Anti Rudy Gay and Ben Thread

[miltonap]

Can't stand watching Rudy play. Doesn't pass on offense and, most importantly, he's so damn complacent. His defense is garbage and he doesn't hustle. He's bringing the team down no doubt. Fairly low basketball IQ also.

As for Ben, just a flat out terrible player. Horrible basketball IQ, no confidence, can't even dribble the ball.

I would like to see Rudy traded for smart role players that can shoot. Ben can go to the d-league for all I care. We're not getting anything of value for him.

 

[Bricklayer]

Without Rudy there is no #2. That makes us completely dependent on Cousins being healthy at all times. A bunch of smart roleplayers aren't winning anything without a centerpiece. Its not even like we have several players sitting around who could average 15 without Rudy. And in case anybody forgot, Rudy is Rondo's friend, and helped bring him here.

Ben...remains a tease. He played a damn good floor game in Phoenix, and then he comes out here and it was everything that is wrong with Ben McLemore, on steroids. Can't dribble, not smart etc.

Complaining about both makes sense. Rudy has suddenly played terrible -- but note the close correlation of him playing terrible and his coach playing him out of position at PF. And note the same correlation to when he played terrible in Toronto -- they put him at PF. He is NOT a PF. Every time coaches put him there, he gets outmuscled.

Ben...we've talked about enough. He's on the bench now. Could have been passed up by Curry if Curry were not now needed at PG. Getting back some sort of value for him gets harder the longer he sits, but winning is just getting harder the more he plays.

 

[PurpleHaze]

Has anyone noticed Nik Stauskas not only starting Sixers SG but playing quite decent - getting better each game. Looks like Kings FO gave up on wrong guy and should have sent BMac packing. http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/2991042/nik-stauskas

 

[Iced Espresso]

Less is more with Ben.

Just run the floor, nail an open look, keep the guy you're guarding honest. Minimal expectations, anything more is likely to fall apart.

Raw deal for Rudy. You just can't ask the guy to do things he's not supposed to do. Put him out there with Rondo (bad shooter), WCS lack of scoring threat, Marco who's had a bad shooting streak, and chaos Casspi what do you expect? They need him to take chances, obviously the defense is going to cheat as well. You get Rudy on the floor with a cohesive offense and ball movement and primarily taking "good Rudy shots", its a different story.

Someone has to put the ball in the basket out there.

 

[pshn80]

Has anyone noticed Nik Stauskas not only starting Sixers SG but playing quite decent - getting better each game. Looks like Kings FO gave up on wrong guy and should have sent BMac packing. http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/2991042/nik-stauskas

Yes. Nice hindsight.

 

[Tetsujin]

Has anyone noticed Nik Stauskas not only starting Sixers SG but playing quite decent - getting better each game. Looks like Kings FO gave up on wrong guy and should have sent BMac packing. http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/2991042/nik-stauskas

Yes, and I'm sure Ben would also be putting up better numbers in Philadelphia on a squad completely devoid of any expectations whatsoever (and missing its starting shooting guard by the way) and in a system requiring him to be the second option for his squad simply because (a) the roster still sucks, (b) as mentioned earlier Tony Wroten and Robert Covington are injured, (c) the Sixers front office is hellbent on acquiring high lottery picks for the rest of eternity. Put Nik back into Karl's system as fourth/fifth fiddle behind DMC, Rudy, and Rondo and he's probably not putting up the apparently awe-inspiring 16.2 points per 36 minutes.

Plus he'd still do nothing to help the defensive issues with the team.

But, hey, he's not Ben McLemore, which is apparently plus ten-thousand points in his life ledger.

 

[KingMilz]

Rudy Gay + Rondo + Mclemore for George Hill/Monta Ellis/Glenn Robinson III (or Solomon Hill) Lavoy Allen and whatever minor pieces to make the salaries match. If Indi wants to play small ball so bad they can have Rudy as there PF.

We massively upgrade 3 positions PG/SG /back up PF, we finally have one guy who can break down a defense off the dribble in Monta (he's been bad scoring but his playmaking this year has been great) and our shooting gets better with Hill and Allen.

 

[New Era]

Oh wow, trade scenarios already 7 games in?

 

[KingsFanGER]

Oh wow, trade scenarios already 7 games in?

Well we are playing slightly above the 76ers level without Cousins. So it's no suprise, that there are already trade scenarios thrown around.

 

[miltonap]

I'll admit, it's not exactly all Rudys fault. Surely some of that is on coach for allowing the isos to transpire. Even though it is a free flow offense, Karl needs to let Rudy know that these are bad plays.

