(07-17-2022, 01:05 PM)SleepingHero Wrote: I still believe in Hardy's talent and think he's 1-2 years away from being a starter.
I think Hardy is still raw. To me I could tell when he was in distribute mode or scoring mode. It's like he was robotic and he either looked for the pass all the time or the shot. That's fixable and comes with experience. Most important thing is I don't think he ever looked too scared to be out there.
When it comes to his scoring, I also think Hardy has a tendency to go on serious cold streaks and I think that stems from his mental. I think he's just thinking too much out there, and he forces/overthinks which leads to a bad miss, that then makes him force/overthink more. Thus a cascade happens.
This also works in his favor though! We saw how quick he can score 10-15 points if he gets hot. Reigning that in and having him learn a next play mentality will do wonders for him. This is also an issue I think experience will fix.
I think the lack of talent/offensive structure on the Mavs SL also really dampened what Hardy could've done. I remember the 2nd game he could've easily had 10 assists if his teammates just made a shot. The most important thing is he CAN find people, and theoretically with better players Hardy will be amplified.
Mavs didn't screw up the Hardy pick. I really do think we're looking at a future steal. As long as he works his butt off and Kidd gives him some developmental minutes I really think Hardy can grow into a future starter.
He looked really bad in SL. Tons of turnover, very low BBIQ. At some point he walked with the ball inbounds instead of passing it. He failed many times to get himself open as inbound ball handler, looked lazy at times. Reminded me of Ricky Ledo. Hope coaches can rewire his brain or he will be playing in China next year.