Marty [Mori Chu] wrote:Management deserves some blame for having unrealistic expectations. But we aren't even getting Detroit/Mil Brandon Knight. His shooting percentages have been horrid in Phoenix. If he were the same player as before, we could just use him as a bench microwave.
Prior to this year, we had the Detroit BK. He did play significantly better in MIL under Kidd, and I suppose management thought that was his growth trajectory. But this season, under Watson and with the new role, he has been even worse than he was in DET. Maybe he just lost the will to improve, maybe his confidence is shot, maybe he really has been playing hurt. But his style of play isn't any different than it always was. He takes the same crazy off balance long jumpers. He just doesn't make as many.
I think confidence and trust are some issues at play here. In Milwaukee and Detroit, he was clearly the lead guard on the team. If he struggled, it didn't matter, there was no one waiting in the wings to take over his spot. His first full year here in phx was pretty similar to the mil/det version of Knight because while there was another lead guard(bled) there was no one on the bench threatening his spot. It also helped that Bled was hurt a lot and Knight was the top dog.
Booker emerges and takes Knight's spot and his confidence drops. He doesn't have that assurance that if he struggles, his role is still his. For all his struggles, he did appear to be putting forth effort, he was simply just playing poorly. So in short, he lost confidence in his ability and had no trust that the coaching staff would let him play through his mistakes. I'm not saying Knight can blame the coaching staff, he needs to adapt, just trying to make sense of his seemingly out of nowhere decline in play.
Marty [Mori Chu] wrote:Management deserves some blame for having unrealistic expectations. But we aren't even getting Detroit/Mil Brandon Knight. His shooting percentages have been horrid in Phoenix. If he were the same player as before, we could just use him as a bench microwave.
Prior to this year, we had the Detroit BK. He did play significantly better in MIL under Kidd, and I suppose management thought that was his growth trajectory. But this season, under Watson and with the new role, he has been even worse than he was in DET. Maybe he just lost the will to improve, maybe his confidence is shot, maybe he really has been playing hurt. But his style of play isn't any different than it always was. He takes the same crazy off balance long jumpers. He just doesn't make as many.
I think confidence and trust are some issues at play here. In Milwaukee and Detroit, he was clearly the lead guard on the team. If he struggled, it didn't matter, there was no one waiting in the wings to take over his spot. His first full year here in phx was pretty similar to the mil/det version of Knight because while there was another lead guard(bled) there was no one on the bench threatening his spot. It also helped that Bled was hurt a lot and Knight was the top dog.
Booker emerges and takes Knight's spot and his confidence drops. He doesn't have that assurance that if he struggles, his role is still his. For all his struggles, he did appear to be putting forth effort, he was simply just playing poorly. So in short, he lost confidence in his ability and had no trust that the coaching staff would let him play through his mistakes. I'm not saying Knight can blame the coaching staff, he needs to adapt, just trying to make sense of his seemingly out of nowhere decline in play.
Yeah, that's the weird thing. When was the last time a guy got this much worse at this age when his effort didn't drop?
The league needs heroes, villains... and clowns. -- Aztec Sunsfan
Indy wrote:It is a big gamble to trade away your best asset for a guy, give him a big long term contract, and then ask him to play a different role than he has been successful at in the past. Ryan gambled, and lost. Sure, it is on Knight that he didn't develop into a different player than he was in college, or DET, or MIL. But you have to look in the mirror when you bring in a guy and ask him to change for you what he has been doing for at least the last 5 years, and he doesn't.
Keep in mind that Booker's emergence was not expected. He didn't need to play differently from what has given him success in his career, he just needed to play less minutes, but in the end even last season he still had terrible shot selection, made lots of TOs and no positive contributions elsewhere. I believe he has the ability to bounce back, but there is no room with Booker. I really don't see how the GM is responsible. The coach? His rotations are all over the place and Knight performs bad in all of them.
Indy wrote:It is a big gamble to trade away your best asset for a guy, give him a big long term contract, and then ask him to play a different role than he has been successful at in the past. Ryan gambled, and lost. Sure, it is on Knight that he didn't develop into a different player than he was in college, or DET, or MIL. But you have to look in the mirror when you bring in a guy and ask him to change for you what he has been doing for at least the last 5 years, and he doesn't.
Keep in mind that Booker's emergence was not expected. He didn't need to play differently from what has given him success in his career, he just needed to play less minutes, but in the end even last season he still had terrible shot selection, made lots of TOs and no positive contributions elsewhere. I believe he has the ability to bounce back, but there is no room with Booker. I really don't see how the GM is responsible. The coach? His rotations are all over the place and Knight performs bad in all of them.
