Yeah, good analysis. Most coaches want their best players on the bench, I guess. That's how you win more games, right, leaving your best players on the bench. But I'm sure you know more since you've read a bunch or articles and watched a couple of clips.
TheFreak, you got it half right. Rudy gives losey recruits like Griffin too many minutes while he stunts the development of other guys like Nachbar, TMo and Hawkins.
I agree Nachbar deserves more minutes. But TMo has been on the decline since his jr year of college, and Hawkins was a 30 yr old rookie. I'm not sure how much development potiential they have. Minutes are probably well spent on developing Griff over those 2 guys.
For those thinking Boki is a Peja clone, you'll be disappointed. Boki is a decent shooter, but no where near the level of Reggie Miller, Peja, Dirk, or other top shooters. He is supposed to be very athelitic and good at driving the lane, finishing, and hitting mid range shots. I have to believe that he was at least as good as Hawkins last year, and should have gotten his minutes. Hopefully he'll get his chance this year.
Me too. Everything I read and heard about him was that he was the 2nd coming of Thunder Dan. Not the 3 point shooter he was late in his career, but the slashing dunking agressive player he was during his All Star years. I'm starting to come over to the other side, now. There's got to be a reason he didn't play last year. All conspiracy theories aside... Maybe (gasp)....he just wasn't ready to play in the NBA yet.
i guess all you guys missed the Clutch post where he said that boki in fact WAS tearing it up in practice this past season. rumors of him being a great shooter are absolutely TRUE. the reason he did not play was because 1) some of the assistant coaches had a woody for t-mo. those coaches were in rudy's ear about t-mo all the time; and 2) the early hernia. i believe that should end all arguments on whether boki has the ability to play or not.
Rudy sucks at developing young talent. Especially with foreign players. Now with JVG, I think Boki will blossom. 15-25 minutes a night this year, and possibly starting in the 04-05 season.
Again, a coach is going to put the players on the floor that give his team the best chances of winning, especially at the professional level where coaches have short tenures. If Boki had stood out significantly from the TMo's and Hawkins' of the team, I've got to believe he would have gotten playing time. I don't care what any body on this message posted about Boki's practices. I've got to believe whoever posted that Boki was dominating in practice over exaggerated the situation. Otherwise we would have seen boki on the court period.
so you think Clutch overexaggerated? i don't. what would be his motivation? and have you considered there are other factors that could explain morris/rice playing over boki? first, there is the need to evaluate morris due to his contract coming up soon. next, there is the need to get glen rice in the game (contract + veteran leadership). also, there is the factor that rudy probably thought he was untouchable (at least i believe he did). dude had been a part of the organization for 32 years.
The last couple of games I went to last year, Boki couldn't hit a shot during pre-game or halftime warmups to save his life. And that was with nobody guarding him. Perhaps his inconsistent shooting has something to do with the pine marks on his ass. Not likely the next Peja. I hope I'm wrong. I know everyone has off days shooting.
