Xatticus wrote:I get it, but that's the bed our front office has made. I wouldn't want to have to make that decision based on the data we have right now. I'd want more as well. I'd want to see if he is trending in the right direction.
Bamba played in his rookie season. Clifford felt obligated to. Our front office let Clifford have too much authority and he came up with every excuse he could to keep Bamba off the floor. Now they have to make a decision on whether or not Bamba is showing progress with basically one season's worth of data.
The thing is... he is one of the most talented guys on the roster. Rim protection is always at a premium and he has the potential to be one of the best rim protectors in the league. He is a capable rebounder. He has range out to the 3-point line. He has terrific touch around the rim. Mark Eaton was 26 in his first season, so I'm not bothered by his age. The question is... "can you smooth out the rough edges?" I don't know. But if you are wrong and someone else capitalizes on it, you end up looking really stupid.
I guess my issues with Bamba are less skill related and more effort/heart/desire/whatever you want to call it related.
If his issues were only things that would likely improve with more experience, like higher level defensive reads or understanding when/where/why to make a pass versus taking a shot, I'd be more optimistic about his future.
But not only does he need to do all of those things, he just doesn't play consistently play hard nearly enough on top of that. And that's just not something I would be willing to gamble he's ever going to start doing.
He still runs wildly hot and cold and this is a contract year. If he can't be bothered to play hard all the time when he could potentially make tens of millions of dollars more, then when will it ever happen?
