Budinger getting playing time over Shabazz?

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

I know this is off topic, but Love as a defensive liability is blown way outta proportion. Only thing he doesn't do is block shots and maybe twice a game you'll see him not get back on defense during fastbreaks. His man defense is actually good, he tries (sometimes draws the charge) on help D and he actually does hedge on screens most of the time. In my opinion, Kevin's grown soooo much on this end of the floor. He's closer to being an average defender than he is a bad defender.

[ace [enjin:6598567]]

I know this is off topic, but Love as a defensive liability is blown way outta proportion. Only thing he doesn't do is block shots and maybe twice a game you'll see him not get back on defense during fastbreaks. His man defense is actually good, he tries (sometimes draws the charge) on help D and he actually does hedge on screens most of the time. In my opinion, Kevin's grown soooo much on this end of the floor. He's closer to being an average defender than he is a bad defender.

He couldn't do much to stop Lee tonight though. That was more Lee making tough shots though.

[alexftbl8181 [enjin:6648741]]

I'm not saying he should get 20 minutes a game. I am saying give the kid some burn in some semi-meaningful minutes and see what he brings to the table. Everyone knows what Bud is capable of. Nothing great, nothing awful...Shabazz has a much higher ceiling. Its worth seeing what he can do. Put him out there on the short leash the Derick Williams left in town. The 2nd unit needs scoring and that is what he does well. Anyone remember when Kevin Love was a young player that didn't see the court because of his defense? Well it hasn't gotten that much better but his impact offensively offsets his defensive liability which may be the case with Shabazz as well. The only way to find out is to get him on the floor.

what makes you think his ceiling is higher?

[TAFKASP]

Most people here were ready to cut Lexy a few short weeks ago, yet Adelman let him play through his issues and he has been coming alive at the right time for this team. Bud is a known quantity, coming off of an injury he too needs to play himself back into his game and with his experience he won't take as long to find it as Lexy did. I expect in a few short weeks or less all this Bud bashing will be gone.

As for Shabazz, obviously he isn't getting it, it being the team concept in practice. Adelman isn't going to play someone who cannot keep up in practice during meaningful games. Shabazz killed it in the D-leage, so what.

[Brandon BassHole [enjin:8183321]]

Screw it start Shabazz over brewer

[mjs34]

Why not send Bud to the D-League for more time to get his game conditioning? Whether those minutes are given to Shabazz or Luc would be up to Rick.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Most people here were ready to cut Lexy a few short weeks ago, yet Adelman let him play through his issues and he has been coming alive at the right time for this team. Bud is a known quantity, coming off of an injury he too needs to play himself back into his game and with his experience he won't take as long to find it as Lexy did. I expect in a few short weeks or less all this Bud bashing will be gone.

As for Shabazz, obviously he isn't getting it, it being the team concept in practice. Adelman isn't going to play someone who cannot keep up in practice during meaningful games. Shabazz killed it in the D-leage, so what.

Your point about Lexy is well taken, sp, but I would argue this is a different situation. Lexy's struggles were clearly mental...he just needed to get his head screwed on straight and his confidence back. On the other hand, Bud's problems appear to be physical. He's a step slower both on offense and defense, and his jump shot looks entirely different than last year. Both his FG % and his 3-point percentage have dropped below 30%. He has no lift on his jump shot...his 3-pointer form looks more like a Rubio set shot than the perfect form Bud showed pre-injury. Bud is hurting us both offensively and defensively, and with all the competition for SF minutes, should not be getting minutes ahead of Luc and Shabazz until he has demonstrated that he is healthy enough to shoot with his normal form.

I am as vocal a Shabazz supporter as anyone, but I admit that I didn't want him in last night's game. It was clear that last night was going to go down to the wire, and was not the right time to start giving Shabazz meaningful minutes. At halftime, I called for Rick to replace Corey with Luc, since Corey was completely ineffective guarding Thompson in the first half. I was clearly wrong, as Klay only scored 2 points off of Corey in the second half. However, I would have had Luc playing instead of Bud. Bud needs to earn his playing time in practice, not based on what he was able to do pre-injury.

[60WinTim]

What makes you say he is not earning the playing time in practice?

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

What makes you say he is not earning the playing time in practice?

Good point, Tim...there's a possibility that he is. Here's why I think he's getting his playing time based on reputation rather than current performance though: his shooting in games appears both in form and results to be severely broken. It's hard for me to believe that his shot looks any better in practice than it does in games, because his problems appear to be more physical (inability or unwillingness to get any lift when he shoots) than mental. Meanwhile, though, he continues to do (in games, and presumably in practice) all the things that Rick (and many of us) appreciate in Bud...moving without the ball (albeit a little less athletically), exhibiting proper spacing, etc. Things that Muhammad does not do consistently. So Rick stays with Bud, even though he can't hit his shots.

I just wonder how much longer we can continue to give 18 minutes a game to a guy who is primarily an offensive player, but isn't hitting 30% of his shots, if we are serious about making a playoff surge. Until he can demonstrate that his knee has heeled enough to allow him to jump close to how he used to, I advocate giving his minutes to Luc (if defense is the in-game need) or Shabazz (if we need points). Currently I see Bud providing neither.

[Ricky Bricky [enjin:8559166]]

What makes you say he is not earning the playing time in practice?

Good point, Tim...there's a possibility that he is. Here's why I think he's getting his playing time based on reputation rather than current performance though: his shooting in games appears both in form and results to be severely broken. It's hard for me to believe that his shot looks any better in practice than it does in games, because his problems appear to be more physical (inability or unwillingness to get any lift when he shoots) than mental. Meanwhile, though, he continues to do (in games, and presumably in practice) all the things that Rick (and many of us) appreciate in Bud...moving without the ball (albeit a little less athletically), exhibiting proper spacing, etc. Things that Muhammad does not do consistently. So Rick stays with Bud, even though he can't hit his shots.

I just wonder how much longer we can continue to give 18 minutes a game to a guy who is primarily an offensive player, but isn't hitting 30% of his shots, if we are serious about making a playoff surge. Until he can demonstrate that his knee has heeled enough to allow him to jump close to how he used to, I advocate giving his minutes to Luc (if defense is the in-game need) or Shabazz (if we need points). Currently I see Bud providing neither.

Couldn't have said it better myself.