Bill Walker looking good, Lester Hudson not a fan of D-League

[Jon]

Why are people getting fired up about this?  I think we really have to look at this from a developmental standpoint.  While it's easy to sit there and say "we could use Walker's athleticism" and "Hudson deserves to be on an NBA roster" how practically is this going to work?  Paul played 35 minutes last night, Ray played 34, and Daniels played 25.  That isn't going to change.  Similarly, Rondo played 32 minutes and House played 14.  Simply put, unless Walker can beat out Daniels and Hudson can beat out House, they're not going to play any minutes here but garbage minutes, and is that really worth it? 

Furthermore, while some people may have high opinions of these guys, they have proven absolutely nothing in the NBA thus far.  They certainly don't deserve any special accommodations, no matter how old they are. 

Sometimes it's just best to let young guys play.  Look what the Sox did with Buccholtz.  He pitched his no-hitter then was in Triple A the next year because there wasn't a rotation spot for him.

Let them go down, work on their games, and if the opportunity arises later for them to play, they'll be all the more ready. 

It's disrespectful to Lester. Its also a question of merit. It doesn't sit right that a trash player like Giddens gets to travel and practice with the team and call himself an NBA player at the expense of someone far more worthy (Hudson).

That's a ridiculous statement.  While you may have liked what you saw from Hudson in the summer league, preseason, and trash minutes, as of this second, Hudson has proven no more than Giddens has.  Might that change?  Sure.  But it hasn't yet.

Hudson is the second to last pick in the draft on arguably the most talented team in the NBA.  It wouldn't be a sign of "disrespect" to send him to the Developmental League.  And even if it was, who cares?  He's a rookie who should be happy enough he has an NBA contract. 

[Chief]

I have questions.

Does the Maine team run our defense?

Is there still a NBA years of experience rule, when sending players to the D-League?

[nickagneta]

I have questions?

Does the Maine team run our defense?

Is there still a NBA years of experience rule, when sending players to the D-League?

I'm pretty sure the two years or less of NBA experience rule is still in place for players who's rights are owned by NBA teams in the NBDL. Not sure about what schemes the red Claws play but the guy in charge of coaching the team is Austin Ainge, so I would think that they have to be running something similar.

[Chief]

I have questions?

Does the Maine team run our defense?

Is there still a NBA years of experience rule, when sending players to the D-League?

I'm pretty sure the two years or less of NBA experience rule is still in place for players who's rights are owned by NBA teams in the NBDL. Not sure about what schemes the red Claws play but the guy in charge of coaching the team is Austin Ainge, so I would think that they have to be running something similar.

If they are running the Celtic defense scheme, then Lester should still be able to progress in the D-League.

As far as the two years or less of NBA experience rule, I don't like it. Teams should be able to send whoever they want for any reason.

[More Banners]

I have questions?

Does the Maine team run our defense?

Is there still a NBA years of experience rule, when sending players to the D-League?

I'm pretty sure the two years or less of NBA experience rule is still in place for players who's rights are owned by NBA teams in the NBDL. Not sure about what schemes the red Claws play but the guy in charge of coaching the team is Austin Ainge, so I would think that they have to be running something similar.

If they are running the Celtic defense scheme, then Lester should still be able to progress in the D-League.

As far as the two years or less of NBA experience rule, I don't like it. Teams should be able to send whoever they want for any reason.

I think veteran players have the option to go to the D-League as a rehab assignment, but the player has to agree.  Not 100% on that, though.  I think the idea is that after a couple of years players are what they are, and if they're not good enough after year 2, getting sent down won't help.

[Rondo_is_better]

Why are people getting fired up about this?  I think we really have to look at this from a developmental standpoint.  While it's easy to sit there and say "we could use Walker's athleticism" and "Hudson deserves to be on an NBA roster" how practically is this going to work?  Paul played 35 minutes last night, Ray played 34, and Daniels played 25.  That isn't going to change.  Similarly, Rondo played 32 minutes and House played 14.  Simply put, unless Walker can beat out Daniels and Hudson can beat out House, they're not going to play any minutes here but garbage minutes, and is that really worth it? 

Furthermore, while some people may have high opinions of these guys, they have proven absolutely nothing in the NBA thus far.  They certainly don't deserve any special accommodations, no matter how old they are. 

Sometimes it's just best to let young guys play.  Look what the Sox did with Buccholtz.  He pitched his no-hitter then was in Triple A the next year because there wasn't a rotation spot for him.

Let them go down, work on their games, and if the opportunity arises later for them to play, they'll be all the more ready. 

