Boston Globe: Championships put Roxbury's Shabazz Napier in a different category

[tcf15]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2...18X3aXKm8m9XNxbJmOOVUJ/story.html#skip-target

“At the end of the day, winning gets you whatever you want,” Napier said during the NBA Draft combine this week, where he’s trying to improve his stock with workouts and interviews.

“It gets your rings, it gets you more fans, it gets you everything an owner needs, everything a team needs. I think it should be No. 1. Certain guys know how to win, certain guys understand what to do at certain times of the game and that’s kind of rare.”

 

[Inyatkin]

“The kid has come a long way,” said an Eastern Conference scout. “I’ve seen him play a ton over the last four years and always thought he was a very selfish, all about him having to score and not making players around him better. But clearly this year, and the last two months, something totally clicked. Something went on that he had never had before happen to him, and now he understands it.”
This scout should be fired.

 

[dogfan96]

Tyronn Lue? Howard Eisley? Bazz would eat those guys for breakfast, even at their best

 

[Dogbreath2U]

“The kid has come a long way,” said an Eastern Conference scout. “I’ve seen him play a ton over the last four years and always thought he was a very selfish, all about him having to score and not making players around him better. But clearly this year, and the last two months, something totally clicked. Something went on that he had never had before happen to him, and now he understands it.”
This scout should be fired.

Clearly a dumbsh*t who has not seen how amazing Bazz was last year, never mind this year.

 

[UConn9604]

Clearly a dumb who has not seen how amazing Bazz was last year, never mind this year.

Not to mention 2011. At best, 'Bazz was "selfish" during one of four years, yet this guy classified him based on that very forgettable 2012 season.

"Now he understands it." No, now YOU understand it. Idiot.

 

[HooperScooper]

Reading this article makes me feel like scouts just make stuff up because they have to say something and have some opinion.

 

[DogMania]

Huh? When has Bazz ever been a selfish player? He struggled in the past with being too critical of his teammates but has learned to be more of an encourager this past season. But I've never seen him as a selfish player.

 

[pnete]

“The kid has come a long way,” said an Eastern Conference scout. “I’ve seen him play a ton over the last four years and always thought he was a very selfish, all about him having to score and not making players around him better. But clearly this year, and the last two months, something totally clicked. Something went on that he had never had before happen to him, and now he understands it.”
This scout should be fired.

This guy has to cover his butt. Two or three years of bad reports and then kid wins the national championship. "Leaves a lot of splaining to do." So, the scout says a bell rang in Napier's head and everything fell together. This way if the Napier fails, he's covered for that circumstance. The mysterious bell turned itself off.

 

[boog204]

I think there's a fine line between being confident and being selfish. For the last three years we have watched 'Bazz run this team and at least 3 or 4 times a game Bazz would either pull up for a 3 with 30 seconds on the shot clock or simply decide that no one else was going to touch the ball in a given possession. To the outsider, that's selfish ball. To us, that was 'Bazz trying to take over. Even in the championship game, Bazz had a two minute stretch in the 2nd half where the "old Bazz" was on full display. He was yelling (pushing) at teammates, going one on one for no reason, poor shot selection, and ill advised and silly turnovers. For whatever reason, that's what sticks with a lot of people who have watched him over the years. My brother for example, a UConn alum and a huge UConn fan for years, was so turned off by the 2012 team (and particularly Bazz's play) that he essentially stopped watching up until the AAC tourney this year. All year I tried to tell him how Bazz and Boat were different players; the "selfishness" and look at me play had for the most part dissipated. But there would always be a little glimpse of it here and there. All year long Bazz would have a few shots a game that were really poor judgement. He's good enough where he can make some of those and we just say, "wow" and shrug off the misses. But a scout sees that and says bad shot selection and that he's selfish.

 

[James]

Napier is real pissed off he isn't considered a lotto lock you can tell . Boulder on his shoulder now , which is how he plays best

 

[Chief00]

Sometimes what scout don't fully comprehend is the abilities of teammates, since they are focused on their assignments. Unless you know Alex had really bad hands or Roscoe would do something totally stupid in a situation - you might think Bazz was selfish not passing them the ball. The last two years many of our bigs have had limitations too.

 

[Gurleyman]

I think there's a fine line between being confident and being selfish. For the last three years we have watched 'Bazz run this team and at least 3 or 4 times a game Bazz would either pull up for a 3 with 30 seconds on the shot clock or simply decide that no one else was going to touch the ball in a given possession. To the outsider, that's selfish ball. To us, that was 'Bazz trying to take over. Even in the championship game, Bazz had a two minute stretch in the 2nd half where the "old Bazz" was on full display. He was yelling (pushing) at teammates, going one on one for no reason, poor shot selection, and ill advised and silly turnovers. For whatever reason, that's what sticks with a lot of people who have watched him over the years. My brother for example, a UConn alum and a huge UConn fan for years, was so turned off by the 2012 team (and particularly Bazz's play) that he essentially stopped watching up until the AAC tourney this year. All year I tried to tell him how Bazz and Boat were different players; the "selfishness" and look at me play had for the most part dissipated. But there would always be a little glimpse of it here and there. All year long Bazz would have a few shots a game that were really poor judgement. He's good enough where he can make some of those and we just say, "wow" and shrug off the misses. But a scout sees that and says bad shot selection and that he's selfish.

There's some truth in there - particularly the truth that your brother is a twit who should only be allowed to claim being a fan for three titles. But I think over the last two years we have been more frustrated with Bazz being too passive, especially in first halves, rather than being too selfish/aggressive. I'm also not recalling any bad shot selection from Bazz against Kentucky - other than one in the last seconds of the shot clock after Boat rolled his ankle. He had a good look at a dagger late that he missed. Once Harrison blocked him from behind on a little 10-foot floater, but that led to a DD layup (and it was hard to tell whether Bazz was shooting or passing at the last second). You could argue that the three he made to stop Kentucky's 8-0 run was a bad shot, but heck, it was Senhor Testiculo time. That's the money ball shot stepping into a three staring his defender in the face that he made a bunch of times in the tourney. Plus our bigs were not able to finish at the rim after numerous attempts, so Bazz pretty much had to stop trying to feed the post.

Sometimes your lead guards need to go one on one and get you a bucket or make a play. Smitty, Ray, KEA, Ben, AJP, Kemba - they all did it (as does any NBA point guard worth anything). With nobody on the roster requiring a double team, Bazz going one on one was typically the best way to break down defenses.

 

[upstater]

http://sportzedge.com/2014/05/16/sh...draft-combine-could-he-land-with-the-celtics/

Apparently, Shabazz's athleticism is GOOD.

 

[noeynox]

If raymond felton can start in the nba please dont try and tell me shabazz cant. Bazz reminds me a little of devin harris game wise, but harris doesnt have that snarl in his game that bazz does where he refuses to let you beat him.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

It's amazing how many people, including NBA scouts apparently, really weren't paying attention last year. Shabazz was awesome his junior year. I'd say senior-year Shabazz was a slightly better version of junior-year Shabazz, just with the benefit of a huge stage to play on in March/April. The "selfish" Shabazz went away 2 years ago, not this past February.

 

[freescooter]

“The kid has come a long way,” said an Eastern Conference scout. “I’ve seen him play a ton over the last four years and always thought he was a very selfish, all about him having to score and not making players around him better. But clearly this year, and the last two months, something totally clicked. Something went on that he had never had before happen to him, and now he understands it.”
This scout should be fired.

I agree. That he came a long way is true, but he was the reason UConn won 20 last year. It wasn't the last 2 months. Idiocy. Just shows that people, even scouts see what they expect to see.