't say he's being unrealistic. Maybe a little overconfident—after all, injuries and random events happen—but that's par for the course.
He had kind of a lousy year, but I'm not ready to give up on him yet. I think he's a smart guy and a good guy, decent player, and would like to give him another year or two where he doesn't have to deal with injuries and covid protocols. I hate it that the team is so quick to drop younger players with potential, like Boucher, Nunn, J. Holiday, and Seth, and I could see Paschall being a mainstay with a little improvement. I could see him going to Utah to play with his buddy Donovan and being a really good bench player.
Like everyone else has said, I'd like to see him work on his defense. I don't know that anyone else has said this, but I'd also like to see him work on his shooting form (that little jump weirds me out), his passing (which is mostly non-existent - 1.3 assists per game this year), and his rebounding (2.3 per game).
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Paschall's rookie season was pretty phenomenal, especially for a 41st pick. But this season, he looked the same or worse in just about every respect. Maybe that's the difference between a 22-year old player in his second year and a 20-year old like Poole, but the word that he came into camp out of shape too, and the non-improvement on his suspect jumper contrasted with JTA's offseason improvement to his jumper (at age 26?) has me feeling much less optimistic for EP's future.
His strengths are a real asset, but they're tied up with some big drawbacks: rebounding and his lack of a distance shot are both, as described in the article, kind of deal-breakers.
But on top of that, the real killer is his defense... which has not been good, at all. As a center, he's at a height disadvantage, which is about what you'd expect. But he mostly hasn't been able to use his quickness or weight advantage to guard forwards sufficiently, either. And off-ball, he's one of the most consistent culprits of unwisely sagging off a shooter in the corner, or even just losing his assignment. (FWIW, Draymond is a mastermind of sagging off his guy and usually getting away with it, and Steph gets caught doing it kind of often, but we forgive him because he does so much else so well. Point being, maybe they aren't the best examples for EP to learn from.)
In short, I think Paschall is going to have to show a lot of dedication and improvement to find space on a team that's actually competing for a championship next season. Here's hoping that the lessons (and not the injuries) from this season carry over and motivate him to be the best version of himself.
From my perspective, EP is a really bad defender and rebounder right now. Until he adds a solid 3 point shot, he is quite limited imo, especially with Dray on the team. I like EP, he was a very good 2nd round pick. I'd probably move on this summer if we can add him into a trade or get a pick back.
I think a lot of that was projection. It's strange for such an athletic, strong, long guy to be so piss poor in terms of steals, rebounds, and blocks. Watching him, he doesn't have good instincts for some reason.
He had solid defensive moments, he's definitely not guarding top tier players or guards but I don't see why he can't be a solid team defender at the four with klay and jta next to him
This is what makes EP so tricky to figure out. He shows flashes, but it often looks like those are flashes of awesomeness, and not a baseline.
He's downright dominant in some offensive aspects, but you have to dig pretty deep to make the case that he's anywhere close to average as a defender right now. I still like him, and for a 2nd round pick, I'm more than happy to give him another year to develop. We are already adding more rookies next year. Give me EP for 12 bench minutes over some random 42nd pick rookie.
Hopefully he can become a passable 3 pt shooter, if he adjust mechanics and comes into camp in shape I don't see why not.
He can be an effective four next to Wiseman if we let Wiseman spot up n take the big out the paint, poole and paschall pick n rolls with wiseman spotting up should be a deadly threat
A second unit of poole, klay, jta paschall and wiseman seems solid if wiseman can get better at defensive reads and continue to hit the three at an average rate
The article mentions that the Warriors initially tried to get Paschall to shoot a set shot (as seen in the video), before he pushed back and asked them to let him shoot it his preferred style until the offseason.
But then December rolled around and the shot looked the same. From this article, it clearly wasn't because the Warriors think his shot form is fine. Was it COVID related difficulties? Or was Paschall not committed enough? Or will the transformation take more time?
I don't see Paschall sticking in the NBA unless he can hit threes somewhere between 35%-40%, honestly.
He didn't put the work in this offseason that's obvious, but hopefully him seeing poole go hard and improving so much plus with a great culture around him he goes hard this offseason, the jump shooting changes and he'll be a solid piece for next season
Jun 4, 2021Liked by punk basketball, Daniel Hardee
When people say Kerr is stubborn and doesn't try things I just shake my head. Paschall came to camp out of shape, not ready to take a step forward and then struggled in minutes as a combo forward. Then Kerr tries him at small ball C and gets a hot 10 game run where he was a real weapon.
