[Game] Kings v. Celtics - Sunday, March 25 - 3 PT

[gunks]

Whaaat? Fox looked asleep out there when he was "guarding" Rozier. Joerger could barely be diplomatic in his post-game about the lack of effort guarding him. Fox has looked complacent now for several games. He rarely comes out the gate strong, as if he feels he can coast until the 4th quarter and then start playing hard. I have no problem with Joerger playing Mason most of the minutes if this is the way Fox is going to play. I love Fox's talent, but the young guy has got to play hard in virtually every game, not now and again when he feels like it. He's not going to reach his potential if he does that.

He's doing it for the tank!

For real though, despite how garbage Fox has been this year, I think it's way too early to write off his future. Gotta give PGs time, especially when they come in as raw as Fox.

If he still sucks in year three, we can all call for Vlade's head (if he's even still around by then)!

 

[ESP47]

He's doing it for the tank!

For real though, despite how garbage Fox has been this year, I think it's way too early to write off his future. Gotta give PGs time, especially when they come in as raw as Fox.

If he still sucks in year three, we can all call for Vlade's head (if he's even still around by then)!

I won't be calling for Vlade's head if Fox doesn't work out because he was kind of the consensus favorite for nearly everyone. I would have picked him at 5 as well.

 

[gunks]

I won't be calling for Vlade's head if Fox doesn't work out because he was kind of the consensus favorite for nearly everyone. I would have picked him at 5 as well.

Fair enough!

And let's hope it doesn't come to that anyways. I think Fox is gonna improve a bunch this summer.

 

[KingsFanSince85]

For real though, despite how garbage Fox has been this year

You’re being a bit harsh here and overstating. Has Fox been great? Certainly not, but far from garbage. 11/4 with the way this team has been run this season isn’t all that terrible. And FOX’s penchant to step up at the end of close games is certainly a very positive sign.

 

[sactowndog]

To whom does this "they" refer?

They refers to the Celtics.

 

[Kingster]

He's doing it for the tank!

For real though, despite how garbage Fox has been this year, I think it's way too early to write off his future. Gotta give PGs time, especially when they come in as raw as Fox.

If he still sucks in year three, we can all call for Vlade's head (if he's even still around by then)!

I'm not even remotely writing off Fox. Just the opposite. I just don't want to see the young man get into the bad habit of taking games off and not starting them strong.

....And yes, it does help with the tank!

 

[Kingster]

Couple that with him not being able to run the offense at all and he's easily been our worst player this year. All he does is run lazily past a screen and then pass it back to the screener. They hardly even run pick and rolls with him. Makes me wonder if he's not even able to do that adequately. I thought it was just a ZBo issue and while it's worse with ZBo out there, Fox seems to do it with whoever is setting screens for him. It's why we get to watch WCS shoot clank after clank off the rim from the mid range.

Rozier was awful his rookie year and not very good his second, so hopefully Fox can improve like he did but it's not looking good for him. The odds of him becoming a good player are getting lower by the game.

When it comes to Fox, I just don't think much in his game is limited by capability (other than his shooting right now), but rather his motivation. He obviously gets up for some games and not others. He falls into the classic type of "playing down to his competition" in that he doesn't play hard or very well against no-name guards and he does play hard and well and inspired against guards with good reputations. It also looks to me that he's made a conscious decision to take the first half "off" to limit expending energy and to hit the "on" button in the second half of games. But by doing so, he lets opposing guards get on an early roll, and by the time he starts playing hard they become very difficult to slow down. I think this pattern has a lot to do with maturity and just being a rookie (and maybe hitting the proverbial "rookie wall"), but you don't want him to get these bad habits ingrained. In the post game after the Boston game he didn't take any responsibility for Rozier; he just shrugged it off as Rozier getting hot. My guess is that Fox's pride precluded him from admitting the obvious - he didn't play hard enough and he has to commit more on the defensive end, especially in the first half. Hopefully, the same pride that at least outwardly didn't admit his lax play will motivate him to come out strong in the remaining games of the season.

 

[VF21]

Whaaat? Fox looked asleep out there when he was "guarding" Rozier. Joerger could barely be diplomatic in his post-game about the lack of effort guarding him. Fox has looked complacent now for several games. He rarely comes out the gate strong, as if he feels he can coast until the 4th quarter and then start playing hard. I have no problem with Joerger playing Mason most of the minutes if this is the way Fox is going to play. I love Fox's talent, but the young guy has got to play hard in virtually every game, not now and again when he feels like it. He's not going to reach his potential if he does that.

I didn't mention specifically in my "Lots of effort" comment. I disagree with your take. We'll leave it at that.

 

[gunks]

You’re being a bit harsh here and overstating. Has Fox been great? Certainly not, but far from garbage. 11/4 with the way this team has been run this season isn’t all that terrible. And FOX’s penchant to step up at the end of close games is certainly a very positive sign.

So maybe he's less Wall and more Fisher?

I keed. And I dig that he's clutch, but Fox has a long way to go! And I knew he would going into the season, so I'm not saying he's a bust or anything, he just needs a lot of work!

Garbage may have been a bit harsh, but let's not forget that for awhile there, Fox was literally the worst player in the league (at least according to certain metrics, that naturally should be taken with a grain of salt).