As for the awful defense and lack of hustle, no excuse, but I'll give the Kings and Rudy 20 games to reevaluate my judgment on him.

And as for Ben, in this offense, this free flow dribble drive offense, he's pretty useless. I still can't believe his dribbling is this bad. He has no control over his body either, the guys always off balance. I really don't buy that it's all in his head. Its very much a skill thing for Ben.

But like I said, maybe the offense will somewhat change after 20 games.

 

[bajaden]

Has anyone noticed Nik Stauskas not only starting Sixers SG but playing quite decent - getting better each game. Looks like Kings FO gave up on wrong guy and should have sent BMac packing. http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/2991042/nik-stauskas

Not to beat a dead horse, but I said that at the time. Last night Nik had 18 pts and 5 assists to go with 3 boards. He has to get his shooting percentage up a bit, although he would shooing great if he was on the Kings.

 

[Bricklayer]

Rudy Gay + Rondo + Mclemore for George Hill/Monta Ellis/Glenn Robinson III (or Solomon Hill) Lavoy Allen and whatever minor pieces to make the salaries match. If Indi wants to play small ball so bad they can have Rudy as there PF.

We massively upgrade 3 positions PG/SG /back up PF, we finally have one guy who can break down a defense off the dribble in Monta (he's been bad scoring but his playmaking this year has been great) and our shooting gets better with Hill and Allen.

my lord

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

But, hey, he's not Ben McLemore, which is apparently plus ten-thousand points in his life ledger.

In his current "basketball skill ledger"...it sure is

 

[KingsCitizen]

I'd say enough with Rudy at the 4.
I'd rather see Casspi or Acy at the 4 if really need a thinner guy in there.
Rudy's iso play that ends up with him shooting from mid the FT line is probably the least effective ISO esp if Rondo is the one teams keep open that he can pass to, which in most cases he won't pass.

Ben's shots should be limited to spot-up, catch and shoot, fast break, dunks, oops, and free throws.
If he ever dribbles with someone guarding him, Karl should pull him out of the game right away.
Bruce Bowen, Rip Hamilton, Kevin Martin made a good career with minimal dribbling, I think Ben should watch tapes of those guys if he wants a long career in the NBA.

And dang! We need constant ball movement if DMC is not around. That was the worthy plays that made the Warriors give up the lead.

 

[Livinthedream]

Why are we still talking about Nik? We have James Anderson. He's a vet who plays lock down D, hits his open shots. Knows how to drive to the basket and has a high bbiq. Knows where he's supposed to be st all times. He's our starter now. We're set. As our 5th option on offense, I fully expect that he will average 16ppg just like Nik Stauskus and Klay Thompson this year.

 

[Livinthedream]

I still think trading Rudy is a last resort. What we need to do is have him be the 3rd option on offense. Rudy can score in iso at any time. It's what he prefers. So, what needs to done is either the ball goes to Cuz as the 1st option, and you run your guards off screens as your other option. If those break down, let Rudy do his thing. Too often Rudy is the 1st or second option, and once he touches it, the offense stops. Not effective.

 

[kingjatt]

Rudy wasnt top 5 in SF scoring by accident last year, if he is used properly he can be very effective, Karl just needs to realize that he is not a face-up read and react player.

 

[funkykingston]

Has anyone noticed Nik Stauskas not only starting Sixers SG but playing quite decent - getting better each game. Looks like Kings FO gave up on wrong guy and should have sent BMac packing. http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/2991042/nik-stauskas

Right now Nik is putting up 8.3 threes per 36 minutes and hitting them at a 27% clip. He's only shooting 31.7% overall. In his last game he went scoreless (0-4 overall, 0-2 from three) in 16 minutes with 1 assist and 1 turnover.

I've only watched 1 1/2 76ers games this season but from what I saw Nik doesn't look improved. He just looks like a guy getting lots more minutes on a terrible team. He's still tentative on offense, still isn't knocking down shots or being the playmaker the Kings and Sixers have hoped for and his own coach (who is a very upbeat and positive presence) says that his offensive woes are making his defense even worse.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports...ive_struggles_have_Brett_Brown_concerned.html

Ben is hitting on 40% of his threes and is a much better defender. I'm not happy that the Kings wasted yet another first rounder (Jimmer, Robinson, Stauskas) that didn't pan out and got dealt, but Stauskas has a permanent green light on the worst team in the NBA and one of the worst rosters ever assembled.

