Jeremy Lamb Getting Buckets in D League

[Illmatic21]

Wait ... why is deandre liggins getting minutes over lamb?

Liggins at least looks like an average NBA player on one side of the ball (defense). Chances are Lamb was completely clueless on defense and didn't look like he was ready to get minutes.

He'll be decent in the long run, I think,

[T-Will20]

I have no idea why he can't crack the OKC rotation, even in limited minutes.

Its absurd.

I'd like to hear from OKC fans about this rather than making an ignorant comment, but it seems strange from an outside perspective and i don't want to lump it on Brooks unless warranted.

OKC doesn't need scoring of the bench, they need defense, and Liggins can play D.

[OKCThunderUp35]

Liggins is very good on defense, Lamb is not great.

Lamb is clearly superior on offense but that isn't an issue with KD/RW/KM/IBAKA on our team.
If Martin doesn't re-up with OKC for a reasonable price and has to be let go hopefully Lamb can be our guy.

[Trader_Joe]

He is smooth and you can't teach it.

Still, I am more impressed with Toko Shengalia. Seriously I watched a D-League game with him and he looked like prime AK out there.

Yeah he really does. He's very athletic and active but still needs more consistency on his 3 ball and a better understanding of his defensive rotations but Toko is going to be a good player. He just needs to adjust a little more to the NBA game as did Teletovic but you can see they are both catching on quick. Lots of Nets fans want to see what he can do. Toko dropped 39 and 18 in his first D-league game so I'm not impressed at all with what Lamb is doing. You supposed to dominate the D-League if you're good.

It was actually his 2nd D-League game and I'm not sure why you cannot be impressed with Lamb, just because a Net put up arguably better stats.

If anything I'm more impressed by Lamb.. as he's a guard putting up those stats on good shooting which is a translatable skill to the NBA. Most of Toko's points have been on lay-ups and put backs from porous interior D that he won't see in the NBA. Toko is also a turnover machine.

[ManualRam]

why do you expect him to be in the d-league next yr as well?

again, if they commit to k-mart long term after this yr then i can see where you're coming from. otherwise, you just come off as a uconn fan who lacks patience and wants to see a husky hit the ground running. it doesn't always work out that way.

scant minutes of garbage time in the nba isn't any more of a learning experience than practice or extended d-league minutes. every practice, extended run, film session, 1 on 1 training session, etc is an opportunity for growth and development.

If they plan on getting rid of Kevin Martin and phasing in Lamb next year, i have no problem with that. If that were the case though, I'd expect lamb to at least to be getting back up minutes right now behind Martin, that doesnt seem to be happening. I just hate seeing talented rookies being mismanged. Its like Darko, everyone is so quick to call the guy a bust. Had he gone to a team that was going to play him and build his confidence, I think today we'd still be looking at a very solid NBA big man. I think building that confidence in the rookie year is very important. I dont blame the Thunder at all for not playing him if they dont think he can help them win now, they are a championship contender. I just think its a bit of a waste if they dont view him as someone worthy of solid minutes and other teams do. He could be growing and becoming better instead of rotting on the bench in OKC. And fair point on the garbage minutes, I agree, just goes to show they dont really value him or hold him in high regards. Even if they do and you want to use the championship contender excuse, you cant just keep him back for years and then expect him to step in and replace Kevin Martin when your ready imo.

darko had bigger, more long-term hurdles to overcome when it came to getting minutes. the pistons didn't just have 1 or 2 vets ahead of him. they had multiple, better, established vets ahead of him. lamb has thabo and k-mart, one of which might not be brought back next yr. if they bring back k-mart THEN i'd start worrying about lamb's situation, but right now i wouldn't be.

3rd string minutes in garbage time are not meaningful, since they're low pressure situations and it's just guys finishing out the game. those are the only minutes currently available at the 2.

why do you assume that he's not growing and developing? because you're not able to see it with you're own eyes at the nba stage? if he's not growing and developing as a professional athlete then he's just lazy and not taking advantage of the opportunities that he has.
player development doesn't have to be seen for it to occur. it doesn't sound like you recognize that.

[carl_english]

OKC is setup REAL nicely for the future.

They could've had Harden

[Jmonty580]

Depends on the talent level. Some players need to go down to the dleague and mature and learn the ropes. Lamb is talented enough to at least get backup minutes in the NBA right now. He's going to learn alot more getting regular minutes in actual NBA games then he will playing in the Dleague, so no i dont think playing in the dleague is going to help him more then playing in actual NBA games.

