Before I say what I am going to say I like Cam and think he was a STEAL. The issue with Cam is he doesn't play within the team on offense. He gets in and thinks shoot almost every time he touches it. His kill mentality right now is his weakness and his strength. I understand our bench needs scoring and I also understand he is far ahead of schedule defensively too btw. I just think Ime values team ball over everything. That's just my opinion though
Tari is probably "good" right now, at least good enough for a bench guy anyway. Dude just got injured.
you’re right, yes. This is probably why he fell and why his college coach has nothing good to say about him. Some players, as talented as they are, are just non-playable by 99% of coaches: Von Wafer, T-Will, Alfonso Trier… I’d hate if Cam joins the list…
I'm really excited about Cam. That said, I find it odd that everybody around here is clamoring for him to automatically get minutes after years of complaining that people were just being handed minutes and nothing had to be earned. Ime is making him earn it, and I'm fine with that.
How can he earn it when he isn't given PT? Meanwhile Amen is the first guy off the bench when he got injured in SL and played worse than Cam in preseason. I'd say Aaron Holiday is the guy who earned it the most but he only got PT cuz Amen had an injury. People are clamoring for Cam because the bench has been horrible as a whole and maybe Cam can contribute more than Reggie Bullock and Tate who have both been playing like trash.
Oh I don't know. The same old way guys deep on the bench almost always have. In practice and scrimmages?
Because Udoka highly, highly values defense and Amen is already a significant defensive weapon off the bench, especially when you consider his versatility and ability to avoid mismatches in a switch-heavy defense. That's not to say Cam is bad defensively for a rookie, but Amen is taller, longer, quicker, and all-around just better on that end of the court.
We definitely need Tari back. Future 6th man of the year/spot starter/closing defensive specialist. He actually reminds me a little of Westbrook when he was good or young Rodman where he thrives in the chaos that messes up all the other players. He'll do a lot for the bench with both his motor and his ability to just disrupt the other team and turn nothing into something.
So? It's summer league. Jabari looked like a god in summer league. It's not apples to apples and never has been. Did you know that? It's neither the most recent, nor the most comparable competition to NBA regular season minutes. Did you forget that part? Because I didn't. Defense is also not what the bench is lacking. I mean you couldn't have made a worse point to play him. Did you miss the part where I said with injuries it might be time to play him? Because it seemed like you missed it, and responded as if I were saying he'll never, ever play. Did you miss the part where sarcasm is my wheelhouse? Question marks?
This is where +/- criticism is fair. It was 3 game data so it’s **** with Tari out and a bench that understandably will mature as Cam gets worked in. Amen will mature too. It’s a nothing burger.
So I think we can really use a PF who can score off the bench. 1) We can try Tari there and against PF's maybe he has a good enough handle to bring more than transition points and 3pters. Maybe Green and Tari are sufficient here. 2) Alternatively we keep Tari at his natural position at the 3 and trade something like Tate + Bullock + a couple of second rounders for a decent PF. Someone like Marvin Bagley or Chris Boucher may be a nice spark off the bench with the second unit. Can't really expect a well rounded player for the package we're offering. 3) Another option is a slightly higher tier player in John Collins. I was against acquiring him from the Hawks, but I think his price is more reasonable now and I think the Jazz might be interested in flipping him for a late highly protected FRP. He would be a great backup PF for us and of course it would push Jabari more. I do think we need something at PF though even when Jabari is playing well. The second unit needs help and they're more solid at the other positions.
This is a very good observation and I think using some of our future draft collateral to add to the frontcourt is the way to go. Amen and Tari are already very good defensive wings and are going to be awesome in transition. A PF that has some Braun and can shoot a little from outside would be a boon to the 2nd unit.
Very encouraging to see! Of course these are just highlights and highlights don't tell the full story (ex: flow of the game)
It got better with Holiday/Jeffs play, Easons return, and Tates been solid Landale has been inexplicably bad though, and our shooting specialist Bullock forgot how to shoot which is rough Need a real backup 5 and shooting specialist. Bring back Bruno and Gary Bird over these bums
Wait what a 3 game sample size when this thread was started looks different than a 12 game sample size OMGWTF
