Doc= Overplaying the starters! just like last year!!!

[celticinorlando]

not a lot of choice right now

[Meadowlark_Scal]

Don't you think Sheldon can be Leon powe type..?

[Tai]

Haha, and I knew this topic would come up eventually, someway and somehow, even though it was clear Doc was sitting the starters too long when our big leads were dwindling thanks to the bench.

[fanofgreen]

First of all.............It's not Doc's responsibility to "develop" young guys, that is the asst. coaches responsibilities.

Second...If Doc were to play the starters less minutes (even though the stats, say they are doing that now) then,people would be posting threads up here for days, criticizing Doc for not playing the starters more, and allowing the bench and young guys to lose big leads during games.

And Third.....I'm afraid most of the young guys (Giddens Walker Hudson) are developed as much as they are going to ever be, specifically Giddens and Walker (he cant shake those knee prob.i hope he does tho)

During the summer i felt that Danny should have added two wing players, because we need the depth, and thats where a lot of teams we will have to play in the playoffs are Wing oriented and deep at that position, so they can continuously throw fresh bodies at Ray and Paul.   (clev, atl, orl.)

[Tai]

And I'm really tired of people putting the "won't play young guys" description on Doc has if he's the only one deciding if this or that player will play, though I won't argue "has final say". Still, I find it really hard to believe that the coaching staff is trying to dupe the guys their GM drafted into thinking the young guys are not ready when they really are. People liked Pruitt, but somehow he wasn't good enough to make the Knicks' roster, and to be honest that flat out shocked me. And I know people said he'd flourish on another team since mean ol' Doc would no longer be benching him for no reason. 

I dunno, I'd just like people to pretend they have a little perspective on this.

[dark_lord]

And I'm really tired of people putting the "won't play young guys" description on Doc has if he's the only one deciding if this or that player will play. I won't argue "has final say", but I find it really hard to believe that the coaching staff is trying to dupe the guys their GM drafted into thinking the young guys are not ready when they really are. People liked Pruitt, but somehow he wasn't good enough to make the Knicks' roster, and to be honest that flat out shocked me. And I know people said he'd flourish on another team since mean ol' Doc would no longer be benching him for no reason. 

I dunno, I'd just like people to pretend they have a little perspective on this.

tp, i couldnt agree more!  doc and the coaching staff sees these guys in practice, so i trust his perspective and decision making.  if they are not doing it in practice, why put them in games. 

doc played rondo and perk and helped develop them (rondo was 21 and perk 23 when we won the title).  bottom line, if the young guys have "it", they will play. 

[nickagneta]

Couldn't have said it better than DL and Tai. The only people that playing the rook and other young players is going to prove anything to is the fans that believe they know more than the coaching staff and upper management.

Doc, Danny and their staffs see these guys for hours and hours and hours in shoot arounds, walk throughs, practices, pre game warmups, scrimmages, pre season games, training camp, summer workouts and Summer league games. They KNOW what their strong and weak points are and have a very, very, very good handle on what to expect if they put these inexperienced players into games. Everyone who has ever coached anything and many more that never have knows that playing time is earned in practice and everywhere else a coach might see a player. The last place a player earns playing time is during a game. THE LAST!!!

So, please, please can we all agree that Doc and the coaching staff know what they are doing with young players and they play the young players with the talent, intelligence, ability to produce and drive to get better and sit and slowly develop those that don't quite have the talent, intelligence, ability and drive to produce for a team who's goal is a championship.

If those players want playing time, it really is as simple as they HAVE to perform better than the players in the 9 man rotation that are playing in front of them, not because posters on a blog that know little of the internal workings of a professional basketball team think they need to see them in games.

[nickagneta]

You know whenever I see a relatively new poster starting a thread and continually defending his point, against pretty much every poster that posts to a thread, even when shown that his point is factually false, I can't help myself but to go back and read all of his or her posts and see whether this is a one time thing or if that person just has something against someone or for someone.

So I went back and read Meadowlark_Scal's posts and pretty much since he started he's been a huge advocate that Doc simply doesn't know what he's doing because overplays his starters and doesn't play the young guys. He went so far as to say, and I paraphrase, you draft young players to play then not to develop them in practice.

