Devyn Marble

[HuckFinn]

They haven't been double teaming until he drives then they bring a defender over to draw a charge. Teams are playing him strait up on the perimeter. In fact they are picking up the cutters with doubles.

Agree to disagree. To some degree, it depends who is in the post area with TC. At times its true that they don't double him until he gets the ball, but that means Garza is having a big night. And, yeah, they double him when he drives, which is still a double. Of course they don't double him on the perimeter. That would be a pretty rare event.

 

[CP87]

I think we are comparing Cook against the wrong standard. Against the standard of "Is he a ready-made NBA player?", I think the answer is obviously no. He has many things to continue to work on.

Against the standard, "Has he improved from last year, and is he an integral part of this team?", I think the answer is a resounding yes. He is so much better defensively, more engaged, more knowledgeable, more communicative. He is better at staying in front of perimeter players, and he is providing more resistance at the rim. He has also been a better leader by all accounts, and his athleticism creates fear in opponents and draws lots of fouls.

He is playing a couple more minutes per game, his scoring is up (15.3 to 16.2), his reb are up (6.8 to 8.1), his fouls are down (2.6 to 2.0), and his assists are up (1.8 to 2.6). His TOs are up (2.6 to 3.2), but most other stats have either improved or are holding steady.

Good on him for becoming a better player, keep up the good work.

 

[JG10Hawk]

This team is much better with Cook than without, to think otherwise is complete ignorance. That's not to say he doesn't have his faults, as we all know. My only issues with Cook in no particular order are below.

• His lack of any kind of jumper to complement his post game
• Inconsistent defensive effort (greatly improved from last year but still disappears at times)
• Inability to recognize where a help defender is when he attempts to drive

The last one is what has caused several of his turnovers this year. I have no problem with Cook handling the ball in space vs his man. He has the ability to drive by his guy consistently. What he doesn't have is the ability to consistently split the help defender when it comes. The help defender is the one that swipes at the ball and causes Cook to turn the ball over more often than not. It's more of a lack of awareness than it is an ability issue. There are not many bigs that can split defenders off the dribble. If he gets better at recognizing when he can go and when to give it up, his turnover rate will go down.