Didn't last because Paschall got hurt and his explosiveness was totally gone.
I do think he and a lot of guys were hurt by the loss of Chriss. Chriss was gonna be the glue of that 2nd unit as a rim running, ball moving C. Think most of Paschall's best rookie year moments were playing with Chriss.
He's ultimately in the same spot where he was at the end of his rookie season. The mid range ISO game is intriguing. The frame is intriguing. However that in and of itself is not a winning player. It's not easy to find, but it's not that valuable by itself. We still don't know if he can be an average or better defender of 4's, and hit enough 3's to be a floor spacer. If he can't do those things it will always be tough to find rotation minutes for him. At this point the optimism that he can do that is lower than it was after his rookie year.
So moving forward I don't think they should be afraid to trade him if they need his salary spot or even cut him if they have a better use for his roster spot. If they keep him it would also not be surprising if he found a way to be useful.
Sums up pretty much how I feel. If I had to guess, I don't think he lasts long as a Warrior, but so much depends on who they bring in this offseason and even who they draft. FWIW, I like him and hope he can add the needed elements to his game. I think he'll be a Warrior-killer if he ends up on another team.
I don't see a future for Paschall on the Warriors. He's still cheap so I don't see the need to salary dump him ASAP, but he definitely trade filler if the Warriors decide to trade this offseason.
To me, he's a 6'6" light rebounding, bleh defense big that doesn't space the floor and doesn't assist particularly well.
I don't see Paschall becoming the focal point of the Curry/Dray-less bench with the breakout of Poole and with Wiseman in the mix, and that's before considering the incoming Top 15 draft pick(s).
And without a 3pt shot and without elite defense/rebounding, I don't see how Paschall can play in lineups with Draymond, like they can with Looney.
Then as the backup 4, JTA checks all the boxes that the Warriors need out of the 4 that Paschall doesn't.
I mean that would be a dream swap. If the Lakers don't want Gasol at all, maybe they see a little promise in a young player? Ultimately, if it seems too good to be true, it likely is.
Yep, he really doesn’t have any real holes in his game, other than maybe passing up good shots. That seems fixable as his confidence in his shooting grows.
Personally, I'm fairly convinced that the answer to whether his impact was limited by injuries or other teams figuring him out is "a little of column A, and a little of column B." Some good discussion in here about some of his strengths and limitations. It looks like Kerr was convinced that pairing Wanamaker and EP was the way to cover for each other, but like Daniel was saying, that's a lot more offensive burden than EP should be carrying on the daily.
For next season, I think the priority is that if he's going to be coming in as a bench scorer, he's got to be more efficient. Being in the bottom fifth of the league in points scored per attempt is a real bad look for a guy that is supposedly on the court to score. The defense and other stuff worries me a bit less. Like I was telling Daniel yesterday, he's part of the team's best defensive unit last season and there were a few low minute combos that he thrived in.
He can contribute, for sure. But my main issue looking ahead is if his net impact can outweigh the people at his position on the depth chart (Looney, JTA). Also, he's probably the most impacted by Wiseman development - because of roster combos, those Wiseman minutes are eating into EP's potential playing time a lot.
I really liked EP last year. This season, not so much. This is more impressionistic than scientific. Perhaps his injuries and the guys he played with affected my perspective, but he seems like a guy you could scheme against in a playoff series. His shot didn't seem to get better, and he missed some dunks - I wonder if he'd play better 20 pounds lighter.....
I see EP as a David West replacement. Pretty good size comparison, at least as good shooter. Not sure about rebounding. DW played a lot w/o Draymond it seems to me.
I'm not so sure. He feels more like a baby Dray than a DWest replacement. I remember D.West even in his younger days was a reliable 10-15 pts and 5-6 boards kinda guy when he was at Charlotte and Pacers.
I would love for EP to be able to provide some consistent J off the corner of the key like DWest but feels like EP has a tendency to grind. Feels like right now, he is a nice to have and if can play the 4 and develop J, I think there will be a slot for him.
