think i've already addressed it, but yes, they don't read your takes...but everyone here does. and when max isn't an allstar in year 3, i don't feel like reading about what a disappointment he is (cf: kuz and clarkson). tempering expectations on a message board is an effort in self-preservation. i also don't think people were as down on reaves as you seem to suggest. once he got on the floor, i don't think there were a lot of doubters left. anyway, i appreciate your optimism, and i do think max and reaves still have room to grow (max has a lot, given how little he's done so far). but someone questioning the likelihood of them dominating the league in the coming years is hardly hating.
Sorry I am gonna ramble here. I start to feel giddy at times and more than anything, I am praying that Reaves just fulfills my sports fantasy for our team. I want him to succeed but I have no assurances that this is going to happen. Looking good so far though! Same with Max. Sure want him to succeed, hope he does, think he has a chance. But I recognize that some guys get right to the edge of stardom and then fizzle. It is a tough game, takes luck and skill and dedication to get over that hump. Gotta keep your brain on the game, 100% or go home. Can't take a year off and be great. Getting to the league is a huge and major accomplishment for all these guys. NBA is big bucks even for scrubs. Nobody who gets there can afford to squander their opportunity. When I see guys like MPJ perhaps pissing away their whole careers doing stupid stuff, I just have a hard time believing it. Honestly, without even knowing why he did what he did, I almost think the league should just expel him. I know they can't, but if he is guilty in the court of law, I think the league should remove him and offer his team an appropriate draft pick as compensation. They should be able to cancel their contracts over really egregious actions. The players association would have to figure that out, I am sure.
It doesn't matter if Max is an all-star, just that he becomes an all-star level player. He has everything he needs to do that. Skill, size, strength, appears mentally strong, good work ethic. In the NBA world Max is getting mentioned as possibly having a bigger role than many think. I guess I get what you mean by self-preservation, but I don't see the harm in saying someone is going to become a good player when the evidence supports that. I'm not uncaring I just don't have any of those fears. I've been scouting players for forty years and while they are not NBA level players, I have a pretty good idea what to look for and Max screams of becoming a very good player sooner than later. He may take longer to show out than Austin because our roster is so much better, but it is coming. Colin as well but mentioning that really stirs the ship up. There were quite a few doubting Reaves and putting these ridiculously low ceilings on him late into last season when it had been obvious for months he just needed more playing time. He should have gotten on the floor much much sooner. I got pounded on pretty heavy (not that I cared) for having the audacity to suggest Austin could turn out to be what he has turned out to be. If I called anyone a hater, I apologize, I do not remember using that term. It is not one I like and find it insulting so I try not to use it.
i actually don't think you used the word "hater", it was just the shorthand i could come up with. i believe in max's skills, too; but, as we've debated before, i also have a belief in "soft" ceilings. so being dubious about lofty projections doesn't seem unreasonable to me. it's all a matter of degrees anyway.
I can really understand people underplaying things here. It's like dating some really cute girl, you're hoping she is the one, but when you overplay that hand, you tend to get burned. Some people just need to let their success be organic and come step by step without getting ahead of themselves. I do that too, but I still find myself looking and hoping for greater things. But dang, I did that with all our rookies before Lebron and while some of them have done really well, none of them became big time superstars, just really good players. We would have never won a championship with them, sad but to me, true.
Wait, Reaves might NOT be ....... "The One" ???? But what if we get a ring this year and make it official?
You overplay your hand and get dumped just go to the next one. The more times your dumped the easier it gets...lol.
