Ben Wallace - Never drafted. Spent his first 4 seasons in Washington and Orlando. Who new he would become one of the best defensive players in the game and an all-star. Brad Miller – Never drafted. Spent his first 3 seasons in Charlotte and Chicago and proved no one wrong. What did he do last year? 14ppg, 1bpg, 4apg and 10rpg…who new? Dale Ellis – Spent his first 3 seasons with the Mavericks and in Dick Motta’s dog house averaging about 8 pts and 16 minutes a game. The next year after he was traded to Seattle his scoring average sky rocketed to 25 a game shooting over 50% and becoming one of the greatest pure shooters of all time. Detlef Schrempf – Spent his first 3.5 years on the bench with Dallas before becoming an all star and one of the best shooting small forwards in the game for Indiana and Seattle. What is the point of this? Bostjan Nachbar and Reece Gains – Way too many people are already calling them Scrubs even though they were both 1st round draft picks and they only have 2 and 1 years experience respectively. I doubt any of us has seen Reece Gains play many NBA minutes and the guy clearly has the physical tools to be an NBA player so why not give him a chance to grow. The guy might turn out to be a real steal in the T-Mac trade. Anyone who watched Boki last year with out having already made their minds up about him saw very real progress. Boki has undeniable athletic ability. He can get to the rim just about any time he wants. Early in the season when he got to the rim he did not finish with confidence and too many times he seemed to miss easy dunks and lay ups. At the end of the season and in the play offs he was finishing his plays with confidence and putting the ball in the rim with authority. His defense is way underrated and anyone that doubts it should just ask Karl Malone. The man blocks shots and rebounds very well for a small forward. I think this year he has a chance to make a very good contribution in JVG’s rotation this year and might yet be this team’s starter at the 3 once Jackson’s contract is up. All I am saying is that we may all (myself included) may be to quick to pass judgment on players that are stiff very early in their careers.
Gaines just needs to be given a chance. That's all he needs. If he was off tha hook in college, he can be like Wade. Wade was very fortunate to go to a sorry team and start. Just think if Gaines was picked and went there. He would of been given the chance and been a candidate for Rookie of the Year also. The Rockets are going to work on him and help him into the rotation to help this team out.
Dale Ellis had the Most beautifull shooting Stroke Ever. he was a deadly shooter. Pure Brilliance in Action.
wait, Wade was fortunate to go to a sorry team and start.... a team that made the playoffs, but Gaines went to that really good team with the worst record in the league? Crash- good point.
He and Tom Chambers were Rockets Killers back in the late 80's. I hated both of them. But yes his stroke was pure.
Tracy McGrady in his first year in the league with the Raptors was a "scrub" as well. One of the last men on the bench(or the floor). But he was a special scrub......In blowouts, the massive(hehe) Toronto crowd would chant his name. He would come in and not do very much...ya know, a 360 reverse dunk and...rebounding the free throw for a dunk and.... dunking on 3 people at once.
Great thread. I like Boki- He needs confidence, consistancy and playing time... He has the tools, but those 3 are connected. Mid range shot would help. I would blame JVG if it didn't work but Boki has the tools to be a solid rotation player and passibly a starter. I know JVG will be about winning now. We are not rebuilding. So Boki may not hit it this year. Depends on early performance and consistancy. Gaines has alot of talent. If he makes the team I will take it he has shown alot of promise.
Correction- I wouldn't blame JVG is Boki stays on the bench because we are about winning now and sometimes those breaks don't come for a player in his position
Great post Crash. Especially re. Boki's confidence. I think what Boki and Gaines lacked their first years in the league was confidence. It's way too early to write them off. Boki, BTW, was hurt by a reputation he got from somewhere as a 3-pt specialist. I don't know how many times I've read that about him, including on this BBS. Outside shooting was never his strong suit -- attacking the rim is. I think misconception cost him major points on this board and in the media, which hurt his confidence. With luck, both Nachbar and Gaines will be contributors in a very solid rotation next year.
