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Bouknight on NBCSPORTS Boston nm

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Hornets just need to tank, although with their roster and how good the East is this year it's not gonna be too difficult for them to be at the bottom
 
aceboon said:
Hornets just need to tank, although with their roster and how good the East is this year it's not gonna be too difficult for them to be at the bottom
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Looks like Bouknight is going to get significant minutes in the next few games, whether he’s earned them or not.

I hope they don’t swap Bouknight with Lamelo in the starting lineup. Charlotte actually doesn’t really have any PGs after Melo. DSJ is an undersized SG, Bouk is SG, Martin is SG (btw is he injured?), Rozier is SG, McGowens is SG/SF.

I hope they don’t slot Bouk in at PG and expect him to run the offense. He’s always been best as a scorer, no matter how bad he’s been in preseason so far.

That said, he’s got an opportunity to play 30 minutes and redeem himself
 
Dogdeacon said:
Your question/argument is your answer: "he had a year of practicing against NBA players and learning an NBA system and he's still struggling." - SO if he wasn't ready for that of course he struggled and failed to benefit from it.
Would he have been better off playing in college and dominating, maturing a little bit before tackling the monumental task & responsibility of being a pro athlete?
Maybe (if he wasn't ready for it and either got down on himself for no PT or didn't work hard enough), maybe not - but its pretty hard to argue that he'd be in a worse place basketball-wise than where he is.
If nothing else he'd be a year more mature with extra year to go in his rookie contract = more likely to stick (countered potentially by worse draft position).

As always if the goal is maximize certainty of $ especially in the short term, any player that is certain to be in the first round should almost always come out. But if the goal is to get better at playing in high pressure basketball games and trust that ability will generate the most $$$$ over a career than sometimes the answer can be staying in college.
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Ehh, it sort of comes down to what you think the issue is. The folks that were so vehemently stumping for him returning for another year seemed to see some significant defect in his maturity and if we are to accept that hypothetical, I just can't imagine what another year where he already spent two years would have done to significant impact that. If Bouknight had come back for another season, there is a very real possibility that he would have ended up no more prepared for NBA life than when he left and would have taken on a lot of risk (and given up a year of pro earning potential) to get there.
 
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Tenspro2002 said:
Doesn't look like one year would have done it.

All the narratives on his makeup were valid.
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You are absolutely correct. From right before his freshman season on.

Also why he was drafted later than many thought. The NBA did their homework
 
REB1094 said:
Looks like Bouknight is going to get significant minutes in the next few games, whether he’s earned them or not.

I hope they don’t swap Bouknight with Lamelo in the starting lineup. Charlotte actually doesn’t really have any PGs after Melo. DSJ is an undersized SG, Bouk is SG, Martin is SG (btw is he injured?), Rozier is SG, McGowens is SG/SF.

I hope they don’t slot Bouk in at PG and expect him to run the offense. He’s always been best as a scorer, no matter how bad he’s been in preseason so far.

That said, he’s got an opportunity to play 30 minutes and redeem himself
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They've been grooming him as an on-ball combo playmaker in a Lou Williams type role. He'll know what to do playing alongside Rozier.
 
.-.
Dogdeacon said:
Your question/argument is your answer: "he had a year of practicing against NBA players and learning an NBA system and he's still struggling." - SO if he wasn't ready for that of course he struggled and failed to benefit from it.
Would he have been better off playing in college and dominating, maturing a little bit before tackling the monumental task & responsibility of being a pro athlete?
Maybe (if he wasn't ready for it and either got down on himself for no PT or didn't work hard enough), maybe not - but its pretty hard to argue that he'd be in a worse place basketball-wise than where he is.
If nothing else he'd be a year more mature with extra year to go in his rookie contract = more likely to stick (countered potentially by worse draft position).

As always if the goal is maximize certainty of $ especially in the short term, any player that is certain to be in the first round should almost always come out. But if the goal is to get better at playing in high pressure basketball games and trust that ability will generate the most $$$$ over a career than sometimes the answer can be staying in college.
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The Chief agrees 100%.
 
formerlurker said:
I have to admit, Chief, you may have been right all along on James and the advice he chose to follow not being the best path for him. But, he's not a kid anymore and at this point if he doesn't realize the yellow brick road starts in the gym then that's on him. I pray he figures it out.
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I pray James figures it out too. He needs to set himself up for success before he even steps on the court.
 
