I think I pegged us as falling somewhere between 35 and 40 wins. I can't see us making the playoffs. We're just too young overall.
EH. Now I only got to watch this game in snippets, but it just seemed like an off night. It happens. It'll happen during the season too. When even Clarkson is struggling out there it tells me something else is up, not that we lack talent. Randle, Russell, and Clarkson are going to have to find ways to balance with each other. In the first game Randle was an odd-man out most of the game and that's not really going to cut it. Once they figure it out, other teams will have to adjust. I also don't like Randle isolated at the top of the key and taking guys off the dribble. I'd prefer him on the wings. Still it's fine. I don't see any reason to get too high or too low on our key guys. I've seen enough positive that I'm not that upset about it.
Russell/Williams Clarkson/Brown Kobe/Young Bass/Randle Hibbert/Black *** This is our core team.. Much better & more balanced than what we're seeing in Summer League..
I was kidding. Buycks won't be on the team unless something catastrophic happens. He's been one of the worst players probably in Summer League history.
I know your sarcasm Real... But it means a lot when Russell is playing with scrubs & without a system or training camp.. Get him in there with Kobe & Williams & things will straighten up fast..
I agree. I think Kobe and Byron hands on will make a world of difference. Right now he's got Madsen coaching him and guys off the bench that are just not NBA caliber. I want Russell to clean up some of the mistakes, but overall I'm not too worried at all.
I don't understand the hate towards Wes Johnson... he was a player getting minimum salary and he was by far not the worst player on the team. If a minimum contract gets you 10 and 5 you cannot complain. Other underachieving players, especially bigs, with similar stats get 10+ mio. a year.
It wasn't his stats. It was the crap he did during the games. You've seen it. Boneheaded plays. Dude literally lacks any basketball IQ. Of course with the amount of minutes he played he's going to hit a 3 here and there. Also it was compounded by the fact he had such an NBA body that a lot of us looked at it as a waste of talent because his brain was not up to par with his body. He should at least be able to play passable defense, right? Nope. Lost on offense, lost on defense, inconsistent 3 point shooting. Stats can lie, my friend.
I'll admit for the salary we paid him we should not have expected a starter, or starter-caliber player. Unfortunately we were forced to use him for starter amount of minutes.
I like the new title of this thread. Clarkson burns bright. Russ burns. Randle does not burn. But who knows... tonight we play against Dallas, maybe Randle will burn bright this time.
For there's a lot of reasons I'm glad he's gone: 1. I wanted him maybe more than anyone and was a complete disappointment. He embarrassed me. 2. He is one of the most gifted athletes out there, but never put it all together to be a passable NBA player. 3. He thought he was too cool to be the next great wing defender. 4. He wanted to be an offensive threat, but somehow never was. Shot form was decent, never developed into a threat defenses respected. 5. He dumb. 6. Unforced turnovers. 7. Where's the defense? Guy has all the tools to be an absolute force defensively and never turned out to be more than a C+ defender.
Ultimately, it comes down to that. Tremendous physical talent, and absolutely no understanding of the game.
People get irritated when they get glimpses of what you are capable of, and then watch them not live up to it. No matter the reason. It's like being considered a failure if you are the first pick in the draft just because you aren't a perennial All Star. Not necessarily fair, but it's how people view it.
Clarkson, Russell, Randle & Black all showed stretches of what they're capable of.. Get them some experience running with the Vets & they'll be fine. II can't wait to see what this team looks like in February...
