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I'd rather have the discussion after 15-20 games (with him here)...
Thoughts on Raja?
I know it isn't fair to rip him to shreds at 3 games in, but it's natural to open the dialog. Many people were upset we traded our SG star for him and said he's a competent player that will ratchet up our defense. Thus far, our plus/minus is horrendous when he plays...the worst on the team. His shooting percentage is under 15%, I think...it was 20% for the first two games, then he went 0-5 before his ejection. Oh, and what did he say to get ejected? I was courtside and it was..."F$%^ You, Whitey" to the Caucasian referee. No, I am not kidding and that's why he wasn't talked to or just given a tech.
Given our other shooting guard, Felton, shoots 30% (including a high percentage from penetration where he probably make 7/10...meaning his shots from the field are low percentage)...what do we do to overcome our SG woes? The SG we had was our best scorer and now it's our most unreliable position, even over the 4 or 5 spot...especially with Emeka, Ajincia, and Hollins improving, and Diaw doing very well.
I am not willing to write Bell off and don't think 3 games makes or breaks him, but let's talk about why the transition has been rough and why he's underperformed thus far.
I'd rather have the discussion after 15-20 games (with him here)...
Hence, me being openminded and saying to not tear him down. I wanted to discuss, why he may not be transitioning well and if this is the right system for him.Originally Posted by BRNC
I, again, am not writing him off after 3 games...that would be ignorant. There is many discussions on this board about a single game performance or even thoughts on the trade before we saw him play at all. I think the discussion is worthwhile as now it is our most troublesome position, ironically, despite it being the one position where we were "overloaded".
I'd love to talk about it too, it 15-20 games. But it's silly to have any discussion off the table until then on a message board about the Bobcats when it was a major, major trade and we're struggling.
I was told by someone in the organization one trade being considered was Diaw and some other players (including Morrison) for Curry and David Lee. Diaw just got here and is performing well. Players could be dealt away and not be here is 15-20 games at this pace. We can and should talk about the team openly.
Bell is pressing , trying to hard . Hes out of rythem , He konws his shot isn't falling and hes just pissed at his self. After 0 for 5 again he just vented his flusteration the wroung way. Give Bell time to get adjusted.
Why the hate for Felton . I havn,t looked but i bet you hes shooting close to 40 percent if not better on the season. Give Bell about 10 more games be for passing such a harsh judgement on him.
As far as Swish goes Diaw seems to be doing ok on this side of the trade.
Hear is this years stats so far Felton is shooting .398 much better than the .300 you saying . DJ isn't shooting much better at .415 . Should we hate on him to.
http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball...erstats/09/3/1
Last edited by dav7z; 12-17-2008 at 11:56 AM.
this is as happy with a roster as I have ever been with a Charlotte Bobcats team.
Raja isn't even a concern for me. It's a new team, a new city, and he isn't a star player... he is what he is. He will gel with the guys and produce good defense, about 10 ppg and 5 or so boards. Raja isn't gonna score 20 a game like Jrich... but he wont have to anymore i dont think. He will add a defensive touch that Jrich didn't give us and still be a guy who can hit an open J when needed. (even though he hasn't here yet) I think we are seeing a transformation from an outside game to an inside game and i love it. (more consistent, easier buckets, higher % and more free throws)
Raja can be supplemented easily for DJ, Matt, Adam or Ray at the SG spot when a little extra scoring is needed. My whole thing about this trade is this: When Larry is happy, the teams he coaches win. We weren't winning so screw it... make Larry happy and see what happens. So far I dig it. Just scanning the bench I feel so much more secure than I used to. It just feels more like a competent NBA bench. that is no disrepect to Dude and definetly not Jrich.... I just like seeing Howard, Diaw and Raja (proven winners) sitting or playing. Its comfortable.
I will be so highly pissed if we re-route Diaw and Bell to New York for Curry and Lee. I like the way this team has started off already and theres plenty of room to grow. Please front office... let this play out. Lee and Curry just makes us less athletic, and even less fun to watch.
Felton is shooting 39.8 percent this year and 30 percent from behind the line. And as for Bell I agree with the idea he is pressing. As for the trade for Lee and Curry, I'd probably do it, depending on who was involved other than those 2 and Diaw, but only because I love David Lee's game and have been wanting him on the Bobcats for a few years now...Curry, not so much.
I understand you like Lee... thats cool. I kind of like his game too.
I can't see how he in any way is better than Diaw. Maybe rebounding...but in my opinion it will put us in the exact same situation we have been in. No offense down low... and no one is scared of Lee hurting them offensively meaning Okafor wont be freed up to score down low either.
I see Lee as a Joakim Noah type. a very good bench rebounding, put back hustle kind of guy. but definetly not an adequate starter at PF. I would rather stay athletic and offensively capable, than get 3 more rebounds a game.
as i posted in yesterday's blog comments...raja is washed up. offensive performance is expected to dip when you enter a new system with new teammates. raja's defense is not that good. he has lost a step and can not guard the better guards in the league anymore. joe johnson blew by him more than a few times. we should trade him if we can.
No you didn't! Was this "someone" stating that we were actually thinking about it or was he/she just repeating the New York article?
Jesus H. Christ...we can't be THAT dumb can we? David Lee will NOT stay here; he told Memphis that if they traded for him he would not re-sign. Not to mention he'll probably get upwards of 9 million per year, and unless he's developed it he has nothing outside of 10 ft.
Raja...a disappointment so far to say the least. Like I mentioned in another thread though Jason Richardson was struggling under Brown early on as well. I think he's studying too much on when to shoot vs. not.
If he gets back to what he's shot for the last 5 years (over 40% from 3) and he can still play passable defense I'll be fine with him.
Hope Resurrected: "I think I can bring an attitude to a team as far as, ‘All right, no matter what, we are not losing this game'." - Kemba Walker
"Its okay to be bad; just so long as you're bad ass." - Keetch
sure, we can talk about raja...but what is there to talk about? it's all speculation..you have one game and 3 mins of another game to talk about.....talking about him is just going to lead to more discussions about the trade etc , which are irrelevant at this point - the trade happened and so far we look better in the first two games.
we need more games to evaluate raja.
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