Sure. Some improvement in preseason. We also went winless and got slaughtered in the preseason. But it’s nice to see him carry something over into game 1. But man, the spurs are b-a-d. Though, good players should play well against bad teams too. Not to completely discount mic’s efforts.
Having said, even with hindsight goggles on, I still don’t see this sort of progression from Richards over the last few years. If this is real, I’m glad he’s realizing it before he’s out of chances. I hope it’s real, but this is very sudden.
This isn’t recency bias or 20/20 hindsight for me. You can check the transcript. I’ve commented on several occasions over the past couple of years how I’ve been impressed with the progress Richards has made. Last night was his best performance to be sure, but it isn’t the first time he’s shown glimpses of potential. And I’m not anointing him the the next Kareem based on last night, but last night is reflective of the improvements I have noted during the rare stretches when he got consistent minutes.
Oh, I wanted Williams on draft night too. My post definitely wasn’t intended to be a slight towards him. I’m still glad we have him. I just wouldn’t have had a problem with us keeping both. I think most people felt Duren was the more NBA ready guy out of the gate and that seems to be the case, but I’m still optimistic about Williams and he could still prove to have the higher ceiling of the two. Okafor was better than Dwight in year 1but then he never got better and Dwight took off. We shall see. But to the point we’re both making, no way that happens if he doesn’t play.
What I saw initially was a guy who could barely walk and chew gum and I was convinced he was a wasted draft pick. But then after that he seemed to gradually start putting it together. His footwork has improved 100-fold. He’s got nice touch for a big. He’s still a work in progress defensively, but even that’s gotten better Had several solid stints throughout the season last year that made me think he could be a legit back up C. He probably still projects as a back up or maybe fringe starter at best, but I’m at least confident he can be a solid rotation guy which is way more than I thought he’d be initially.
As the eternal optimist here, one thing I have been seeing in players quoted is Clifford’s belief in them. A player/coach relationship means a lot, and maybe this is why Borrego isn’t here anymore. We know he was close with Melo, but we never heard that was the case with anyone else?
That being said, no matter how bad the Spurs are it was good to see us score 129 and drill them in a home opener. One of the things I’ll say is if we are going to be in purgatory, at least make it fun to watch unlike the Panthers.
Anything can happen too, injuries and guys having breakout years can make a huge difference. Sometimes adversity brings out the best in people.
You’re right. People have forgotten how well he played early last season (when Borrego let him play). He wasn’t terrible. But he got better this season, for sure.
Yeah my biggest takeaway from last night was the impact of Cliff. It was a common theme from Oubre saying how he settled for 3s too much last year and was more aggressive driving, from talk about how Richards worked so hard this summer, found out specifically what coach needed from him to get time and how Cliff has constantly praised his improvement, from comments that DSJ made about the coach believing in him…
although it’s just one game, one game against a horrible team at that; it all manifested in a positive way for those guys last night. Didn’t manifest for Bouknight but he too has had high praise for Cliffs impact on him and Cliff is giving him opportunities. It seems evident he puts in the work to identify players strengths and showing them a path to success if they buy in.
I feel good about having him back but I hate that it’s under the circumstances that we’ve evolved or should I say dissolved to. He’s gonna get the best outta those guys but I’m afraid that does likely put us right back in no man’s land.
I thoroughly enjoyed the beginning of the game where there were no three pt shots attempted for about 5 minutes. I have grown to really not like the current version of basketball. Not three point shots in general but the drive, kick, swing repeat. Bad distance shot after shot.
I know I certainly liked last nights version of Oubre opposed to last year jacking up bad 3pt shot after another. He’s in a contract year and might ball his way into being a really good trade asset.
Not only that, but our intensity and demeanor has noticably changed for the better, and we even saw that in preseason although the results weren’t there.
How many times over the past several years have we come out totally flat against teams like the spurs last night. Hell, we came out flat on opening night last year AT HOME.
Guys seem to be taking a more serious and driven approach so far and it is a real pleasure to witness
Cliff’s a basket ball guy. He can communicate with his players because he has knowledge and passion for the game and wants to play an active, encouraging role in their development. You hear nothing but praise and positive comments from our roster because they know what he wants from them individually and as a unit.