Is Podemski capable of shouldering the heavy responsibility of succeeding the Warriors dynasty?

The new NBA season has officially kicked off. All teams are ready to go, and the players are full of confidence and confidence. Among them, Golden State Warriors player Podemski (hereinafter referred to as Poje) recently made a bold statement. He said: "When Curry, Thompson, and Green all retire, I think I can continue to perform my duties and lead the Golden State Warriors to achieve great results."

This statement immediately aroused widespread discussion in the NBA circle. Some people think that he is overestimating his abilities, and his ability can only be exchanged for a box of Gatorade. Others think that he is full of ambitions and has an unlimited future. The last player who was so confident in the Warriors, Jordan Poole, has been punched away by Green. This time, the veteran Green used words to cool down his little brother Podger. He told Podger to be careful with what he said. Too much words will lead to mistakes. Some people will use what Podger said to make a big fuss. Of course, in the end, he believed that Podger will become the future successor of the team.

Does Bojie have the ability to shoulder the heavy responsibility of succeeding the team? Today's star test will bring you Bojie's data analysis.

First, let’s take a look at Bojie’s physical talent. He participated in the 2023 rookie joint trial training. His physical test data is 1.92 meters tall, 1.98 meters wingspan, 2.45 meters standing height, 92.4 kilograms, and a change of direction agility test of 11.16 seconds (30th in the same draft, and the first in the draft was Grant Nelson 9 Seconds 99), return run 3 seconds 20 (9th in the same draft, the first in this draft was Dick 2 seconds 98), three-quarter sprint 3 seconds 21 (15th in the same draft, first in this draft Terrence Shannon Jr. 3 seconds 06), standing jump 80 centimeters (20th in the same draft), running jump 99 centimeters (8th in the same draft).

It can be seen from the physical test data that Bojie's static physical talent is relatively standard for a guard in the NBA, but his agility and speed are slightly average, and his jumping is excellent in the NBA.

Then let's look back at his original draft report to see what his strengths and weaknesses were two years ago. I chose the draft report from the US NBA draft website, with the content slightly abridged.

The comprehensive ability score is 91 points. The expected draft pick is 21-23rd in the first round. The actual draft pick is 19th in the first round. Dellavedova is the draft template.

Advantages: A smart combo guard with standard shooting movements and some intangible qualities that can make up for his physical shortcomings. He is an excellent shooter with long range and good touch. He is left-handed. Most scouts prefer to position him as a shooting guard, but he also has the vision and passing required to play a point guard. Ability. He is a creative passer with excellent court observation. He can easily pass accurate half-court long passes and create easy scoring opportunities for teammates. However, he lacks some speed and is difficult to be the main point guard. He is mature and smart. After transferring to Santa Clara University, he shined in the "big fish in a small pond" environment. As a defender, he averaged 100,000 points per game. 8.8 rebounds is a very eye-catching statistic, which shows that he is willing to engage in physical confrontation and has the ability to rebound. He has excellent ball control skills. He is good at cross dribbling and behind the back dribbling. He can also create space for emergency stop jumpers by stepping back. He is skilled in throwing throws, has the iconic European step, and is good at using fake moves. His movement and rhythm changes disrupt the defender's rhythm, and he has strong ability to break through and distribute the ball. He knows how to suppress smaller opponents and use post-up techniques to score. If he can enter the right team and his speed shortcomings can be overcome or covered up, there will be considerable room for improvement. He is very enjoyable to watch and has excellent perception of the game.

Disadvantages: Not the fastest or most talented guard, nor does he have the appearance and temperament of an NBA player. He lacks excellent first-step speed. Defensive players can over-press the defense and block their shooting space. His jumping is very good, but other athletic talents are average. He struggled in his freshman season at the University of Illinois and even struggled to enter the rotation. Later, he made a breakthrough after transferring to Santa Clara University. Questioners believed that he He has not played in the top NCAA league. It is worth watching whether he can withstand the test of the NBA. His shooting movements are standard but his release speed is slow. His shooting efficiency may drop when faced with NBA-level defenses. As a shooter, his free throw shooting rate in two seasons in college was less than 80%, which poses hidden dangers. His positioning on the court is unclear because it is unclear what his ability without the ball is. If he cannot become the main ball handler, it is questionable how much help he can bring to the team.

Judging from the draft report, Bojie's advantages are solid skills, shooting ability, ball intelligence, ability to score and organize, but his disadvantages are lack of speed and explosive power. Under the high defensive intensity of the NBA, the offensive efficiency with the ball may not be as good as that in college, and his positioning is awkward. He lacks the ability to play core like in college. There are doubts about whether he can complete the transition from core to supporting role in the NBA. Then we will use his data from last season to confirm the predictions of the draft report one by one.

First of all, there is the problem of team positioning. Last season, Boje played 4% of the time as point guard, 45% of the time as shooting guard, 46% of the time as small forward, and 5% of the time as power forward for the Warriors. Assisted scoring accounted for 67% of the scoring, and free-hand scoring accounted for 33%. It can be seen that Cole mainly positioned him as a forward-back swingman role to assist scoring.