Some styles don't work in limited minutes. He has been a volume guy, and when he has a short window, the balance between results and mistakes is less forgiving.
Indy wrote:Some styles don't work in limited minutes. He has been a volume guy, and when he has a short window, the balance between results and mistakes is less forgiving.
He sucked last season too, other than that 'surprising' 7-5 start. And his first half season was terrible. He spent on the court 31.5 and 36 minutes per game.
Indy wrote:Some styles don't work in limited minutes. He has been a volume guy, and when he has a short window, the balance between results and mistakes is less forgiving.
He sucked last season too, other than that 'surprising' 7-5 start. And his first half season was terrible. He spent on the court 31.5 and 36 minutes per game.
Are you saying that he is playing in the same style as he did in DET and MIL, but just isn't playing as well here? I just don't see it that way.
And were you talking about his first half season in the league, or his first half-season here (11 games)?
I am sorry. Knight has had plenty of opportunity to start here and has lots of stints of long minutes. He has just played badly. He doesn't play team ball. He makes everyone around him worse. His play is not coaching or mgmt's fault. You can fault them for drafting him, but not his play. BTW. THAT was why Milwaukee fans were so eager to get rid of him. He made everyone around him worse. Kidd hid it long enough to dump him.
Just read this thread from fans who got to see him as a starter with consistent minutes. Same story.
JCSunsfan wrote:I am sorry. Knight has had plenty of opportunity to start here and has lots of stints of long minutes. He has just played badly. He doesn't play team ball. He makes everyone around him worse. His play is not coaching or mgmt's fault. You can fault them for drafting him, but not his play. BTW. THAT was why Milwaukee fans were so eager to get rid of him. He made everyone around him worse. Kidd hid it long enough to dump him.
Just read this thread from fans who got to see him as a starter with consistent minutes. Same story.
JCSunsfan wrote:I am sorry. Knight has had plenty of opportunity to start here and has lots of stints of long minutes. He has just played badly. He doesn't play team ball. He makes everyone around him worse. His play is not coaching or mgmt's fault. You can fault them for drafting him, but not his play. BTW. THAT was why Milwaukee fans were so eager to get rid of him. He made everyone around him worse. Kidd hid it long enough to dump him.
Just read this thread from fans who got to see him as a starter with consistent minutes. Same story.
Knight is a bad nba player, and I think we all get that. We don't blame management or coaching for making him bad. But we do blame management for thinking they could change his game, and some of us blame coaching for not being able to minimize his weaknesses they way Kidd did.
Bottom line: we shouldn't have the guy, and the long er we keep him the worse it gets.
The league needs heroes, villains... and clowns. -- Aztec Sunsfan
They didn't make him bad, they only made him worse.
Author of The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts
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There is a place for trigger-happy guards like him in the NBA. Look at how much success Dion Waiters is having in Miami for a quick example. Jamal Crawford in LA is another obvious comparison.
Marty [Mori Chu] wrote:There is a place for trigger-happy guards like him in the NBA. Look at how much success Dion Waiters is having in Miami for a quick example. Jamal Crawford in LA is another obvious comparison.
He would thrive under D'Antoni, after he shot his confidence back, in an Eddie House role.
Marty [Mori Chu] wrote:There is a place for trigger-happy guards like him in the NBA. Look at how much success Dion Waiters is having in Miami for a quick example. Jamal Crawford in LA is another obvious comparison.
He would thrive under D'Antoni, after he shot his confidence back, in an Eddie House role.
I thought they tried him in that type of role this year, but he struggled. I agree that he needs to build his value back, and if he could be that type of guy, that he would work well in Houston with D'Antonio.
"There are 3 rules I live by: never get less than 12 hours sleep, never play cards with a guy with the same first name as a city & never get involved with a woman with a tattoo of a dagger on her body. Everything else is cream cheese."
Marty [Mori Chu] wrote:There is a place for trigger-happy guards like him in the NBA. Look at how much success Dion Waiters is having in Miami for a quick example. Jamal Crawford in LA is another obvious comparison.
He would thrive under D'Antoni, after he shot his confidence back, in an Eddie House role.
I thought they tried him in that type of role this year, but he struggled. I agree that he needs to build his value back, and if he could be that type of guy, that he would work well in Houston with D'Antonio.
Yeah I think it requires a system that is way more free then the one that Watson is building. And most likely far less minutes then what Knight wants. Not really a 6th man but a spark plug and too Knights defense not what we sold him on doing here.
