Proof is in the Pudding

Mylie10 · Post #1 » by **Mylie10** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 5:24 pm

Last night against Philly was the perfect example of judgin a player based on meaningful minutes versus garbage time.

Most basketball people know this, but many often put heavy weight on what a guy accomplishes in garbage time as a barometer to what kind of player he might become.

You can definitely pick up certain things by watching a guy jump, or he might have a smooth stroke, but to really know about a player he needs to play in the main rotation to get a good guage on him.

Last night we saw Brandan Wright team up with Savy veteran Chris Webber to play a fantastic first quarter. It was meaningful and impressive. Webber, Baron, and others were contstantly helping the kid out with tips and strategies.

It was beautiful, hopeful, and impressive all at once. Both from the player and also his team-mates.

Tranfer yourself to the 4th quarter now. That same player got some junk time at the end of the game. He looked lost and out of sorts. It was no better than a pick-up game you'd see at any basketball quart in Oakland.

The kid is gonna do wonderful things and maybe, just maybe he'll win Mr. Nelson over THIS season and get some serious run going into the playoffs.

He might turn out to be one of the biggest playoff additions that happened during this trading deadline period.

Suddenly with the addition of Brandan and the hopeful play of Croshere, we suddenly are looking to have a stronger bench.

It'd be nice to see similar things from Obee (playing with the starters from time to time), but that ship has sailed.

Sid the Squid · Post #2 » by **Sid the Squid** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 5:28 pm

I think I found my new nickname for this 08 version of BoomDizzle.....Baron "Pudding" Davis :bowdown:

Mylie10 · Post #3 » by **Mylie10** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 5:34 pm

To me he's "Boomsama" until he shaves that mess.

Post #4 » by **FNQ** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 5:46 pm

PilsBaron FTW

Our team looked different with Wright on the court, but a part of that was PHI kinda ignoring him offensively. With the confidence he got though, he looked aggressive, and thats what you want to get out of a kid. Confidence and aggression. After he missed a shot he came back and wasn't afraid to pull the trigger again... and we've had this exact same kid on the bench all along :banghead:

St.Nick · Post #5 » by **St.Nick** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 5:50 pm

Yeah, Im sure that we wouldve gotten this kind of performance from Wright from day 1.

Tell me something coach, how quickly do Freshman pick up your teams basketball system?

Mylie10 · Post #6 » by **Mylie10** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 5:55 pm

510Reggae wrote:PilsBaron FTW

Our team looked different with him on the court, but a part of that was PHI kinda ignoring him offensively. With the confidence he got though, he looked aggressive, and thats what you want to get out of a kid. Confidence and aggression. After he missed a shot he came back and wasn't afraid to pull the trigger again... and we've had this exact same kid on the bench all along

I thought of you during the game last night Reggae.

They brought in Reggie Evans and he quickly came in the game and rammed his big body into Brandan. He took the hit and still got his hands on the ball. He was also battling for position against much bigger guys. Very nice.

I'm glad Philly started Thadeus Young though. I think that had as much to do with BW start as anything.

Jeez nick, you show up and start ess.

Brandan could have been helping most of the year. He could have played some early on. He still had heigth and length. He's a good shot blocker and you always need that, agenda boy.

Post #7 » by **FNQ** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 6:04 pm

If any of our freshman played the same role on their past team as they are supposed to on our team, they can step right in and contribute.

Wright did absolutely nothing different than he did in UNC - sag off his man, wait for his chance, be it offensively or defensively, and make something happen. He rolls to open spots and blocks/alters shots right now, and rebounds. If we only had another player like that...

Does he still know the plays? How many times has Baron made him clear out of the lane during the past 3 games so he can drive? I guess we're crediting Nellie here... Wright, for all the good things he's done, still does not embrace our philosophies yet, the one where Baron makes all the calls :roll:

And as for his inside presence, thats what he does.. if Evans did that all game and was any kind of offensive weapon, yes, eventually it will wear Brandan out.. But the kid knows what to do down there. He's got great footwork, and prepares his body for the hit. What I did notice on Evans once, he came up to meet Evans' body once, and hit Evans before Evans expected contact... I think thats the one where he poked the ball away too. The kid knows how to play... and he damn sure didnt learn it here :lol:

Sid the Squid · Post #8 » by **Sid the Squid** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 6:07 pm

Just think, 10 days ago Nellie had a young PF on his hands who "may be ready to play a little next season"

Brandan made incredible progress over the last week I guess :rofl:

Post #9 » by **Sleepy51** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 6:22 pm

LF75 wrote:I think I found my new nickname for this 08 version of BoomDizzle.....Baron "Pudding" Davis

Ok, have to admit it now. For a while I just chalked it up to the ugly beard, but yes, he has lost his conditioning.

Too many minutes early on, no energy/effort for off the court training to maintain. Hopefully with Monta being the real deal, his minutes can be brought down now, and he can get back to doing some lower impact work off the court to condition.

