With our team near the peak of the Western Conference with an oh-so-fantastic 26-12 record, there isn't much for us Hornets fans to complain about these days. Everyone is healthy, the bench is playing better, and our first round draft pick has been on the inactive list for the past three games.
Oh wait, maybe we can complain about that last thing! Yeah, let's do that...
Our BFF's over at Empty the Bench recently put together a list of ten players they'd like to see get more playing time, and our very own Ju-Ju accounted for a whole ten percent of that list. I was asked to explain why exactly Wright is suffering from severe bench splinters. My thoughts...
I think the main reason Julian Wright isn't getting much playing time is Byron Scott. He has always had a problem with young, inexperienced dudes not named Chris Paul. When Julian has gotten some PT this season, he's been a bundle of energy, but it's nervous energy that causes him to make some dumb turnovers and such. Another coach might put up with that, let the guy play through and learn from his mistakes. But not Byron. He has a very low tolerance for mistake-prone players, as Hornets fans have seen before with the likes of JR Smith, Kirk Snyder and Brandon Bass. I think Byron is a little short-sighted in this respect. Some might say he's jeopardizing the future of the team in order to win right now.
So what does Wright have to do to get some minutes? Probably his biggest problem right now is shooting. Opposing teams dare him to shoot from distance and he can't even knock down 15-footers reliably. I've seen him shooting a high percentage in warm-ups so perhaps it's just a confidence thing. Apart from that, he needs to be a little more selfish. He's known to be a point-forward type with a nice handle and passing skills, and on numerous occasions I've seen him try to setup his teammates when he'd be better served just taking it to the rack. I think if he were to develop more of an attacking instinct it would do wonders for his game.
The whole situation with Wright is somewhat of a Catch-22 though. If he can start to play with more confidence, he'll earn more minutes, but more minutes might be the only way to raise his confidence. I'm just hoping the Hornets can blowout some teams regularly so the kid can get on the floor.
Of course, all the blowouts in the world won't make a difference if Julian stays on the inactive list.
How do you guys feel about the Wright situation?
16 jaw-dropping comments post your own
someone
01/17/08 12:52 PM
sounds like we have another armstrong situation on our hands. last year it was pretty much the same scenario. how to build confidence? more minutes! how does someone build confidence by sitting on the bench being a cheerleader? and God forbid he plays and makes the slightest error---oh no! bench time again. so of course these young players never get a chance to play through their mistakes. when they DO get PT they play like they have a gun to their head...how can anyone expect a superb performance in a situation like that?
#1
Anonymous
01/17/08 01:03 PM
I was happy when we drafted him and i still think he can be out sf of the future but i am not holding my breath. He moves very awkwardly, is not as athletic as people think and just makes too many dumb mistakes. His one asset right now is his length. In the summer he needs to learn how drible it better, work on his shooting and just learn how to be more composed out on the court. The guy i really want to see is Hilton Armstrong. This guy IMO has so much potential but like julian he seems to freak out whenver the ball is in his hands. We have seen what he can do in the preseason, in last years breakout game against detroit and this years game against Pheonix. He just needs to learn to put it all togather. His shooting touch, this spped and athletcism, his ability to get to the rim are all tremendous for a big man but he only flashes his potential on so many occasions. IMO Byron needs to play this guy atleast 15 mins per game, because eventually he will figure it all out and bea force on both offense and defense for this team.
#2
Ron Hitley
01/17/08 01:19 PM
I'm wondering why Rasual Butler is ahead of Wright in the rotation. The difference in what those two guys can provide right now is negligible. Are we trying to showcase Butler to raise his trade value?
www.hornets247.com #3
Damien
01/17/08 02:45 PM
I would luv 2 c julian get more pt, but as u said other den chris paul no rookie is gonna get much time, how is supposed 2 develop. Byron he has tools, let the guy play
#4
Ryan
01/17/08 03:14 PM
Hilton Armstrong's biggest problem right now is his strength. He gets stripped non-stop. If someone swats at the ball in his hands, he loses it. He can't power through tough defenders - and he can't defend big players at all. Just watch him when he plays and you'll see what I mean. As for Julian, let's be serious. Byron has been playing him - and he hasn't earned any more time than he's gotten. He averaged twelve minutes a game in December. That's 1/4 of a game, which hardly amounts to 'nothing'. He produced 2.3 rebounds, .7 assists, .3 steals, .3 blocks, and 2.5 points. Stretch that out to starter's minutes and he'd average 7.5 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1 block and 1 steal. Oddly enough he's played one game where he got 38 minutes, and he produced 6 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal. The opponent was Seattle - hardly a powerhouse. He's had one good game, but it was against Minnesota - basically NCAA competition. Otherwise, he's had NO games that were even above average for a small forward. Pile all that on the fact that Byron is trying to figure out what we have on the bench before the trade deadline - and Julian is unlikely to be part of a trade - then I think it makes sense he sits right now. Play the guys you think may be going out the door to make sure you're not making a mistake. Julian will keep for another few weeks. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he's worthless - but I don't really have a problem with the way Byron is handling either Hilton or Julian. As long as Julian gets another chance in a month.