Great article. Sophomore seasons get a little sideways for a lot of pro athletes, so I would take EP's overall season with a grain of salt. Learning what we had in Poole & EP was a big Q that needed answering this year. Poole, check. EP, small ball center minutes in match-up situations, check. But we needed to find out what other positional rotation minutes he could be slotted into and that question remained unanswered. I believe the loss of Chriss had a huge impact on EP's season. EP not a spot up shooter and works best while threatening drives to give him space for his pop up mid range jumper. Without Chriss, who plays well at the high post, the lane was clogged a lot, whether by Wiseman or multiple defenders who didn't bother with the perimeter because we were devoid of shooters. If Wiseman really does have a perimeter game and can play some of that high post more effectively, I think EP and Wiseman can coexist on the floor at the same time and that, more than anything else, will determine EP's future with the Warriors.
I'm a big fan of a guy in the second unit who can go out there and hit the often maligned 2 point shot. It slows the game down. It limits transition opportunities. It's the 'adult in the room' basketball transaction. It's the 'we are not going away' on court declaration. EP has to overcome having his game impacted by the rotations he finds himself in and Kerr needs to meet him halfway by putting him in better rotations to begin with. But having a guy who can come in and give you the reliable Mo Buckets/West/Livingston type of offense out of the second unit is as our dear friend Martha Stewart would say ... "A good thing."
Kerr philosophy is not 3 & D, it's high efficiency shooting on offense and the reverse on defense. If EP is efficient on the offensive end and holds his own on D, he has a place. The big Q with EP is will his game continue to be one dimensional, or will he grow more comfortable in offensive and defensive team concepts ala JTA? It's nice to have a pipe wrench, but you can really only use it for one or two things. That's EP right now. Next year, EP and Kerr have common goal of expanding EP's usefulness in different rotations and this year we should find out if he is going to be a long term fit.
Agreed. I hope EPs game will develop over this off-season
Rebounding, I want more rebounding stats if we are truly nerding out!
Agreed, as ugly as those stats will be, we need them.
What I noticed about him as the 2nd unit small ball center was that it started out great for him, then after 8-10 games it wasn't working so well because the other team would have their 1st string center sub out in the last part of the 1st qtr so they could start the 2nd qtr playing against Paschall. And since our options at center were very limited, it kind of went downhill from there.
I'm not sure that the energy to try and fit Paschall into the lineup will be worth it considering JTA's presence and rise, as other posters have pointed out. JTA fits easily and there will be at least two new players that the Warriors will be bringing on board next season.
Because of Paschall's tweener size, his midrange shot is his biggest asset. In a sense, he reminds me of David West and Speights who had good midrange shots. So, the Warriors need a player(s) who can do that but that would cut out playing time for players who are more valuable to the team. I also don't see his future here but I'm wondering if any team would want him. Maybe Paschall needs to spend time in the Gleague to rediscover how he can best use his talents.
Idk if this was posted here already but
https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/warriors/draymond-green-makes-bold-warriors-claim-klay-thompson-healthy?amp&__twitter_impression=true
"I think we’ll win the Finals again next year. Zero doubt," Green said Wednesday on a Bleacher Report AMA when asked how far the Warriors will go next season with Thompson back.
I mean, if Klay gets his wind back by midseason? And Steph plays like this year? With Draymond, Wiggins, plus JTA, Poole, and whoever else steps up? I can't say he's being unrealistic. Maybe a little overconfident—after all, injuries and random events happen—but that's par for the course.
He had kind of a lousy year, but I'm not ready to give up on him yet. I think he's a smart guy and a good guy, decent player, and would like to give him another year or two where he doesn't have to deal with injuries and covid protocols. I hate it that the team is so quick to drop younger players with potential, like Boucher, Nunn, J. Holiday, and Seth, and I could see Paschall being a mainstay with a little improvement. I could see him going to Utah to play with his buddy Donovan and being a really good bench player.
Like everyone else has said, I'd like to see him work on his defense. I don't know that anyone else has said this, but I'd also like to see him work on his shooting form (that little jump weirds me out), his passing (which is mostly non-existent - 1.3 assists per game this year), and his rebounding (2.3 per game).
