Rashad McCants

vincecarter4pres · Post #1 » by **vincecarter4pres** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 5:45 am

Whats the deal with this guy?

Is he a good teamate, a decent guy in general?

Does he contribute anything on the court, or is he just a chucker that looks only for his own stats?

Can a few people write up an evaluation of this guy so I can hear some different opinions on him from Wolves fans?

I used to love watching this kid when he was in college, then he got a bad rap in his rookie season as immature and selfish.
Then he got injured.
Then last year he put up some nice #'s, but I really haven't watched him much and wondered if his scoring is actually win effective or just stat stuffing on a bad team.

Thanks.

john2jer · Post #2 » by **john2jer** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 4:25 pm

He's got freakishly long arms, he's a good athlete, and he can shoot the lights out. If he'd commit himself to smart basketball, he has the tools to be exactly what this team needs, a great wing defender that can stretch the defense. He'd be a Bruce Bowen type.

But unfortunately he has dreams of being a number 1 option and sometimes has mental lapses that lead to stupid fouls, forced plays, and poor positioning.

If he would accept the 6th man role, he'd be a dynamite player for the Wolves. I really think he's under-rated across the league, but his worth won't fully be recognized until he starts worrying more about the team than himself.

dunkonu21 · Post #3 » by **dunkonu21** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 5:04 pm

I think a lot of his bad rap has to do with his killer attitude. He thinks like Kobe and MJ, in that he wants to be the best and has a ton of confidence. He wants to hurt people when he drives to the rim and always gets technical for rubbing in a big dunk on the opponent. He is just a firey guy and the Refs have a problem with it. He has all the skills on offense that anyone could ask for. He has a great low post game, great shot and can slash a little bit too when the defense starts to cheat on him.

His defense has a long way and I don't agree with the Bruce Bowen thing john2jer said. McCants is overly agressive on D and does not have half the IQ on D that Bowen does. He fouls at a rediculous rate due to his chasing stats and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. McCants will be a decent defender eventually but I doubt he'll ever be much better than an Avg defender.

All-in-all he is my favorite player on the team.

Devilzsidewalk · Post #4 » by **Devilzsidewalk** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 5:19 pm

He wants to be a great player and he has the foundation to be pretty good; he still falls into some bad habits like playing defense w/ his hands too much and predetermines a drive or pass. I've seen some good signs in small doses this preseason, looking quick at times and making a concerted effort to have quick feet on defense and stay in front of his man, and getting to the line on offense.

It's hard to say what he can do, it'll depend on long-term determination. Lots of people can have high degrees of excellence for small periods of time, but the real gift is having that mindset become apart of you.

I still have high hopes in him, but he's got to overcome some strong bad habits first.

john2jer · Post #5 » by **john2jer** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 5:49 pm

dunkonu21 wrote:I think a lot of his bad rap has to do with his killer attitude. He thinks like Kobe and MJ, in that he wants to be the best and has a ton of confidence. He wants to hurt people when he drives to the rim and always gets technical for rubbing in a big dunk on the opponent. He is just a firey guy and the Refs have a problem with it. He has all the skills on offense that anyone could ask for. He has a great low post game, great shot and can slash a little bit too when the defense starts to cheat on him.

His defense has a long way and I don't agree with the Bruce Bowen thing john2jer said. McCants is overly agressive on D and does not have half the IQ on D that Bowen does. He fouls at a rediculous rate due to his chasing stats and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. McCants will be a decent defender eventually but I doubt he'll ever be much better than an Avg defender.

All-in-all he is my favorite player on the team.

I'm not saying he's anywhere near Bowen now. My point was that he has the physical tools to be a great defender with his long arms and good strength. He just makes STUPID mistakes which prevents him from becoming a good defender. His shooting also stretches the defense the way Bowen does. I agree about McCants's attitude, though. He's very cut-throat. Sometimes he doesn't do a good job of containing that. There's a time and place for it.

IcemanMN · Post #6 » by **IcemanMN** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 5:53 pm

"McCants" and "great defender" do not belong in the same sentence. If he could play even AVERAGE defense, he would be a starter on this team.

john2jer · Post #7 » by **john2jer** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 6:04 pm

No one said he is a great defender. You're not reading.