We'll see how his career goes. What i see happening is lamb riding the pine for a few years, and eventually getting out of OKC somehow. By then he'll be so devalued he'll have a hard time getting solid PT just based on past reputation. If he's lucky he'll get to a team that isnt too good and maybe he'll get some pt. If his mental isnt completely destroyed at that point maybe he'll show what he can do, if it is destroyed, he'll look like a scrub and end up out of the league.

I hope your right though that at least next year he'll get an honest chance at PT with OKC, if not, they need to move him. Just my opinon.

I just hate how if players are in the dleague its assumed its because they have alot of growing and maturing to do. I think how you handle a rookie is extremely important. Building their confidence and self esteem at this higher level can make or break a player. If a guy isnt mentally strong enough, the lack of pt and the preceieved demotion can be enough to take them out of the game. I just hate to see a player that I think has alot of potential get his career ended before it even got started.

[MrBigShot]

OKC is setup REAL nicely for the future.

They could've had Harden

No use worrying about the past. Perry Jones/Jeremy Lamb are two guys many people believed were top 10 talents in this draft. OKC is set up pretty nicely.

[Buckeye-NBAFan]

I have no idea why he can't crack the OKC rotation, even in limited minutes.

Its absurd.

I'd like to hear from OKC fans about this rather than making an ignorant comment, but it seems strange from an outside perspective and i don't want to lump it on Brooks unless warranted.

Really? OKC is a championship contender. Lamb is an inexperienced rookie. He doesn't play much defense and doesn't really give you any "intangibles" that help you win. He needs PT for development so that's why he's in the d-league. Pretty simple.

He's better than Jackson and Maynor. That gets him 12 mpg. Not a lot, but worth it to see if he can be their 2nd guard off the bench come playoff time.

[sisibilio]

I have no idea why he can't crack the OKC rotation, even in limited minutes.

Its absurd.

I'd like to hear from OKC fans about this rather than making an ignorant comment, but it seems strange from an outside perspective and i don't want to lump it on Brooks unless warranted.

They have Martin, who as of today is a better player, filling his role, i guess it's that simple.

[sisibilio]

He's better than Jackson and Maynor. That gets him 12 mpg. Not a lot, but worth it to see if he can be their 2nd guard off the bench come playoff time.

As a PG? i don't see it.

[EzeDoesIt]

Nick Young 2.0

Pretty much this.

[Sinant]

People need to get over this idea that spending time in the D-League is "mismanaging" talent. It's thinking like that that causes there to be such few teams utilizing the D-League to its full potential.

There's nothing wrong with contenders using the D-League to let guys who would only see spot minutes get tons of minutes. The better he plays, the more he gets called up to practice with the 1st team, the more his confidence builds. These guys aren't dumb. They understand that if you get drafted/traded to a contender, you're not likely to see game-time.

If more teams used the D-League like the Thunder and a few other teams are starting to, it could become the AAA that it should be.

[kingkirk]

I have no idea why he can't crack the OKC rotation, even in limited minutes.

Its absurd.

I'd like to hear from OKC fans about this rather than making an ignorant comment, but it seems strange from an outside perspective and i don't want to lump it on Brooks unless warranted.

They have Martin, who as of today is a better player, filling his role, i guess it's that simple.

Show me where i said Lamb should be getting Martin's minutes.

This is also simple.

[sisibilio]

Show me where i said Lamb should be getting Martin's minutes.

This is also simple.

So you want him to play next to Martin?

[kingkirk]

Show me where i said Lamb should be getting Martin's minutes.

This is also simple.

So you want him to play next to Martin?

I give up.

[Shem]

I have no idea why he can't crack the OKC rotation, even in limited minutes.

Its absurd.

I'd like to hear from OKC fans about this rather than making an ignorant comment, but it seems strange from an outside perspective and i don't want to lump it on Brooks unless warranted.

Really? OKC is a championship contender. Lamb is an inexperienced rookie. He doesn't play much defense and doesn't really give you any "intangibles" that help you win. He needs PT for development so that's why he's in the d-league. Pretty simple.

I like this perspective on it. OKC is doing fine without Lamb and he's still getting PT to keep his confidence up.