Julian Wright: "Careless" and "Erratic"

by Rohan on Dec 8, 2008 3:03 PM CST in Analysis

Thanks to Ace Boogie for giving the heads up on this article about JuJu. The Times-Pic has uncovered Byron's rationale for benching Wright. The whole article is a good read (or a bad read, I suppose), but I'll pick out some specific parts with my take on them.

The article certainly starts with a bang: "If you're wondering if second-year forward Julian Wright will be returning to the Byron Scott's rotation any time soon, the answer is no," before getting to Byron's reasoning:

"He's got a lot to learn, and sometimes he goes in and is very unsure of himself. Other times, he's just making careless mistakes. So it's just a matter of him right now sitting and watching and learning that way and using practice as his games. But I'm sure he'll be back in there."

This is really, really, really, really stupid. I've never been that mad at Byron's other doghouse inductees: Kirk Snyder and J.R. Smith had some serious attitude issues and wanted to play just one side of the ball. Rasual Butler was really struggling with his shot all last year. Mike James got something of a tryout (whether it was long enough is a different story). But the Julian Wright deal is totally different. For starters, he's among the most grounded guys in the league. He's nothing but respectful to his teammates and the coaching staff during interviews. I've never heard him assign a word of blame to someone other than himself. He's never had legal issues, and his college coaching staff at Kansas raves about him.

Fine, he's struggling a little bit this year. Shooting percentage down, turnover rate up, rebounding down, defensive intensity a bit down. Look at his minutes though! Look at the shots he's forced to take! He plays 10 minutes a game, and his shots always come with the shot clock winding down. He's being forced to create under horrible circumstances, and it's being held against him? Aside from all that, it's not like he's the one member of the bench dragging the second unit down. Hilton Armstrong has a decent case for worst player in the entire league. How come Melvin Ely doesn't get his minutes? Why does Devin Brown get a pass for shooting ten percent worse than Wright?

The comment that really annoys me from Byron is this:

"One of my coaches said, 'When you put him in the game, both coaches are fearful because we don't know what he's going to do.' I don't know. The other coach doesn't know."

"Fearful"? Seriously? That's exactly how you destroy a young player's confidence. Maybe this is Byron's way of motivating JuJu. Maybe it's his way of motivating the guys who currently have JuJu's minutes. But maybe it's the cause of Wright's first step towards the door. That would be unforgivable.

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Here's a thought...

PLAY HIM AT HIS POSITION. HE IS NOT A POINT GUARD.

Unbelievable.

http://www.hometownhornets.blogspot.com/

by hldomingue on Dec 8, 2008 3:07 PM CST reply actions

Lol

I’d rather see him play C than PG

by Rohan on Dec 8, 2008 7:28 PM CST up reply actions

mind boggling

the iceing on the cake would be to get rid off juju for someone like chucky atkins. not only would the team get older, we would have even less talent and no chips or assets to get better. i hope its just a message. i’ve said before, the hornets need more playmakers for the bench as well to get a lil more athletic.

by Ace Boogie on Dec 8, 2008 4:07 PM CST reply actions

My opinion on this

falls somewhere between “disapproving” and starting a website called “FREEJULIAN.COM.”

How come some guys get chances and others don’t? Like, repeated chances and repeated mistakes. How come so many rookies are getting PT around the league and JuJu can’t get minutes? How’s he supposed to become less erratic? How is the team supposed to keep from becoming a team of old guys with what is beginning to look like a pattern of disregard for the future? Don’t we need more athleticism off the bench, not less?

Those are all questions, not statements, so really I have not said much of anything. But you can, you know, take a guess what I think of it.

http://hornetshype.com

by ticktock6 on Dec 8, 2008 6:36 PM CST reply actions

Haha, it could be the next Free Darko

And then you could write a book and become rich. Maybe Byron Scott should get some royalties.

by Rohan on Dec 8, 2008 7:29 PM CST up reply actions

Yeah I saw that...

I just don’t get it. From what I’ve seen, he has not been all that careless or erratic… and regardless he hasn’t had the minutes to really show that or not. They’re fearful of what he’s going to do? C’mon… I find that hard to believe. Like you said… people who’ve played considerably worse than him have gotten more chances than he has. I don’t understand Scott’s thinking on this one.

by Caleb462 on Dec 8, 2008 7:13 PM CST reply actions

JuJu is a little out of control sometimes.

Don’t get me wrong, JuJu is one of my favorite Hornets.

I told my season ticket partner the other day that I wish that JuJu was playing for a team that needed him more. If he was with the Thunder or Memphis they would see his potential, as I’m sure Byron Scott does too, but he’d get more playing time and they’d be able to afford the inevitable mistakes.

I also compared Wright to the two year old colts I love to watch at the Fairgrounds. All that exuberance, and the legs they haven’t quite figured out how to control. How they sometimes get spooked by their own shadow, and need a special kind of jockey to bring out their best.

