Jordan Walsh - Most Improved Player

[aefgogreen]

I doubt he?ll have the numbers, but he?s got my vote.

[Who]

J Walsh has only played for 15 or so games.

Too early to talk about him in these terms. Lets see if he can hold it up for the course of the season. A 15 game stretch could just be a hot streak.

[jambr380]

I think we need to start being worried about how much it?ll cost to extend Walsh and Queta. It?s definitely a good problem to have, but Walsh is looking like a legitimate two-way player in this league. What can?t he do at this point?

[Neurotic Guy]

I doubt he?ll have the numbers, but he?s got my vote.

Last five games he?s averaging 14 and has 18 in the first half tonight. 

[Jiri Welsch]

Lock him up!!

Truly can?t remember a case like this where a guy has gone from ?pretty likely to be cut? to ?seems like a core piece? in a matter of days. Amazing.

[President Red]

Lock him up!!

Truly can?t remember a case like this where a guy has gone from ?pretty likely to be cut? to ?seems like a core piece? in a matter of days. Amazing.

Same here.  I've really been trying to think of a comparable situation and have come up with nothing.  We've all seen an end-of-bench player have a few good games out of nowhere, but this has been pretty sustained already.

[boscel33]

If Walsh were playing baseball, I'd swear he was juicing with this type of turnaround!

[Moranis]

Ben Wallace went from barely playing, to why he was still on a roster, to decent backup, to holy crap this guy is awesome over his first few years in the league.  Obviously Im not saying Walsh is going to be a HOF DPOY type player at his peak, but sometimes guys do come along slowly.  Butler also had a similar path. Heck even Giannis was only a 7/4/2 41% shooter as a rookie.  It is also good to remember that it sometimes goes the other way, you know a guy like MCW winning rookie of the year and getting progressively worse every year thereafter.  Jared Sullinger of the Celtics past falls into that category.

[Neurotic Guy]

The thing about Walsh is that in addition to bringing ridiculous energy and what looks on a nightly basis like all-league defensive skills (with great arm length), he has also become a guy that passes, boards, drives, and shoots a decent long ball. And attitudinally, he?s been steady as a rock. He may hit a wall, but the skills seem to be there.  Not 22 till March.

[Vermont Green]

The thing about Walsh is that in addition to bringing ridiculous energy and what looks on a nightly basis like all-league defensive skills (with great arm length), he has also become a guy that passes, boards, drives, and shoots a decent long ball. And attitudinally, he's been steady as a rock. He may hit a wall, but the skills seem to be there.  Not 22 till March.

I agree, attitudinally, there is a lot to like.  [Have to say that is the first time in my life that I have used attitudinally in a sentence.  I had to look it up to confirm it is actually a word, which it is.]

The amount of improvement we have seen in Walsh since summer league is stunning.  I have always liked his "can't teach" abilities, athleticism and so on.  But his touch and feel for the game were not close.  It is like he woke up one morning and had an epiphany, I get it.  He likely will not continue to shoot 80% or whatever, but it sure seems like we have a keeper.