Last season, he averaged 11.7 points per game and was the fourth scorer in the Warriors. However, his USG offensive ball usage rate was only 18.3%, ranking 6th among the Warriors' main players. This shows that his offensive efficiency is very good. If he is given more With more offensive possessions, his scoring data may continue to improve. Three-pointers accounted for 49% of his scoring, mid-range scoring accounted for 9%, free throws accounted for 10%, and basket scoring accounted for 32%. It can be seen from the scoring distribution that his scoring methods are relatively comprehensive, which is a combination of internal and external.

In terms of more detailed scoring data, the first thing is the biggest trait mentioned in the draft report-shooting ability..

Last season, he made a total of 184 three-point attempts, hitting 73 of them, with a shooting rate of 39.7%, which is a very good level. He has adapted well to the offensive role of off-ball support. He personally made 116 three-pointers with the ball, hitting 37 goals with a shooting rate of 32%, which is an unqualified level, as shown in the draft report. According to the report, his shooting speed and movement speed are relatively slow, making it difficult to get rid of the opponent's defense when attacking with the ball. If you really want to be a star, then this three-point shooting rate with the ball is definitely not qualified. The current NBA three-point shooting rate is about 35%. The more shots below this, the greater the damage to the team.

He took 124 mid-range shots and hit 56 goals with a 45% shooting rate, which is a qualified level. This is an advantageous skill that gives him the confidence to go further. Although the mid-range is regarded as an inefficient skill under the three-point magic ball trend, it is definitely a necessary skill for an excellent defender to attack tough situations, especially when Bojie is severely hindered from holding the ball on the outside for three-pointers. If he really wants to improve his scoring efficiency, then in the future, he will step forward from the three-point line to increase the mid-range scoring ratio.

At the same time, what makes people pessimistic about his improvement in three-pointers with the ball is also reflected in free throws. Last season, he took a total of 95 free throws and made 75 of them, with a shooting rate of 75.8%. This is obviously not in line with the shooting rate of a shooter-type player. Judging from all Boji's shooting data, he did well in three-pointers and mid-range, but his personal three-pointers and free throws with the ball were clearly unqualified, and the latter two are precisely the most critical data for becoming a super scorer.

In terms of breakthroughs with the ball last season, there were a total of 355 breakthroughs with the ball, ranking 116th in the league and 4th among the Warriors, lower than Curry (610 times), Butler (385 times), and Kuminga (381 times). He broke into the frame 150 times and hit 70 goals with a shooting rate of 46.7%. This breakthrough efficiency is very low, but within the Warriors It's actually pretty good. Butler's break-through rate is 44.4%, Kuminga's 44.3%, and Curry's 47.4%. The team's highest break-through efficiency rate is Moses Moody's 48.5%. The Golden State Warriors are a team that emphasizes pass-cut coordination, and their break-through ability is extremely poor. Last season, the team averaged 40.3 breaks per game, ranking fifth in the bottom of the league. Podger's breakthrough weakness is not obvious in this team.

In addition, an important statistic that reflects the value of role players in the Warriors' offensive system is cutting inside without the ball. Podger only completed 38 inside attacks throughout the season, ranking last among the Warriors. The positive example is Payton Jr. who had 90 times. However, further analysis shows that the reason why Podger has fewer inside cuts is because, as the scout report said, his passing His ball ability is very good. Although he does not have the task of holding the ball and organizing the ball in the team's offensive system, he often plays the role of receiving and dealing cards. He averages 43.2 passes per game, ranking third in the Warriors, only lower than Green's 54.4 and Bareille's 50.4. He has converted assists 3.4 times and has a passing assist rate of 8%. He smartly knows how to play a role in Cole's passing system.

There is also the rebounding ability that Cole likes very much. Podger has good bounce and is very active in grabbing rebounds, which effectively makes up for Cole's poor rebounding ability in small lineups. Last season, he averaged 5.1 rebounds per game, ranking 4th in the Warriors.

Finally, there is the defensive aspect, which is also a key factor in determining Podger's future ceiling. If he is a defensive champion, then the Warriors will definitely have him at the core in the future. Last season, opponents averaged 9.8 shots per game in front of him, hitting 4.8 goals, with a shooting percentage of 49.5%. The opponent's shooting percentage increased by an average of 3.3 percentage points under his defense, which is completely a hip defense.

He is nicknamed "The God of Dribbling and Collision" because in his rookie season, he caused 38 fouls against opponents with the ball and collision, ranking first in the league. Last season, this number dropped to 20 times, ranking third in the league. Reeves was second with 22 times. The first was Kamara, teammate of Yang Hansen of the Trail Blazers. This is a reflection of defensive intelligence, but it has no direct relationship with defensive ability.

And what he mainly defends as a substitute is not the opponent's arrow scoring points. Last season, the top ten players he defended in descending order were VanVleet, Reeves, Porter Jr., Alvarado, Powell, Keyonte George, Amen Thompson, Irving, Kris Dunn, and Knecht. Here, Irving is considered the top scorer, which shows that Podger's defensive ability is very average.

Finally, judging from all the data, Podger was still far from the team's successor last season, but he was definitely the most comfortable player in Cole's tactical system. And from the perspective of his style and potential, his road to NBA stardom is destined to be full of difficulties and obstacles, but the charm of the NBA is that everything is possible. There are many cases of players with mediocre talent who finally achieved great success through unremitting efforts. I hope Podger can break doubts and eventually grow into the future core of the Warriors.