Bouk 'Em, Danno: The James Bouknight Thread

[vorbis]

just to be accountable to what I thought when the news about his injury came out: to be still wearing a cast after this amount of time, it's clear that it was a legitimate injury and not some kind of "too cool for summer league" thing.

[Benjamin Linus]

Bouk getting shots up post hand surgery and with two months to go til the season opener. Looks ready to go

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?s=20&t=xlakkoF_Xf4BwnzzY_M6rQ

[yosemiteben]

https://www.nba.com/hornets/videos/scorchin-takes-episode-2-james-bouknight-and-jalen-mcdaniels

[Liver_Pooty]

https://www.nba.com/hornets/videos/scorchin-takes-episode-2-james-bouknight-and-jalen-mcdaniels

Lol bouk needs to stop before he has a stroke.

[fatlever]

its concerning to me that Bouks first instinct when he gets the ball is to dribble in place while he takes 5 seconds to try and iso drive vs his defender.
unless you are a goat level iso scorer, then i fully believe in the spurs/Borrego mantra of shoot, drive, pass within 1-2 seconds. keep it moving.
just making this slight change to his game would to wonders for the offense when he's on the floor.
hopefully cliff help him make this change
(to be fair, the entire team was bad in this regard vs boston, but Bouk was the worst offender and its always been his style here)

[MasterIchiro]

Clifford believes Bouknight will be a starter. Clifford bashing aside, Steve is the one who lobbied for Donovan Mitchell coming out of the draft. I'm not sure where he stood on Booker.

All I know is Cho passed on:

Klay Thompson
Bradley Beal
Zach LaVine
Donovan Mitchell
Devin Booker

He also took Hairston in the first round and traded out of the Brogdon draft.

Cho was content with Gerald Henderson, then MKG and later Batum.

Talk about not knowing your personnel.

Hopefully, Clifford is as right about James Bouknight as coach was about Donovan Mitchell.

[BurrellFor3]

Clifford believes Bouknight will be a starter. Clifford bashing aside, Steve is the one who lobbied for Donovan Mitchell coming out of the draft. I'm not sure where he stood on Booker.

All I know is Cho passed on:

Klay Thompson
Bradley Beal
Zach LaVine
Donovan Mitchell
Devin Booker

He also took Hairston in the first round and traded out of the Brogdon draft.

Cho was content with Gerald Henderson, then MKG and later Batum.

Talk about not knowing your personnel.

Hopefully, Clifford is as right about James Bouknight as coach was about Donovan Mitchell.

I feel like I’m one of the only guys on here who doesn’t hate on Bouk right now, you being one of the only other ones as well! I am a big UConn fan, and watching Bouk at Uconn I loved the way he played. One of the most athletic guys I had seen play there, which is why it’s so darn confusing that he looks so unathletic and not explosive at times right now. So to me, it’s a combination of two things. 1) lack of confidence likely due to Borrego and being taken down from his high horse year one, and 2) lack of game play this summer due to injury.

I think Clifford is banking on what he knows of Bouk from college and what he saw in him last year when he did play. Don’t forget how he came in blazing in preseason and lit it up for us, playing with no worries.

I believe he’s the longer term answer next to Melo as a starter as well, maybe as soon as next year, if he can get his head straight and blossom under Cliff (mostly mentally).

[Braggins]

Fair to point out that two of the biggest things he needed to work on was shooting and ball handling and hes coming off hand surgery.

[MasterIchiro]

Clifford believes Bouknight will be a starter. Clifford bashing aside, Steve is the one who lobbied for Donovan Mitchell coming out of the draft. I'm not sure where he stood on Booker.

All I know is Cho passed on:

Klay Thompson
Bradley Beal
Zach LaVine
Donovan Mitchell
Devin Booker

He also took Hairston in the first round and traded out of the Brogdon draft.

Cho was content with Gerald Henderson, then MKG and later Batum.

Talk about not knowing your personnel.

Hopefully, Clifford is as right about James Bouknight as coach was about Donovan Mitchell.

I feel like I’m one of the only guys on here who doesn’t hate on Bouk right now, you being one of the only other ones as well! I am a big UConn fan, and watching Bouk at Uconn I loved the way he played. One of the most athletic guys I had seen play there, which is why it’s so darn confusing that he looks so unathletic and not explosive at times right now. So to me, it’s a combination of two things. 1) lack of confidence likely due to Borrego and being taken down from his high horse year one, and 2) lack of game play this summer due to injury.

I think Clifford is banking on what he knows of Bouk from college and what he saw in him last year when he did play. Don’t forget how he came in blazing in preseason and lit it up for us, playing with no worries.

I believe he’s the longer term answer next to Melo as a starter as well, maybe as soon as next year, if he can get his head straight and blossom under Cliff (mostly mentally).

Uconn basketball fell off after Calhoun. But Bouknight being from Brooklyn likely remembers Kemba and their championship run.

Bouknight to me reminds me of Rip Hamilton. Richard Hamilton flourished in midrange, and just had a nose for the basket. He was not a strong body and he had a slender frame. But he was so agile and quick.

Bouk will need to practice his handles and shooting at this level. The rim protection and help defense at the NBA level deters him from that part of his game. But there is more space if he learns how to escape double teams off iso plays.

The game has to slow down for him and he has to read the floor. But right now he has no response to overagressive defense. He's not identifying the open man before his defender cheats. Some of it is confidence. Some is just getting reps.

Kemba played really terrible at the start of his career. He looked like a bust to fans who lacked perspective on what you see inside him as a UConn fan. I think fans in general don't think in terms of theoretical perspective. They're mostly results oriented and tend to draw conclusions based on limited data. So, whatever shows up on the floor right now is what defines perception.

