Eye of the Tiger: The Tidjane Salaun Thread

[CuseMayne]

Bro should literally be playing 25-30min a night. He hits 3 first Q 3s and plays 15min??? What the hell are we doing here???

[Hornet Mania]

So now we're mad at Lee for not giving Tidjane enough of a chance? That's a new one.

Did you watch the game?

I don't think he's been held back in most games but when he's playing well it makes sense to extend his run. That's the point people are making. It's not unreasonable to question why he didn't get more minutes in the rare game when things were clicking for him.

[yosemiteben]

So now we're mad at Lee for not giving Tidjane enough of a chance? That's a new one.

Did you watch the game?

I don't think he's been held back in most games but when he's playing well it makes sense to extend his run. That's the point people are making. It's not unreasonable to question why he didn't get more minutes in the rare game when things were clicking for him.

I did. In a season full of guys questioning why we're giving him minutes and saying he has no business being on the court or even in the league at all, this rings extremely hollow to me. Salaun has been given all kinds of opportunity by Lee.

[Hornet Mania]

So now we're mad at Lee for not giving Tidjane enough of a chance? That's a new one.

Did you watch the game?

I don't think he's been held back in most games but when he's playing well it makes sense to extend his run. That's the point people are making. It's not unreasonable to question why he didn't get more minutes in the rare game when things were clicking for him.

I did. In a season full of guys questioning why we're giving him minutes and saying he has no business being on the court or even in the league at all, this rings extremely hollow to me. Salaun has been given all kinds of opportunity by Lee.

I think we're talking past either other. Salaun being given plenty of opportunity in previous games doesn't automatically mean the coach shouldn't extend his run in a game where things were going well for him.

I have probably been two of the least critical posters in regards to Salaun anyway (Cuse too, I think, but maybe I missed something). I get that it's tiring to hear the negativity surrounding him but that has nothing to do with us questioning why he didn't play a bit more when he's hitting his shots.

[EmpireFalls]

So now we're mad at Lee for not giving Tidjane enough of a chance? That's a new one.

Did you watch the game?

I don't think he's been held back in most games but when he's playing well it makes sense to extend his run. That's the point people are making. It's not unreasonable to question why he didn't get more minutes in the rare game when things were clicking for him.

I did. In a season full of guys questioning why we're giving him minutes and saying he has no business being on the court or even in the league at all, this rings extremely hollow to me. Salaun has been given all kinds of opportunity by Lee.

If a player hits 3 consecutive threes and then immediately gets subbed for a sub-NBA level bum in Jeffries that’s the exact sort of rigidity a good coach wouldn’t do. Coaching is about in game recognition and adapting to game trends as happening.

Most games Salaun does not belong on an NBA court and needs to be taken out but Monday was not one of them. I say ride it out and let him go play. That’s a large part of what coaching is, figuring out who has it that night.

[LurkCobain]

Did you watch the game?

I don't think he's been held back in most games but when he's playing well it makes sense to extend his run. That's the point people are making. It's not unreasonable to question why he didn't get more minutes in the rare game when things were clicking for him.

I did. In a season full of guys questioning why we're giving him minutes and saying he has no business being on the court or even in the league at all, this rings extremely hollow to me. Salaun has been given all kinds of opportunity by Lee.

If a player hits 3 consecutive threes and then immediately gets subbed for a sub-NBA level bum in Jeffries that’s the exact sort of rigidity a good coach wouldn’t do. Coaching is about in game recognition and adapting to game trends as happening.

Most games Salaun does not belong on an NBA court and needs to be taken out but Monday was not one of them. I say ride it out and let him go play. That’s a large part of what coaching is, figuring out who has it that night.

Lee has been given the field command to tank at all cost. He’s served conspicuously and gallantly in his orders.

[CuseMayne]

Did you watch the game?

I don't think he's been held back in most games but when he's playing well it makes sense to extend his run. That's the point people are making. It's not unreasonable to question why he didn't get more minutes in the rare game when things were clicking for him.

I did. In a season full of guys questioning why we're giving him minutes and saying he has no business being on the court or even in the league at all, this rings extremely hollow to me. Salaun has been given all kinds of opportunity by Lee.

I think we're talking past either other. Salaun being given plenty of opportunity in previous games doesn't automatically mean the coach shouldn't extend his run in a game where things were going well for him.

I have probably been two of the least critical posters in regards to Salaun anyway (Cuse too, I think, but maybe I missed something). I get that it's tiring to hear the negativity surrounding him but that has nothing to do with us questioning why he didn't play a bit more when he's hitting his shots.

