Aaron Nesmith "Art of Falling" appreciation thread

[oldgoldy97]

His best game scoring to go with -20. Used all his energy up on O.

[oldgoldy97]

Originally Posted by ninjacookies

I don’t know Brooks or Jackson.

But that’s good company.

Good thing he’s only 23.

[duron]

It’s too bad there aren’t any Rick Pitino patina cards.

[Nomad]

So where there is smoke there is fire. The responses here mean that some people who actually watch Pacers' games on the daily know what I am talking about.

You hear Carsyle and Tony East calling him the future of the franchise. I am going to argue, as I did a year ago, that you have to essentially invent new metrics to quantify his impact. Because he is like a chess player among players laying dominoes. Points don't count until they count.

Anyway, beauty of the NBA is that darwinism over next month will decide who is proved right. If I was investor boi I would stock up on a small portfolio of crash (as well as nembhard), just in case. Affordable, as they say in the islands. For the Pacers to be seriously considering a run at playoffs, in a generational tanking season, is testament to just how much they have restructured the team, top to bottom. Unlike the Kings, they did not have a De'Aaron Fox to build on. Myles Davis (no disrespect Geo. Hill) is now basically the team's elder statesman.

Haven't checked, but Nesmith is prolly one-tenth the price of Hali, one-fifth Mathurin, and one half Nembhard. Maybe still on par with Hauser, yet a little higher than 70 percent of his class (believe it or not, that's how risky rookies are).

And that's the long term collective sports awareness of card community, why you can still make money holding rookies that you notice are developing under radar. Kind of like value investing.

[tjforce]

23 years old and almost cracking the 10 pts/ 4 rebs/ 1 assist per game mark.

I'll call up Nesmith and I's old stats professor at Vandy and have him work on a new way to quantify how that rates against the all time top 5.

[Nomad]

He was not a showcase from the start on a failing/rebuilding team, as were Ant, Lamello, and (to a lesser extent) Hali. Zion. Ja even. Only comparable I can think is Wiseman and he didn't have the length or high-draft power.

Had Nesmith been placed on one of those teams and given the minutes to find a rhythm, I assume his rookie year stats would have been on par. Even then, he had the best single game performance of any rookie in his class, the 38 point comeback against the Spurs. Only reason he got on the floor in any kind of ball-touch role was because of the extreme deficit, which had Tatum standing on sidelines chatting with official about technicalities for minutes. I bet that's one ball Deuce still treasures. (This incidentally generated the first Blowout thread about crash, look that up, a half-hearted ROY pitch that was laughed out the building). After which, he was duly demoted to garbage time when he missed three tres in a row.

Now one could argue the tough-love process he went through ultimately generated results....

[oldgoldy97]

Originally Posted by Nomad

So where there is smoke there is fire. The responses here mean that some people who actually watch Pacers' games on the daily know what I am talking about.

You hear Carsyle and Tony East calling him the future of the franchise. I am going to argue, as I did a year ago, that you have to essentially invent new metrics to quantify his impact. Because he is like a chess player among players laying dominoes. Points don't count until they count.

Anyway, beauty of the NBA is that darwinism over next month will decide who is proved right. If I was investor boi I would stock up on a small portfolio of crash (as well as nembhard), just in case. Affordable, as they say in the islands. For the Pacers to be seriously considering a run at playoffs is testament to just how much they have restructured the team, top to bottom. Unlike the Kings, they did not have a De'Aaron Fox to build on. Myles Davis (no disrespect Geo. Hill) is now basically the team's elder statesman.

Haven't checked, but Nesmith is prolly one-tenth the price of Hali, one-fifth Mathurin, and one half Nembhard. Maybe still on par with Hauser, yet a little higher than 70 percent of his class (believe it or not, that's how risky rookies are). That's the long term collective sports awareness of card community and why you can still make money holding rookies that you notice are developing under radar. Kind of like value investing.

Hoping Myles Davis starts signing. Those would be nice.

[oldgoldy97]

Originally Posted by tjforce

23 years old and almost cracking the 10 pts/ 4 rebs/ 1 assist per game mark.

I'll call up Nesmith and I's old stats professor at Vandy and have him work on a new way to quantify how that rates against the all time top 5.

Keep watching. By his late 30s-early 40s he will be in the exclusive 15-6-3 club.

[Nomad]

And the Pacers will have three trips to conference finals and one ring under their belt.

You do realize, even this season, that if the Ps do make the play-in, Hali and Mathurin will be nicely rested. That is huge.

[oldgoldy97]

Originally Posted by Nomad

And the Pacers will have three trips to conference finals and one ring under their belt.

You do realize, even this season, that if the Ps do make the play-in, Hali and Mathurin will be nicely rested. That is huge.

But Aaron will be putting those number up in the Big3 while the Ps reach glory.

[Nomad]

Let's both pause this fun flame thing and have a couple collectors knowledgable about Pacers contribute. They can arbitrate what is otherwise akin to a professor chatting with a freshman octogenarian who thinks he knows everything about quantum physics.

[oldgoldy97]

Originally Posted by Nomad

Let's both pause this fun flame thing and have a couple collectors knowledgable about Pacers contribute. They can arbitrate what is otherwise akin to a professor chatting with a freshman octogenarian who thinks he knows everything about quantum physics.

I didn’t think you were that old.

