Post#968 » by doclinkin » Sun Apr 30, 2023 3:07 pm
Where I will take my lumps and agree with prime is in saying the franchise failed with respect to Rui. Here we had a highly talented player who clearly has the talent to play the game, and we squandered that asset.
I've been a critic of Rui since about halfway through his Wizards tenure, largely because of the significant gap between his abilities and his skills. I didn't hate the trade because Rui asked for it, and we were going to lose him for nothing in the offseason. I thought we should only trade him IF we could get good value back for him, but I think his prolonged absence from the team last year drained value from any possible trades.
Barring that I felt like it would be better to sign him to his next contract at a lesser value and actually develop his skill and ability. If Rui were playing for Miami he'd be better. Okay he might implode under pressure from Jimmy Buckets, but then he might not, by having a role model to pattern his game after AT BOTH ENDS. Rui does not intuitively understand how to play team defense. But team defense is one of the skills that is best built with experience. Especially high level experience in post season games. WIth teammates who do know how to play it and encourage it from you. Team. Work.
Rui learned to play basketball by watching Olympic Carmelo tapes. My sense is that he is a visual learner. He wants to please, wants to live up to the expectations, but literally does not know how to add value on court except by individual scoring. I got the sense that he was both motivated by Westbrook and daunted by the additional weight that Russ puts on everybody to live up to his standard: give 100% effort, put maximum pressure on the opponent. But Russ can't exemplify how to do it as a Big. And his defense won't be what gets him into the hall of fame. Rui needs to see how it is done. He needs to see that standard set for him.
The team lacked a vet who could show him the ropes, or failing that to invest in the player year round. Send him to camp for learning to rebound, box out, use his inherent strength advantage. He should not have been spending his summers solely at Big Guard camp learning to break his man down when he has the ball. He needs to learn a low post move, foot work in the paint, but more so, how to get open, how to get teammates open, screening off the ball. Setting nasty picks. Using his size and remarkable power-to-mass ratio. ANYthing that would add value to a team beyond spotting up on the outside waiting for the ball to arrive. Something more than individual drills of one-v-one scoring.
The team wasted his value. Failed to develop him. I've said I expect if Rui earns his contract it will be later in his career, especially if we could've extended him with suppressed value, then teach him into his skills. Not to be machiavellian but the time to negotiate an extension really would have been when he was returning from his stress layoff. To say: look, take your time, we are here for you long term. Your value to us is not dependent on immediate on court results, but in you becoming healthy and growing into your abilities. Play the long game.
I think the G-League system fails teams a bit in that players there do only play for a couple years, while skipping teams and looking for better opportunities to showcase their personal talents. It does not drill fundamentals. It is difficult to input a system, and help young players grow. This team in particular has never had a proper culture to grow players. San Antonio. Miami. Steve Kerr's Warriors. Brad Steven's Celtics. Granted players we have had rarely go on to develop complete games elsewhere. (JaVale got a ring, but has also bounced around from team to team). Still, maybe that is because we failed to give them a base of skills to build on.
In any case, whether as a lottery pick or a player or a trade asset we did not get the best value out of our opportunities in regard to Rui. That is not on Rui. It is on the team. If Ted fired Tommy in part because of that, it has less to do with Rui and more to do with every Rui we have had before him and any we get in the future. The next GM should have a sense of how to construct that culture, whether through drafting players who understand the game AND have the talent and fire to perform. Or in the, staff, vision, understanding of how to win, sense of purpose. Give me somebody who has seen their team win a championship. Build a championship culture. Expect championship level effort. Set that as the goal. I think Hachimura was failed in part because the culture around here was satisfied with good enough. For a player with his innate talents, he needed motivations and shaping to understand that good enough is never enough. There is more and better you should ask of yourself. Rui has the talent to reach it. Its is up to the organization to demand it of him and help him get there.
