FanPost

The Problem with Kanter

Enes Kanter has become my favorite Jazz player to watch this year. Guarding him seems to be a form of corporal punishment. The same is true when it comes to being guarded by him. Alongside Favors the Jazz miraculously morph into a decent defensive club and that is something we really haven't seen much of this last decade. Then we have games like Wednesday's against the T-wolves in which we catch a glimpse of future Kanter averaging 20ppg on 14 shots w/ 10 rpg to boot.

That is the biggest draw for watching Enes, to see what future Kanter does.

As a longtime SLCDUNK lurker I read a lot of comments suggesting that future Kanter should start happening now. Kanter boasts a fantastic 1.33 pps (2nd on Jazz behind Jeremy Evans) while only taking 5 shots per game (which ties w/ Burks for 8th on the Jazz). For a lot of people it is just more evidence that Coach Corbin is mismanaging our young guys. To me though, this is the one member of the C4 that I am okay with how Corbin handles them.

To be brief, I think it's bizarre that Corbin can't figure out how to get Favors moving towards the hoop more. Or how he only seems to remember that Burks can play when Mo is hurt. I also think that Hayward suffers a bit because of how much he's expected to do for the second unit. With Kanter the only complaint I have is that he should shoot a couple mid range shots a game since he has a decent stroke. I get why he only gets 15 minutes a game, on another team he'd be a very deserving third big, we just have a log jam at the position.

Vorped.com/bball/ has some good visuals for shot selection. This is Kanter's last 30 days. 10 shots outside of 5 feet, 47 within 5 feet. I wish our other big men would take note, it could make a huge difference for Favors if he tried to do the same, but it's actually a little bit of a problem for Enes.

While future Kanter is off stuffing stat sheets, current Kanter risks becoming the Jeremy Evans of the low post. He's a very high percentage scorer if he can set up down low. If he seals his man. If no one comes to double him. If there is space to work in the paint. If he doesn't turn the ball over. A situational scorer needing a lot of if's to be effective.

The problem is further compounded by the fact that current Kanter basically has two moves. Back down and spin baseline. He never seems to be out of control with either of them which is promising for a young player. He doesn't get charges because he is out of control. He gets charges because he is predictable. According to mysynergysports a full 32.4% of Kanter's post up's end in turnovers. That's roughly twice Favors's turnover rate in the post.

That is where current Kanter is, effective but limited. Not because of his minutes, or touches but because of his repertoire.

Do you want to want to know how future Kanter solves current Kanter's problem? He has a face up game. It's not like Favors or Milsaps's who try to use their ball skills and out speed their opponents. No for him it's a lot like Jefferson's. It starts with a jumpshot, then a hook shot and some pumpfakes culminating in the up-and-underKanter. Future Kanter still isn't going to beat anyone with his feet but with the brawn of his back down game and the brains of his face up game he is no longer just a situational scorer.

I see glimpses of a go-to guy, maybe even a first option and I am loving every second of it.

All comments are the opinion of the commenter and not necessarily that of SLC Dunk or SB Nation.