Kenny11 said:
Kevin Ollie extended his nba career for years playing that type of role. Teams don’t seem to value that as much anymore unfortunately..plus the nba seems to all agree that Kemba’s knee is completely gone
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Nobody ever kept Kevin Ollie on a roster for long with the exception of the 76ers under Larry Brown. Take a look at his career. He changed teams like 15 times in 13 years.
 
Huskybass said:
Nobody ever kept Kevin Ollie on a roster for long with the exception of the 76ers under Larry Brown. Take a look at his career. He changed teams like 15 times in 13 years.
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Yeah but the last few years were all in the “mentor” role
 
He is practicing 24/7 with no classes to distract him. Hard to think another year would have made much difference for Bouk. It would have made a huge difference for the Huskies.

He went in the lottery, he had to go. Plus the whole Covid thing with players getting extra years and stuff really made the draft scenarios confusing. If he has the talent (I think he does) he'll be in the NBA a long time. If not. He got his money.

There isn't a worse place in the NBA than Charlotte. Wish they would stop taking our players.
 
Huskybass said:
Nobody ever kept Kevin Ollie on a roster for long with the exception of the 76ers under Larry Brown. Take a look at his career. He changed teams like 15 times in 13 years.
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I knew the KO/JC relationship was damaged very badly when KO had Larry Brown come to Storrs and observe the team. That was sticking it to Jim.
 
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Strange that Xavier Sneed, the guy they dumped Whaley for, has yet to play a single second in the preseason. Charlotte being Charlotte.
 
i don't get this continual claptrap on james leaving when he did, especially the psycobabble on his maturity. he's a grown man and, from a distance, seems aboot as normal as most other folks. let's put it this way, with jc instead of danny running things at that time, end of james' year 2:
(exit interview)
jc: well, looks pretty good that if you go, u'll be a lotto pick. what do you think, james?
james: yeah, i hear that too.... how aboot you? what do you think?
jc: ya came here to learn your game, get some pub, and make it to the league. ya gotta go, and now is the time...
james: yeah, i see it the same way.
jc: good move.


i make that happening 10 out of 10 ten times.
not complicated. millions of bucks is a real thing.
 
Bouk had a strong 4th quarter tonight. He scored all 11 of his points in the 4th including two 3's and a floater within a 5 or 6 minute stretch. It seemed as though the confident Bouk of old kicked in at the 4th quarter mark. Maybe it had something to do with not having ensure touches for guys like Rozier, Hayward or Oubre.
 
He simply wasn’t mature enough to make the move to the NBA. The League as they like to tell you, drafts on potential. Unfortunately that often misses things like maturity and the potential goes by the wayside. I said at the time and still believe that another season at UConn would have helped him immeasurably. Not with his game but with his maturity.
 
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THIS: "There isn't a worse place in the NBA than Charlotte. Wish they would stop taking our players."
 
freescooter said:
He simply wasn’t mature enough to make the move to the NBA. The League as they like to tell you, drafts on potential. Unfortunately that often misses things like maturity and the potential goes by the wayside. I said at the time and still believe that another season at UConn would have helped him immeasurably. Not with his game but with his maturity.
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Let.it.go
 
olehead said:
Bouk had a strong 4th quarter tonight. He scored all 11 of his points in the 4th including two 3's and a floater within a 5 or 6 minute stretch. It seemed as though the confident Bouk of old kicked in at the 4th quarter mark. Maybe it had something to do with not having ensure touches for guys like Rozier, Hayward or Oubre.
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Why save touches for those three yikes
 
elmcityboy said:


he found the stroke a bit tonight. 11 points on 4/8 (3/6 from three) including this shot off the dribble and a crazy three falling out of bounds.
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'release, rotation, splash!'
the man's got it, and with his beautiful hands, ain't never gonna lose it.
go james, go james, go james ...

he can jump, too. sneaky quick as well. i once saw him in one of our games grab the board inside the stripe, then go four bounces down the court to a layup. never saw that before. im cheering for him.
 
