He shoots lights out when there is no one in his face (the Rockets workout, and the shooting competition w/ francis), which is the same thing he was used to in Europe, shooting with no D.
Boki's #1 problem is lateral movement, especially on defense. Going from what I see during games, I suspect that Boki's defense has been exposed in practive as well, and he is worrying too much about that to feel comfortable offensively. He just isn't healthy or ready enough right now to hand with teh quicker SG's and SF's of the league when it comes to lateral defense. Griffin is looking very solid - I am actually impressed by his post up game this preseason - he really seems to want the ball in the post. I just wish he wouldn't shoot as many threes.
give Boki some time. i have no problem with him getting only a few mins a game. he clearly has the talent, he just needs time to adjust to the nba game. just look at nowitski and his first year. he only scored 8 points a game on average and struggled while he adapted to the game. the same goes for stojakovic. he only averaged 8 points a game as well his rookie year. these european players simply need time to adjust to the nba. i think the same will happen to boki.
Easy: Rest assured you have nothing to worry about with Eddie. He looks great out there and his shooting will improve as his confidence grows. We have to remember he's only 20. I'm glad he's been so aggressive on offense and not settling only for the 3. As for Boki....I thought he looked good last night besides his shooting. If he would've made 2 of the four shots then we'd be talking about how good he played.
Mo's injury notwithstanding, I think Griffin has a strangle hold on the starting 4 spot. If Griffin maitains this pace and does not get injured, I really cant think of a scenario where Taylor gets his job back, especially after missing the first 5 games.
Rockets10, Nowitski didn't have the same Euro experience as Boki coming in. He was 19yrs old when drafted. Guys with similar or more Euro experience produced as advertised right away. Gasol needed no time. Kukoc needed no time. Drazen Petrovic needed no time. Parker needed no time. Some do like Radmanovic. Some don't. I don't see how you can generalize an entire league...(actually multiple leagues) like that. When is the stereotyping going to end that all these players are the same. They aren't. How could they be?? Was Steve Alford like John Stockton? Is Rashard Lewis like Shane Battier? Is Brent Barry like Wally Z? Is Kukoc like Peja??? Is Ginobili like Petrovic? Is Jaric like Parker? Is Nowitski like Gasol? As for the Q. Woods talk, We didn't select Boki over Woods based on hype. We did it based on the type of small forward who fits well with Francis and Ming. As for my impression, I agree with AT (from another thread) and JayZ here. Boki is showing some confidence and decisiveness more so that Langhi did. But that defense totally got exposed by Hill and Miller. wooof.
Thanks, AB. Everybody is raving about Eddie. So I think he's doing fine. Just hope his fg% will go up. Boki's reviews are kinda mixed. I guess I'll have to see him play and decide for myself. BTW, these two are among my favorite guys on the team. Or else I wouldn't be worrying about them.
actually i do think that these leagues are quite similar, although they are on different skill levels, but that's a whole different matter entirely. I am not stereotyping any of the players, I was just trying to point out that even the top European talent in the NBA struggled in the beginning and to not get too discouraged on Boki's current game performance. I was not comparing Boki's game to anyone else's either. As for the league issue, you cannot deny that the European style of basketball is quite different from the NBA, no matter what country it is played in, be it Italy, Spain, Greece, Germany, France, etc. The fact is its different and many players coming over have stated that. Some people struggle on the switchover, while some have no problem whatsoever. That's what it boils down to. I'm not just claiming this as an uneducated ignorant fan either. I have been to many games in Italy and Greece and follow FIBA basketball closely. I have been hearing about some of these players for years and, in fact saw peja play in greece before he even came to the nba. i'm probably going to get railed for this response, but oh well
