HofstraBBall wrote:blkexec wrote:Was waiting for this thread to start. Surprised it took Briggs this long. With the “we shouldve” or “ I told u so”Keep in mind Deuce dominated the gleague and look what that got him.
Thigs ain’t playing no rookies. Stop it. But he will play Brunson who’s better than pick 11 and cam will get more PT especially since we traded a 1st for him.
It’s unfortunate for a coach who everybody calls great, but you have to force him to play certain players by reducing the veteran roster count and giving him no choice. With rookies it’s easy for him to sit them and say wait your turn. But Brunson and now cam are players he has to play, because they are FO moves. Cam has to justify that 1st we gave up to get him, so he will get some PT. That Williams dude would’ve been sent str8 to the gleague.
Who do you think should have played more? I know you're a big Deuce fan but if you break down his game fully, you can still see some things he needs to work on before playing at the NBA level. Probably not what fans of Deuce wanted to see but Thibs most likely knew these shortcomings. Thibs job is to play who he feels gives him the best chance to win. FO's job was to develop Deuce. Which I feel they did by playing him a lot in the G league. Should Deuce have played more late in the year? Sure. But think IQ earned that right.
Obi could not shoot last year, Feel if he improves that part of his game he will get more time against different defenses.
Brought up on another thread how Brunson's minutes in his first two years were quite low. Do not see many average first year players getting a lot of minutes. Unless they were picked top five or on a team lacking at their position.
Think sometimes as fans, we want an NBA coach to play out our draft night hopes.
I understand your point and agree with some or most. But you might be misleading my thoughts on Deuce. At the time we had two bad defenders in Kemba and EF. Clearly Thibs didn't want Kemba in the lineup so he removed him. In my opinion, that should created a trickle affect of the PGs behind Kemba. Also, our main weakness was defense at the point of attack. Deuce main strength is defense at the point of attack. Deuce is not a pure PG which is fine when you have a team of point forwards (Randle and RJ). I said this should open up some PT for IQ or Deuce. Next man up. Thibs went with Burks. And now he's not even on the roster. And Burks is my guy.....Baby Jordan. But not at PG.
Everybody has holes in their game, including EF and others. So I don't judge a player by his holes, but rather his positive impact on team wins. I like any player that plays defense, not just Deuce. I'm from the 80s where we play defense and play hard. Deuce plays hard and not afraid to shoot, dribble or pass. And since draft night, I said Deuce is the best PG defender on the team. Thibs is a defensive coach. Thibs hand picked Deuce. Seems like a match made in heaven. Clearly Burks was not the answer and that was clear after about 10 starts or so, I can't remember now because I moved on already (mentally). But just wanted to clear up my stance on Deuce for you and others.
Brunson and IQ works for me. But Deuce is still the better defender. The good news is Deuce doesn't mind playing in the G league or he's hiding it well. So right now the best place for him is the G league. But if he can improve him offensive skill set at a PG or a Combo guard, he will impact the game more than most people think. Right now the guard position is crowded and Brunson is the new toy. Plus Rose is healthy. So forget about Deuce, wheres the PT for IQ? Seems like IQ will be pushed down the depth chart is Brunson and Rose are healthy.
And we all know hindsight is 20/20. So right now it looks like Thibs and the coaching staff are doing great with Obi's development. So that's a plus. Looks like Deuce has more confidence, but still working on being a floor general which may or may not happen. But that's what we have now, and I'm ok with that. Brunson is the new shiny toy to play with. And with Brunson, he was a 2nd round pick (who I said we should've drafted. That was an easy decision, because we needed a PG). But was his minimal mins because he was a rookie or because he was a second round pick hungry to earn his stripes? I can't compare Brunsons mins and Deuce lack of playing time. Different coaches and different systems.
And yes, fan definitely what a coach to play their (draft night hopes?...no) favorite players. Like Hunt is my new toy I'm rooting for. Do I want him to make the roster, hell yes. But there's simply no room. I rather he get PT along with Deuce in the G league, than at the end of the bench.
