Could Paul Silas and Charles Oakley have turned Alexis Ajinca into a decent player

[ziggy]

That thought crossed my mind today.

Do you think Lexi would have been a solid, contributing NBA player if he had been working with the current regime instead of LB?

[SWedd523]

Short answer? No.




Long answer? HELL no.

[CatNation]

He has skills but I doubt he'll ever be much more than a 10th-12th man on a team.

[Pepperz]

These guys are coaches, not miracle workers.

[marino13882]

He would have him crying in a corner.

[Chef]

only jesus could do that.

[Dcarnys]

Thats a bit too far. Atleast Kwame had potential in the draft and can't be blown away by a light breeze.

[teej]

Oakley would've killed Lexy. No way he would've ever touched the floor, much less be legit.

[Plowright]

I think Oakley would destroy Ajinca and make him cry

[BlockParty]

Well..after the initial handshake with Oakley (and according to this article http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_bones_in_a_human_hand) Lexy would have 27 broken bones to heal up before going onto the court.

[ziggy]

You guys are hilarious!

So, to summarize not even Charles Oakley or Paul silas could help Lexi become a decent NBA big man... To make that happen, Lexi would need a


Miracle Worker
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w301/bobcatsplanet/MiracleWorker.jpg

[davcbow]

You guys are hilarious!

So, to summarize not even Charles Oakley or Paul silas could help Lexi become a decent NBA big man... To make that happen, Lexi would need a


Miracle Worker
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w301/bobcatsplanet/MiracleWorker.jpg

Good Movie ... 8)

[TattoodCats4life]

See still to this day no one "gets" what Lexi could be... IGNORE the fact that he is 7-1...treat him as the 180-200 pounder he is, where do those guys play? 3! not 4 or 5, ___3___. You have a 7 foot 1 "small" forward... play him as such and watch him flourish, and watch as 6-7 guys try to stop him :)

[davcbow]

See still to this day no one "gets" what Lexi could be... IGNORE the fact that he is 7-1...treat him as the 180-200 pounder he is, where do those guys play? 3! not 4 or 5, ___3___. You have a 7 foot 1 "small" forward... play him as such and watch him flourish, and watch as 6-7 guys try to stop him :)

Well said Tat 8)

[cls77]

Alexis Ajinca will never be anything more than a glorified Ryan Hollins. The only good stat sheets he ever produced were in the D-League and he still FOULED OUT. Even after bulking up (hes more like 220-250lbs now) hes too weak/soft to play adequate defense for his size. A liability on the court that will never amount to anything more than a 12th man. That said, if there is any team that he could possibly flourish with, it would be the Raptors.

[GoBobs]

Here is the main thing with Lexy. He is still only 23 years old.

If you are picking a big man in the draft that is 20 years old you have to expect him to be a project. There are only a few bigs I can think of that have made an impact player at that age (Dwight Howard, Amare S). The vast majority of high school age bigs I can think of which have been drafted high have been labeled as busts during their first couple of years (Tyson Chandler, Eddie Curry, Patrick Obryant, K Brown, Kendrick Perkins, Gana Diop, Robert Swift, countless others). Some of those guys developed into decent players, but it takes time.

With Lexy I think there is still some question if he can become a good player. He was picked based on his height and length, but sometimes extremely tall guys have problems with endurance. I don't know if he physically has enough endurance to be an effective nba player. If he does then we likely did a poor job of developing him as a player or gave up on him too early.

I have no doubt that from a standpoint of encouragement, support and engagement we could have done better. Other players also had development problems and seem to be doing better with the new staff so it only makes sense that the same would hold true with reference to Alexis Ajinca.

I would still like to see us get him back down the road. He could still turn into a decent player.

[ammofan]

I think he could turn into a nice player with the right coaching. He would not have made it to the NBA if he didnt have any talent. We all thought DJ wasnt the answer at PG, and that Hendo was terrible......then a few weeks after Silas takes over; DJ is god and Hendo is better than GW.

I dont know for sure and nobody does but I think Silas/Oak could definatley make Lex a decent player.

[cls77]

I suppose Ajinca could become better. Its called a contract year.

Cmon guys. Really? Size and talent mean absolutely nothing if you don't have the drive or passion.

I give you these encouraging writeups over his tenure with the team:
http://network.yardbarker.com/nba/article_external/brown_fires_a_zinger_at_ajinca/1261643
http://bobcats.basketball-news-update.com/after-2-disappointing-seasons-alexis-ajinca-faces-critical-summer-with-charlotte-bobcats/

Best quotes:
"I was going (to France) to drink the wine and eat the food. After watching him, nothing tastes good,'' (Larry) Brown said of his second-year big man. "He showed no interest in making their team or playing hard. It was almost like he didn't think he had a chance to make the team, didn't understand why he was there." - on trying out for the French National Team
"He still has to be focused to be more consistent with his effort," (Dave) Hanners said. "He plays great for two or three minutes and then he disappears for a little bit. … It’s not because he’s a bad guy. He’s just a young guy and he forgets, forgets he’s not playing hard."
and the best of all.....
'Maybe his new tattoo will help. Ajinca showed up to camp with a Japanese symbol below his right ear that he says means "great talent sent from God."'

[Carolina Swagger]

nonononononono no no no