Yes indeed I am a Tidjane apologist. There have been a handful of times in the game threads, two recently when he couldn't even finish dunks in garbage time, where I've criticized him, but in general I'm irrationally rooting for the kid, I'll admit it lol.

[Braggins]

I did. In a season full of guys questioning why we're giving him minutes and saying he has no business being on the court or even in the league at all, this rings extremely hollow to me. Salaun has been given all kinds of opportunity by Lee.

If a player hits 3 consecutive threes and then immediately gets subbed for a sub-NBA level bum in Jeffries that’s the exact sort of rigidity a good coach wouldn’t do. Coaching is about in game recognition and adapting to game trends as happening.

Most games Salaun does not belong on an NBA court and needs to be taken out but Monday was not one of them. I say ride it out and let him go play. That’s a large part of what coaching is, figuring out who has it that night.

Lee has been given the field command to tank at all cost. He’s served conspicuously and gallantly in his orders.

This tank rank is important. They need to pick top 5. Theyre in 29th with only a half game between them and 28th.

odds for top 5 pick
27th ~ 55.3%
28th ~ 66.9%
29th ~ 79.9%
30th ~ 100%

[amcoolio]

I agree that Salaun should start and play 30+ min the rest of the way. There's no reason not to at this point, and we could get lucky and get the worst odds

[Diop]

Read on Twitter

just to stir up the muck again

[HornetJail]

Read on Twitter

just to stir up the muck again

i mean you'll never see a coach that **** on a 19-year-old rookie unless it's for a complete lack of effort or something

[KembaWalker]

Just you wait till Next Year™

[Liver_Pooty]

Just you wait till Next Year™

To be fair we’ve said that about everyone of our players for years. Said that about MKG for what seemed like 30 years.

[HornetJail]

Just you wait till Next Year™

To be fair we’ve said that about everyone of our players for years. Said that about MKG for what seemed like 30 years.

sure but MKG had an actual elite skill at Salaun's age

We can "next year" Salaun for the next 5 years and maybe we'll have a tall Josh Green

[Liver_Pooty]

Just you wait till Next Year™

To be fair we’ve said that about everyone of our players for years. Said that about MKG for what seemed like 30 years.

sure but MKG had an actual elite skill at Salaun's age

We can "next year" Salaun for the next 5 years and maybe we'll have a tall Josh Green

MKG never had an elite skill set. Ever. I nearly got shot over his ass over this board. His defense was completely overrated. But we gave him 5 years to hit a 3

[Liver_Pooty]

To be fair we did the same thing with Zeller. Tried to make him a stretch 4 after footage of a ridiculous Kings workout where he made something like 30 out of 34 threes in a row. Wasted 2 years trying of him. Still think it was a solid pick in that draft.

[JMAC3]

Tidjane might be Kevin Knox, who by all accounts was/is terrible... but guess what Kevin Knox is still in the NBA.

I say this because it goes to show how uncommon it is to find guys that are 6-8+ who can make threes and the tools to defend at a decent level. Hornets betting on that archetype is not a bad move.

I really don't think it is wild that he turns into a 6-10 forward who can shoot 35-36% from three and be a solid defender. Those are guys that playoff teams are going to value, it is still crazy how many people have the expectation that he should just be that already at age 19 and he gets no time to improve as a shooter, defender, finisher at age 19- he should be at least league average already.

Not every draft pick is going to be Brandon Miller or LaMelo Ball. Especially in the weakest draft in the last decade.
Cody Zeller averaged 6 ppg as rookie
Miles Bridges averaged 7 ppg as a rookie
Malik Monk averaged 6 ppg as a rookie.
Gerald Henderson averaged 2 ppg as a rookie.

Crazy how all those guys turned into usable NBA players, who continued to improve year after year, but not Tidjane- no way that could be a path forward. All you can do is laugh at how unrealistic some are around here.

[HornetJail]

"Kevin Knox is still in the NBA" was the best argument you could come up with for why we shouldn't give up on Salaun?

yeah the kid is a lost cause

[JMAC3]

"Kevin Knox is still in the NBA" was the best argument you could come up with for why we shouldn't give up on Salaun?

yeah the kid is a lost cause

If that is what you took from that then sure man lol.
I should have compared him to Kevin Durant in the opening line instead because that would have went a long way with you.

[GoBobs]

"Kevin Knox is still in the NBA" was the best argument you could come up with for why we shouldn't give up on Salaun?

yeah the kid is a lost cause

If that is what you took from that then sure man lol.
I should have compared him to Kevin Durant in the opening line instead because that would have went a long way with you.

Dude.... this is like one of the worst Hornets draft picks off all time, and your like... "it's actually a smart gamble by our front office, he might turn into Kevin Knox."