Don't get all the hate towards Fab Melo... Anyone who had huge or high expectations need to snap back to reality...
A 7 footer who made the transition from playing soccer, to basketball for 7 years now from dominating college to playing professional didn't pan out? Surprise surprise.
Big men like him are always going to take a couple years, hence why he's a project. Hence, why you can't call him a bust. Yet.
I actually have high hopes for Fab Melo. I can clearly tell he has the ability to be a great defensive center, and with the amount of work and skills the Celtics teach him. I actually believe he'll be a 11 PPG, 9 RPG and 1.7 BPG sort of center in 2-3 years. Give him time, I don't know why people expect him to be dominant right now. Cause he plays sloppy?
Forcing him into D-League doesn't help him at all... There aren't that many natural 7 footers. And even then Fab Melo was doing playing well in D-League. Granted, there were plenty of bone headed plays but that comes with the territory of whether or not Melo can learn from his mistakes. I just know all this information and experience, and practicing with the team can help him in the off season.
If we could get Hakeem to teach him...
Not sure where you are getting that people are hating on Fab Melo. I called him a scrub but as of right now, that is what he is.
He has potential and he has a possible future in this league but as of right now, he isn't really very good at all. He might be one of the top 20 worst players in this league. So I think "scrub" isn't to far off or extremely insulting.
I hope he does become something. I'm not sure from the bit I have seen from him he will but I hope he does. But for now, let's just give him a towel and let him wave it from the bench. We need to prep our players that will be playing in the playoffs right now, not giving players who aren't that good playing time because fans want to see them play because they always think the bench scrub at the end of the bench is great and can't understand why he isn't playing.
Melo will get his chance at playing time next year. Let him practice with the team now, go to Summer League, work out in Waltham with the coaches this summer and have a good training camp. That is probably the best thing for him mentally and for his confidence right now.
So basically we agree on similar points.... Let him get the needed time at the training camp, NBDL was definitely a good way for him to get his feet wet into some competition that would boost his confidence.
As for the Fab Melo hate, I've seen countless posts who derail the heck out of Fab as if he's some virus... Then again this is Celticsblog, where Rondo, and Pierce get dissed in and out.
My initial point is someone like Fab Melo requires 2-3 years. Don't immediately write him off cause he hasn't improved by leaps and bounds. I know people will write, "well Kendrick Perkins was dominant in Highschool!"
Okay we get it.
If Fab can just get the dire training in order to really grow. I can see him being a mix of Roy Hibbert/Kendrick Perkins. He just needs to be more aggressive especially in the paint. I've seen him blocks shots. He's able to do that, but he just needs to work on his footwork, post up game, and overall defense.
I'd rather he focus more on having the defensive mentality. Which is why I pray KG can teach him a thing or two or when he retires. But he's stated he wants to spend time away from basketball.