Devilzsidewalk · Post #8 » by **Devilzsidewalk** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 6:17 pm

john2jer wrote:McCants is an awesome defender and he's exactly like Bruce Bowen

OH NO YOU DIDNT :crazy:

john2jer · Post #9 » by **john2jer** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 6:37 pm

Busted. QFT. I'm so ashamed. :sad:

deeney0 · Post #10 » by **deeney0** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 7:03 pm

It's hard to understate the mental lapses. Shaddy is one of the most dynamic scorers in the league. He comes off the bench for a reason - stupid fouls, stupid turnovers, playing 1 v 5... If he ever gets his head on straight, watch out. But there's no evidence he ever will.

shrink · Post #11 » by **shrink** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 7:11 pm

I don't think we can understate how great a scorer McCants is. He can score inside, he can slash, he can shoot the jumpshot, and he can stick the three (+40% last year). Per minute, he's scores at a Vince Carter rate. However, its got to be hard on the kid to be playing behind Marko Jaric. He has a long ways to go in the other aspects of the game, but if you're this good a scorer, there will always be a place for you in the NBA.

This is really the season where McCants will have to "put up, of shut up." The microfracture is healed, and this will be his first season since his rookie year where he begins the year healthy, and with a summer of work under his belt. He has a tremendous work ethic (even when he was injured), so I think he's going to do well. However, he must improve on defense.

jack612 · Post #12 » by **jack612** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 7:22 pm

The thing you have to remember about McCants is that while he is dying to be loved, he was also born to be hated and that can't be easy for him.

dunkonu21 · Post #13 » by **dunkonu21** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 8:08 pm

I actually think the reason he has such a great work ethic is BECAUSE of his injury.

Post #14 » by **Calinks** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 9:37 pm

Two years under Kevin Garnett did Rashad McCants well. I think he learned a lot from KG about the NBA and he jsut needs to apply it.

Post #15 » by **revprodeji** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 1:01 pm

At the end of his rookie year, with Casey, Shad was considered the 2nd best defender on the team. Casey publicly said it. Because that is what Coach and KG demanded. last year I think Shad knew they were not trying to win and he played different. This year if we tell him we are trying to win perhaps he will kick the defense up a notch.

Related note---does it worry anyone that after all this time we do not know Wittman's "style"?

Devilzsidewalk · Post #16 » by **Devilzsidewalk** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 3:11 pm

revprodeji wrote:At the end of his rookie year, with Casey, Shad was considered the 2nd best defender on the team. Casey publicly said it. Because that is what Coach and KG demanded. last year I think Shad knew they were not trying to win and he played different. This year if we tell him we are trying to win perhaps he will kick the defense up a notch.

Related note---does it worry anyone that after all this time we do not know Wittman's "style"?

I think the style is an offense where you surround low post player with outside shooters; primary option is the low-post, then the secondary and tertiary options are created off of double-teams via open perimeter shots and cuts. And the backbone is for a strong team defense so we can get out and get some easy opportunities in transition. The low post offense is for efficient half court offense, but you have to get easy points off of long rebounds and turnovers, and to do that, strong defense is a must. Forcing turnovers, and forcing long rebounds because all you allow on defense is long contested jumpers. That's the meat and taters.

Problem last year was poor outside shooting, inability to run the plays and get Al the ball, Al finding the open man after getting double and triple teamed (can be somewhat relieved by teammates making the proper cuts), and overall bad defense.

What I don't know is what he wants next to Al Jefferson, because if it was me, I'd definitely be giving Chris Richard big minutes next to Al for more size defensively and rebounding, but he didn't even make the final cuts. Gomes definitely gives you decent enough rebounding and offense, but the defense - again, the backbone of success - suffers too much from size differential against any team not coached by D'Antoni or Don Nelson.

mandurugo · Post #17 » by **mandurugo** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 6:14 pm

Without commenting on his basketball abilities, I will say that if you need a guy on your team to take stupid cheap shots at opposing players - well, Rashad's your man.

john2jer · Post #18 » by **john2jer** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 7:03 pm

mandurugo wrote:Without commenting on his basketball abilities, I will say that if you need a guy on your team to take stupid cheap shots at opposing players - well, Rashad's your man.

That's just basic thuganomics.

Devilzsidewalk · Post #19 » by **Devilzsidewalk** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 9:31 pm

yo why u guys always gots 2 hate on shads heart once i saw him hits dis trey n he throw up dis gang sign after for like da bay city rollers or sumting and i sed oh snap u see dat? 2 mah boyz, and mah boyz was like yo pay up and i sez 4 wat n they like lol jus playn pax a new bowl lolz

Cy32 · Post #20 » by **Cy32** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 3:43 am

McCants is a chucker. Anyone can put up shots from anywhere on the court but if you take more shots than anyone on your team you should be making a good percentage. In tonights game he put up more shots than anyone on the team in the 6th most minutes. He only made 37% of his shots in all preseason games and 25% from behind the arc. Hardly someone on your team who should be taking 15 or more shots per game.