Hoops

The Jacob Holmes Effect

I think he is worth keeping, but I agree that it would help if he could be re-rated and paid like the role player he is.

He generally plays decent defence and rebounds very well for his size and plays a very similar role to Vukona for the Breakers, who noone is criticising because he fulfils an important role on a talented team.

The problem Jacob has had (and the season by season stats above bear this out) is that the talent level of the players around him has eroded so drastically.

Anyone notice how often Vukona gets open looks under the basket? If Holmes got those looks, or was able to take advantage of mismatches when they happen, I think he would probably score quite effectively.

The problem for the last two years at least is that our offence creates nothing for anyone and most of Jakes shots tend to be taken under pressure or as a last resort.

I think if we get enough talent, Holmes will start to look a lot better as one of those glue guys who shows up and does his job every game.

Yeah. Holmes won't ever be more than a Career Rebounder. Think he needs to come off the bench next season.

Certainly a keeper defense wise. However I honestly find Dowdells versatility more useful. Until the team can reliably make up that 7-11rpg that Holmes attributes to the team with existing players, there's no reason to ditch him.

Holmes at a 6 would be a valuable role player coming off the bench

Brett The Man,

Shooting is still the most important skill and wins games consistently.

In the US there are specialist shooting coaches who have increased players shooting by over a hundred percent, it seems in Australia, at any age, you are either a good shooter or not, no one seems to improve a lot unless they already have good technique.

Had a look at the Centrals/ South mens game which clearly demonstrated this. Despite Centrals having more rebounds, scores in the paint and assists, the biggest difference was perimeter shooting.

South had FGP of 52.2% to 40.2%, but scored 42 points from 3 point land to 15 ,a difference of 27 points with shooting percentage of 51.9% to 26.3%.

Having studied his shooting action at length, unfortunately, Jacob has almost always shot/released his outside jumper from way too far in front of his face instead of upwards off the top of the forehead. No way can you get consistent air and distance with that style of shooting, thus his confidence is very down in that area, even though occasionally he will have a "streaky" game.

His turnaround jumpshot going left has been a consistent shot for him as the ball naturally gets closer to the ideal upwards motion closer to the head in this action.

Jacob would be a much better offensive threat if he could hit from outside more consistently.