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Remember a password?? Seriously. LOL
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Lol I did NOT. But pretty painless to reset
Paschall's rookie season was pretty phenomenal, especially for a 41st pick. But this season, he looked the same or worse in just about every respect. Maybe that's the difference between a 22-year old player in his second year and a 20-year old like Poole, but the word that he came into camp out of shape too, and the non-improvement on his suspect jumper contrasted with JTA's offseason improvement to his jumper (at age 26?) has me feeling much less optimistic for EP's future.
His strengths are a real asset, but they're tied up with some big drawbacks: rebounding and his lack of a distance shot are both, as described in the article, kind of deal-breakers.
But on top of that, the real killer is his defense... which has not been good, at all. As a center, he's at a height disadvantage, which is about what you'd expect. But he mostly hasn't been able to use his quickness or weight advantage to guard forwards sufficiently, either. And off-ball, he's one of the most consistent culprits of unwisely sagging off a shooter in the corner, or even just losing his assignment. (FWIW, Draymond is a mastermind of sagging off his guy and usually getting away with it, and Steph gets caught doing it kind of often, but we forgive him because he does so much else so well. Point being, maybe they aren't the best examples for EP to learn from.)
In short, I think Paschall is going to have to show a lot of dedication and improvement to find space on a team that's actually competing for a championship next season. Here's hoping that the lessons (and not the injuries) from this season carry over and motivate him to be the best version of himself.
From my perspective, EP is a really bad defender and rebounder right now. Until he adds a solid 3 point shot, he is quite limited imo, especially with Dray on the team. I like EP, he was a very good 2nd round pick. I'd probably move on this summer if we can add him into a trade or get a pick back.
Woah! A Gov sighting! Glad you found your way over here
And remember EP was drafted as a solid defender, if he's in shape I don't see why he wouldn't be able to hold is own against backup 3s and 4s
He’ll never be a 3. Backup 4/5 is his best slot.
I think a lot of that was projection. It's strange for such an athletic, strong, long guy to be so piss poor in terms of steals, rebounds, and blocks. Watching him, he doesn't have good instincts for some reason.
He had solid defensive moments, he's definitely not guarding top tier players or guards but I don't see why he can't be a solid team defender at the four with klay and jta next to him
This is what makes EP so tricky to figure out. He shows flashes, but it often looks like those are flashes of awesomeness, and not a baseline.
He's downright dominant in some offensive aspects, but you have to dig pretty deep to make the case that he's anywhere close to average as a defender right now. I still like him, and for a 2nd round pick, I'm more than happy to give him another year to develop. We are already adding more rookies next year. Give me EP for 12 bench minutes over some random 42nd pick rookie.
if all goes right with the Minny pick, EP’s more likely competing with S. Barnes or J. Johnson for back up 4 minutes.
Hopefully he can become a passable 3 pt shooter, if he adjust mechanics and comes into camp in shape I don't see why not.
He can be an effective four next to Wiseman if we let Wiseman spot up n take the big out the paint, poole and paschall pick n rolls with wiseman spotting up should be a deadly threat
A second unit of poole, klay, jta paschall and wiseman seems solid if wiseman can get better at defensive reads and continue to hit the three at an average rate
> Hopefully he can become a passable 3 pt shooter, if he adjust mechanics and comes into camp in shape I don't see why not.
To me the question is why did neither of these things happen last season? That was a red flag to me. From last season:
https://theathletic.com/1455998/2019/12/17/the-development-of-eric-paschall-already-in-progress-is-essential-to-the-warriors-future/
The article mentions that the Warriors initially tried to get Paschall to shoot a set shot (as seen in the video), before he pushed back and asked them to let him shoot it his preferred style until the offseason.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqusHImUzZY
But then December rolled around and the shot looked the same. From this article, it clearly wasn't because the Warriors think his shot form is fine. Was it COVID related difficulties? Or was Paschall not committed enough? Or will the transformation take more time?
I don't see Paschall sticking in the NBA unless he can hit threes somewhere between 35%-40%, honestly.
That he didn’t want to work on his shot mechanics and that he showed up out-of-shape were both pretty big red flags.
I'll give him a pass for not going as hard after a rookie season where he exceeded expectations, plus covid
He didn't put the work in this offseason that's obvious, but hopefully him seeing poole go hard and improving so much plus with a great culture around him he goes hard this offseason, the jump shooting changes and he'll be a solid piece for next season
When people say Kerr is stubborn and doesn't try things I just shake my head. Paschall came to camp out of shape, not ready to take a step forward and then struggled in minutes as a combo forward. Then Kerr tries him at small ball C and gets a hot 10 game run where he was a real weapon.
