Gotta figure out a roll for him. He has a nice midrange pull up but he really lacks a feel for the game.
I liked his battle in the paint defensively. He wrestled with Joker (not a lot of guys can do that), got a nice block. But man it wasn't pretty. 2 points in 38 minutes.
He's not very good. This is a bit harsh I know as he had a very good playoff run but he's basically reverted to what he was in Washington. A guy who looks like he should be way better then he actually is. You look at MPJ versus him and it's frustrating (similar big body with a nice jumper and yet he just doesn't produce most games enough)
He was basically a no show tonight. And this after I defended him and said I didn’t want to trade him. Making me look bad!
Yep: I compared him to MPJ instead but you could go with Gordon as well: he's got the body to be either archetype and he's not
I've seen Rui played extremely well. Last night was not one of those times however. I agree that he should really be more physical out there, use his body, set screens and get after it more on the boards and on defense. He seeks contact or at least is not afraid of it on the offensive end. He uses his strength when he attacks. He needs to do the same in all aspects of the game. He's big enough. He's got the physique and strength to be a better rebounder, shot blocker, screen setter and defender. He showed a lot last season and in the playoffs. He got paid this offseason. Now he really needs to focus on the little things, the dirty work. He has a nice midrange game and his three point shooting has also been a pleasant surprise this season. Maybe due to the injuries he hasn't embraced the physicality that he really needs to show out there. I kind of get there seeing Vando and Cam go down. We can't afford to lose another forward. But maybe he could split the difference. He needs to do more as a starter. He was pretty good in the bench scorer role but has to take the next step. He did pretty ok in the Boston game.
I agree with Raj's take on the defensive end, although Rui just doesn't have much lateral quickness. Offensively, though, Rui and Gordon are very different players and we don't need, or even want, Rui to be more like Gordon offensively. Gordon works as a screener and a cutter on the Nuggets because the other 4 starters are good to great shooters. We're playing Rui next to a non-spacing big; we need more shooting/scoring from that spot.
Damn good bounce back game. More of this please and thank you. Really liked those Zion minutes, matched his offense outing during that stretch. Helps that Zion was sleeping, dreaming of chicken wings, during those back cuts. We were even treated to a Bron-lite block
Was about to say! Excellent bounce back game. This is the Rui I’ve defended and didn’t want traded. Good stuff! Every starter with 20 plus points,
Seriously you can see the timing come back, same as with Max as they're finally getting more and more set rotation minutes. Unlike either of them were for the first 2/3 of the season almost so far .... thanks to Ham obviously not having attached any importance to it for the BIG picture. Until now. And he wants to take a bow for this great new idea.
