prime1time wrote:As is often the case with Rui haters they are silent...
I don't think Rui had haters so much as skeptics. Maybe doubters. He is easy to like. We have players on this team that were hateable, but Rui isn't one. IF anything the argument comes between his loudest cheerleaders and fans who say: "yeah but..." and point out areas to improve. He's a 2nd year player, with little history in the game, and some areas where he is deficient, with the caveat that he starts out an older rookie than most, but found the game later in his development.
One concern was his ability to swiftly pick up team defensive concepts. Late last season I think he showed that if you give him a single player to guard he has the length and athleticism and focus to shut down that match up. One adjustment that seems to have been made is that coaches taken advantage of this skill and directed him against whomever is the high-usage player on that team. Let everyone else figure out how to adjust in a team scheme behind him. In this respect his rebounding numbers are going to suffer, he is better against face-up players than against bigs in the low post on defense, and if he is 30 feet from the basket defending Dame then yeah he will not be in position to scoop rebounds. part of it has been emphasis as well, in the offseason he was not drilling with a low-post tutor though, he was facing off against hyper talented ballhandlers at Big Guard university. Defending guards is something has seen before. Facing dribble drive players in one-on-one match-ups is well within his skill set. The rest can come later as he experiences it more.
That is the thing to like about Rui. He seems like an avid student. If he sees it he can learn it. His learning curve will be steeper than others since his exposure to the game was late and he had little high level competition. He had no role models for defense or low post play. He learned at first by watching videos of Carmelo in FIBA play. There's no defense in that model.
As he develops he will turn doubters into advocates. Fans even.
as to your EDIT. I'd agree right now he is best on the perimeter. HOWEVER I would not give up on him in the low post. I think if he is taught some basic footwork and rebounding tricks and tips he will develop quickly there too. He just needs an example to model. A go to move. Understanding of basic principles of weak-side adjustments vs ball-side shifts. You saw how happy and proud of himself he was when he took a charge, the other game. We will see how he does against a powerhouse like LeBJ.
Then again, I had Leonard rated as the guy we should pick at #6, so it's not exactly impossible to know in retrospect. & I also wanted Jimmy Butler, who went #30. You ought to be able to pick up the #15 & #30 pick in a draft using the #9 pick as trade bait.