Bill Gish the Nolaman ( New Orleans Louisiana Man)

by nolaman on Dec 8, 2008 8:22 PM CST reply actions

I agree that he's out of control

That’s definitely his biggest flaw as a player. He can’t make up his mind whether to dribble, drive, pass, or shoot, and it’s the biggest reason for his turnover problems. He needs to make up his mind quickly and just do something with the ball. Haha at the comparison to colts. That’s good.

by Rohan on Dec 8, 2008 8:33 PM CST up reply actions

Yeah...

He is to an extent, but I think its exaggerated sometimes.

Regardless, if this team is as good as we think they are, a young player’s occasional carelessness and/or indecision shouldn’t hurt them that much. The more Julian plays, the more he’ll learn what he needs to do to help the team.

by Caleb462 on Dec 8, 2008 11:02 PM CST up reply actions

Byron needs to be easy with him.

The thing that has separated San Antonio from the rest of the good teams in the past ten years is how they have restocked their young talent. They’ve had Duncan, but they still developed young talent. There is such a fine balance between developing young talent and winning… Popovich appears to be the master.

I hope Byron has the foresight to be easy on JuJu. Young players are inconsistent. CP3 is going to be a Hornet for a long time. Developing Julian now saves a lot of trouble later. Peja is on the wrong side of 30.

I guess this is a little stunning. It’s the nature of young players to be “unsure.” The only way they grow out of it is by playing.

honor rasheed wallace

by Cablinasian on Dec 9, 2008 12:50 AM CST reply actions

Yeah, that's a great point about building now saves a lot of trouble later

Having to sign veterans later on could really hurt cap space/etc. Julian’s cost controlled as long as we keep him hapy

by Rohan on Dec 9, 2008 1:30 AM CST up reply actions

Byron needs strong, mature players

Some managers are willing to take the time to massage egos, but Byron doesn’t seem to be one of them. Players need to take care of their own ego.

One way to build a player’s ego is to let him play with CP3. That usually provides some easy scoring IF the player moves well without the ball, runs the floor, and gets some steals. That said, Byron’s technique is to make players earn the right to get assists from CP3 and space generated by Peja. I’d like to see a few minutes in the first quarter for one bench big (Marks, Wright, Ely, Bowen) to see how they feast off CP3. I’ve seen Hilton and his hands are too HobyBrenner to benefit.

I think if Julian showed the ability to cut better toward the basket without the ball (and not fumble the catch), get some tough rebounds, and set better picks he would earn that playing time. Right now (in limited minutes) I see him circling the 3-point line and trying to take his man off the dribble, with minimal success. He needs to play closer to the basket, which is something that Posey, Devin, Rasual, and even MoPete are doing in addition to Hilton and Marks.

by NOEngineer on Dec 9, 2008 7:03 AM CST reply actions

Good point

JuJu was quite impressive last year for several stretches. And in most of those games, he was able to play WITH Chris as opposed to Byron’s current plan where JuJu has to BE Chris. It just doesn’t make much sense. I mean, I was intrigued when I first heard about the idea, but it’s time to cut the chord on that one.

This all goes back to my posturing that our bench isn’t that terrible. We just have one real playmaker. If we found a suitable backup for Chris, the bench would put up great (or at least better) numbers. JuJu would most certainly see a gain in his output.

http://www.hometownhornets.blogspot.com/

by hldomingue on Dec 9, 2008 9:44 AM CST up reply actions

Right you are

20% of his minutes this year have come with Paul on the floor. 29% last year with Paul on the floor. Pretty huge difference.

by Rohan on Dec 9, 2008 1:00 PM CST up reply actions

Agreed

Just hard to envision us finding the right guy as most teams are always in need of good playmakers + we’d don’t have too many attractive pieces. Here’s a thought that scares me but could work out in an alternate universe – Jamal Tinsley. It’d be nice if the Pacers would buy out his contract already but seems like they won’t budge.

I'm no commie, but the Reds shall be the best again!

by RedHopeful on Dec 9, 2008 3:21 PM CST up reply actions

i don't see them giving up on juju though

they still kept and give hilton minutes. the hornets know the potential cap problems in the coming years and have to develop wright and hope hilton can get better. like i ‘ve said before we have at least ely, marks, devin, and bowen coming off the books with most of them in their 30’s. they are what they are while two are currently not even in the rotation. the 1st round pick whoever it is need to be picked and used accordingly by the scouting department. who knows if we will keep or trade the second round pick. that would possibly take 2 roster spots. byron needs to see the bigger picture as far as development goes. its funny how in a matter of over year how old the hornets are that is built around cp3, west, and tyson with the exception of hilton and juju. about 9 players in their 30’s or about to be 30.

by Ace Boogie on Dec 9, 2008 11:19 AM CST reply actions