Didn't last because Paschall got hurt and his explosiveness was totally gone.
I do think he and a lot of guys were hurt by the loss of Chriss. Chriss was gonna be the glue of that 2nd unit as a rim running, ball moving C. Think most of Paschall's best rookie year moments were playing with Chriss.
He's ultimately in the same spot where he was at the end of his rookie season. The mid range ISO game is intriguing. The frame is intriguing. However that in and of itself is not a winning player. It's not easy to find, but it's not that valuable by itself. We still don't know if he can be an average or better defender of 4's, and hit enough 3's to be a floor spacer. If he can't do those things it will always be tough to find rotation minutes for him. At this point the optimism that he can do that is lower than it was after his rookie year.
So moving forward I don't think they should be afraid to trade him if they need his salary spot or even cut him if they have a better use for his roster spot. If they keep him it would also not be surprising if he found a way to be useful.
Rec’d
I think he’s a more useful end-of-bench big than Smiley, but I don’t think I’d make any big plans around him.
Sums up pretty much how I feel. If I had to guess, I don't think he lasts long as a Warrior, but so much depends on who they bring in this offseason and even who they draft. FWIW, I like him and hope he can add the needed elements to his game. I think he'll be a Warrior-killer if he ends up on another team.
I don't see a future for Paschall on the Warriors. He's still cheap so I don't see the need to salary dump him ASAP, but he definitely trade filler if the Warriors decide to trade this offseason.
To me, he's a 6'6" light rebounding, bleh defense big that doesn't space the floor and doesn't assist particularly well.
I don't see Paschall becoming the focal point of the Curry/Dray-less bench with the breakout of Poole and with Wiseman in the mix, and that's before considering the incoming Top 15 draft pick(s).
And without a 3pt shot and without elite defense/rebounding, I don't see how Paschall can play in lineups with Draymond, like they can with Looney.
Then as the backup 4, JTA checks all the boxes that the Warriors need out of the 4 that Paschall doesn't.
There's no way the Lakers would do a Paschall for Gasol swap right? Even if Harrell declined his option and bailed on them?
I mean that would be a dream swap. If the Lakers don't want Gasol at all, maybe they see a little promise in a young player? Ultimately, if it seems too good to be true, it likely is.
Paschall+Bell+a supportive note from Steph to LeWhine?
Yeah, JTA's emergence is the biggest strike against Paschall.
JTA's very easy to fit in lineups.
Yep, he really doesn’t have any real holes in his game, other than maybe passing up good shots. That seems fixable as his confidence in his shooting grows.
What a weird season for this guy.
Personally, I'm fairly convinced that the answer to whether his impact was limited by injuries or other teams figuring him out is "a little of column A, and a little of column B." Some good discussion in here about some of his strengths and limitations. It looks like Kerr was convinced that pairing Wanamaker and EP was the way to cover for each other, but like Daniel was saying, that's a lot more offensive burden than EP should be carrying on the daily.
For next season, I think the priority is that if he's going to be coming in as a bench scorer, he's got to be more efficient. Being in the bottom fifth of the league in points scored per attempt is a real bad look for a guy that is supposedly on the court to score. The defense and other stuff worries me a bit less. Like I was telling Daniel yesterday, he's part of the team's best defensive unit last season and there were a few low minute combos that he thrived in.
He can contribute, for sure. But my main issue looking ahead is if his net impact can outweigh the people at his position on the depth chart (Looney, JTA). Also, he's probably the most impacted by Wiseman development - because of roster combos, those Wiseman minutes are eating into EP's potential playing time a lot.
I really liked EP last year. This season, not so much. This is more impressionistic than scientific. Perhaps his injuries and the guys he played with affected my perspective, but he seems like a guy you could scheme against in a playoff series. His shot didn't seem to get better, and he missed some dunks - I wonder if he'd play better 20 pounds lighter.....
Move him back to the small forward spot? Hmmm
interesting....
I think they moved him up a spot because of defensive concerns, but I wonder how well a lighter quicker EP could keep up with wings