I see Eddie's problems opening up the door for Boki. Griff is a malcontent who has not improved one iota. Boki seems to be getting better each and every game. Boki is a better passer, and better team player, with Steve and Yao, the Rockets have their 2 stars, they need role players. And in my mind, Boki fits that role better than EG. Boki is coming around...and Griffin's immaturity is helping him. DD
Nachbar is a SF and Griffin is a PF. I don't think Griff's problems opens the door for Nachbar at all. I feel that Nachbar is moving himself up the depth chart with his increasingly better play. Perhaps moved himself past A. Griffin. I I still feel JJ will start at SF. With Griffin's problems what has happened is it is obviously allowing Cato to get major minutes at PF and when Taylor comes back will most likely be the starter at PF as long as he is 100% health wise.
one of two things here.. 1) you dont actually watch the games. 2) If you do, you dont actually watch the games DaDa, If anything, I would say that Eggie's problems is opening up the door for Cato to get more minutes at the 4. Cato/and MoT can handle the PF slot easily. Who woulda thunk we would ever be saying that?
I think there are circumstances where EG would play the 3, and likewise Boki plays the 4....depends on who the other team has as a matchup... What I mean is that with EG out of the rotation it opens up more minutes for Boki, and he is getting better and better. It is clear that when he is the focus of the offense, he struggles, but as a complimentary player, he excels. Rebounds, open shots...passing...etc..etc.. DD
Agree on the minutes thing.. but the only way I see Boki playing the 4 is under a really small lineup. Mooch or Wilks SF Pike or Agriff Boki MoT
Van Gundy (rightfullly so, I believe) doesn't pigeonhole his players into rigid, unchanging roles like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, witness Cato and yao on the floor at the same time; the only positions he really goes with are G, F and C. One less Forward in the rotation will definitely help Nachbar's cause.
Boki can barely play the 3 in the NBA let alone the 4. Eddie's problems will not benefit Boki at all. He's getting better, but let's not get carried away after one good game. I'm hoping that his confidence will hit the roof and he starts doing things like....hmmm.......hitting WIDE OPEN jumpers when the defense rotates off of Steve, Cat or Yao. That's all anyone will asks of him for now, but he's been given the benefit of doubt by many. Time to produce Boki...I will riding with you!
Who in the hell has ever seen Boki play the 4? 1) He only played 77 minutes all of last season. 2) With all of the pre-season issues at the 4 he still has not played at the 4. 3) He gets pushed around by 3's, do you think he is a viable option at the 4? 4) He has shown thus far he has little if any game. I could care less about stats in a given game. I look at his play and assess him. He does not defend at all, he does not have a consistent release on his shot, he does not handle the ball well and he makes many foolish mistakes and he he second on the team in turnovers. He is not a very good player to this point and he has a long way to go before he deserves to see meaningful minutes in regular season competition.
Hey, what was the score last Saturday? Like 90 - 10 or something like that? Heheheh Listen, I have been using the pre-season to watch how guys are playing away form the ball. Watching hustle, positioning, just plain old being-in-the-right-place-at-the-right-time stuff. And lemme tell you, Nachbar is a lot further along than you apparently think. Until I get to actually see Adrian Griffin play, I have to say that Boki is already by far the best rebounding 3 on the roster. Defense is at least as much about effort as it is about natural ability, and while he has obvious room for improvement there, he is definitely giving 100% defensively. Of course he's not perfect. He needs to improve his ball-handling, and he needs to get a more instinctive feel for his positioning offensively, spacing better. But he is long, he can jump, and he can run. And he CAN shoot. That's just a mental hurdle he needs to get over, and it appears that the coach is determined to MAKE him get over it. If JVG continues to give him minutes into the season, I think we will see someone as integral to this team as Ginobili became for the Spurs last year.
He didn't say Boki would play the 4, you blanks. We're talking coaches' attention span, here. Boki seems to be improving with increased attention from the coaches. Cato certainly is responding well. The word on JVG is that he tells the players exactly what they did wrong and how to do it right. Boki seems to be taking that information and improving. Cato is using the information and getting results. Eddie is not responding. When we look ahead to a team of starters, we will have Steve, Cat and Yao all demanding attention. Possibly Taylor. As JVG says, the complimentary players to Steve and Yao need to hit shots, and work off the ball. Right now, Bostjan has a chance to fill a role and contribute to the team. Does Eggie have a chance? He seems to bring the team down instead of helping it. 3-12 bricklaying, weak defense, poor positioning, bad attitude, bad example. Can he jam on a break? Not yet. Eggie should be able to, but I'd rather have Boki slam it home today. Can you imagine how much more we could get out of Eggie if he could just run and catch like D.Miles? Even with his crappy shot. Right now, Cato is just a much better teammate. Eggie needs to bust his ass and get some skills. The opportunity is right there.
who would have ever guess just 1 week ago that boki would be better already than eddie. But anyways, they play 2 dif positions so I dont see how minutes can come by. WHat it does do is open the door for pig since he can play pf.
i was excited as ever from boki's game last night.... BUT He does have a history of having a good game surrounded by some crap games, ex: summer league-0ne 30pt game, the rest crap and one good game at the euro olympic qualifications. I really really hope that this isnt the case and that he has in fact improved. I liked his dunk and i especially liked his peja-esque 3 stroke which in time and confidence should be deadly. here's to 5 more games from boki of equal impressivity.
exactly. nachbar won't be a power forward anytime soon but like calvin said having yao ming in the middle allows van gundy to risk smaller players in the other positions. he cleans up mistakes. is a lineup of steve, cat, a. griffin, boki, yao any more a liability than steve, cat, boki, eddie, yao. probably not, especially if boki is going to continue to push himself past eddie.
To be honest with you, if this team had a viable alternative at the 3, Jim Jackson would start at the 2 and Mobley would come off the bench. Since the team (despite the additions of Griff & Pike) is so weak at the 3 they are likely going to have to start JJ there. Sure he's a few inches shorter Boki, but he is MUCH stronger, much better defender, passser, ball handler and scorer. You look at overall game, play, and ability, and I think most would agree that JJ gives this team a better chance to win than they would with Boki. That is the problem. His 100% is along the lines of Mack Brown's 100%. It just is not good enough. As weak as this team is defensively especially on the perimeter, they can ill afford to have yet another player who has no defensive ability.
If he intended for JJ to start the season at the 3 he would be starting him at the 3 now. Why not give him that experience if he knows thats who he wants to starts. I think he sees JJ's major role at the 2 with secondary minutes at the 3. Of course this could change with the play of Boki and Pike and if Cat comes back and out plays JJ then his minutes could diminish. In the end I think JVG is looking for the best rotation on the court and feels Boki complements the other players very well and needs to be out there.
