mojo13 wrote:Hair Canada wrote:mojo13 wrote:We may want to start considering that RJ just isn’t very good? He is so inconsistent and inefficient it is maddening. I thought he turned the corner at the start of the season (looked great!) and then he did a 180 and is now looking horrible again.
Yes…still young and perhaps the change in scenery helps. But per the SMNT I’m certainly more of a backer of Dort and maybe even NAW before Barrett.
Unfortunately due to his lineage of I’m not sure the SMNT sees it that way (yet) and this has the potential to be an Achilles heel of the team this summer.
He shouldn’t be starting over Brooks (assuming SGA & Murray are there). Throw Dort, NAW into the mix (maybe Wiggins?) and Barrett should be more an 9th or 10th man? That may be a tough one for Jordi to manage.
I'd say for me that's a bit of an overreaction. I agree that he can be frustrating ot watch. The shooting is unstable and the explosion without a run is lacking (also making him a mediocre defender despite decent effort). But there's an offensive talent here that only lags behind SGA and Murray (though by a large margin). Need only go look at what he's done this summer. Second best scorer on the team with decent shooting (37% from 3 and 53% from 2) and also second best rebounder. And he actually showed up very well in the last three games against Slovenia, Serbia, and the US, with 24 and 9, 23 and 3, and 23 and 7. For reference, Dort scored less than half the points on significantly worse shooting during the tournament.
If Murray's around, I can see a preference for Dort for defensive purposes in some lineups. But RJ is definitely still a starter for me and certainly not a 9th/10th man. Definitely not with how Wiggins has looked this year.
My opinion on Rj’s SNMT summer is that his box scores are very misrepresenting of his actual play. Much of his points came late game when the game was out of hand or gimmies generated by teammates. I felt he made crucial boneheaded play after boneheaded play in more than a couple games. Forcing contested threes, driving into 2-3 bigs into the paint and coughing up a bad shot or just simple unforced turnovers. He was infuriating to watch at times yet admittedly he often come back down the floor and make a great play. I was cringing half the time when the ball was in his hands and he was trying to make something happen. Despite the attractive box scores he was my disappointment of the World Cup right alongside Olynyk.
After seeing Dort’s big jump in efficiency this season I’d take him over Barrett in almost any scenario.
Wiggins at least has a history of being a good player. With him and RJ both stinking it up right now, I’d role with Wiggins.
If a roster or playing time crunch somehow comes down to RJ and Wiggins, I'd prefer to go with the guy who actually seems to care about playing basketball, has a work ethic, and plays hard...and that definitely isn't Wiggins, at least not for about the past year.
