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People shouldn't even begin to down Biyombo, or give up on him until ATLEAST 2 more seasons have went by. He is the project of all projects.
And yes, I am one of the ones that get really irritated at him at times, but then I have to remind myself that he is basically playing just off of athleticism with highschool skill level. 2 more seasons with 2 off seasons under Dunlap with his work ethic and I think he will be OK.
My thoughts on Smack
Firstly is that he's still raw as crap. Last year most of us were just hoping he could do at least something on the court. He was raw to the point where any contribution he gave at all was a bonus. And then he came out and he played solid. Ofc he had his rookie moments and struggled at time, as well as having consistency issues but every rookie has that. However he also showed what he could produce, blocks, rebounds and perhaps a hint of scoring. He showed a very very raw and rough level of a post game (fadeaway and hook shots). However he seems to be terrible because he performed well in his first season. Now he has expectations that he isn't meeting. Simply because me didn't expect anything from him and we got plenty in return in that rookie season.
What does smack have going for him though? The tool shed certainly isn't empty.
He has friggin 7'7 arms, that will never go away.
He has an old and mature head, with an excellent work ethic
He has Dunlap there to be able to develop and teach him (who is doing an awesome job with Mullens thus far)
He's shown progress throughout his seasons thus far
He's learning under Haywood
He struggles with the new system, all the movement, zoning and trapping probably confuses him, especially as he hasn't played organised basketball all that much.
Give him at minimum another 3 seasons. We've seen a failure of project already in ajinca, but ajinca was soft and was lazy. Smack is driven to improve and succeed.
Smacks greatest strength is his enjoyment, passion and love for the game. He wants to do more than just block shots and rebound. He wants to be great. Will he get there? It's possible. But at minimum I would happily back him to be at minimum a very solid player for us.
On this topic also of knight vs walker, I would choose walker. We drafted the guy, I'll back him until the very end (gets traded or w.e)
I'll admit that I was a Knight fan at draft time. BK just hasn't evolved at all in the pros. He looked like a truer PG at UK than he has as a Piston. I don't know if that's b/c he has to play with Stuckey and Monroe as his best players or what, but that kid can't find his mojo.
I was content with Kemba though, just skeptical b/c that pick had MJ's stench all over it. Was happy with the Biz pick and still am, just wish we'd hire a legit big man coach for the kid so he can learn some big man fundamentals and footwork.
Yeah I think it's pretty well known now that Kemba was MJ's guy...didn't some FO type say as much?
With all the misses he's had tho he had to hit one sometime.