Has Boki's preseason play earned minutes when everyone is back? I dont mean by default via injury. I mean when AG and Pike are back and healthy. I think he's showing he can play in the NBA. He has not given any indication that he will some day be an all-star (too much to ask from a #15 pick?), but he has shown that he can be a good role player. What I like about him most is that he is always aware of where Yao is and always looking to feed Yao the ball as his first option. You cannot say that about everyone on the team. And since I think this is how this team should run its offense, I like the players who look to Yao first. Also I like his slashing ability. Finally, he is fairly long which helps both with rebounding and the ability to get Yao the ball. His weaknesses are fairly obvious -- he has not been able to get the outside shot to fall consistently. And his defense his subpar. However, I say he has solid form on the shot and I keep thinking some day it will start to fall. Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part but I think once he hits some shots that matter, his confidence will rise and then he will start sticking it with some regularity. And, with alot of hard work, his defense can always improve. Still, at this point, with a team hoping and expecting to make the playoffs, there are probably better options in JJ and AG. With Pike also scrounging for minutes, does that put Boki back on the bench? That is the issue. Nachbar wont get better unless he plays. But can the Rox afford to play him?
I hope he plays ahead of A. Griffin. Griffin is a stiff, IMO, and shouldn't really play unless absolutely necessary as he is only useful on defense; I dont think he deserves any more minutes than juaquin hawkins got last year.
Id definitely put Boki behind JJ at this point. And probably behind Pike. Not sure about Griffin. I suspect AG will serve as a specialist and might not really ever be a solid member of the rotation. Boki looks somewhat fluid out there. But his shooting is bad and he is a foul and turnover machine. His D is better than expected, but thats not saying much. Boki will have to earn his minutes IMO. I don't think we can afford to let him learn on the fly by just throwing him in the rotation. If everyone is healthy, then he is an end of the bench guy IMO.
Boki's improvement won't come through playing time. Boki will get VERY solid minutes once he adjusts to hitting the NBA 3. I wouldn't dream of putting my money AGAINST someone who was an exceptional 3-pt shooter in Europe, and who is currently working on the NBA 3. I definitely think he will get it down, and once he does, I'd put him ahead of Pike due to length and rebounding, but regardless of that put him behind Jim Jackson, because JJ is a leader and has valuable experience. However, I DO think it's a good idea if we try to always have either Boki or Pike on the floor, and slightly minimize the use fo JJ and Mobley on the floor at the same time. Francis/Mobley/Boki and Francis/Pike/JJ are solid trios for the perimeter.
I'd like to see Boki get some minutes, but I don't want him to be getting his experience at the expense of Rocket wins. He has ability, but he has a long way to go in getting a feel for the NBA game. Until his shot starts falling, he should see probably no more than 10 minutes a game. He can earn more playing time from there by his performance.
Boki showed enough in the preseason that he will get a shot at being part of the rotation. He brings some energy off the bench. I think he will have a short leash and the minutes will be his to lose. He basically has until the rest of the bench is healthy to prove he deserves the minutes
Sane, Why do you say that he was an exceptional 3-pt shooter in Europe? I thought he was known as a slasher in Europe, NOT a shooter. The only good thing I've heard about his shooting is the obligatory "he blew us away with his shooting performance at our pre-draft workout" that scrubs like Langhi get contracts on.
Boki is gona get the min. he just has to prove he deserves them while the others are injured GO BOKI !!
Codell Boki's defense is better that you think it is. It is no worse that say Francis or even the alleged defensive specialist James Posey. You have repeatedly and coyly tried to paint Boki's as below par - on the contrary Boki's defense is very good (Yes I said that) especially his help defense. Peja can atest to that. That said I still rate JJaz and Pike ahead of Boki because of they are presently flat out better that Boki and they have the experience. But I still love Boki's game and I think he will be a mojor contributing member of the Houston Rockets for a long time to come but he has to start knocking down his 3s and mid-range jumpers.
Fegwu, I am not being coy about anything, nor have I ever been. Boki is flat out not a good defender IMO and I have said as much. Just so you aren't confused now with regards to me being coy. If you think Boki's defense is "very good" or that it is on par with Posey's, then well just have to agree to disagree.
From watching the games so far, I'd asy his D is between what codell says and what fegwu says. More towards codell's take actually....I do agree his help D is much better than expected, but his individual defense needs some work. One good thing I can say about his defense. He has the ability and the desire....now all he needs is to continue to work on it, but not at the expence of us winning games.....15 minutes a game till his shots start falling with more consistency. and that is coming from a BIG Boki supporter.
