Can Stevens stop playing Semi so much? The guy brings nothing to the table. This month he's shooting 23% from the field and 25% from 3's in a mind boggling 23 MPG.
Offensively, the guy is such a liability that whoever's defending him basically operates as a free safety by playing off of him and being in close position to help on any action in the paint. To make matters worse, Semi has no instincts of playing off the ball, so rather than making a sharp cut backdoor, he'll just stand in the corner anxiously waiting to hoist another brick.
I'm not buying this whole elite defense crap either. Sure he has good lateral movement, but that's only 1 part of defense. The parts that really concerns me is his defense off the ball and his overall defensive IQ. He also seems to constantly get hung up on screens, more than you would think looking at his build. He's also an undisciplined help defender that doesn't seem to make correct reads. Today, for example, even though Van Gundy was harping on it being Monroe's fault on the play where James got to the rim for an and 1, I don't think he was correct. Semi's job was probably to go under the screen and NOT switch, as leaving Monroe 1 on 1 vs James is a bad situation. After that play Stevens immediately yanked Semi out of the game, which would lead me to believe that it was a bad read by Semi.
4 minute mark on the Monroe/ Semi play:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTpGrsKEExU
Another undisciplined read by Semi, where he overcommits to helping out on Nance to the rim, even though Baynes was in pretty good position to defend. This left Clarkson wide open for a corner 3 as Semi was in no position to rotate.
6:30 mark:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTpGrsKEExU
Despite all the Semi-hype posts, this guy is absolutely killing us out there!
Your seething and visceral hatred for a second round draft pick is truly something to behold
. Tell me, do you just watch these games simply to find fault with his play, because that certainly, and unfortunately, appears to be the case. I swear to god, I can see it now, "Semi didn't bring gluten free barbecue sauce to the Memorial Day cookout? TRADE THAT BUM!"
As for your other points, I completely disagree with your assessment with respect to his off-ball movement. Granted, I have not watched a ton of games this year, but there have been many instances where his defender turns his head and Semi cuts to the basket, as you should, and is wide open, and no one passes him the ball. I realize that he's not exactly a prime option on offense, but I would be willing to bet that he'd shoot much better if he got a layup to start, you know? Is that fair to say?
Also, in regards to his body type, you're completely off base, here, at least in my opinion, not that that counts for anything, as it pertains to negotiating picks/screens, or not, as in this particular case. Guys of his size and weight, such as Lebron and the artist formerly known as Ron Artest, have always struggled getting around picks/screens. It's kind of their kryptonite, defensively, so to speak, and I've been saying it for years that that is the way to beat Lebron, to really attack him, but aside from a few instances, no one seems to make a concerted effort to hone in on this glaring weakness, and for the life of me I simply cannot understand as to why. I mean, if a moron such as myself can figure it out, surely NBA coaches are cognizant of this piece of information, right? Right?
Beyond that, I don't believe that Semi is being utilized correctly on offense. Like at all. I'm not making excuses for his shooting percentages, but I think it's important to point out that the guy was primarily a power player with a great touch in college who did most of his damage in the post, yet when he's being guarded by a smaller player, such as C.J. Miles, or even Kyle Lowry, lol, no one gives him the ball, often opting to simply waive him off and tell the guy to go stand in the corner
, which seems to be a staple of Stevens' "offense" in regards to rookies, but that's a whole other issue.
Even worse is when he's being "guarded" by guys like David West and Porzingis, for example. I know that Semi's strength and quickness allows him to guard a host of different players, but this also makes for a complete mismatch on offense for Boston, at least in my view, that the coaching staff is either completely failing to recognize or comprehend, never mind exploit. In such instances, they should run the backdoor step/blind pig option for Semi, or have him pass to the wing and cut off of the screen of the center. The result? Layups. Dunks. Free throws. In other words, easy scores. He can probably get 6-8 points a game just on those plays, alone, and then his outside shot will start to fall, but it also takes the opposing big guy off the floor, unless, of course, the opposing coaching staff has some odd interest in conceding layups and such.
Anyway, those are my misguided views
.