Before I say anything, I'll make a comment about professional ethics in the area of mental health. It is not ethical for a professional, which I am, to comment on someone they have not met face to face especially if the claim is that I know something no one else knows. I'm stuck with the rest of you. I don't know Ben and neither does anyone else on this forum. In fact, I'll bet he's more of an enigma than most. That is quite unlike Boogie where everybody claims to know him and what to do about him.
All I know about Ben is what everybody else knows and that is that he is young and very athletic. I don't know why he was red shirted in college as that is very unusual. Yes, he was at Kansas but if he was amazingly good, he wouldn't have been red shirted. I had a similar thought about TRob who came from Kansas. My thought was that if he was so damn good, why didn't he start until the Morris twins left?
What I am getting at is that maybe he isn't that good.
But let's continue with the game that I know something about Ben.
I compare him to Jimmer which assumes the unassumable and that is that I know what Jimmers' problems were and I know what Ben's problems are. The thing is that there are similarities in what we see. Jimmer was a great shooter coming out of college. He didn't shoot well until his third year in the NBA. Third year meaning 4 years of college and three in the NBA. Ben played one year in college so is 5 years behind Jimmer. Was my math correct? I am close enough as my point is made.
His shots look like they should fall, don't they? Also I notice the ball bouncing off his hands periodically. I asked a question once about his hand size and was assured his hands were bigger than average for a guy his height. I doubt that but if it's true there is some reason he can't hold on to the ball. I remember back to the beginning of the year when he missed dunks. It was as if he knew he could dunk but mysteriously he missed probably surprising him more than the rest of us. Why is that? I wish I knew.
Now to take a right turn in this exercise. I am concerned about the judgment of the FO and the coach. If I had absolute faith in Malone I would relax. I question throwing Ben onto the court as a starter right off the bat. What if Ben gets discouraged by never ending failure which has been his experience? If he gets discouraged, Malone made a mistake. Maybe Ben is one of the remarkable athletes who can tolerate failure after failure, missed dunk after missed dunk, missed lay up after missed lay up. Anyone want to make a bet on that? As a generality, I can't help but think he is very discouraged and I lay that at the feet of Malone. No basketball player misses the shots he misses unless they are rattled.
What mystifies me is that we are painting him into a corner where he has to play. MT and Jimmer are gone. Ben has to play. Put yourself in his shoes. He has yet to be a success yet he has to play big minutes. I don't trust Malone's judgment and I really am scratching my head as to PDA's actions especially as to how they effect Ben. If the pressure to be a success is getting to Ben, Malone and PDA have made it worse.
I don't understand Ben and that's the bottom line. With Jimmer I think we all could see his anxiety. I don't "see" anxiety in Ben but that doesn't mean he isn't anxious. All I see is a socially uncomfortable and maybe not the brightest guy in the world with huge potential. Ultimately the issue is "what now?" My "what now" is play him a few more years. Don't give up.
This isn't the answer you wanted but I cannot give the answer you wanted as some one will say "hey, I know a psychiatrist who says this and that about Ben." I won't do it and I hope I have said little more than an astute student of athletes might say.
All I know about Ben is what everybody else knows and that is that he is young and very athletic. I don't know why he was red shirted in college as that is very unusual. Yes, he was at Kansas but if he was amazingly good, he wouldn't have been red shirted. I had a similar thought about TRob who came from Kansas. My thought was that if he was so damn good, why didn't he start until the Morris twins left?
What I am getting at is that maybe he isn't that good.
But let's continue with the game that I know something about Ben.
I compare him to Jimmer which assumes the unassumable and that is that I know what Jimmers' problems were and I know what Ben's problems are. The thing is that there are similarities in what we see. Jimmer was a great shooter coming out of college. He didn't shoot well until his third year in the NBA. Third year meaning 4 years of college and three in the NBA. Ben played one year in college so is 5 years behind Jimmer. Was my math correct? I am close enough as my point is made.His shots look like they should fall, don't they? Also I notice the ball bouncing off his hands periodically. I asked a question once about his hand size and was assured his hands were bigger than average for a guy his height. I doubt that but if it's true there is some reason he can't hold on to the ball. I remember back to the beginning of the year when he missed dunks. It was as if he knew he could dunk but mysteriously he missed probably surprising him more than the rest of us. Why is that? I wish I knew.
Now to take a right turn in this exercise. I am concerned about the judgment of the FO and the coach. If I had absolute faith in Malone I would relax. I question throwing Ben onto the court as a starter right off the bat. What if Ben gets discouraged by never ending failure which has been his experience? If he gets discouraged, Malone made a mistake. Maybe Ben is one of the remarkable athletes who can tolerate failure after failure, missed dunk after missed dunk, missed lay up after missed lay up. Anyone want to make a bet on that? As a generality, I can't help but think he is very discouraged and I lay that at the feet of Malone. No basketball player misses the shots he misses unless they are rattled.
What mystifies me is that we are painting him into a corner where he has to play. MT and Jimmer are gone. Ben has to play. Put yourself in his shoes. He has yet to be a success yet he has to play big minutes. I don't trust Malone's judgment and I really am scratching my head as to PDA's actions especially as to how they effect Ben. If the pressure to be a success is getting to Ben, Malone and PDA have made it worse.
I don't understand Ben and that's the bottom line. With Jimmer I think we all could see his anxiety. I don't "see" anxiety in Ben but that doesn't mean he isn't anxious. All I see is a socially uncomfortable and maybe not the brightest guy in the world with huge potential. Ultimately the issue is "what now?" My "what now" is play him a few more years. Don't give up.
This isn't the answer you wanted but I cannot give the answer you wanted as some one will say "hey, I know a psychiatrist who says this and that about Ben." I won't do it and I hope I have said little more than an astute student of athletes might say.
Having said all that, I'm actually surprised by all this attention directed to McLemore. How much attention, and or responsiblity was directed toward Kobe the year he was drafted by the Lakers? How many Laker fans held Kobe responsible for the results of the team? In a normal world, McLemore would be coming off the bench playing behind an experienced veteran and maybe playing between 12 to 15 minutes a game. Its only because this team is so thin on talent, that he's drawing so much attention. It's not his damm fault the team sucks at times. You don't take a young pilot that still learning to fly and put him in the cockpit of a 737 full of people and expect everything to go perfectly.
I said from the get go that it was going to take two to three years for McLemore to develop. To pass judgement on him now, after some 50 plus games in his rookie year, is just plain stupid! Now if we're still having this conversation two years from now, then it has merit, and I'll be right there with everyone else. Don't get me wrong. I have no problem having a discussion about what he needs to improve on. Nor am I saying its a given that he'll be what everyone expects him to be. But any discussion along the lines of, what you see now is what you'll get, with no room for improvement, is ridiculous.
Edit: There has been mention of T. Robb and Jimmer in relationship to McLemore. Remember, T. Robb went to Kansas for 3 years, and Jimmer went to BYU for 4 years. Ben only had one year at Kansas. Point being, that a GM should have had a much better idea of what he was getting with the first two. The fact is, McLemore is a far more skilled offensive player than Robinson was after three years of college. His skills may not be adding up to results right now, but the skill set is there. He just needs to learn how to use it properly. That's entirely different than not having any offensive skills at all. Robinson had only one real skill, and that was rebounding. Jimmer needs no explaination.
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