Indy, I'm leaving on vacation in a few hours

[RockyBalboa]

Plaisted's problem is all in his head. He has all the physicals tools already. And this isn't a slam, but the guy needs extensive work with a Sports Psychologist.

I don't think the guy has come close to reaching his ceiling, but he seems afraid to go for the ceiling at the same time. His demeanor is almost as if he's embarrassed that he's good.

[Detroitdad]

The lack of progress is disturbing in TP. Personally I think that he relies to much on athleticism, like for instance falling for headfakes, or closing out too hard, and in only going toward the middle. His skill level needs to improve dramatically or he has already hit his ceiling.

Also, I agree with Rocky that he lacks mental fortitude at this point. The good news is that all of the problems he has are correctable, and the positives remain, a big, athletic player.

[Insensitive PAP]

Originally Posted by jay santos

I'm only a self-proclaimed expert, but I did watch all but a handful of games this year. I wouldn't say Plaisted lacks athleticism--at all. He shows it in bursts. I would say Plaisted's lack of smarts, aggressiveness, and confidence (at times) restrains that athleticism. I've seen Plaisted switch off on a 6'3" quick perimeter player, and work hard, move his feet and stop him from penetrating. Then you see a guy like Dohlmann, who's not half as athletic as Plaisted, make him look like a stiff on the perimeter. Dohlman did it with his brains not his athleticism.

Plaisted played great in several times this year, and at times you thought he was getting consistent enough that he was ready to break through to the next level, but then he'd regress.

He was starting to put it together late in the year, now he'll carry that into the offseason. His biggest problem is lacking a feel for the game. He gets a lot of weak fouls because of that.. I thought he actually got a lot more aggressive late in the year as his confidence grew, and that made him play much faster.

I've seen some horrible players really turn it aound once things started clicking. For example, Joel Anthony at UNLV. You guys have no idea how bad this guy was before his senior year, truly one of the worst UNLV players ever. This season he won MWC DPOY plaing only 18 minutes a game and was a key player in UNLV's success this year.

My expectations are that Plaisted steps it up next year to 1st team All-MWC averaging about 16 PPG and commanding a double team that will open things up for everyone. The biggest hole in his game is foul trouble, though that actually improved a little too this year.

As far as his stats, his blocks improved, turnovers went down, assist went up, he fouled less, his shooting % went up. His points went down by 1 PPG, but that's not surprising considering how KT did. His rebounds also went down .7 and I'm not sure what to make of that. He played 28 minutes per game, and I'd like to see that more toward 33 next season, but that will depend on how his judgement improves.