As long as he is given consistent minutes in the rotation throughout the season, sans injury, should expect effort.
i thought he worked hard individually on defense (his defensive awareness is still a work in progress, imo). he ended up on an island with edwards a lot, and edwards always got by him in those cases, but he had to at least throw a couple moves, which wastes time and lets the rest of the defense orient a bit. on offense, he's learned where and when to cut. that one where AD found him on the curl from under the hoop actually surprised me. i was expecting a clear out and then AD to work to draw a double and kick out, but rui cut off the clear out and just popped in for an open 8 footer. moar plz.
I'm super glad with our not that deep with quality players roster .... especially with Vando and Wood out who should add tremendously to our competitiveness and flexibility under someone like JJ who's going to get the best out of the roster he has to work with, I'm certain .... that with everyone clamoring for a trade, ANY damn trade .... and Rui routinely tossed into one here even just as filler .... that it didn't happen. Whatever our impressions were of his NBA career ceiling, prior to this first game with the "governor" on his play taken off by JJ and more asked of him ..... "Strength" and "Explosiveness" just took a leap upward. His ceiling could conceivably be considerably higher as a still young player in his early prime with the proper development, and like Reaves and DLO, on a team friendly contract for the value he brings if that happens.
If Rui can become our Aaron Gordon...that raises the floor of this team significantly. I'm sure Rui is looking at the contract that Aaron Gordon got and is thinking hey, that can be me. 4yr/133M contract for Aaron Gordon at age 29 Rui is in year 2 of his contract is still only 26. He has to be thinking there's another level he can go if he puts in the work and he's aggressive on both ends
i just don't think he has nearly the feel for the game, the lateral quickness, or the verticality of gordon. very different players, imo. remember that gordon's first extension was pretty big, and he was being (probably mis-) cast as a #2 guy in orlando early in his career. i think rui can be like the best version of the morris twins, but he has to get more reliable on his shot. that three ball sorta comes and goes and seems a step outside his range. but i thought the same of young marcus morris, and he eventually figured it out and got pretty consistent. i don't think he'll ever be a plus defender, but he can improve enough to have him on the floor for 25+mpg and not be mad about it.
Last season Rui played 35+ minutes in 10 games. He's played at least that in all 3 so far this year. 5, 7, and 9 boards in each game. That's huge for him. He's averaging +3 rpg so far. The early returns are there for what JJ is asking out of him. If he can keep hold that 7 RPG average and continue to compete defensively, that changes a lot for him and this team. Honestly, it's the difference in calling LA home or ending up on the block. certainly he has limitations and certain guys will cook him, but effort and physicality can do wonders for him. Just uh, maybe next time...swing swing when Bron is on one.
he's getting rebounds like that girl in the WNBA off his own misses lol. Not sure that should count as much.
And be a marketing genius who presents himself as the foil to the most popular player in the league. ...oh wait...maybe that's why he took the shot and irritated LeBron!
I’m loving how Hachi has come out with his aggressiveness on both ends. Who would have known that helping your struggling player succeed by pointing out what he should work on instead of completely sandbagging him by taking his minutes away would provide positive results?
Listen, I know it was a loss and we want to flush and move on BUT Rui deserves his flowers for that game. 20 & 10?! Mr 4 rpg gave us the kind of games that you expect out of the upgrade that's been suggested at that position. The Grants, Gordon/MPJ, Kuzs of the world. I'm not expecting those numbers nightly but as long as the effort and glass crashing, and the shot will be there... I'm not worried about that. If he keeps the foot on the gas, call off the search. Really proud of him for raising his game. Irwin mentioned a couple pods ago that he's heard that Rui absolutely loves this coaching staff -- being coached, the role, etc.
Love to see him hit those back to back treys in crunch time to get out of his funk! Toronto had battled back and were within six at that point.
