You can't argue that "see? all he needed was time!" and then say "but he doesn't really even need time!" in the same breath. The fact is, he needed 2 years and, this seasons, a few months of PT to become a competent player, largely due to the fact that his shot started falling. Now, I take my hat off to him becuase it was more than I thought he was capable of and he certainly proved me wrong. But it doesn't change the facts that he was a huge project, even after 2 plus years in the league, that he didn't captitalize in Houston, and that he needed an opportunity that only a few of the "no-hoper" type teams could have afforded him. Fortunately for him he did so in New Orleans -- good for him. But I'll take proven, competent (and better) backups in Wesley , Barry, et al. and the Rockets renaissance this year over playing long odds with a project who's shown nothing in previous chances to see if he can someday be a competent back-up.
But what would the gain have been? Surely not more than a game or two somewhere down the road, right? And like someone said, we're only a game up on Memphis for the 6th seed, so it seems like every game we play counts. A few games is a big deal.
I am not sure Boki will still be in the league in 2 years (I say he won't). I like the dude but the scout that played up his Euro game as well as Niko Skitishvili's should be fire. Boki and Niko can go back to Europe and continue to build on their legends.
So, players putting up stats on bad teams are bad players (Boki) and players putting up bad stats on bad teams are really good players (Wesley). Sorry, I ain't buying it. I also ain't buying the argument that playing Boki would have cost us games and playoff seedings. Look at all the players have run through this roster the last couple seasons and think about how many minutes we played them. JJ cost us plenty of games and playoff seedings because he wouldn't rotate the ball and his shooting was horrid for us this season. MoT cost us how many games because he couldn't guard a fence post and couldn't rebound against a high school team, not to mention he was a black hole with the ball in his hands? But Van Gundy kept running his sorry tail out there. How about Piatkowski? How many games did he cost us missing "wide open" shots? Of course, Pike is another shooter that was constantly yanked after 2 missed shots in a row. Dude can shoot. His whole career proves it. But he couldn't shoot here. Why? Because he didn't get consistent minutes and couldn't get in a groove. Now look at teams like Dallas developing their young players. How many games has it cost them? Probably some but are they better off for it now? Sure, they are. Bottom Line: We wasted Boki's potential and he turned into just a throw in to a trade that made us better by subtracting JJ and adding DW. We did not get any value for him. Somebody else will.
I'm not arguing he doesn't need time, just that I don’t think he needs starter minutes (+20 minutes). Around 12-15 minutes a game, EVERY game is all I think he would have needed. Not enough minutes to make a big impact on the outcome of a game. But enough minutes for him to get a better feel for the game and establish some type of rhythm. The same thing the Spurs are doing with Udrih.
Or maybe Udrih is just a much better player, which is why he both 1. earned playing time; and 2. maximized the time he got. Nachbar did neither of those two things here.
lol give it up Sam's, though your efforts are admired Its seems apparent now that nothing can stop the utterly strange and unexplained (to me atleast) phenomenon that some member have for the bostjan nachbar (I refuse to type the four letter words beggining with B and ending with i, for now grown man should hve such a ridiculous nickname, hes not a pokemon for godsakes)
I remember I concluded during the trade that the Hornets really wanted Boki. JJ was a throw in to match the contract. That's why when JJ didn't show up, they didn't really care. I think both the pro-Boki crowd and the anti-Boki crowd have some truth. Boki did have potential and needed PT to develop. The way he's playing now shows that. Even SamFisher admits that Boki has proved him wrong. However, it is understandable that the coaches here didn't want to play him much because he was playing behind JJ and TMac (and Ryan Bowen for special situation). And you can't argue against the result of the trade. Personally, I like Boki and am glad that he got to a situation where he could thrive. In my biased mind, plus some 20/20 hindsight, we should've given some of JJ's PT to Boki. I thought JJ was great for us. After seeing what Wesley can do for us, now I realize JJ was a bad fit. Boki wouldn't have cost us taking some of JJ's minutes in term of winning games.
I am happy to see that Boki is getting some playing time in NO and is playing well. I am also glad that Boki was traded, he salvaged the DW trade, if he wasn't included as part of the trade than the trade would have been rescinded with JJ not showing up in NO. Thank you Boki.
It ain't over till the fat lady sings....I will post about what to put in the sig should I win, and be PROVEN right, yet again ! Case CLOSED !! DD™
Wesley has always put up decent numbers. In any case, Boki - even now that he's shown some consistency - hasn't shown near enough to believe that we could take the time to consistently trot him out there when he was missing shots and giving up fouls. He could very well be a decent player in this league for years to come. But even if that's the case - so is JJ. And like JJ, for whatever skill he had he wasn't really a good fit for us. I'll trade Boki (and JJ) again in a heartbeat if it elevates us to where we're currently at.
i'll root for boki anywhere he goes and plays he'll i'll root for him tonight, as long as the rockets get the victory he can have 30 points.
lol you still have hope sam!! a couple more games like this by nachbar and it'll go down to the wire!
