Doug Gottlieb: Pharrel Payne can play for me anytime. Kid plays hard and is athletic and strong.

Silly me I thought your post specifically mentioned Reese and that’s what I was addressing.

Maybe try decaf or a hair of the dog 🐶?

Oh—it did. I just was saying Payne’s footwork isn’t elite. Not that Reese is better than him. Payne is so athletic and strong he should get to where he wants against almost anyone
 




Payne is unique. He has freakishly good hands and hangs onto almost everything that comes near him, great footwork, strength, and quickness, and has some very good ability as a passer, which I hope they'll utilize in the coming years. It's also likely with his frame that by next year he'll be about 270 lbs.

The thing that will determine whether he's a great, not just really good player, is whether he can develop and use a short jumper and jump hook when he has the ball in his hands. If he can make other bigs guard him 15 feet and in from the basket, he has the ability to blow by most by putting it on the floor. He has the type of quickness to do that. But he needs to have the threat of his shot in order to do that. The free throw shooting goes along with that, and you could see some improvement on that as the year progressed. This guy has better touch than a Jordan Murphy, and I'm so hopeful that after a Spring and Summer of thousands of jumpers and free throws, he can add that to his arsenal. I think it will happen. And that alone adds a huge amount to their offense next year.

And that would mean he would be a great, not really good player.

I hope to God he is not 270 lbs next year. Would seriously impact his quickness and likely predispose to injury (see Zion Williamson). He needs an elbow jumper and a jump hook. Lots of reps for him this summer I hope.
 


I hope to God he is not 270 lbs next year. Would seriously impact his quickness and likely predispose to injury (see Zion Williamson). He needs an elbow jumper and a jump hook. Lots of reps for him this summer I hope.
Remember when Alan Page trimmed down to 205lbs and Bud Grant fired him?
 

I hope to God he is not 270 lbs next year. Would seriously impact his quickness and likely predispose to injury (see Zion Williamson). He needs an elbow jumper and a jump hook. Lots of reps for him this summer I hope.
I hope he is, 15 lbs on his body will fit him very nicely, and it doesn't have to seriously impact his quickness. He has a large lower body, and there is definitely room on his upper body for 15 more lbs.
Watch Zion on his feet, he has a very "heavy" gait. Payne is much lighter on his feet. Zion and Payne are two different players with different bodies. Maybe he'll be able to push Juju off of the post a little easier next year. And I don't think he's going to stop lifting this off-season. I'll take it.
 






That’s because I mis-remembered. It wasn’t 205 but actually 222 lbs. Grant wanted him at 245-250 and Page said “fuck you Bud”. Off to Chicago for Alan where he played quite well actually. I think he got down to 205 when he quit football and started running marathons.
That’s all for today’s history lesson. Class dismissed. 🙋‍♂️
 




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