Rui Hachimura Discussion: Huge Buckets

If you didn’t watch the game that looks bad. Those first two fouls were a joke. One was on the perimeter with Randle just trying to front him and the other was a phantom call on Antman because you can’t breathe on him.

The last shot was also in garbage time and is irrelevant.

So it’s basically one wide open miss and one blow by. I would argue that Luka had 4-5 blow bys in the last 5 mins and he didn’t generate offence. Lebron and Reaves should have tried to take over to end it then instead.

The rest of the game, he was off a beat defensively. When DFS picked up his 3rd and Rui subbed back in, we started losing a bit of steam in the second quarter. To start the third Rui and Luka weren’t very good defensively either.

 

Luka sick, whats rui excuse?

 

I'm not defending Rui, he wasn't good. In game 2 he was much better defensively. He needs to play better and hit a few more shots.

But the reason we lost wasn't Rui, it's the 19 TOs and 30 points of those TOs and 15 of them were Luka, Lebron and Reaves. It was the attacking Luka in the 4th to ice the game. So can Rui be better? Absolutely, but even if he was better we may still lose.

 

Yeah he's ( has to be) gone

 

Rui didn't play well but he's not the reason the Lakers lost the game.

 

Rui was fine. Problem is we don't have two more Ruis

 

Tale of two games.

Game 3 he was maddening. His processing speed is 1.5 seconds to slow to every action at this level.

Game 4 he was much better. Unfortunately, that had to be closer to his regular performance for this series and not the outlier. Like I said from the beginning, this needed to be a series he was our 3rd best player because Austin was in for a dog fight. Unfortunately I don't think Rui can be that.

 

Yeah. Rui should not be playing 41 minutes in a do or die playoff game, he's just not that caliber of player. Same with DFS. We need one more reliable wing to add to LeBron/Rui/DFS at the 3/4 spots. Vando is not that guy, his offense is just too bad.

Rui's played to my expectations tbh. Makes most of his open shots, flashes of good, physical defense but its inconsistent. If he did the latter consistently he'd be one of the best role players in the league and worth like $30 million a year. But he only does it occasionally, which is why he makes $17 million. What Rui gives us at $17 million a year is fine.

 

Yeah, he was one of two players to show up with the necessary level of engagement and kept on hitting from deep.

This was Rui at the peak of his offensive powers within his role. This was his Cam Johnson on volume game, 8 threes attempted/16 total FGAs. If he could deliver that with consistency I'd have no interest in trading him. He just has to be coached so damn hard to squeeze that out of his play. JJ has to stay on him, Bron stays on him more than any other player. AD had to stay on him. Luka will next year if Rui is here as Luka feels more comfortable with him. That has to be exhausting given Rui's natural gifts and size.

 

Yes..I overlooked shouting out another one of my favorites. Rui stood up to be counted in this series! I know at times I probably seem to be always including Rui in trade speculations. It has mostly to do with the fact that his contract is one of our best assets. I really like Yasuke tho! As a player and a person, I want to see him do well, and if he did get traded for the betterment of the team. I will still check in and keep up with him, wherever he went.

 

One of the few bright spots of this putrid series.

 

Seems Rui remains close with Phil Handy. Nice to see that.

 

glad he's spending his free time doing something interesting that could help others.

btw, if we don't go the cap space route next year (which is probably unlikely), i wonder if he'd sign an extension and forego FA. i could see us offering a little over market value just because we like his cultural fit.

 

Most of last season I kept waiting for Rui to come back to earth from the over 40% from 3 point range. Until I just started expecting every one to go in. Sweet stroke and that IS who he is on top of numerous other attributes to his game. I think if JJ has any say Rui will be back.

 

To his defense, he hasn't had a clear role since he came. It's constantly switching and it harms his development at his age.

But truth is he is not special in any area. Which usually is what you want when you pay 10M+. I think he looked better with Luka than with AD because he has more spacing to operate and his versatility is more used.

I see him having a pretty good year that will boost his value, ending up being traded near the deadline

 

I think he is special in the whole Big Picture in that he is upper level if of course not elite in numerous important areas. Certainly with his level of strength, athleticism, vertical explosiveness, average to sometimes well above average defense against 3-5s and well liked on the team .... I think for him shooting 40% and higher for whole season AND the playoffs he well deserves an elite level big man consistently draining 3s attaboy. And look past what he's done to date which IMO for the reason you started off stating .... it's "very impressive" that he has improved every year, and just like AR Rui has every chance in the world to get even better this year and going forward if he keeps working. He's in his Prime.

 

i think his scoring ability is borderline special? he can catch and shoot, cut and finish, and even iso in the midrange pretty effectively. the list of players who can do all three and aren't stars is actually pretty short, i'd say.

and he's made strides on defense.

he's a problematic fit on the court with luka, imo, but i'm still ok with keeping him, particularly at something close to his current contract.

again, folks wanted to trade him, dlo, and two firsts for jerami grant last year, and i'm pretty sure he's as good as jerami grant right now, if not better.

 

With the new ownership and economic SMARTS …. just as the Dodgers have leveraged the Japanese market big time …. perhaps they may want to hang onto Rui as well? Especially vs a semi lateral move to upgrade in some areas like with Collins but downgrade others including playoff experience.



#JapaneseNBAgoodPlayerBirdInHand