Well, that just might be one of the least informed things I've ever seen written here. The big three are in fact playing less minutes than just about ever. About the only times they ever play more than their season averages is when there is a close game or if in a blowout a player wants to get more run, so Doc allows it.

As for the young players, none have shown even an inkling of consistent NBA abilities. Why play them if they can't even be successful in practice? The notion astounds me.

[More Banners]

As for the young players, none have shown even an inkling of consistent NBA abilities. Why play them if they can't even be successful in practice? The notion astounds me.

True.  The drafting of these guys showed a shift in DA's late-pick draft strategy.  Early on, he looked for players with "an NBA skill", i.e. Brandon Hunter, Rebounder Extraordinaire (I actually liked him, especially against J. O'Neal...).  More recently, since Gomes, I think, he's been looking for better all-around players, and, ironically, may have ended up with players without an NBA skill.

I think it's a completely different approach to finding role players, which is what later picks are likely projected at.  Either way, I think the D-League and Euroleague are the place to develop such players for a year or two (keeping their rights without paying them).  Toronto did it with Matt Bonner (the pride of Concord), who is a decent role player to this day for the Spurs (not a bad career for a marginal NBA player).

I'd rather have Stackhouse (or someone) coming off the bench for the minimum, with Walker/Giddens/Hudson in Italy or wherever.  These guys really are nothing more than practice bodies for us.

[bucknersrevenge]

Couldn't have said it better than DL and Tai. The only people that playing the rook and other young players is going to prove anything to is the fans that believe they know more than the coaching staff and upper management.

Doc, Danny and their staffs see these guys for hours and hours and hours in shoot arounds, walk throughs, practices, pre game warmups, scrimmages, pre season games, training camp, summer workouts and Summer league games. They KNOW what their strong and weak points are and have a very, very, very good handle on what to expect if they put these inexperienced players into games. Everyone who has ever coached anything and many more that never have knows that playing time is earned in practice and everywhere else a coach might see a player. The last place a player earns playing time is during a game. THE LAST!!!

So, please, please can we all agree that Doc and the coaching staff know what they are doing with young players and they play the young players with the talent, intelligence, ability to produce and drive to get better and sit and slowly develop those that don't quite have the talent, intelligence, ability and drive to produce for a team who's goal is a championship.

If those players want playing time, it really is as simple as they HAVE to perform better than the players in the 9 man rotation that are playing in front of them, not because posters on a blog that know little of the internal workings of a professional basketball team think they need to see them in games.

I believe that is "game, set, and match"...

[Rondo_is_better]

Really stupid title.

[Rondo_is_better]

And I'm really tired of people putting the "won't play young guys" description on Doc has if he's the only one deciding if this or that player will play. I won't argue "has final say", but I find it really hard to believe that the coaching staff is trying to dupe the guys their GM drafted into thinking the young guys are not ready when they really are. People liked Pruitt, but somehow he wasn't good enough to make the Knicks' roster, and to be honest that flat out shocked me. And I know people said he'd flourish on another team since mean ol' Doc would no longer be benching him for no reason. 

I dunno, I'd just like people to pretend they have a little perspective on this.

Yes, seriously edit:  not really appropriate...

[RAcker]

Read this as sarcasm:

Yeah, Doc and Danny are horrible at developing young talent.  That Rondo and Perkins will never amount to anything.

 

[davemonsterband]

Blind faith is what we should have in Doc and Danny by now, they know the deal. He's overplaying them because they want to play, home court against the Hawks matters a lot regardless of how the road record has held up, I'm with Doc. The Spurs and Pistons rarely tinkered with youth, this team's cut from the same cloth, it's for a reason.

[Rondo_is_better]

Blind faith is what we should have in Doc and Danny by now, they know the deal. He's overplaying them because they want to play, home court against the Hawks matters a lot regardless of how the road record has held up, I'm with Doc. The Spurs and Pistons rarely tinkered with youth, this team's cut from the same cloth, it's for a reason.

Yeah the Pistons only started using guys like Stucky and Bynum once they were on their way down, too. Good point.