Jcool0 wrote:League Circles wrote:Jcool0 wrote:
He has played better D this year, which you acknowledge and that is all that matters. He learned something and got better. Shocking that happened with a 21 year old player i know. This is a big nothing burger.
I disagree that him playing better D this year is all that matters. He's still not good on D, and he still doesn't truly believe in the importance of strong defense by all players at all times - he believes it makes sense and acceptable to modulate your effort based on how effective your teammates are on that half of the ball. It reflects poorly on his competitive temperament (relative to the mindset of champion type players) and poorly on his leadership ability (throwing his teammates under the bus to a degree).
It's like he's squinting hard to see what could help him in his contract year and trying to do and say the right thing, but frankly missing the point. I remember Eddy Curry kinda played half acceptable defense finally in his contract year once upon a time.
Again, not saying this is a deal breaker, but it gives a sense of what his mindset is, which is that what he does himself is "enough" unless it becomes a glaring issue forced upon him by coaches, fans, media etc and only then will he concede a bit that it wasn't enough and it's time for him to "take on bigger challenges", which is a lie in the way we'd understand it (guarding more difficult players). To him, the new bigger challenge is simply not relaxing on defense.
I'm NOT saying that Coby necessarily is or will be a better player than Giddey, but one reason I really like him is that he always plays hard and actually speaks as a leader and I can tell he truly believes that high level play is really difficult and a constant challenge to always try to embrace and do your best at or suffer the consequences. He's clearly a better leader IMO (and I also believe he's definitely a better defender but I know that's debatable). Giddey seems like a good guy who isn't lazy or selfish but who might not embrace the urgency and difficulty of playing hard all the time. Vuc is a lot like this. Vuc seems to genuinely think it's OK for him to not contest shots. It's the difference between thinking something is OK until it's a glaring problem being shoved in your face, and thinking that everything is a glaring problem until you're winning a championship despite it.
You can still be a good player and not make the all defense team every year. Tons of NBA players do it every year. As for Coby... He has been the same player since his rookie year. So i really dont care how hard he plays because it doesn't change the player he is. He is never going to be James Harden, he is going to be Ben Gordon. Which isnt a bad thing. But lets not pretend it really helps the Bulls long term. Which is why i hope he is traded this off season. I dont need Giddey to be a top 20 players to find value in what he does and to be okay giving him a good contract to stick around a few years.
You can also be a good player and not make sense for a bad team to sign to a long term contract.
