In the 2023 World Cup basketball game, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, a former NBA player and now a Jordanian naturalized player, has attracted a lot of attention. His style of play is very similar to the late star Kobe Bryant, and he wears the No. 24 jersey, so he is called “Jordan Kobe”. But he performed so well, why did he leave the NBA in the first place? Any chance of returning to the NBA in the future?
In the 2023 World Cup basketball game, Jordan’s naturalized player and former NBA player Rondae Hollis-Jefferson sparked heated discussions because he played like the late star Kobe Bryant and was wearing the No. 24 jersey, so he was honored. For “Jordan Kobe”, “Left-handed Kobe”, even FIBA officials shared the essence of his game, and wrote in a post: “Kobe must laugh at this picture.”
In fact, Hollis-Jefferson’s performance in the Jordan team is also very Kobe. In the first game of the group stage, he scored 24 points against Greece, and in the second game against New Zealand, he scored 39 points, including a ” “Four-point play” forced the game into an extension. Although it still lost in the end, it also made New Zealand break out in a cold sweat.
“It means a lot to me and I’m honored.”
“After all, there is only one Kobe in the world.”
“I can feel the love of everyone in the final stage of the game and hit the key ball.”
“Trust God is with me and Kobe is definitely with me.”
In this game, many fans shouted Kobe to Hollis-Jefferson on the sidelines, which flattered Hollis-Jefferson. In the third game against the United States, he also scored a team-high 20 points, currently averaging 27.7 He will be second in the ranking game, which is very inconsistent with his past impression of a “defensive champion” in the NBA.
However, perhaps this is what fans had expected him to do in the NBA.
A player who fits the generation but doesn’t fit the trend
“NBA-caliber frame, thick shoulders, typical wing build.”
“Excellent wingspan, excellent flexibility and speed, good at switching fast breaks.”
“Long arms and lateral explosiveness have the advantage, a versatile defender.”
Spread out the original scouting report, you can know how highly anticipated Hollis-Jefferson was. With a height of 6 feet 6 inches (approximately 198 centimeters) and a long arm of 7 feet 1 inch, coupled with the confrontation given by his thick body, these physical conditions give Hollis-Jefferson the potential to become an excellent defender.
Hollis-Jefferson also performed very well in the ball quotient that is regarded as software. In college, he was willing to cooperate with the team’s offense and also showed a good defensive awareness. He can often be seen successfully defending the opponent’s scorer alone. Finally, grab the defensive rebound and advance the fast break, and finally assist to a teammate or a one-stop dunk.
And as the Warriors won the championship, the entire league began to play with an emphasis on offensive space and speed. Under this style of play, players with Hollis-Jefferson’s conditions are even more popular.
In the past, the style of play that emphasized positional warfare, slow rhythm, and accumulation of inside lanes made him likely to be a defensive engineer. However, with the popularity of open offensive play, Hollis-Jefferson, who has speed, long wingspan, and can coordinate Players who defend and supplement defense can serve as the big locks from No. 2 to No. 4 in the team, allowing the team to maintain speed while still having a certain amount of defensive energy.
However, how can a player whose physique and fitness are quite in line with the contemporary style of play fall into the latter part of the round? The scouting report also gave the answer.
“The outside line (including free throws) is unstable, and the shooting posture needs to be further corrected.”
“Shoots flat and tends to lean forward, no other footsteps to catch the ball.”
“It makes him less of an offensive threat in the half-court.”
“Habitual left-handed dribbling, shooting, bad use of non-dominant hand.”
“It makes it very difficult for him to get off the ball and create his own chances.”
Defensively enough, Hollis-Jefferson’s offense is quite problematic.
First of all, the first thing to be questioned is projection.
Since college, Hollis-Jefferson’s shooting has not been very stable. He has few outside shots and average outside shooting percentage. Most of his points come from switching fast breaks. The reason for his mediocre outside line may be related to his shooting posture.
It can be seen from the World Cup film that Hollis-Jefferson’s shooting is a two-stage shooting, that is, he jumps to the highest point and then shoots the ball. It is easy to be blocked or interfered with.
In addition, the forward-leaning jump makes it easier for him to throw the ball directly into the defender’s range. The way his elbow is not aimed at the basket also makes him have a high shooting rate unless he shoots in a wide gap. If someone interferes, Then his hit rate will plummet.
Taking the rookie year as an example, Hollis-Jefferson has a shooting percentage of 70% in the middle distance. And the three-pointer is even more afraid to shoot when the defense is close.
The instability on the outside end also makes Hollis-Jefferson have no footsteps to catch the ball (after all, he can’t make outside shots for him), which makes his offensive function very simple, that is, a corner shooter waiting for the ball .
2023-08-30 15:32:40
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