Zelaznyrules wrote:NavLDO wrote:LukasBMW wrote:I love our team and I love the direction we are heading in, BUT a lot...I mean A LOT needs to go right for us to make the playoffs.
We are super super thin on the frontline when you consider our rookies are going to need to grow at a slow pace. We need Alex Len to have a breakout season and we need solid contributions from both Dudley and Chandler.
If Chandler or Dudley gets hurt for an extended period of time and Alex Len does not improve, then it will be basically impossible for us to compete for a playoff spot even if Bledsoe/Knight/Booker play out of their minds.
Remember, Len was a failed experiment by Horny,
the last 32 games Len was actually very good. He was just still taking too many 10-16 and 16ft+ range shots that hurt his efficiency AND hurt his defensive prowess. Return Len back to what he does best for a majority of the time, and we'll likely see more of those 14 Dbl-Dbls we saw from him in his last 32 games vs 5 Dbl-Dbls from his first 46 games.
Len improved the second Watson took over, and I believe he'll use Len more towards his strengths.
If Watson employs Len properly, which I believe he'll have more freedom to do with our roster construct now and a healthy Warren and addition of Duds (regardless of how you feel about Dudley at PF, he's still better defensively at PF than Mirza was, and Leuer hardly got any minutes after Horny left), then I see no reason why anyone should worry about Len and his performance. Len took too much flak for his game than he deserved last season; you'd think we were starting some bench-level Center with some of the comments made about his game. Again, it was Horny, coupled with Warren's injury, that led to a perceived drop in his performance, which to me, was flatly unwarranted. And once Chriss and/or Bender get into their game at PF, that will only further help our cause.
That's not how I'd write the history of Jeff, Len and Watson. There were a lot of things I'd lay at Hornacek's doorstep but Len's performance isn't one of them. Alex struggled with injuries almost the entire time Jeff had him. Once Jeff was fired Len continued to struggle until his hand got a little better. He averaged fewer than 8 points per in his first 5 games following Jeff's firing and it seemed to me his defense took a dive with the way Watson used him.
I realize Watson moved him to the forward spot in order to get them both minutes but I don't see how it's called a success from any other angle.
And IIRC Len couldn't even buy a basket from the 3 to 10 foot range as the season closed out, it wasn't just his long jumpers that weren't falling. AFAIC, he showed far more promise before moving to forward spot then he did under Earl. I still think he can be a good player in this league but I never again want to see him at forward unless we can pair him with a hybrid of Channing Frye and Dikembe Mutombo.
Now, remember my disclaimer, I'm the "I watch highlights" guy, and maybe was able to watch 2 partial games during that timeframe, so I'll defer to your experience; just going by what I remember of what I saw in combination with what the metrics/stats say...and I just re-looked and you are indeed correct. At the rim he was fine, but he was actually better from 16+ than he was 3-10, so I apologize for misreading. So bloody hell, let's make Len a stretch 5 then!! (OK, so he wasn't that much better). But the point is, he seemed to find his game better under Watson than he did Jeff, and yes, it's not all Jeff's fault, so sorry for coming across like it was ALL his fault...I shouldn't blame Jeff, but the circumstances under Watson were better, it seemed, for Len, since aside from his shooting, he played fairly well.
But also remember, Len was feast-or-famine his last few months--he was either really on, or really off, and there wasn't much in between. I guess what I get frustrated about was every time he'd have a 1-10 shooting, 4 TRB game, all the "Len sucks" people would come out, but when he was 8-13 with 15 TRBs, it was 'whistle, whistle, ho-hum'....next game, 2-9 with 5 TRBs, out came the "Len sucks, Len sucks, every other Center from that draft is better" crowd again...to me, that's just unfair. Len was asked to be much more prevalent in the offense than any of these other Centers, and yeah, he had some atrocious games, but c'mon, he's 22 YO! If these other Centers were asked to do what Len was, they'd be just as bad, if not worse, but no, all they have to do is hang around the rim and BLK shots or Dunk the ball...whoop-it-dee-dooo...
So, sorry, I'm a natural apologist for our team and our players...to a fault, I know, but in Len's case, I think we should be patient and see how he fairs under a full season under Watson before laying judgment on him and his abilities.
I think you are a classic example of not understanding a post
