Welpee wrote:Please check out Obi's track record. Dude has been a late bloomer at every level of basketball. He wasn't good enough to receive any offers out of high school so he preps for one year and improved enough to get a D-1 offer from a solid Dayton program playing for a very well respected coach with NBA experience Anthony Grant (who by the way BRIGGS advocated for the Knicks to hire as our head coach).He arrives at Dayton and he wasn't ready, so he had to redshirt his first year there. He improved enough to become A-10 freshman of the year, first team all A-10 and the next year became national player of the year. He arrives in NYC without the benefit of summer league, a full training camp or a full schedule of pre-season games and he's struggling. Same pattern since high school. And please don't drop Quickley into this conversation. Every player's situation is different, every player has their own unique developmental timeline. Kudos to Quickley to be able to hit the ground running (though if people were objective, he also has a lot of room for improvement).
The overlooked aspect about Toppin is his heart, his desire to be good, and his willingness to do whatever it takes to improve. Everything apparently Kevin Knox doesn't seem to possess. I'm going to say this until I'm blue in the face, give the guy one true off-season of NBA specific training/conditioning and time to understand what his role in the league will be and to develop the skills he's going need to succeed. Not to mention, if the Knicks can upgrade their PG position and bring in a guy who can pass and set up his teammates, it would benefit Toppin big time. I believe Toppin is just as frustrated with his performance as the fans are and this will drive him in preparation for next season.
I also don't want to hear about the level of competition he faced in college. Folks are talking about the A-10 as if Toppin played in some rec league. Most years the A-10 is ranked just below the power conferences. Nobody questioned competition level with Ja Morant coming out of Murray State or CJ McCollum coming out of Lehigh or Dame Lillard coming out of Weber State or Steph Curry coming out of Davidson. A player comes out of a mid-major and isn't immediately a star and the first card folks want to play is the competition card. Also the age thing drives me crazy too. There are plenty of 20 year old lottery picks from big time programs who sucked when they entered the league and stayed sucked (sorry for the bad grammar) throughout their career. Age is a justification for giving a guy time before declaring a him a bust. Being 23 doesn't mean you're done developing.
Bottom line, give the guy some time before passing judgement on him. I have no idea if he'll ever be a good or great NBA player. But based on his track record, I'm willing to give him time to figure it out.
Totally agree about being patient...Whether its with the development of the players or the progress of this team. But, Let me counter your view about Obi...
You used Dame, Steph, CJ and Ja as examples of players dominated mid-major comp and turned out to be really good, Allstars and in some cases future hall of famers. This is true, however, the players you identified are not only guards, but each has elite, identifiable skills that you knew would translate on the NBA level regardless of the comp they played against. Ja's elite playmaking skills and ability to get into the paint at will; Dame and CJ were elite and efficient scorers who lived at the free throw line in college. Steph was a lethal 3 point shooter off the dribble and coming off screens. The issue with Obi has nothing to do with his level of comp in college but his questionable ball-skills. The players mentioned above are all skilled with the ball, while Obi's elite skill is mainly without the ball. Running the floor, and catching lobs are his skills. Typically, players who's main offensive contribution is rim-running and catching lobs off PNR's, are good to great on the other end of the floor by protecting the paint and rim. Obi, while he's not as bad as he has looked in college on the defensive end, he can still be considered a liability.
Unfortunately for Obi, he's in a system that does not and probably will not utilize the little-bit that he does bring to the table. We are a slow paced team that rarely if ever pushes the tempo. Obi is being used a floor spacer while our 5's run PNR, and when our point guards penetrate, its usually a drive and kick for a jumper (Rose is the only one who does this, elf puts his head down and shoots his broken lay up and Q goes for his floater). Obi can hit an occasional 3 from time to time but shouldn't be a steady diet.
I was a bit shocked at how small he is out there. He looks closer to 6'7 than 6'9. He's also extremely uncomfortable with the ball in his hands right now. He will make a decent pass here and there, but he cannot put the ball on the floor and create, he's too light in the*** to back anyone down, and he's awkward in the post.
Obi's saving grace is that he is a late bloomer despite his age. This summer will be key, as he needs to add lower body strength and he really needs to work on his handle. I still think there's a chance he can turn this around but I'd be lying if I said I was overly optimistic.
3/22/2021 12:45 PM