I would MUCH rather he "get exposed" attempting to do everything he dominated in college with than get exposed for the same weaknesses we all knew about before the draft.
But why?
That's not development, that's maintaining the skills he already has. We want Obi to be better than the player we drafted. Imagine we told RJ we only want him to do what he's good at. Again, we SHOULD be running more pick and rolls for Obi... But I get why we don't. He works best with Rose and he's out
If he wasn't going to be used as a pick and roll big, then he shouldn't have been the pick.
I feel like he was picked as a combination of Randle replacement and BPA. I don't think we need to run more sets for him to say we shouldn't have picked him... That's apparent regardless unless we trade Julius
Does he need a three-pointer to open his game up? Absolutely. Does that mean he shouldn't get to play to the strengths he'd shown before the NBA at all? Nah, I don't agree with that.
His college tape shows a pick and roll big that can post-up smaller guys and has excellent vision to kill doubles (also a dominant transition player which has translated because that's beyond half-court roles). You don't draft that player in the top-ten to take on the weakside corner role until his three-point shot clicks. Even if he's trade-bait without the jumper, you have to let him play to his strengths to pump his value. And if he does end up being bad in the pick and roll, then you drafted a bust. But that's a risk you took when you selected him.
Maybe it's just me, but I don't see Obi being successful in the NBA the same way he was successful in college. He's not gonna be as successful posting up smaller players because the NBA is bigger... He showed us last year he's not that strong. The transition game is already apparent. I agree with you but his value is going to skyrocket if he gets confident in shooting the 3 because as you admitted, it's going to open up his game... Especially when he starts cutting because teams are respecting his shot
We over-performed but you're always simplifying things to fit your narrative.
There were so many other factors in play that ALLOWED us to over-perform like playing in the bubble, the addition of D-Rose, & no one expected Randle to play the way he did just to name a few. That was the major factor but he & Thibs were exposed during the playoffs when the fans came back. We were brought right back to earth which has carried over into this season. Thibs coaching & the way he approaches the game are 2 of the major issues with the team now. It was either the FO or a light bulb finally went off in Thibs head because he realized the rookies can actually contribute but it's too little too late. We've had so many close loses, whose to say one of the those rookies couldn't have contributed to a W with a rebound/pass/score/steal in a crucial moment in one of those games. We'll never know because Thibs would rather run vets into the ground instead.
You and me will never agree on this because you're stuck bro
As I recall, Thibs made every change we asked of him in the playoffs but none of it mattered because Julius sucked ass and the Hawks hid Trae on Reggie Bullock.
Everything else you're saying could be true but it's based on hypotheticals. I could just as easily argue that nothing would be different using facts. Quickley hit a slump, Reddish was a consistent negative in +/- , Obi was ass all year, Mitch needed most of the season to get back his conditioning, McBride hasn't dropped any super impressive stats outside of the g league.
I don't believe half of that, just saying that while you could be right you could also be wrong. So you're right, we'll never know because of how Thibs runs things, but if you're wrong then what do we do? Rehire the man?
We agree more than you think, I just don't think the solution to everything is to fire the coach. I think he likes our kids... His definition of development is just not what most of us want. I'm personally fine with it. I just hope Quentin can thoroughly outplay Fournier so I can see if Thibs is willing to start him
