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How does Willie justify dropping Hawk from the rotation?
Posted on 12/13/23 at 4:46 pm
Posted on 12/13/23 at 4:46 pm
Is Willie retarded? If you’re not gonna play Hawk why did you use a first round pick on him? We have arguably the best shooting rookie from this year’s draft and Willie makes him ride the bench. Dyson, Jose, and Naji should be the ones losing minutes, not Hawk.
Posted on 12/13/23 at 4:48 pm to TheGhostOfBigLee
Because while he’s been shooting the ball well, he’s a net negative on the court. The only wing on the roster that is one
Posted on 12/13/23 at 4:50 pm to TheGhostOfBigLee
The world champion nuggets are including their rookie in the rotation and they’re one of the deepest teams in the league. Meanwhile, our rookie who’s one of the leagues best can’t find minutes on our team regardless of his plus/minus and so-so defense. This is where I feel like Willie gets too attached to “his” guys like Naji and/or Jose.
Posted on 12/13/23 at 4:50 pm to TheGhostOfBigLee
quote:Defense
How does Willie justify dropping Hawk from the rotation?
quote:He sees how awful the team has been when Hawkins plays, and we need wins.
Is Willie retarded? If you’re not gonna play Hawk why did you use a first round
quote:He's played a lot, more than most rookies.
you’re not gonna play Hawk why did you use a first round pick on him?
quote:Then he should practice hard learning defense so he can not a bigger liability than those guys.
Dyson, Jose, and Naji should be the ones losing minutes, not Hawk.
Posted on 12/13/23 at 4:50 pm to TheGhostOfBigLee
It would be nice if Hawkins is a big part of the rotation but if they continue to win games with Willie's preferred rotation, then it's hard to argue.
Posted on 12/13/23 at 4:53 pm to shel311
I agree his defense isn’t great but hes one of our best shooters and a pretty solid rebounder. Hard to improve on defense, when you don’t get a chance to play in games.
I agree his plus/minus is bad but to be fair he was playing minutes when most of this team was injured. That may change with the guys that are playing now.
I agree his plus/minus is bad but to be fair he was playing minutes when most of this team was injured. That may change with the guys that are playing now.
Posted on 12/13/23 at 5:06 pm to Pels_Yaz
quote:
I agree his defense isn’t great but hes one of our best shooters and a pretty solid rebounder. Hard to improve on defense, when you don’t get a chance to play in games.
It took Trey a while to earn his minutes, and the team really needed his shooting back then, but his defense was bad at first and he was able to improve while not getting stead minutes. The same thing can be said about Hawk, except the Pels don't need his shooting with CJ and Trey back.
In games where Hawk has played less than 20 minutes, including DNPs, the Pels are 5-1 LINK I'm glad people are irrationally excited about a rookie, especially after so many thought he was a terrible pick, but not playing Hawkins is not hurting the Pels so far.
This post was edited on 12/13/23 at 5:07 pm
Posted on 12/13/23 at 5:13 pm to TigerinATL
I guess my argument to that would be I would want to play my best players regardless. I get it winning is more important than development at this stage for the pelicans but I would argue do we NEED to play Naji or even Jose that many minutes? I mean isn’t Naji kind of redundant with guys like Herb and Dyson? A more confident Hawkins integrated into this offense to me might be better than random Naji minutes. This isnt a knock on Naji( been really solid).
Posted on 12/13/23 at 5:19 pm to Pels_Yaz
Jose and Naji isn't even playing all that much. And Jose doesn't even affect Hawkins minutes since they don't play the same positions.
Naji gives us switchability which is probably why he's always going to get minutes however little it may be.
In the last game, Willie showed me something with Dyson and Trey. They are the one who's going to be battling for minutes.
Naji gives us switchability which is probably why he's always going to get minutes however little it may be.
In the last game, Willie showed me something with Dyson and Trey. They are the one who's going to be battling for minutes.
Posted on 12/13/23 at 5:22 pm to Pels_Yaz
quote:
I would argue do we NEED to play Naji or even Jose that many minutes?
