therealbig3 wrote:drza wrote:therealbig3 wrote: Reggie Evans is not a good player.
Completely aside from your other discussion, I'd disagree with this comment on its face.
I agree with the gist of what many Nets fans have pointed out, that Evans playing big minutes as a starter was often a disaster, but when used correctly I think that Evans is a very effective player. As a short-bursts role player off the bench, having a bully that can vacuum the glass and get under an opponent's skin is valuable. I was one that was pretty happy when I heard that Evans was staying in Brooklyn, with my only question being whether he and KG had any lingering issues. So it was cool when, a couple weeks later, KG unpromptedly named Evans as one of the key guys on the team.
The bolded is what I'm talking about though. Evans last year was not a good player, because he was extremely overextended and overplayed. If you could check this forum's posts at the beginning of the year, everyone loved him. But then he slowly got more playing time, eventually a starting spot, and was routinely played 25-30 mpg, despite the fact we were constantly playing poor offensive basketball whenever he was on the court. And he's a poor defensive player too aside from his defensive rebounding.
And overall, a 10-15 mpg bench player that grabs rebounds and annoys opponents is nice, but it's still not someone I'd say is a "good" overall player...good role player maybe.
Anyway, it's just weird to me that he's being brought up as some sort of legitimately good support last season when anyone that followed the team last season would know that he was one of the main problems, precisely because he was so overused.
I feel your point, and actually got it before, I just think there's a difference between someone being a bad player and someone being misused. I agree that Evans was misused last year, and wouldn't use his presence as evidence of a great supporting cast (so in your disagreement that I jumped in on for this aside, I agree with your point). But I absolutely think he could be an important, positive cog this year.
I guess an example that I could use that isn't the same, but has some similarities, is Kendrick Perkins. If he's put into a role that fits what he could do (like he was in Boston) then he's a valuable piece and a fan favorite. But if he's inadequate for the current task (like in OKC), you get a fan-base that wants him to be amnestied.
On the flip side, no matter how you try to use Adam Morrison he's pretty much a disaster in the NBA. He is an example of someone that I would say just isn't good.
Came up with those analogies on the fly so not sure how they'll stand up to more thought, but mainly just wanted to indicate why seeing all the Reggie negativity eventually prompted me to say something.
