Can you not be a good person off the court and still a bad teammate? I've never thought that KI was a bad person. By all accounts he is a very thoughtful and considerate human being. But I think whatever he is doing currently is detrimental to his teammates and the organization that pays him the kind of money that allows him to buy Floyd's family a house. The rest of the world can't pause their career to do whatever it is he is doing and still get paid, let alone get paid like he's being paid. I know that a lot of people were troubled by what transpired in DC last week (I live up here so I get it) but as far as I know, he didn't have any relatives or close friends that were negatively impacted (more so than the rest of us I mean) by those events, so why does he need to take a week off from work? If he wants to quit and become a full time activist, then more power to him but the Nets are paying him millions of dollars to play basketball and right now, he can but is refusing to do so. I personally think that makes him a bad teammate and employee, not to mention a prima donna. I'm sure there are thousands of basketball players that would kill to work their butts off in practice, ride the pine and make the league minimum. He's taking a roster spot from someone who wants and is willing to work for one. That is kind of scumbagish in my book.
Well, if the Nets didn't see him as an asset, they'd trade/cut/discipline him, right?
I certainly won't defend him maskless partying - though I see a family birthday party differently than a visit to the strip club myself. And he has certainly made some ill-advised comments. I just feel he takes an unfair amount of abuse on this board. Is there any other former Duke player that is so roundly attacked so regularly?
Here are the highlights. Spectacular game for him. That play is at 55 seconds, and he had another nice behind the back dribble for a dunk at around 2:30. There is also a bonus of Harrison Barnes dribbling the ball of his foot which made me smile (yes I’m that petty).
https://youtu.be/bFx542olDpw
Nice article on RJ in the NY Post.
https://nypost.com/2021/01/18/rj-bar...pasteboard_app
I feel like I'm watching the 2015 title game watching Tyus and Grayson make plays down the stretch of this Grizz Suns game.
Must have been the sight of Kaminsky on the other bench
I'm sure you are trying to be funny, but I actually agree. Jay hate and Kyrie hate on this board shouldn't even be close. Yet it seems to me both men are disliked at about an equal level. That's insane! Jay's "sins" are obvious and well-known by all. I can get behind people here complaining about his work in the booth and many of his takes on the college bb in general. With Kyrie the list isn't nearly so long, yet he gets more grief for fewer issues. Of course that's only my opinion, but I'd stand by it till my final breath if nothing changes going forward.
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club
Absolutely fair.
On another Dukie note, RJ Barrett is, in the NY Post words, 'blossoming before our eyes'. While kinda true, RJ Barrett is an interesting "unicorn" in today's NBA. He is amazing - arguably elite - at getting to the rim. He's a beast in transition. He's a solid playmaker and incredible rebounder. His FT rate is respectable. But he's a horrific 3pt shooter (32% last year and 22% this year). While a small sample size, it's safe to say RJ will never be a great 3pt shooter. He may before a good one, but he's likely to be <38% for the rest of his career.
And that's okay. Because RJ can become the next Dwyane Wade (elite scorer who can't hit a 3 and provides all the intangtibles). RJ still needs to learn better defense and hopefully will become a better playmaker (but with Randle, it's not necessary at this point). I'd love to see RJ prove that you don't need a 3pt shot to be an All-Star (okay, so Simmons and the Freak have already proved that...but still).
Outside of Zion, Ingram, Tatum, and Kyrie, RJ has the highest ceiling.
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club
Great article on Ingram. Lots of stuff there I had no idea about, including his drive, his shot mechanics, his strength, and his coachability.
Unfortunately, you gotta be an Insider to access it.
https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/sto...ential-matters
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club
His FT% however is very poor for a guy whose game should get him to the FT line quite often. Everyone says FT% is a good predictor of 3FG%, so you're probably right that he'll never become a good FT shooter. OTOH, Zion shot poorly from the FT line at Duke and in the NBA so far, and he shot over 40% from 3 at Duke and in his rookie year. He has been such a low volume 3pt shooter that impeccable shot selection from 3 might explain the divergence for him.
As for his ceiling, i don't know why his ceiling should be considered lower than Ingram's. They are not exactly analogous players: RJ has considerably higher rebounding and "beefy" potential, whereas BI is a better shooter and has more finesse potential.