[Nomad]

Anyway, Last 5 Games: IND 5 5 30.5 15.4 5.3 10.5 .509 2.8 6.5 .424

last 10: IND 10 10 27.5 12.5 4.4 8.9 .489 2.0 5.3 .377

January: IND 13 13 25.4 8.7 2.6 8.0 .330 1.0 3.7 .265

looks like a pretty solid growth arc, to be honest, with enough playing time for meaningful stats to emerge.

This what puzzles me:

Vs. Opp. w/ Top 10 Record IND 22 18 26.6 11.9 4.2 9.0 .460 1.9 4.9 .385

v. Opp. w/ Bottom 10 Record IND 23 17 23.4 8.0 2.6 6.9 .379 1.0 3.6 .286

maybe brings A game strictly as necessary? Or could just reflect an evolving role on the team in a year where he started on the bench.

[ninjacookies]

Originally Posted by oldgoldy97

I don’t know Brooks or Jackson.

But that’s good company.

Good thing he’s only 23.

Meeks had nice teeth, IIRC.

[Nomad]

Come on ninj... no need to sit on the crash stash you've been amassing since the Lucky revenge game. We can now proceed with OPS.

(operation pumpsmith).

[ninjacookies]

My stash already crashed out.

[Nomad]

Actually, Tony East just spent the better half of Pacers -76ers game recap talking crash. Points that come up (start at around 15:00): Aaron's ball touches remain constant but he's getting more seconds and dribbles per touch, and that's translating into offense, not only at the perimeter and in cutting to the basket. Unusually for the season, less than half of Aaron's 25 points against Sixers came on 3s.

East compares Nesmith to Paul George and Jalen Brown, as examples of late developing ball handlers. And that has always made sense to me, given a lack of college experience coming into NBA and lack of minutes in Boston.

East goes on to note that, while superstar status is unlikely, adding handle and dimension to touches could translate into a multidimensional offensive game, ala Grant Williams with his little fake step that makes him hard to guard on 3s. Naturally, this is contingent on Nesmith continuing to develop as a reliable shooter. I am also gonna say he has a higher threshold than Williams in Boston—could be a starter for years to come.

[tjforce]

I nominate today's game for "Worst Performance of the Year"

1-10 shooting and a game leading -35 while on the court, against a fledging Dallas team.

[Nomad]

Amazingly, he was the only defensive guy with an answer to Luka. But yes, that was really hard to watch. I heard one young fan plaintively call out "C'mon Aaron"

However, the Pacers are slowly but steadily moving up the Webayama ladder.

[Nomad]

Art of rewatching:

Every time I consider devaluing my Nesmith commitment and liquidating (I could at least get my money back, no joke considering I bought at actual peak), I rewatch this recent dunk over Capella and realize there is such a thing as tanking.

Ooohs and aaahs from the 'Lanta crowd not overdubbed. (notice crash mouth's dayumn along with one impressed fan instead of hugging the girl or spilling someone's beer).

Look forward to seeing dub A mentoring Wemb in Summer League.

Wonder if Nesmith could convince J Brown to join.

[rifleman69]

Pacers have no clue what to do with their power forwards/center. Which is good, since they can tank for #6 in the draft!

[Nomad]

They need more height and I think Carsyle understands that. Good discussion on that with Tony East and Will Furr.

[wubh]

I will root for his success to hopefully see a future iteration of this classic graphic.

I'm an NBA draft junkie so I've always been Nesmith curious. But it's pretty safe to say that his injury-shortened Vandy sophomore season where he shot a ridiculous 52% on over 8 attempts from 3 a game was a fluke and he just a decent mid-volume NBA shooter, right?

[Nomad]

Originally Posted by wubh

I will root for his success to hopefully see a future iteration of this classic graphic.

I'm an NBA draft junkie so I've always been Nesmith curious. But it's pretty safe to say that his injury-shortened Vandy sophomore season where he shot a ridiculous 52% on over 8 attempts from 3 a game was a fluke and he just a decent mid-volume NBA shooter, right?

I believe that once he does not have to grind it out on defense against the best player on the floor night after night his offense will naturally improve.

That's where height and the draft, and maybe getting something for Oshae and Duarte matters.

wait, is this low-key Thaddeus Young pump?

[wubh]

Originally Posted by Nomad

I believe that once he does not have to grind it out on defense against the best player on the floor night after night his offense will naturally improve.

That's where height and the draft, and maybe getting something for Oshae and Duarte matters.

wait, is this low-key Thaddeus Young pump?

If somebody wants to buy my 30ish $1-$3 Thad Young cards on COMC, have at it. I just love the ridiculousness of that graphic and whatever compelled the Pacers media staff to cherry pick those stats to include Thad.

On Nesmith, from the little bits I've seen, it seems like defense, energy, rebounding, and shooting (especially with improvement) are what could keep him in the league for a long time, with wing defense probably his best above replacement player skill.

His ball-handling, shot creation for self, and shot creation for others is below average for a wing, which would make him a poor fit to assume a role as a primary primary scorer.

From a team building perspective, the Pacers should max Halliburton, have Turner on an extension, and hopefully Mathurin is the guy they think he can be as Hield's contact comes to its close.

But that core is 100% lottery bound so if they want to compete, this current version of Nesmith should probably be their 6th to 8th best player, not 4th or 5th (short of a major leap).