www.hornets247.com #5
Ron Hitley
01/17/08 03:33 PM
You make great points, Ryan. It all makes sense when you lay it out like that. I agree with you about Hilton, too. I can recall several of his dunk attempts getting blocked this season because he did't bring it strong enough.
www.hornets247.com #6
Bob Loblaw
01/17/08 04:05 PM
unfortunately, juju will get about as much playing time as a quadriplegic w/ byron runnin the show. whats sad is that if butler really is trading bait then why even play him and risk injury(although it would give juju some pt). playing butler would only demonstrate how horribly inconsistent he is(he did however get to bang that r&b chick from that video...mad props). i still believe juju would flourish w/ a quality backup pg feeding him on a slash
#7
Stefan
01/17/08 07:11 PM
Ryan and Ron, I agree with both of you. I just wanna know why Hilton is the only guy in the league the averages a 10 billion travels per 1 minute of playing time. Any offensive move he makes, he travles and he's weak. I love his energy but he looks lost on the court these days. JuJu deserves a lot more playing time. He's nervous but he provides defense and energy.
#8
T
01/17/08 10:45 PM
I don't like Hilton's body language these days! He looks frustrated all the time! His moves are very easy to anticipate. Julian is just 20 and needs time. He can develop even with less pt. I don't understand why Vinicius is ahead of Julian at the moment.
#9
Anonymous
01/18/08 03:00 AM
IMO hornets should activate Haluska, he bring shooting and athletacism off the bench. He looked really good in the presason Move Vinicis to inactive list and try out Haluska.
#10
Jonathan
01/18/08 04:01 AM
I got a chuckle out of this gem: "We understand why we don’t see more of Smith because he doesn’t learn the plays, doesn’t play defense, turns the ball over, isn’t very coachable, and is too content to just stand behind the three-point line and chuck ‘em."
#11
Ryan Schwan
01/18/08 04:18 AM
I think Haluska is still recovering from his badly sprained ankle. He was a few weeks behind Bowen. I agree, Jonathan. Could you imagine if he was a more dedicated and savvy player and we had him starting next to CP3?
www.hornets247.com #12
joesph
01/18/08 08:59 AM
i love julian wright but this wasnt a pick we needed. we should of got nick young a player that byron scott would of loved and great for the bench. he is a good ball handler and great shooter
#13
Greg
01/18/08 10:21 AM
Please Byron, play this guy a bit more. You already screwed up with Brandon Bass, so don't repeat your mistakes.
#14
Kenny
01/29/08 08:59 AM
As a KU alumni and fan, I will comment on Julian Wright. Julian Wright is not a great ball handler as he has been portrayed. He led the KU team in turnovers last year with 91. How rare is it that a forward leads the team in turnovers. Julian has zero jumpshot. Never has and never will. He is somewhat uncoordinated. Julian is a quality person whot tries very hard, but at the end of the day, he just is not that good.
#15
juju_faithful
03/24/08 11:40 PM
As another KU alumnus and JuJu fan, I don't believe what Kenny said was all true. JuJu CAN shoot, i.e. jumpshot - but as Ron stated, he needs more confidence. Although he's not a great ball handler, he can steal and finish the rim. A great defender with long arms. He's a great alley-oop entertainer, with energy. He's got good instinct of where other players are, but sometimes lead to turnovers - or another great entertainment. You can say, he's trying to make it too fancy. You can tell, to him, playing basketball is like an art.if Byron can position Wright just like Chandler, Chris would have even higher number of assists with the setup. Trust me, Wright will get it together when the time comes (although it's a bit harder to make him to stop the fancy pass :).
kusports.com #16