Raja Bell...Not Just Another Keith Bogans

[spectre_]

I miss Raja

I miss Jrich

May? Morrison? 2 for 1 special, hell... Raja, Sean and Adam for Jason.

Can't have Boris though. He stays... we need him for his French.

Come on now...this isn't about Richardson! He's had multiple threads here on RealGM; everyone knows he's a great offensive player. This thread is dedicated to Raja Bell, a wily vet who has helped us improve our defense as well as still bringing us some offense. Sure we would have gotten the points...but no way would we be having opposing SGs playing the subpar games they have had against us without Bell!

And at only 5 million per!

[spectre_]

http://www.wfnz.com/

Interview with Raja...about halfway down on the left.

1) Excited to be here, complimented LB for knowing the team and what fits chemistry wise and for LB influencing his work ethic early on
2) BIG advocate of Boris...calls him a "special" player
3) Playoff team NOW.

Also some personal stuff.

[BigSlam]

And at only 5 million per!

For me, that's the kicker. I don't look at him as a replacement for JRich but more as a replacement for Hammer. And as a replacement for Hammer, Bell has been pretty good.

Hopefully when his contract is up at the end of next season if he still has some gass in the tank we can retain him on the cheap to mentor the stud SG we are going to draft this summer!!

[spectre_]

In no way should he be considered a replacement to Richardson, but he brings MUCH more than Hammer (and I know you weren't saying they were =). The biggest thing for me...tho D is one of my bigger things in general...is the leadership he's bringing to the starting group.

For example: Felton leaving Manu to double Duncan on that 2nd 3 ptr he hit. I didn't see it, but Chabber brought up on BCP how Bell took him to task for that. For the past few years I don't know that we've had any player on our squad with the cred to call another starter out like that...maybe since BK?

I've seen him leading the discussions in time outs right before they come onto the court. He also is usually in Felton's ear (or another player) during FTs.

Stuff like that and of course the D is what I think LB wanted/needed the most.

[Walt Cronkite]

Sorry for my post, that was a joke. I've been really impressed with Bell because I thought he would be terrible on offense outside of his 3 ball and at least a step slow defensively. I've been loving how he's played lately, but have the bus revved up in preparation for his next slump/poor defensive game so we can throw him under it.

[BigSlam]

that we've had any player on our squad with the cred to call another starter out like that...maybe since BK?

[spectre_]

that we've had any player on our squad with the cred to call another starter out like that...maybe since BK?

+1...forgot about DA, and he's a great comparison in that regard.

but have the bus revved up in preparation for his next slump/poor defensive game so we can throw him under it.

Heh, who was that poster that was ripping Richardson up so much about his lack of D when he first came here?

It's always about "what have you done lately". Hopefully he and all our guys will get some consistency and make those discussions few and far between.

BTW...appreciate you doing that breakdown in the other thread i.e capspace.

[chabber]

I never commented on the trade when it happened but I loved it.

Raja Bell is my type of player. Gritty defender and can spread the floor. Guys like him, Posey, PJ Brown, Oakley etc.. who do the dirty work and show veteran leadership have always been some of my favorites. I was rather shocked how guys around here were jumping all over him when he got here and had a few bad games. Nice to see everyone changing their tune.

[BigSlam]

It's always about "what have you done lately". Hopefully he and all our guys will get some consistency and make those discussions few and far between.

You just hit the nail on the head for me. It's not about "what have you done for me latley" with Bell - or any of our players. It's about wanting consistency. We wont go any where without consistency and knowing what we are going to get from our guys play by play, game by game.

I do appreciate that about Bell. He's just a catch and shoot guy, but he knows that. He plays within his limitations and to his strengths well - or at least he has the last couple of games.

[spectre_]

Where we get into trouble is when something breaks down...in our case a lot of times that's scoring. Then you have guys trying to go above what's in their comfort zone. I actually think that's what's been going on with Raja in the last couple of games; luckily for us he's been able to deliver.

Like FFP posted on the 1st page (and you requoted):

We need to find a way to make Raja's scoring a "nice to have" versus the "need to have" that it currently is.

[Paydro70]

I am very pleasantly surprised by how Bell has turned out. He started off horrrrrrribly for us, but since acclimating to the team he's really been an asset on both sides of the ball.

I think comparing him to Hammer is a smart move; he's about as good on offense as Hammer was, but he really helps defensively when he's on the floor. Raja was going through a bit of a slump in Phoenix, perhaps because of the new coach, but now that he's getting the opportunity to use his jumper, he's come through bigtime.

As perhaps the leading critic of the trade when it went down, I considered Bell to be unworthy no matter what, and only peak Diaw (which is not quite what we're getting, but close) could make it semi-fair. Now it does indeed appear we may have gotten the better part of the deal.

[Dexmor]

So with him playing so well do they trade him considering his age? He could have 4 years left though.

[Walt Cronkite]

uhh...no.

[b-ball forever]

Ha, I was expecting him to fit in Larry Brown's system well eventually, not surprised at all.

He's getting older, but he's 1 of those defenders like Bowen (minus the tendancy to injure opponents and karate kick white guys in the face) who were never really athletic in their primes either, and never really relied on lateral quickness when defending too much anyways.

The drop on D while in PHX this year was def due to a lack of motivation playing for Porter (just look at his FT%, he went from 87Fft% under D'Antoni in 07-08 to 76ft% under Porter. Now with the Cats he's averaging 95ft%!).

If/when u guys make the playoffs, his toughness and experience will become even more valuable since he always steps it up in big games and never folds under pressure.

I saw this article the other day and was surprised that Larry Brown wanted him to try taking combo guard responsibilties by helping out with the playmaking since he never had to do that next to Nash in PHX (see end of article), but he did have an impressive game leading 8 assists tonight, so yeah... :

http://www.newsobserver.com/733/story/1376185.html