It's disrespectful to Lester. Its also a question of merit. It doesn't sit right that a trash player like Giddens gets to travel and practice with the team and call himself an NBA player at the expense of someone far more worthy (Hudson).

That's a ridiculous statement.  While you may have liked what you saw from Hudson in the summer league, preseason, and trash minutes, as of this second, Hudson has proven no more than Giddens has.  Might that change?  Sure.  But it hasn't yet.

Hudson is the second to last pick in the draft on arguably the most talented team in the NBA.  It wouldn't be a sign of "disrespect" to send him to the Developmental League.  And even if it was, who cares?  He's a rookie who should be happy enough he has an NBA contract. 

Giddens has looked terrible almost every minute he's spent on the floor. Hudson has looked like a guy who can contribute right away. That's proving more right off the bat.

Its disrespect because they are sending him down to a relatively pathetic league and keeping a much, much worse player on the active roster. If you were good enough to be 10th man on a team, but you got sent to JV, and some other kid who's way worse than you got to stay on Varsity, even as 12th man, wouldn't that p1ss you off? Because its disrspectful.

His draft number means nothing. He's better than Giddens which is what matters here.

There's no reason for him to be happy with an NBA contract. In fact, he'd be screwed with that mentality. "Oh, I've barely crept over the fringe of my goal. I guess I'm satisfied with that. Time to stop working bye."

[scoop]

I think veteran players have the option to go to the D-League as a rehab assignment, but the player has to agree.  Not 100% on that, though.  I think the idea is that after a couple of years players are what they are, and if they're not good enough after year 2, getting sent down won't help.

I don't think that's possible. I recall Brand wanting to play in the D-League last season but the rules didn't allow him to. Maybe if the regulation changed in the meanwhile, but I find that unlikely.

As far as the two years or less of NBA experience rule, I don't like it. Teams should be able to send whoever they want for any reason.

Good luck getting the Players' Union to agree with that.

-------------------------

It seems to me that many here see the D-League as a punishment and not as an opportunity (that's probably Hudson's reasoning as well). I disagree: if a player isn't even close to entering the rotation and is eligible to play in the D-League, he should go. Time for practice in the NBA is limited, coaches don't have the availability to focus on out-of-rotation players and at this stage of their careers players need competition.

[slamtheking]

Kind of sad Doc won't give the young guys a chance at all.

No...what is sad is that they aren't good enough to earn time on this team. Rondo, Baby, Leon, Perk and others all eventually earned time and played. The youngsters we have now just aren't good enough to crack the rotation, it has nothing to do with Doc giving them a chance or not.

None of those guys really played in their first season, with the potential exception for Rondo at the second half of his rookie season.

Leon Powe played in 63 games his rookie year averaging 11.4 minutes per game and 4.2PPG and 3.4RPG.

Big Baby played in 69 games his rookie year and averaged 13.6 minutes per game and 4.5PPG and 3.0RPG.

Rondo played in like 38 games through the first half of his rookie year averaging nearly 19 MPG in that time.

These guys were integral parts of the rotations during their rookie years. That's because they were good enough to produce at an NBA level. It had nothing to do with some sort of Doc bias against rookies. Rookies that are good get to play for Doc. Rookies that aren't don't get to play for Doc. It really is that simple.

The young players not getting time, Hudson, Giddens and Walker, aren't getting time because they simply aren't playing well enough to displace the players that are ahead of them on the depth chart. Considering the players ahead of them on the depth chart are Scal and Tony, that doesn't say much for their NBA futures.

This is where I disagree with you Nick.  Those stats don't tell the whole story.  The real point is HOW did they get those minutes.  You stated they got that time because they were good enough.  While I don't disagree that they were good enough to get those minutes, I disagree with that being the reason they got those minutes.  The reason they (or basically every young player under Doc) ever saw the court their rookie years is because the players ahead of them on the depth chart were injured.  No other reason.

Gomes and Powe saw court time due to injuries to those ahead of them.  BBD actually saw court time because there was no one else for Doc to play until PJ was signed.  Once PJ was signed, BBD essentially rode the bench.  Perk didn't see the court for any real minutes until his 3rd year.  Delonte and TA didn't get much time their rookie years either.    Al was behind Raef until Raef went down with yet another injury.

Pruitt is the only case where someone can legitimately point to a player that didn't get minutes here and didn't deserve them (based on Pruitt being cut by the Knicks).

[nickagneta]

It seems to me that many here see the D-League as a punishment and not as an opportunity (that's probably Hudson's reasoning as well). I disagree: if a player isn't even close to entering the rotation and is eligible to play in the D-League, he should go. Time for practice in the NBA is limited, coaches don't have the availability to focus on out-of-rotation players and at this stage of their careers players need competition.

