Oh! Whoa! My bad, that comment was in error. For some reason I thought your comment was about Upshaw and got threads mixed. I concur.... Tarik is a big dude with big hands.
He'll be playing a lot this year. Perfect big to give Hibbert some rest. Plays a lot different stylistically, too.
When the Lakers go to their bench they're going to change their feel completely. That first unit will try to muddle things in the half-court and break with Randle, Clarkson, Russell (projected right now). Then the bench comes in and the attack switches up with a more uptempo style and mobile, versatile players. I think a good coach could make this team really interesting. I think Byron can make it alright.
Yeah, I see no drop-off in his game, or his effort. Some rookies come in and catch the league by surprise and maybe other teams don't take them very serious and they put up some nice stats. I don't think that's the case here, he is that big, strong, quick, and a hustle guy. He's not going to wow anyone with his offensive game, and he'll be undersized against certain other centers, but he's still gonna go out and do his thing most nights, he's a really good bench player to have.
I love Tarik. Tarik is Jordan Hill before Hill found his jumpshot which is why it's a little scary for me to hear Tarik is working on one himself. The difference is Hill has a smaller frame and Tarik is built like a tank. He's got the short neck @trodgers called out and the "high butt" that high level college programs love (silly word for strong buns and thighs). He'll go out there and bully guys all night long, frustrate them, and then continue to out work them. I love it. Yesterday if Brown/Randle had connected on more shots we would have won that game. In doing so, Black would have outplayed the #1 pick from last year in my opinion. As it stands, Towns got the win so I give him the edge but to have an undrafted player, nay TWO undrafted players, get out there and give Towns a hard time? That's fantastic and a testament to our scouting department.
So Tarik is in expected great condition and has a full year of NBA ball under his belt. Am thinking he will not embarrass himself against still getting in shape Okafor tonight. What do you think? And certainly we're going to want to see what Upshaw can do with him.
Tarik said he was out of out of shape due to an ankle issue I think. If he's out of shape right now, I'm looking forward to seeing him in midseason form.
Fixed... If Scott is the good coach that he is, he would make sure each individual played to their strength instead of doing something else. He shouldn't be an 'Antoni who would encourage an Abdul-Jabbar to shoot treys.
He showed the skills in snippets last year in that long highlights clip from both Houston and Lakers. Would expect them to be even more polished this year.
Hopefully tonight they tighten up their defensive rotations on the perimeter so we can really see how Black and Upshaw protect the rim. Looking forward to seeing what Okafur has for us tonight, and how Black and Upshaw handle it.
That's exactly what I've been noticing. I think i mentioned it in one of the threads. I liked when j hill was a hustle guy that was a magnet for rebounds. When he started settling for his jumper he stayed away from the post his rebounds and total effort went down Thats when i started souring on him I also didn't know black was undrafted i thought he had been A 2nd rounder Its a good test for our guys to go against the top 2 big men from the draft on consecjtive nights it just makes the rest of the summer league "easier" in a way.
Tarik and Upshaw combined for... 40 minutes 11 points (5-7 FGs) 0 assists 14 rebounds 1 steal 4 blocks 5 TO