R2K, I forgot to add that in my earlier post. Yes, Boki does hustle and he does try hard. Two huge ingredients in being a good defender. However, he is missing a couple of other ingredients: footwork/quickness and experience, which was exposed when he Rashard Lewis was tearing him up. I also agree that Boki has to start hitting his shot. 37% shooting and 24% on 3s isn't going to help him.
Among the many things I like about the way Van Gundy coaches is that he thinks very creatively for someone so detail oriented. I expect that JVG won't hesitate to use lineups that force mismatches and/or emphasize what he wants to do on the floor. IMHO, it would not be beyond a possibility to see Boki at SG in some matchups or on the court with Cuttino and AGriff as the other "smalls". Also IMO, Boki is a better team defender than many here give credit for. This is evidenced by back to back poor pre-season efforts by Peja and Melo. 12 - 15 minutes per game is what I expect barring injuries.
What you talkin' bout, Willis??? I'm actually a fan of Boki and ambivalent about Posey. That statement is... just wrong. Question - did you actually watch the preseason games or just load up the stats on NBA.com? 1-on-1, Boki got annihilated by Rashard in Seattle. And Peja would like nothing better than for Boki to guard him all year - Peja repeatedly overpowered him and walked Boki in for point blank lay-ups. He must have missed 6-8 chip shots in the 1st game alone. He was laughing about it. Calvin Murphy was laughing about it. Help D, Boki is long and he tries but he's rusty and/or slow to react. Posey was 4-5x the help defender Boki is now, at least. Boki is, however, resilient. The second Seattle and Sacramento games, he was noticeably better individually vs Rashard and Peja, but mostly to the extent he didn't stink. His help D and overall awareness have improved throughout the preseason... almost average now . He did have one noticeably good 1-on-1 defensive game vs Carmelo, which was good to see and showed in the stats as well.
Until he learns to shoot he is a liability in pretty much every way except perhaps rebounding. Too many mental mistakes still. I expect Griffin to get the bulk of the backup minutes at 3. This guy is no scrub, he started for Dallas last year and fit in well with all their talent.
No one else seems interested in my point that the Bokster understands how the offense should work. More importantly for his PT, he knows how the coach wants it to go. I say this is the only area he stands solidly above someone like Posey who is better than Boki in most other respects. Boki also sees the court pretty well and seems to understand the finer points of offensive execution. He's also pretty good passer. Combine these factors and you have what I think is what sets him apart from many of the other Rocket players over the past few years. He understands the game plan and sticks with it. This is not a common trait in Houston. I am so tired of seeing guys get frustrated, give up on the play, dribble out the clock and then toss one up. Anyway, once Nachbar's shot starts falling, he will become an effective weapon on offense, even exciting with his slashing ability. But back to the original question which is how long JVG will have patience with him if he continues to miss. If he still can't shoot by the time Pike and AG are back at full speed, then I'm afraid he may be at the end of the bench again. Which brings up the paradox again b/c he wont get any better doing that.
Who wouldnt get annihilated by Rashard? Much less a Euro rookie with less than 10 NBA games under his belt. Lewis was already pretty talented, and is just getting better. as for Peja, in the first game he was doing that to him..agreed. and as you already noted, Boki got better at guarding him in the second Sac game. Boki did effect Peja's shooting in that game. No sense going over my thoughts on Boki again...but I'll finish with this.. given his rate of improvement in the few games with VG so far...I forsee a worthwhile role player for the Rockets in Boki's future. The homer in me says even more, but I try not to listen to him that often.
R2K, I said earlier that Boki looks fluid, despite the TOs and fouls and whatnot. I mean, he looks like belongs out there, no doubt. I get the feeling the Boki would really thrive as a player in an open court game, with lots of breaks. I think if game gets bogged down in a slow pace, then Boki's weaknesses will be exposed more than they would if we ran alot. And you are right about Lewis. He is talented and he is getting better. But he is not 13-15 for 35 pts in only 28 min good. When I went back and watched that game, Lewis was abusing Boki on ISO and Boki was frequently losing him on rotation. On the Peja game, like someone pointed out earlier, Peja missed alot of wide open shots in that game. Its not that I am trying to discredit Boki, thats just how I saw it. In the second game, Boki seemed to stay with him better. He is a quick learner, which is good thing. Overall though, I was happy to see his D get better as the preseason went along. Looks like he is on his way to perhaps justifying his draft status. If he can only get his shot down!!
I pretty much agree with all that. It seems to me that it is something we can attribute to VG is that he has given Boki the confidence, defensive teaching, and the PT against opponents to get real-time experience using it. or it could be that he had the ability all along but never got the chance to show it under Rudy. Im leaning towards the former.. Now, if we can just get him to put the damn ball into the bucket....woo-hoo...
