look, rui lost his minutes to kuz and a rookie/2nd year guy, so it's not like he was going to be a star here or something. i think the biggest concern for me was that people were expecting him to be a wing defender when he's basically never done that. he can play in isolation against some of the big brute sfs--which has been a problem for us on defense at times--but most of the time, he's a 4 on defense, which means playing him long minutes with lebron and AD could be challenging, as AD is probably the one of the three most likely to stick near a true perimeter player on the dribble (and that's not good). i think he'll be a good addition as he figures out where his shots will come from and the team figures out how to use his size to mitigate his slow feet in a team defensive scheme.
This year I think you have to try him as POA against these big wings as it looks like it's a strength for him and frankly the lack of size elsewhere (christie is a rookie but frankly if you switched his jersey with Brown and years in the league, Christie would be eating all his minutes) Hopefully next year he can improve his off ball stuff Edit: really something off about the reffing in this game. It's not just the one Lebron call here which was the most egregious
I hope he does well. This is his chance to shine, but at the same time it'll be difficult because he looks kinda lost out there and will be forced to play relatively static on offense quite often.
He can iso and score, that ability travels. It will be nice to get a long look at him with Thomas and Wenyen.
Big test for Chocolate Sushi tonight. No AD, he and Gabriel need to hold down that 4. Little Royce O'Neal shouldn't overwhelm them with size anyway.
He’s going to be very useful for us and looks better and shows more the more he gets acclimated. Good quickness on D and will improve there. Needs to hit decent per cent of shots.
LOL 3 days ago KD got into it with Shaq over his lack of awareness about Hachimura. https://fadeawayworld.net/nba-media...shaquille-oneal-for-not-knowing-rui-hachimura
Just proves you don't have to make a big splash addition to make a difference in making the team better.
He’s only gonna get better playing with Lebron and AD. What I like is he’s confident enough in his game to not defer to the vets in certain possessions.
Great game - exactly what we needed man. He needs to start from here on out...no more fricking BS 3-guard lineups.
