Muda anao but not as long as you think. I completely agree that he was taken as a work in progress but that in itself has a limit. As a fourth year veteran he should by now be showing some of that promise on the contrary he is regressing (refer to his career number below). Now to be fair to him the moving between the NBA and the D-League and switching teams probably did not help him establish any consistency. Offensively, I don't think much was expected from him seeing as to he was heralded for his defensive play, but even that he seems to be struggling to establish himself in. I get the whole history making aspect to it and I understand how him being relatively new to the game plays a role in this but the numbers he is putting up are just not acceptable. Nobody is asking for him to be the next Dwight Howard or even Tyson Chandler for that matter, but 10 pts, 5 boards and a couple of blocks per night is not something out of his range. Obviously he needs minutes to get these numbers, but unless he improves his production for the few minutes he is getting its hard to see how he will get more minutes. Please understand no one is trying to bash the guy but we are just trying to analyze what is wrong and what he can possibly do to improve. If HT had gotten into the league undrafted or as some 2nd round pick then he can be afforded the luxury of saying what he has done is groundbreaking enough, but come one people not even Kobe Bryant was picked second overall (He went 13th overall). The excuse that he needs time is outdated and clearly he is not moving forward but backwards instead. I've already stated in another thread that he could have used an extra year in college but that is a bygone. Last time I checked both Mutombo and Olajuwon live in Houston why not reach out to these African legends of the game and learn a few tricks of the trade? According to the NBA website he is listed at 25 years of age, one has got to wonder at what point will he be deemed uncoachable because of his age? Is it all doom and gloom for him? I for one think he still can turn it around and hope that he will because clearly he is got the potential (that is why he was drafted so high) He just has to reach that potential, even half of it for crying out loud. As for him being able to stay in the league just because of his size and potential, that is very true (the NBA lacks "Big Men") but he can forget the money he is making now when he signs a new contract if he keeps putting up numbers like these
Career Season Averages |
|
Year | Team | G | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | OFF | DEF | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PF | PPG |
09-10 | MEM | 68 | 13 | 13.0 | 0.588 | 0.000 | 0.581 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 3.6 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 0.63 | 2.38 | 3.1 |
10-11 | MEM | 45 | 0 | 8.2 | 0.436 | 0.000 | 0.543 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.38 | 1.62 | 1.2 |
10-11 | HOU | 2 | 0 | 2.0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.00 | 1.50 | 0.0 |
10-11 | -- | 47 | 0 | 7.9 | 0.425 | 0.000 | 0.543 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 1.6 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.36 | 1.62 | 1.1 |
11-12 | HOU | 4 | 0 | 5.0 | 1.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.00 | 0.75 | 1.5 |
Career | -- | 119 | 13 | 10.7 | 0.557 | 0.000 | 0.570 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 2.7 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 0.50 | 2.03 | 2.2 |