Naji is an interesting case because I know where you're coming from BUT, he's been absurdly hot from 3 and is shooting 42.5% this season, many of which have been very timely shots within the flow of the game. AD also made a comment the other night that Naji was coming in first off the bench to kind of be a Zion lite (no fat joke intended) as a physical attacker.
Jose is just a winning player, and he is shooting 39.4% from 3 this season.
Normally you could even make an argument that they aren't volume shooters so the % doesn't matter, BUT, Jose is averaging 7.2 3PAs per 36 minutes. Naji is at 4.8 which is on the wrong side of the volume 3 point shooter threshold. You need to be about 6-7 3PA per 36 to have a volume the defense will care about. For comparison Hawkins is averaging 9.2 per 36, which is fantastic, but the way Jose and Naji are playing so far this season, they aren't the hole in the offense you would expect them to be based on the rest of their career.
Posted on 12/13/23 at 5:27 pm to supe12sta12z
I guess is switchability on defense more important than a guy who’s shown you he can give you 20 points in a half and go on a heater to completely change the game offensively? I guess to Willie it may be.
The fact that Willie thinks Dyson and Trey should battle for minutes is strange to me. Trey is by far the more superior player despite some defensive lapses.
The fact that Willie thinks Dyson and Trey should battle for minutes is strange to me. Trey is by far the more superior player despite some defensive lapses.
Posted on 12/13/23 at 5:31 pm to Pels_Yaz
It's not strange at all since Willie is a defensive minded coach and will probably always prioritize defense.
As far as Trey and Dyson is concerned, Trey struggled against the Wolves in the post. Willie took some of his minutes and gave it to Dyson who did a much better job. Trey get minutes but how much will probably be determined by his defense. His floor will probably be 25 minutes and ceiling is 30 in a healthy lineup.
As far as Trey and Dyson is concerned, Trey struggled against the Wolves in the post. Willie took some of his minutes and gave it to Dyson who did a much better job. Trey get minutes but how much will probably be determined by his defense. His floor will probably be 25 minutes and ceiling is 30 in a healthy lineup.
Posted on 12/13/23 at 5:40 pm to supe12sta12z
I love Naji, but I hope we trade him to open up minutes for Hawk
Posted on 12/13/23 at 5:48 pm to Pels_Yaz
quote:
The world champion nuggets are including their rookie in the rotation and they’re one of the deepest teams in the league. Meanwhile, our rookie who’s one of the leagues best can’t find minutes on our team regardless of his plus/minus and so-so defense. This is where I feel like Willie gets too attached to “his” guys like Naji and/or Jose.
It is almost as if his limited play time is tied to his
quote:
plus/minus and so-so defense
Willie showed trust in Hawkins earlier this season when we had so many key wing guys out in Jose, CJ, and Trigga. While Hawks spacing and surprising "two dribbles and make a basketball play", has been good for the offense, Hawk has been targeted nonstop on D. He is terrible when put in pick & roll situations, and our lack of an interior shot-blocking presence exposes him even more.
Willie is going to have to find playing time against teams that don't have good scoring backcourts.
Posted on 12/13/23 at 6:06 pm to TheGhostOfBigLee
He can shoot the lights out from 3, which is far and away the most important skill set in today’s NBA. He’ll get plenty of minutes this year, and if his defense is just average next year, he’ll start leapfrogging Dyson Jose and Naji.
Posted on 12/13/23 at 6:07 pm to TheGhostOfBigLee
Willie is mid but it ain’t bc he doesn’t play Hawkins
Posted on 12/13/23 at 6:19 pm to TheGhostOfBigLee
How the hell does he justify Trey Murphy not starting with Zion out lol ? This is a joke of a coach
Posted on 12/13/23 at 6:21 pm to Pelican707
Agreed. That was completely stupid and got us off to a shite start.
Posted on 12/13/23 at 6:25 pm to TheGhostOfBigLee
quote:
Is Willie retarded?
Yes
He is the second reason why this team will never reach full potential.
Posted on 12/13/23 at 6:39 pm to TheGhostOfBigLee
The kid has to learn to at least be active on defense even if he’s never going to be a Herb or Dyson or Naji.
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