Crash, good post. I agree that these guys cant be written off. I think with both of them they just need time to develope. In particular with Nachbar I feel he needs GAME experience as what I feel is mostly holding him back is his confidence. I felt as the season went on last year he got more confident. When JVG showed confidence in Nachbar late in the season he delivered on both ends of the floor. We just need these players to get out there and play. I think the pre-season games will be important for them.
Bad wording. Well, Wade was sent to a bad team, but got the opportunity right away. If Gaines had gone to the Heat, he would get the same opportunity and be able to show his potential.
With the way the roster is shaping up, I think the team is in dire need of young, hungry, aggresive players off the bench and hopefully Gaines and Bokie can fill that void. I'm expecting a whole lot of rookie mistakes from them next season, but I hope Van Gundy is patient with them and allows them to play through their mistakes. We have so many smart decision makers on this team compared to last season, so we can afford rookie mistakes. I think Van Gundy was reluctant to play Boki last season only because the team was already so turnover prone that he couldn't afford to put an inexperienced player on the floor and risk more misakes. We won't have that problem next season.
at what point will they be written off Lot of folx have written off Kwame Brown, even Curry and Chandler just curious what is the cut off point I think Boki will be fine [seems too nervous sometimes] don't know anything about gaines Rocket River
Certainly not after one or two seasons. All of the players you mentioned could still turn into very good if not all star caliber players. Perticularly since they are all so young.
Rocket River: "at what point will they be written off[?] Lot of folx have written off Kwame Brown, even Curry and Chandler" When their rookie contracts run out and no one will even offer them the vet's minimum. Kwame quietly had a decent season last year. Next year will be his senior year. After that, if he's still just "decent," you can consider him a bust if you want.
Wasn't the real tidbit that got us all salivating over Nachbar the report that he drained 24 of 25 3's during a workout for Rudy and the Rockets before the draft? Or something like that? That is the sort of myth-making event that can follow a player around for years. By the way, don't be so quick to sing the praises of Ellis and Shrempf as ignored rookies.. There was a reason Ellis never really hit the floor - his name was Rolando Blackman. As good as you think Ellis was, Blackman was a much more complete player, one of the purest prototypical 2-guards ever to play in the NBA. And Shrempf was behind Sam Perkins. Fact is, that Mavs team in the 80's was only really prevented from becoming a genuine dynasty by being unfortunate enough to exist at the same time as the Magic/Kareem Lakers dynasty, as well as the investing in the phenominally-talented-but-terminally-brain-dead Roy Tarpley. It was all downhill from there. What is it with insanely good rebounders anyway? Tarpley, Rodman, Jayson Williams.. geez, do you need to be a total nut in order to be a great rebounder? (Michael Cage gets honorary nut status because of two words: Jeri Curls) Hm Maybe something to that.. perhaps we SHOULD bring back Eggie for a second try.. maybe lock him in a cage after the games..
Orlando said Gaines was a bad contract ... cool. Its all upside for us. If he makes it, we win, if he doesn't, we've already won, just getting TMac. But, I hope he blossoms here. He would be a great addition. It IS sortof like having a first round draft pick these last 2 years, with Boki and Gaines ...
The Lakers managed to play Luke Walton and Kareem Rush despite in a win-now-with-veteran-players mode. The Rockets won their championships with Cassell just entering the league. And those are teams with veteran superstars with small windows of opportunity. The Rockets stars are 23 and 25. Considering that our cap will be screwed once Yao signs that extension, I'd want to develop as many young players with Yao/T-Mac since we can resign them easily. A good coach should be able to work in the young players. Personally, I'd rather see Boki/Gaines given some extra playing time(by decreasing JJ's minutes and perhaps some of Lue's), even if it comes at the expense of 2-3 wins.
For me, I thought Gaines had the most upside of all the players we got and I think he'll turn out great for us...As for Boki, I still think he's great and can't wait until the coming season... It's good to be a Rox fan...
