What do you guys think about Azubuike? He's a restricted free agent this year. A lot of teams did not sign their restricted free agents and I think Kelenna is one of them. He might be good backing up T-Mac at shooting guard maybe? Azubuike shows some flashes in 2007-08: Warriors F Kelenna Azubuike became a regular in Don Nelson's rotation during the 2007-08 regular season, his second in the NBA. He began the season as a starter while Stephen Jackson served a suspension and averaged 13.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.6 in the month of November. His numbers, along with his playing time, went down from there. Azubuike could stand to see more playing time in 2008-09 regular season if he winds up back with the Warriors, which he likely will. He's a restricted free agent, but Mickael Pietrus, who he shared some time with in the front court, will be an unrestricted free agent and is likely leaving town. This makes Azubuike a third-year breakout candidate in Fantasy. http://www.sportsline.com/nba/players/playerpage/569016
He is popular here. But like the other popular GSW players I fear the system may have him looking a little better than he is. There is a reason teams didn't pay for Matt Barnes last year. I do think he could add something but if he is our big splash with the MLE I think we fail. Might as well have retained Kirk Synder and added another player with the MLE. Snyder would put up similar numbers in the Warriors system.
his jumpshot improved vastly from where it was 12 months ago but still needs work. very athletic though. at best, a stop-gap solution for us.
Ya I'd have to say maybe in a perfect world we could get a high flying scorer at the 2 guard position. Kelenna I was thinking might be that guy. He did put up good numbers when given minutes. He's classified as a small forward at 6'5" but I think his size and scoring ability might be better at the 2 guard.
Didn't we have him and wave him? If he did, wouldn't it be typical rockets to have to pay to get him back
They never should have let him go in the first place....just another dumb oversite by the JVG era. DD
He had his chances and absolutely sucked as a member of the Rockets. Some guys just don't fit or are not ready. I don't see how it's JVG's fault that Azubuike was horrible every time he was put on the court as a Rocket.
He didn't SUCK as a player, he did fairly well, he got caught in a numbers game, much like Mike Harris. The problem these last few years is that JVG would choose players like RYAN FRICKEN BOWEN...over Azubuke, basically robbing the team of it's future in a completely narrow minded approach to winning each game during the regular season. Sometimes you have to put guys on the bench like Amir Johnson etc, who are not going to contribute this year, and maybe only a little the next, but let them grow into the players they can become. The only thing that SUCKED the last few years was JVG's approach to roster building. DD
Kelina did not fit the mold of stand still spot up shooter that jvg was looking for at the time. I think had Rick had the same time to evaluate him we would have found a way to use his slashing and cutting skills in ricks system.
Azu is definetly an intresting option. Basically, if you're looking to get Gerald Green, you should definetnly try for a more polished/expirienced version with a better jumpshot...
He is also a realistic option....as is Gerald Green. Too many Artest, Miller....etc pie in the sky threads... When in reality we should be looking for hidden gems that we actually have the money to sign. DD
This guy is not better than Luther Head , if we will have guys like him and Luther in the rotation next year it will be 1st round exit once again.
I don't care if we sign a guy like him or Gerald to develop for the future or as insurance. But as long as we sign these 3rd tier guys expecting them to actually contribute and take this team to the next lever we will always stay disappointed.
If you look at his stats and bear in mind that you're only looking for a guy to give T-Mac a rest for parts of the game. He is more than serviceable. Has has the potential to put up a lot more points if he is given the green light to shoot. That's a pretty good overall shooting percentage. Extend his minutes out to 40 min and here's what you get. 7.48 rebounds a game 1 STL .78 BLK 1.34 TO 3.67 PF 1.7 AST 15.7 PPG His 2 pt, 3 pt, and FT percentage will not change.
I like Kelenna Azubuike's game, he is hungry... Get it done D.M. <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RI4JVbjxEPQ&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RI4JVbjxEPQ&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> <div><object width="420" height="336"><param name="movie" value="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x3qfsg&related=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x3qfsg&related=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="336" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always"></embed></object><br /><b><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3qfsg_kelenna-azubuike-is-the-latest-play_sport">Kelenna Azubuike is the latest player to carve out an NBA ca</a></b><br /><i>Uploaded by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/Grdgez">Grdgez</a></i></div>
Shay, The reality is that we do not have the money available to go after big free agents, so we have to find the diamonds in the rough, or the guys that are up and coming to be contributors. Remember a 2nd year Robert Horry, or a rookie names Sam Cassell, what about the Junkyard dog Mario Elie from the CBA, or perhaps off the scrap heap Vernon Maxwell and Kenny Smith? Teams are made up of all kinds of parts, we have our Yao and Tmac, we need to keep adding the SPICE to the mix to get the complete steak. DD
