Let's Eat Some Crow Regarding Tony Snell

[HomoSapien]

I started a thread about him a week or so ago, but that's disappeared into the ether.

I may have been the hardest on Tony Snell on this forum, and now I'd like to eat some crow.

After such a horrible start to the season, I never would have expected him to pull himself out of a near historic slump. If anything, I expected him to lose even more confidence and play himself out of the league. His skills were never really in question for me, but his attitude was. The ability to rebound from terrible play says a lot about someone's character. I was convinced that we needed to add a second wing defender. Now I'm at the point where I'm open to idea of letting Snell develop into that player.

I still would take any of the centers we passed on in the draft over him, but the good news is that he's starting to be a contributor. He could easily fall back into his old ways, but I think we can take a moment to enjoy a young player's progress.

[DJHill]

Since I always believed in him, can I serve the crow?

[Ice Man]

Three games, man. Let's wait a bit before serving the meal.

[musiqsoulchild]

I beleived in him for the longest time....and then gave up on him.

Dont serve me the crow yet though....with Tony you never know.

[SixDemonBag]

The guy is only in his second year. Was way too early to write him off especially when he hardly played.

[Tetlak]

I'm still going to wait until the sample size increases. He's been impressive the past few games though. However, his 13 game or so scoreless streak offers a bigger sample size than the past 3 or 4 games.

[DuckIII]

I'll eat nothing. Yet.

We still passed on superior, more rare players at a position of need. And are still playing Snell at the expense of players whom I believe have vastly more upside. If anything, Snell's improvement from garbage to competent only reinforces the need to play in games.

Obligatory Tony Snell Qualifier: I've always believed he had the physical tools and skills to be a useful player if he got his head right. I'm not "surprised" at what he's doing. Its just that he hasn't done enough of it to change my mind about any of the collateral issues surrounding his drafting and usage.

[kuly1990]

well lets let him to play more games like this, before you eat the crow, i always believed in him, and didnt stop with it, i hope he continues with improvement!

[Stratmaster]

Can we hold off on the crow thing. I was asked to eat crow about Butler's ability to become an all-star, and as soon as I did, he has declined ever since. I was asked to eat crow about Brooks (didn't decide to really eat that but I somewhat capitulated) and other than an isolated game or two he has sucked ever since. I was asked to eat crow about Taj when he had a couple big games...well, I think you get the idea.

Eating crow is for when a player proves himself over an extended period of time. Not every time he has a couple good games.

[HomoSapien]

If anything, Snell's improvement from garbage to competent only reinforces the need to play in games.

This is an important point, and something management should and probably is thinking about for Doug McDermott.

[fleet]

Eat crow on what? he was bad. We called it out. Nobody had any earthly idea about him other than a meh college career, despite what blind faith says. Thats why he was a projected second rounder.

[HomoSapien]

Eating crow is for when a player proves himself over an extended period of time. Not every time he has a couple good games.

I agree, but it really hasn't been over a few games. He's played pretty well in 9 of his last 10 games (obviously not including the two DNPs).

[SixDemonBag]

Try looking at his last 10 games he played. He's averaged around 11 points. You can go another 5+ games back and he does OK. Helps to play more than 5 minutes a game.

And in regards to his draft where he went 20th, who exactly is better than him now? Plumlee probably. Dieng? 90% of the guys after him aren't even around.

Of course, still need more analytical data as Chuck would want but a 2nd year guy that averages 15 minutes he's doing OK.

[HomoSapien]

Try looking at his last 10 games he played. He's averaged around 11 points. You can go another 5+ games back and he does OK. Helps to play more than 5 minutes a game.

And in regards to his draft where he went 20th, who exactly is better than him now? Plumlee probably. Dieng? 90% of the guys after him aren't even around.

Of course, still need more analytical data as Chuck would want but a 2nd year guy that averages 15 minutes he's doing OK.

Don't forget Rudy Gobert.

[HomoSapien]

Eat crow on what? he was bad. We called it out. Nobody had any earthly idea about him other than a meh college career, despite what blind faith says. Thats why he was a projected second rounder.

He was bad and the things said about him were deserved. I for one am eating crow, because I thought he was done after that stretch of scoreless games. He's proving to me that he can actually make a positive impact, which is something I didn't think would happen. I suppose this is more about enjoying his progress. People who criticized him were right, but the people who were preaching more patience are also proving to have a point.

[DuckIII]

Can we hold off on the crow thing. I was asked to eat crow about Butler's ability to become an all-star, and as soon as I did, he has declined ever since. I was asked to eat crow about Brooks (didn't decide to really eat that but I somewhat capitulated) and other than an isolated game or two he has sucked ever since. I was asked to eat crow about Taj when he had a couple big games...well, I think you get the idea.

Yes, I get the idea. It appears that you eating crow with regard to a player opinion directly causes that player to perform in an opposite manner. So please eat crow about how badly Rose and McDermott suck and how unhealthy Joakim's knees are.

[Stratmaster]

Try looking at his last 10 games he played. He's averaged around 11 points. You can go another 5+ games back and he does OK. Helps to play more than 5 minutes a game.

And in regards to his draft where he went 20th, who exactly is better than him now? Plumlee probably. Dieng? 90% of the guys after him aren't even around.

Of course, still need more analytical data as Chuck would want but a 2nd year guy that averages 15 minutes he's doing OK.

But your own comment betrays itself. Of course he scores more when he plays more minutes, especially considering his role (at least while MDJ was out) was as the designated 3 point shooter. He didn't play well overall in all of those games, only the last couple.

I love the fact that Snell has come out of his shell (alliteration intended). But he went, what, 13 games of the most horrible stretch I have ever seen an NBA player play. So let's just cool the jets and the expectations. This board gets so high whenever we see anything out of a young or new player. Do I need to list them all? McD (was gonna be a starter), Mirotic (ROY!!), Brooks, now Snell...even Butler to some extent with the MVP talk and the thought he was going to somehow continue to shoot at the level he started the season at.

I hope Snell ends up being 6th man of the year a couple seasons from now. But can we wait until he looks solid for say, a month or two at least, before setting that expectation level?

[Stratmaster]

Can we hold off on the crow thing. I was asked to eat crow about Butler's ability to become an all-star, and as soon as I did, he has declined ever since. I was asked to eat crow about Brooks (didn't decide to really eat that but I somewhat capitulated) and other than an isolated game or two he has sucked ever since. I was asked to eat crow about Taj when he had a couple big games...well, I think you get the idea.

Yes, I get the idea. It appears that you eating crow with regard to a player opinion directly causes that player to perform in an opposite manner. So please eat crow about how badly Rose and McDermott suck and how unhealthy Joakim's knees are.

If you think it will work, I will try it.

Seriously though, all of those players played a pretty good stretch (because I am way too big an ass to admit I might have been wrong quickly) only to fade back into their normal, historical, expected quality of play.

[DuckIII]

And in regards to his draft where he went 20th, who exactly is better than him now? Plumlee probably. Dieng? 90% of the guys after him aren't even around.

I don't care about the guys that aren't around. I care specifically about both Dieng and Plumlee who were - in my opinion - clearly superior prospects and who, more importantly, played a position of significant need.

I'm not belly-aching about some late-pick scrub who surprised everyone and became a solid player. Dieng and Plumlee were literally the very next two players selected.

[SixDemonBag]

Well half those games were under 5 minutes and he took zero shots. Some 1 shot and 2 shot games.

Still, needs to keep it consistent and against tougher teams and playoffs.