So we all saw that horrible game against Miami, and if you didn’t count yourselves lucky. If you speak to any fan they will say that game was just awful. However, I beg to differ, now I understand if your sitting there thinking what? We equalled our worst ever loss (39 points). But I approach this game like most of the season; I am not that bothered about the basketball we play right now, it means nothing. Silas will have moved on I reckon after this year, and I imagine we will go with a new young coach a la Miami with Spolstra to start a new era. Perhaps Stephan Silas? Matt Rochinksi told me, that Reggie Williams told him (we were obviously playing Chinese Whispers at the time) that Everyone in Golden State was devastated when Stephan Silas left and that all the players really miss him to this day. Apparently they had never liked a coach as much as him. Sorry, I got sidetracked. Back to why I think the game against Miami was successful. Kemba Walker had a good game and set a career high of 17 points, as did Biyombo with by far his best game so far. However, I don’t want to talk about either of these guys for once, did I mention they are the future of this team? Oh ok… well they are. I want to talk about the Bearded One (DJ White) and his role on this team.
So DJ White set his career high in points and went 10-12 from the field against a pretty impressive Miami team and hit his first ever 3. This game has got the debate about our “starting power forward” into full swing. Now I do acknowledge that DJ White was absolutely balling and deserves every minute he gets. The naked mole rat aka Rick Bonnell has written on it, Silas has spoken to the media about it and the forum has been discussing it. Most are saying the same thing, DJ White will start and Tyrus Thomas will come off the bench and is going to have to really step up his game. He has to stop being so inconsistent and win that starting spot back. With the way DJ White has been playing, and I fully understand that point of view.
However I believe this is WRONG.
I don’t want you to think I have anything against the bearded one, but I am on the train down to London right now as I write this and I have been thinking long and hard, what do we gain from playing DJ White? We have to approach the season and revaluate what we call success, as for me a successful year is not one with more wins. DJ White is solid; he is slightly undersized at 6 ft 8 inch at power forward and an average athlete. He doesn’t really have 3 point range, the shot clock was running down and he threw it up there. I am also not too impressed with his defence; he got schooled by Bosh in both games. He seems very slow at anticipating and falls for shot fakes and hesitation moves too much. Going forward are we ever going to be a competing team with him starting at PF, I am talking in 2-4 years here. No competing team will have DJ White as their starter. However, if we tap into TT’s potential (which trust me I am as sick talking about as you guys are) then we have a starting calibre power forward.
DJ White has flourished as a starter, there is nothing to say TT wouldn’t either as he never really has started. So I say play TT and let’s see what he does, we have nothing to lose. Worst case scenario is TT plays awful, we have an awful record and we get a good draft pick. This goes from a bad scenario to a very good one. If TT does play really well then great! We have him locked up for the future. But lets also remember, by sitting TT on the Bench behind DJ White we are diminishing his trade value immensely; teams will look at him and be like “if he is any good then why is he behind DJ White?” Who lets face it, will never get any respect from anyone in this league as he is a relatively unknown, quiet player who isn’t going to be on many highlight reels. Don’t get me wrong, I love DJ as a backup PF who can step in right away, so I would like him to come back here after his deal expires. If DJ White does start, and is successful then we are just driving his price up when he becomes a free agent.
So this is where we come back to my initial point, what do we gain from starting DJ White? Some extra wins this year? Absolutely Pointless… we don’t really want wins if were being honest, we are in absolute TANK mode. I am not saying this is fair on DJ White, he deserves his shot. You may think this is an unreasonable line to take and totally unfair but I look at this in terms of the success of the franchise. If we want to be in good shape in the future then I say start TT as we gain nothing in the future from starting DJ White.
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I hope you enjoyed the read, see you in the forum and Tally Ho!
James Plowright, Manchester, England.
TT only so we can convince someone to trade for his overpaid ass
http://bobcatsplanet.com/wp/is-tyrus-still-a-diamond-in-the-rough-or-are-we-holding-him-back-for-no-reason
James has some good points. And here’s the stats to back it up. Don’t we owe a pick to the bulls by the way?
Our owed pick is top 14 protected i think for this year, then top 10, top7 in subsequent years
I’ve said the same. We aren’t in the position to be “fair”. We’re rebuilding, so asset management & growth should be all that we’re about right now.
Jordan believes in Tyrus…called him his pick for “breakout Bobcat” this year. I hope like hell he’s right, but in reality I’m closer to Chef’s view. Either way, our investment dictates that we try and develop Thomas and get the most out of him.
One other thing to keep in mind. Not only is Tyrus fighting off White for minutes, he will also be fighting for minutes with Biyombo.
He is going to be in a tough situation.
I think we should just play Smack at the 5. I’m intrigued with the idea of a Tyrus/Smack lineup even tho neither seem to know how to stick with their guy and will always go for the help block.
I’m not sure about Smack at the 5. Centers are typically you’re face up defenders, they build walls and fill up space. Smack is a weak side defender and right now is jumping at every pump fake. He may have long arms but he’s still 6’9, although there is the possibility he could grow.
Tyrus has a lot to prove and I hope he understands he has to earn his minutes.
2 Things Nick.
Bismack is learning quickly, in the game against the Cavs he stopped jumping at every pump fake, granted there were still a few but i think the change from game 1 to now has been pretty impressive.
2 Bismack does not have long arms… They are VERY VERY VERY VERY LONG
I thought he did decent vs. Howard in limited minutes.
What do we really have to lose other than more games?
Silas knows he’s not around for much longer so his W/L record shouldn’t matter…and most likely his kid is going to inherit the position. He should have some fun, experiment a little. Give JR. a better idea of what he’ll have going forward.