hamilton stops at least 1 fastbreak by the other team a game. compared to the sieve that was garcia and the earnest but ineffective casspi, his defensive impact alone warrants playing time. any scoring and spacing he adds on offense is just gravy.
In a small sample he appears to be clear upgrade off the bench. A few more of those types of pieces and I seriously think we'll win a title.
He's been much better than expected. If he can shoot 3s, be solid defensively, and help bring the ball up the floor, that's just fine. No reason to expect more than that.
Jeff Van Gundy on Fri's national ESPN broadcast called Hamilton the steal of the trade deadline. So there's that opinion.
It isn't at all correct to say he's been terrible all year. Casspi was a really good bench player for us in November, and his performance tailed off or became more inconsistent since then.
He is a very nice ROLE player... He needs playing time. He will really shine when he knows his role better (give time, time). If given permission he will stop passing and stat shooting (that is what he does best). The kid is coachable - so all is well.
Hamilton hasn't yet figured out his niche out there. He is trying a little bit of everything and he isn't hurting the team so I'm fine with the experimentation. He doesn't understand yet that if he gets a steal or rebound, it is ok for him to give the ball up to the better ball handlers and run, either to a spot at the 3 point line or to the rim for a layup opportunity and that he'll often get the ball back. On the perimeter, move the ball around if the shot isn't there or one quick dribble move. Don't let the ball get "sticky". Once he figures all that out, he will look even better. He is getting a little too fancy with his dribbles and doing things we don't really need him to do like trying to create off the bounce. Ultimately, I think he will be best served simply playing defense, being a slasher, and a spot up shooter. When people over aggressively close him out, he can put the ball on the floor and take a few dribbles towards the basket. Simple things that he can execute with his eyes closed. I think the coaches have given him the freedom to make mistakes so they can see what role he is best served in. I think soon, unless he shows improvement with his ball handling, the coaches will give him a better idea of what they want from him and define his role as a 3 and D player. Narrow down his responsibilities and simplify the game for him so that he flourish in the system. Right now he is trying to be Chandler Parsons, but we just need him to be the Lakers version of Trevor Ariza. He has already blocked three layups at the rim of guys that he was guarding! These weren't weak side help blocks. That was impressive and he has displayed an ability to score. I like him and look forward to watching him grow here. Most guys come here and play better. I think he will too.
OP is way off the mark. I really like what Hamilton brings to the team's table. He's been solid on both D and O, and meshed in nicely from day 1. I'm glad we have him. He's a real catch! :grin: What I don't get is the stupid hate on Casspi... (just read Kwame's posts. The man should be banned. Seriously...). Omri's season numbers (per 36 or per game, take you pick) are ALL as good as JHam's (or better). And that includes the bad streak he had in Decemver (which I hope JHam will avoid). Remember that just like Hamilton, Casspi also blended in really quick and was the biggest of our pleasent surprises early in the season, when stars like DH12 and CP still struggled a bit. How quickly we forget...) We are lucky to have both of them, going into the playoffs. They are ranked 19th (Casspi) and 23rd (Ham) in PER among all the league's SFs. They are both hard workers that never slack or get lazy on court. And they both bring what we need - 3 & D: Tough defense and a good hand from 3 (It's not an opinion, just simple stat reading). I think we'll see a lot of both of them in the playoffs - mark my words. I'm really excited about this team. Feels like it may just go a long way (all the way?) this year, and our bench will be an important part if it as well. Go Rockets!
Just because Hamilton is better than Garcia and Casspi (which isn't saying much) doesn't mean that he's good. Today's game is a perfect example of that.
Oh, so are we going to take this game by game? I'm going to take a wild guess you're going to be MIA the next time Hamilton plays well. Can't have that!
No we don't need to take this on a game by game basis. Jordan Hamilton is who he is: an inconsistent fringe rotation player that was hyped up by a vocal majority on ClutchFans as a result of a knee-jerk reaction based on small sample size. His performance since joining Houston supports my analysis, which was based on his observing him throughout his NBA career.