Agree 100% with this. Basketball is for the most part a 12 player team game. If in the NBA only 12 players are allowed active and there is a place where young players can get experience, exposure, and can keep themselves in playing condition rather than just traveling with the team and getting in the very infrequent practice here and there during the season, then they should utilize that opportunity and not look upon it as a punishment. It's really an opportunity.

[clover]

Lester has all the signs of a guy who'll get more playing time after the trading deadline--and probably after Danny's traded away a couple of his teammates. 

Could he maybe help now?  Would he advance quicker if he were playing now?  Probably.  But Doc and Danny have a record of pulling out their real rising players after all the trading games are over.

Meanwhile, in his suboptimal situation, is Lester better off staying with the squad or going and getting developmental league playing time?  I don't know.  I don't think Lester knows.  And I'm not sure Doc and Danny know either.  Maybe he'd gain from a bit of both.

[bucknersrevenge]

Why are people getting fired up about this?  I think we really have to look at this from a developmental standpoint.  While it's easy to sit there and say "we could use Walker's athleticism" and "Hudson deserves to be on an NBA roster" how practically is this going to work?  Paul played 35 minutes last night, Ray played 34, and Daniels played 25.  That isn't going to change.  Similarly, Rondo played 32 minutes and House played 14.  Simply put, unless Walker can beat out Daniels and Hudson can beat out House, they're not going to play any minutes here but garbage minutes, and is that really worth it? 

Furthermore, while some people may have high opinions of these guys, they have proven absolutely nothing in the NBA thus far.  They certainly don't deserve any special accommodations, no matter how old they are. 

Sometimes it's just best to let young guys play.  Look what the Sox did with Buccholtz.  He pitched his no-hitter then was in Triple A the next year because there wasn't a rotation spot for him.

Let them go down, work on their games, and if the opportunity arises later for them to play, they'll be all the more ready. 

It's disrespectful to Lester. Its also a question of merit. It doesn't sit right that a trash player like Giddens gets to travel and practice with the team and call himself an NBA player at the expense of someone far more worthy (Hudson).

That's a ridiculous statement.  While you may have liked what you saw from Hudson in the summer league, preseason, and trash minutes, as of this second, Hudson has proven no more than Giddens has.  Might that change?  Sure.  But it hasn't yet.

Hudson is the second to last pick in the draft on arguably the most talented team in the NBA.  It wouldn't be a sign of "disrespect" to send him to the Developmental League.  And even if it was, who cares?  He's a rookie who should be happy enough he has an NBA contract. 

Giddens has looked terrible almost every minute he's spent on the floor. Hudson has looked like a guy who can contribute right away. That's proving more right off the bat.

Its disrespect because they are sending him down to a relatively pathetic league and keeping a much, much worse player on the active roster. If you were good enough to be 10th man on a team, but you got sent to JV, and some other kid who's way worse than you got to stay on Varsity, even as 12th man, wouldn't that p1ss you off? Because its disrspectful.

His draft number means nothing. He's better than Giddens which is what matters here.

There's no reason for him to be happy with an NBA contract. In fact, he'd be screwed with that mentality. "Oh, I've barely crept over the fringe of my goal. I guess I'm satisfied with that. Time to stop working bye."

Says you. Maybe Doc doesn't feel that way. Or maybe just like with every player that has ever been sent down Doc knows they aren't gonna get any real burn at this level on this team so the D-League keeps them from getting stale on the bench. You can look at this as JR vs Lester but thats probably the wrong way to look at it. It's more like Lester vs Rondo/Eddie/Daniels/TA(when he gets back). Sorry. Lester loses that one everytime.

[Global Celtic]

Billy Walker keeps rolling: 24 min, 19 pts, 8 rebs in Maine's first win.
Solid.

[2short]

Lester has all the signs of a guy who'll get more playing time after the trading deadline--and probably after Danny's traded away a couple of his teammates. 

Could he maybe help now?  Would he advance quicker if he were playing now?  Probably.  But Doc and Danny have a record of pulling out their real rising players after all the trading games are over.

Meanwhile, in his suboptimal situation, is Lester better off staying with the squad or going and getting developmental league playing time?  I don't know.  I don't think Lester knows.  And I'm not sure Doc and Danny know either.  Maybe he'd gain from a bit of both.

I think Lester's best thing he has going for him is his speed.  Nothing to do with games (I would like to see him get time).  Practicing against rondo, doesn't do rondo any good to defend eddie.  Make rondo keep lester in front of him and pressure ball.