I don't understand the amount of attention Nader gets from some on this board. He was the 58th pick in his draft, is an NBA rookie, and making about 1% of the salary cap. He's not a great or even good player right now but every time I watch him he plays hard, stays engaged on defense and doesn't disrupt the offense. He's no star-in-the-making but I don't see any reason he can't grow into a reliable bench wing.
Over these last 3 games where he's had to step up, I though he's looked ok (going 2-8 at the line last night notwithstanding).
15th guy on the roster, pushed into a role because we have so many injuries. The over-reaction to some missed free throws is ridiculous, but unfortunately all too in character for many on this board.
Given that every time I've seen Nader play, he looks like he lacks the requisite agility and skill to play in the NBA, he could have at least made a couple of free throws. He's the 15th man on an NBA roster, not a weekend warrior at the local YMCA.
So true. Nader apologists think it's okay for him to be abysmal because he's the 15th guy on the roster.
It's unfortunate that we are stuck giving minutes to the Trash Brothers (Nader and Semi) when we could've filled those spots with veteran players who could help us win now.
Here's a short illustrative example on roster building.
10th-15th men on this year's Boston Celtics (based on total mins played): Ojeleye, Larkin, Nader, Monroe, Yabusele, (random G-League dude).
10th-15th men on your 2007-2008 Celtics: Powe, Cassell, PJ Brown, Scalabrine, Pollard, Pruitt.
I sense a bit of discrepancy in terms of talent and experience there.
That you do and that is intentional. The 2008 Cs were built to win now and not later. There was no long-term plan for them. Ainge figured they had 3 years, tops, before that roster was done and only due to the development of Rondo was that timeline extended. So Cassell, Brown, Pollard and Scal had extensive experience to support that roster. Of course, many of those guys were at the tail end of their careers and were more important in their name than in their game. But they knew how professional basketball was played.
This roster is built for a much longer window. Horford and Baynes are the only players over 28. It is the 5th youngest roster, only .03 years older than Philly and .13 years older than the Lakers. Think about that. The wins for teams with rosters between 24 and 25 years old is (Chi), 19 (Pho), 31 (Lal), 38 (Phi), 47 (Bos), 44 (Por) and 38 (Den). This team is built for a long-term run. It's telling why Danny took on so many youngsters this year - he really didn't expect to win it all. Better to get them some experience, make their mistakes, grow into better players and have 5-10 year window to compete for multiple championships.