Right now I'm a little frustrated with Willie. Not because of what he can't do, but because of what he won't do. He's shown that he can hit that 18 foot jump shot, yet he continues to play the role of the unselfish player, constantly passing up open shots for a pass instead. On a night like last night, when no one could make a shot, he needs to start taking open shots. Also, Willie is quicker than almost anyone that's guarding him. He needs to take his new found dribbling skills and attack the basket more. Either finish, or get to the line. Or both! It's also a great way to pad your rebounding stats in case you miss.
I'm not as critical of Skal as your are. To me he's still a rookie and this is like his first year in the league. He's athletic enough to defend the position, but not strong enough depending on who he has to guard. Is he making mistakes? Yes, no doubt, but that's to be expected. There's a difference between pointing out mistakes, and condemning a player as incapable of playing the position. Isn't that what this season is all about? To see who will rise and who will fall. What frustrates me with Skal, is his inconsistency on offense. He'll look like a future all star one minute, and look like a player that should be sitting at the end of the bench the next. I can live with his defensive liabilities if he can consistently look like the future all star.
My biggest concern is with Buddy Buckets. He'll have to change his moniker to BudAir if he continues to miss shots the way he has. I think it's gotten into his head, because he's missing badly. Maybe they should give him a rest for a couple of games and let him watch. Or,
bring him off the bench. He appears to think he has to go out and get 20 pts every night, so he's trying too hard to make something happen. Pressing never works! Not in any sport. I don't question his desire, but he needs to relax and just take what's there.
The bright spots have been Bogdanovic and Fox. Both have been a bit inconsistent, but both do the little things that help you win games. On one play last night, Bog's came around the top of the 3 pt line with the ball. Koufos was setting a pick. He handed the ball off to Koufos, and then cut in behind the man guarding Koufos and set a beautiful back screen, allowing Koufos to go unimpeded to the basket for a dunk. This is the kind of effort both Bog's and Fox bring that makes them valuable even when their missing their shots. Both players need to be more aggressive offensively. Fox waited till the 4th quarter to go into his attack mode. He needs to do that the minute he enters the game.
I'm having a hard time figuring out Hill. At times he seems to disappear, and then suddenly, like in the last game, it's as though he woke up and realized he was in a game and started to attack. The dude is a good shooter! How about he takes some shots instead of deferring to Buddy all the time. I'm also convinced that it's time for Randolph to hang up his spurs. He's really struggling defensively, and it's like we have to stop what were doing so Randolph can get in his post up shot on occasion. That's probably unfair, but that's what it looks like to me at times. Joerger says he wants to play uptempo, but how in the hell do you do that with Randolph in the lineup.Inquiring minds want to know.