I think the Sac game is where you saw what's inside. It was a tease. That night the game slowed for him and he just stomped on the defense. He didn't overthink. He's playing afraid to make mistakes now instead of letting the game come to him and picking spots. JB had a quick hook with him. And the whole sideline incident is so odd to me. Bouk never did that at UConn.

I'm relieved to hear Clifford believing in the player inside despite the results.

[Diop]

Kembas speed and handles always got him open jump shots, he just couldn’t hit them consistently for the first year or so. I haven’t seen that skill with Bouknight.

[MasterIchiro]

Kembas speed and handles always got him open jump shots, he just couldn’t hit them consistently for the first year or so. I haven’t seen that skill with Bouknight.

Even with his speed and handles it took Kemba at least 3 years to finish at the rim.

Bouknight may not have the shooting potential from range as Kemba, but I think being more athletic and long, he's going to be better at getting points at the rim. They will eventually have to respect his attacks and give more space.

[Robot Rock]

James Bouknight, to this point in his career, has been very not good.

[yosemiteben]

I so so so so so so hope Bouk turns into something great for us, by my **** lord he is complete dog **** right now. He's shooting 2-22 in preseason. Just embarrassingly bad.

[MasterIchiro]

I so so so so so so hope Bouk turns into something great for us, by my **** lord he is complete dog **** right now. He's shooting 2-22 in preseason. Just embarrassingly bad.

No argument. He's playing tight and uncomfortable and the layoff with the wrist didn't help. He's behind his own game, and not 100% back in his flow.

But as the game progressed tonight, I could distinctly see him survey the floor and see more space. He was pushing the ball ahead and making mostly good aggressive passes (some bad decisions sprinkled in).

Clifford is trying to gain his trust leaving him in to take shots and play through it. I'm very relieved.

[nature_boyy97]

Absolute bust. Going forward we gotta avoid top 6 players that go into free fall. Vonleh, Monk…it’s almost like other teams passed on these guys for a reason.

[yosemiteben]

I so so so so so so hope Bouk turns into something great for us, by my **** lord he is complete dog **** right now. He's shooting 2-22 in preseason. Just embarrassingly bad.

No argument. He's playing tight and uncomfortable and the layoff with the wrist didn't help. He's behind his own game, and not 100% back in his flow.

But as the game progressed tonight, I could distinctly see him survey the floor and see more space. He was pushing the ball ahead and making mostly good aggressive passes (some bad decisions sprinkled in).

Clifford is trying to gain his trust leaving him in to take shots and play through it. I'm very relieved.

The difference between us I think is that I really have no reason to think he'll work out. We're betting on him because we have to and I'm pulling for him because we need something to work out, but I'm not at all optimistic that he'll turn the corner. Hope he does.

[MasterIchiro]

I so so so so so so hope Bouk turns into something great for us, by my **** lord he is complete dog **** right now. He's shooting 2-22 in preseason. Just embarrassingly bad.

No argument. He's playing tight and uncomfortable and the layoff with the wrist didn't help. He's behind his own game, and not 100% back in his flow.

But as the game progressed tonight, I could distinctly see him survey the floor and see more space. He was pushing the ball ahead and making mostly good aggressive passes (some bad decisions sprinkled in).

Clifford is trying to gain his trust leaving him in to take shots and play through it. I'm very relieved.

The difference between us I think is that I really have no reason to think he'll work out. We're betting on him because we have to and I'm pulling for him because we need something to work out, but I'm not at all optimistic that he'll turn the corner. Hope he does.

I predict he will have a decent game next one. Pritchard mugged him first contest but couldn't do **** this one. Bouk has some pride. He's showing glimpses of confidence and focus. I think he's responding positively to the long leash. JB didn't want us to suffer through this. But ****, losses heading into this 2023 draft are well worth the growing pains.

Defensively, Bouk had a block and had his hands all over the place. He was more active and engaged. He's rewarding Clifford for the longer leash. I felt Bouk played a strong game defensively vs. the Raptors last season. Made a few mistakes and hardly saw the floor in the games that followed.

When Martin and Hayward return, Bouk won't see these minutes. But he will get a full preseason to play catch-up. He really needs that vote of confidence. Looks like DSJ knows Terry is PG2 to free minutes for Bouk.

Yes we have to invest. We didn't do so sufficiently under JB trying to win at all costs.

Look down the board though at all the prospects JB played inconsistently - Richards, Thor, Kai. None look ready to compete for the playoffs.

I don't think Kupchak/MJ gave Clifford the same edict. So the development weighs heavier as part of the plan this season.

I'm grateful. He's immensely talented.

[W_HAMILTON]

I so so so so so so hope Bouk turns into something great for us, by my **** lord he is complete dog **** right now. He's shooting 2-22 in preseason. Just embarrassingly bad.

I watched some of last game and, arguably even worse, he seems to be doing A LOT of the ballhandling when he's in there and he is just getting nothing done in terms of running the team. Granted, he was playing alongside some guys that won't have a future in the NBA, but still. The offense just looks horrible with him running it, not only because he is shooting terribly, but because he just doesn't seem capable of directing a team right now.

[amcoolio]

I would swap him for Coby White or Bamba or another underachieving young player. He's not going to work out here.

[UNCNYC]

That's why I shy'ed away from us drafting him and opted for Primo. I watched a lot of Bouknight in college and the love affair died down as far as drafting but not as far as a fan goes.

I thought Ayo Dosunmu and David Duke were/are better options.

I would also LOOOVE for us to get Jason Preston, Sandro Mamukelashvili or Aaron Wiggins via trade for him.