I think it's becoming obvious that he's not necessarily the scapegoat for the losses this year but it's also becoming obvious to many people that the road to winning with him is going to be very difficult due to the position and defensive concerns we've all discussed on here ad nauseam.
He just needs too many things catered to him in order to even see if he can develop and I think that's part of the problem. Especially when compared to a player like Hali who can go out there with whoever and still do positive things. Bagley needs all these specific things set up offensively and defensively and to me, it's just not worth the investment going forward based on the talent we've seen from him. I also don't think it's quite fair to his teammates that are better than him.
No reason to let the subject go. We're all here to discuss whatever it is that we feel is relevant
The reason to let the subject go is because my defense of Marvin isn't really about Marvin. The focus and attention is being put on the wrong thing and if fans want to influence the team and get them to do things right, we can't put all of our attention on Buddy and Bagley and think things will change if we chase them out of town.
McNair, Walton and Fox shoulder the responsibility of what happens on that court. Nobody else. Yes, even Fox is responsible for the play of the other players on the court.
Do we really think that a team led by Lebron, Kawhi, Paul, Jimmy Butler would let their team be last on defense? They wouldn't just lead by example. They would get into their teammates faces. Would Jokic, Dame, Luka, Giannis let some player on the team tank their season? No chance. Whiteside made one comment about Bagley's defense, and Bagley immediately made a noticeable change. To me, that meant that there has been no voice in that locker room that is holding anyone accountable or even just flat out setting expectations. We can say each player should hold themselves accountable, but that's not the real world. That's why there are such things as leaders, supervisors, managers, etc.
I like Fox as a player, but he is not a leader of men and it is significantly impacting this teams ceiling. I don't necessarily blame Fox for his shortcomings, but he took the money and the role and he has to perform. Scoring 35pts a night is not sustainable. He has to get his teammates to perform as well.
As far as Walton, he's a bad leader if for nothing else, his inconsistency. If you hold one player accountable for bad defense, but not another, then everyone knows there really isn't a commitment to defense and your words are meaningless. Same on offense.
McNair walked into this job knowing the coach, the roster and what Vivek was about. If he's not able to execute his plan under those conditions when he knew what he was getting into, then he failed. Not Vivek. So my eyes are on him too.
When I defend players like Marvin or Buddy, it's because I can see where leadership is failing them. If the barista's at Starbucks keeps messing up my order, I'm going to go the their supervisor and let them know they either need to train their employees better, supervise them better, or hire better people. Fox may or may not be the 6th best individual player under 25, but we also need him or someone to lead this team.