No matter how irritating his ups and downs can be along the way, getting Baron in the playoffs healthy will be worth it. you'll be back on his jock in no time when he carves up Farmar/Fisher to boot the Fakers from the playoffs.

Sid the Squid · Post #10 » by **Sid the Squid** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 6:27 pm

Sleepy51 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

you'll be back on his jock in no time when he carves up Farmar/Fisher to boot the Fakers from the playoffs.

Of course

Noboby is better than Baron when he's on a terror.

turk3d · Post #11 » by **turk3d** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 6:35 pm

510Reggae wrote:PilsBaron FTW

Our team looked different with him on the court, but a part of that was PHI kinda ignoring him offensively. With the confidence he got though, he looked aggressive, and thats what you want to get out of a kid. Confidence and aggression. After he missed a shot he came back and wasn't afraid to pull the trigger again... and we've had this exact same kid on the bench all along

I think that I have to disagree with you partly here, Reggae. I think it was the opposite. It seemed to me that the Philly defense was geared up to stop Baron which is one of the reasons he shot so poorly and a big reason why everyone else shot so good. They were keying on him but he was keying on Miller defensively, a guy who usually has good games against Baron. It was his defense and passing which allowed us to beat them so handily. Practically all of his bad shots came at times when they couldn't really hurt us. His defensive stops, steals and passes is how helped us on the offensive end. Maybe he's actually starting to figure out how to play so that we can win. Think about it. He shoots 3 for 16 (or whatever it was) and we still win by 20. They may have stopped him, but they didn't stop anyone else. I'll take that every game and so should he. I do agree he needs to get back in better shape and I am hopeful his minutes can be reduced the rest of the season so that he'll be at his best if we get to the playoffs.

Rio to the Bay · Post #12 » by **Rio to the Bay** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 6:41 pm

Nellie is starting to piss me off now. Brandan Wright is having a great game and he sits him the whole second quarter and almost all of the 3rd and 4th quarter???? Wtf!!!!!

I never complained about Nellie's rotations, but putting in Croshere when Brandan should have been out there was killing me.

He was an impact player defensively, I was impressed.

MORE BRANDAN PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 :banghead:

Post #13 » by **FNQ** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 6:44 pm

My bad turk... 2nd paragraph was about Wright, not Baron.. just throwing in what I was calling Baron last night.

Edited for clarity.

turk3d · Post #14 » by **turk3d** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 6:46 pm

510Reggae wrote:My bad turk... 2nd paragraph was about Wright, not Baron.. just throwing in what I was calling Baron last night. Edited for clarity.

It's cool Reggae. Missed you yesterday, could have used some of your help with the Nellie kool aid drinkers. lol.

Yi Jian Lian · Post #15 » by **Yi Jian Lian** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 7:00 pm

we definitely need more brandan, i believe in this guy, so can you

Post #16 » by **FNQ** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 7:00 pm

Its fun to see them flail :lol:

You get the impression that they never toed the line anywhere... authority is #1, unquestioned... friggin communists

They'd be the ones at Woodstock trying to get people to put their clothes back on... we're slowly breaking free from Nellie's gimmickball despite his best efforts to keep it under wraps. That Biedrins injury may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for us.

Souvlaki · Post #17 » by **Souvlaki** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 7:31 pm

Brandon is great. But jeez, don't stress about his minutes. Nelly is bringing him along just fine. So many people are instant gratification, I want it now kids. Relax, he's going to be with us a long time and will play plenty. So far his development is working out just fine. Nelly is doing a good job with Wright, so it's not even an issue.

turk3d · Post #18 » by **turk3d** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 7:49 pm

510Reggae wrote:Its fun to see them flail

You get the impression that they never toed the line anywhere... authority is #1,
unquestioned... friggin communists
:D

They'd be the ones at Woodstock trying to get people to put their clothes back on... we're slowly breaking free from Nellie's gimmickball despite his best efforts to keep it under wraps. That Biedrins injury may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for us.

Didn't realize they were commies; just thought they were a few dumb f :censored:

ks. LOL. Start a poll and get your a :censored:

ses kicked. I guess that kind of verifies.

Twinkie defense · Post #19 » by **Twinkie defense** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 1:38 am

Yeah I'm loving the Brandan minutes but there's no reason - for Brandan or the team - that he has to go immediately from 0 minutes to 30 minutes.

He's gonna be great! But let's not get too excited about two nice stints either - if I recall, between those two good games there was one not so good game. Pace your expectations.

Mylie10 · Post #20 » by **Mylie10** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 1:47 am

He doesn't need to go from zero to 30, but why he didn't go back into the game last night is a wonder.

Great first quarter, why not sub him like you would for guys who are playing well in a particular game?

He should have been playing alot earlier this year and by now he'd be a regular rotation guy. All of the butterflies would be gone and his teammates would have a good feel for him and his game. His shot blocking may have helped in some of those crummy games against the Bulls and Sota.

I'm not talking 30 minutes per, but if you follow Nellie this year, you'd know as a koolaide drinker that he said Brandan isn't ready this year.

So to follow that logic Brandan may not play in the next few games because he's coming off of a career best.