ClifSpliffy said:
i don't get this continual claptrap on james leaving when he did, especially the psycobabble on his maturity. he's a grown man and, from a distance, seems aboot as normal as most other folks. let's put it this way, with jc instead of danny running things at that time, end of james' year 2:
(exit interview)
jc: well, looks pretty good that if you go, u'll be a lotto pick. what do you think, james?
james: yeah, i hear that too.... how aboot you? what do you think?
jc: ya came here to learn your game, get some pub, and make it to the league. ya gotta go, and now is the time...
james: yeah, i see it the same way.
jc: good move.


i make that happening 10 out of 10 ten times.
not complicated. millions of bucks is a real thing.
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Let's try that convo with Calhoun again:
JC: Well looks pretty good that if you go, you'll be a lotto pick, what do you think James?
James: Yeah, I hear that too, how about you? what do you think?
JC: I forking know that if you don't grow the frock up you'll frocking be out on the damn street 2 freakin minutes after your 1st contract expires and that first contract is going to be a shirt-ton less than you expect once the league digs just a tiny bit into your frocking extracurricular activities.
James: This seems like psycho babble
JC: I'm going to give you a few of my former players phone numbers, you talk to them and see how substance abuse mixes with basketball careers, see you next season James.
 
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Dogdeacon said:
Let's try that convo with Calhoun again:
JC: Well looks pretty good that if you go, you'll be a lotto pick, what do you think James?
James: Yeah, I hear that too, how about you? what do you think?
JC: I forking know that if you don't grow the frock up you'll frocking be out on the damn street 2 freakin minutes after your 1st contract expires and that first contract is going to be a shirt-ton less than you expect once the league digs just a tiny bit into your frocking extracurricular activities.
James: This seems like psycho babble
JC: I'm going to give you a few of my former players phone numbers, you talk to them and see how substance abuse mixes with basketball careers, see you next season James.
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Calhoun was pretty clear on this. If you have the opportunity to make this kind of money, you go. I do wonder if Calhoun would have been able to reach James during his basketball career at UConn. That’s the time to teach life lessons, not in the gap between the end of the season end the NBA draft.
 
CL82 said:
Calhoun was pretty clear on this. If you have the opportunity to make this kind of money, you go. I do wonder if Calhoun would have been able to reach James during his basketball career at UConn. That’s the time to teach life lessons, not in the gap between the end of the season end the NBA draft.
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My point is someone needed to tell him what's what & that his pattern of talent excusing questionable behavior wouldn't cut it at the highest level, JC seems a good candidate to tell it straight.
 
Dogdeacon said:
My point is someone needed to tell him what's what & that his pattern of talent excusing questionable behavior wouldn't cut it at the highest level, JC seems a good candidate to tell it straight.
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Oh, I am sure he would have if he was aware of it. But that conversation probably would need to have happened well before he’s making the decision whether or not to leave early to go into the NBA.
 
Dogdeacon said:
Let's try that convo with Calhoun again:
JC: Well looks pretty good that if you go, you'll be a lotto pick, what do you think James?
James: Yeah, I hear that too, how about you? what do you think?
JC: I forking know that if you don't grow the frock up you'll frocking be out on the damn street 2 freakin minutes after your 1st contract expires and that first contract is going to be a shirt-ton less than you expect once the league digs just a tiny bit into your frocking extracurricular activities.
James: This seems like psycho babble
JC: I'm going to give you a few of my former players phone numbers, you talk to them and see how substance abuse mixes with basketball careers, see you next season James.
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What year is your proposed conversation taking place?
 
Unfortunately, this played out even beyond the senerio Chief feared. Make no mistake though, James is a good person, who is just going down a wrong path. People who called him names in the other thread are wrong. If you meet him sober, he’s a good guy. He can right the ship, but that starts with him and new more experienced handlers and getting the help he needs. There needs to be an urgency to do that now before someone gets seriously hurt.

Those who blame Coach Hurley, regarding James decisions are wrong. He did what he could bringing in the ex OSU guy to mentor him. James was receiving very poor career advice during his “injury” saga from his handlers not Hurley. He was the one voice of reason. Hurley did what he could to get him back on the court and the thanks he got was a dehydrated crampfest.
We will never publicly know the full advice and caveats Danny gave him about turning pro. But, once James and his handlers made the decision, Danny did the best he could to help his draft position. I honestly don’t know what more he could have done without the benefit of hindsight.

In the NBA “money” is all about positioning yourself for the second contract. That’s where the big money is made. Obviously, a string of decisions made the last 3 years hurt that, but James has the ability to do a 180 turn and I hope and pray he decides to do that. James may come off as cocky but he is really a follower, therefore it is very important he surrounds himself with mature, experienced good people.
 
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