AbeVigodaLive wrote:I'm in the middle on this one. I like some things Rubio can do... hate other things. Same with Teague. It's why both are middle-of-the-road starters. But a closer look at Teague:
- Indecisive. I know he has a tough role with a lot of proverbial mouths to feed... but there seems to be openings and he's simply not taking them. It is the same vibe I got that season in the playoffs when Atlanta won 60 games but were throttled by the Cavs when they dared him to shoot. He eventually did... but it was all out of rhythm and you could tell he was overthinking stuff.
- Those look-ahead passes... I've mentioned them before. You expected those with Rubio. LATE in the Phoenix game, somebody broke free and Teague hesitated... and didn't make the pass for what seemed like a pretty easy layup. Instead, it became a halfcourt game... and I think that might have been the possession that ended with an off-balance 28 footer from Butler to beat the shot clock.
Summary: Stop thinking so much and be more aggressive.
Yeah, in terms of talent and performance, I see them as relatively equal too. But for me to get on board with the swap, Teague needs to significantly outperform Ricky on the court, because we lost two big things when Ricky left:
1) A contract that was much more workable for Thibs when it becomes time to max our Big Three. I'm not too hung up on the extra millions per year we have to pay Teague, but the additional year on his contract makes it almost a certainty that one of the Big Three will have to go before the last year of Jeff's contract. Maybe Thibs has a plan for how to navigate this, but I sense he is only kicking this big can down the road.
2) Charisma. Several posters here have talked about how the team is more difficult to cheer for this year...and this in a year that has started out stronger than any in a long time. I think this emotional reaction is due to Ricky's departure. I've always thought of Teague as a good guy, but he lacks Ricky's energy, flair and charisma. Not his fault...Ricky was one of a kind.
When Teague hit that big three-pointer to put us up 6 late in the Suns game, I had a brief feeling of "yes, this is why Thibs went out and got him". But of course he didn't finish strong either offensively or defensively, and that brief feeling went away. Maybe tonight is the night Jeff outplays Ricky for a win on the road (Gobert out will help) and helps me start moving on from Rubio.