 

[KingsFanSince85]

Has anyone noticed Nik Stauskas not only starting Sixers SG but playing quite decent - getting better each game. Looks like Kings FO gave up on wrong guy and should have sent BMac packing. http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/2991042/nik-stauskas

I realize that this was posted 10 days ago, but Nik is actually shooting far worse than Ben -- from both 2-pt and 3pt range. The only reason he averages a couple more points is because he's playing 11 minutes more per game. But he's been worse than Ben. And shooting was supposed to be the 1 thing Nik could definitely do well. That surely hasn't shown up yet.

 

[CruzDude]

Now it's Friday the 20th and Rudy is the #2 scoring option as he should be, #1 without Cuz and Ben is stepping up in scoring, aggressiveness and defense and looking like he can be a more consistence 15 pt/night contributor. Takes time folks in a new system, with a new coach, 8 new players and more pressure. Lets look at this after game 25 or 30.

 

[Hadlowe]

For the last three games, Ben has looked better than decent. The defensive aggressiveness is the key thing I wanted to see from him this year.

 

[miltonap]

I agree ^^ I think I may have been wrong about Ben which is awesome. I'm glad to be wrong

 

[bajaden]

In defense of Nik, overall, if you watch him play, it's obvious that he has much better instincts for the game than Ben, and he's a way better ball handler and passer than Ben. When the season started, Nik was shooting much better, and won the starting job. After about four or five games, other teams started making Nik a part of their defensive plans, and suddenly life got more difficult for Nik. His shots were more highly contested etc. Now it's up to Nik to adjust. We'll see how long it takes, if indeed he does adjust. I think he will. The NBA giveth, and the NBA taketh away. You have to constantly be improving your game, or you'll find yourself playing in Europe.

 

[gunks]

...That makes us completely dependent on Cousins being healthy at all times....

We aren't already?

 

[Livinthedream]

In defense of Nik, overall, if you watch him play, it's obvious that he has much better instincts for the game than Ben, and he's a way better ball handler and passer than Ben. When the season started, Nik was shooting much better, and won the starting job. After about four or five games, other teams started making Nik a part of their defensive plans, and suddenly life got more difficult for Nik. His shots were more highly contested etc. Now it's up to Nik to adjust. We'll see how long it takes, if indeed he does adjust. I think he will. The NBA giveth, and the NBA taketh away. You have to constantly be improving your game, or you'll find yourself playing in Europe.

Maybe Nik should pass more. Take less 3s.

 

[gil renard]

Bump. Especially for Rudy.

What can we get for him? The Bulls have about half their team available right now. Ryan Anderson is out there, Markieff Morris also. Maybe some salary cap experts can chime in and tell me some deals that would work, because I'm so over this guy.

 

[Sac.Kings]

Bump. Especially for Rudy.

What can we get for him? The Bulls have about half their team available right now. Ryan Anderson is out there, Markieff Morris also. Maybe some salary cap experts can chime in and tell me some deals that would work, because I'm so over this guy.

I would definitely do Rudy/Ben for Jimmy Butler. I read a report today saying that Butler has rubbed people the wrong way acting as the "leader," and I for one definitely want to jump on that bandwagon. Would give us a good scorer and our perimeter defender in one.

 

[c-webb1s#1]

I would definitely do Rudy/Ben for Jimmy Butler. I read a report today saying that Butler has rubbed people the wrong way acting as the "leader," and I for one definitely want to jump on that bandwagon. Would give us a good scorer and our perimeter defender in one.

I would do Rudy/Ben for Butler in a heartbeat! Just don't think CHI would be up for it....could be wrong though.

 

[gil renard]

I would definitely do Rudy/Ben for Jimmy Butler. I read a report today saying that Butler has rubbed people the wrong way acting as the "leader," and I for one definitely want to jump on that bandwagon. Would give us a good scorer and our perimeter defender in one.

Lol yeah I would love that too. But I think Rose, Gasol, Taj, and Noah are all more likely candidates to be traded. I would do Rudy for Taj+role player+our draft pick though.

 

[Sac.Kings]

Lol yeah I would love that too. But I think Rose, Gasol, Taj, and Noah are all more likely candidates to be traded. I would do Rudy for Taj+role player+our draft pick though.

Would leave us empty in regards to scoring though... Who fills in 20 points a night? Rondo may score a couple more points nightly, Ben has regressed and you can't count on him, and Cousins is already maxing out. We would need a scorer back. Make it Rudy and Collison to sweeten the deal for Butler. I'm one of those guys that believes to fix your starting five first and then worry about the bench. Rondo Butler Casspi WCS Cousins is a really well balanced lineup.