He's actually been pretty good defensively. Blocking shots and getting defensive rebounds and what not. I really don;t see the reason for his benching
coaches love hustle players that work hard. Thats why najera is there. It sends a message that hard workers will get PT. Its a good message to send to the young kids.
You can move Najera over to SF and let Ryan play PF. It's not like Najera is going to be any less effective then Hassell defensively.
I'm starting to regret the Najera signing... I thought this year was about the development of our youngsters and chemestry but so far Frank has been playing Najera & Hassel ahead of Sean and Ryan. I don't care if we don't make it to the playoffs this year, but we need our youngs out there playing ball so we can see their true potential.
Listen if your an NBA rookie, the only message thats sending you is, "I'm doing better than this guy. Why the hell is he getting minutes over me? Coach is obviously biased." And inmy own opinion, Najera has shown nothing. I haven't notices any lockdown defense or that highly touted hustle either.
Frank will play players who can execute on the defensive end of the ball. He mentioned this over the Summer so this should not be a surprise to anyone.
Frank usually don't play rookies right away. That was the case with Krstic, that was the case with Sean Williams. He usually throws rookies not long before the All star break. So, Ryan will get his PT.
Ryan isn't some raw talent who has unrefined basketball skills. He's very polished offensively for a rookie. He can shoot (needs playing time to fine tune his 3 point shot so it starts going down more frequently), put the ball on the floor a little and can rebound. He needs to play over Hassell of all people.
You people are all insane. Najera was a GREAT signing. The reason the Nets have SUCKED for the past few years is because they didn't have someone like Najera off the bench. They signed him for four years for a reason. This team is a borderline playoff team THIS YEAR. Najera is a part of the core, PLUS he will help set a standard for the other players. Don't worry; Ryan will get a chance to play. It is a long season. Players get hurt; players start to suck. Right now we are watching Yi develop before our eyes. We also see a backup PG in Dooling that is better than any backup PG the Nets have had this decade. In Jarvis Hayes we have possibly the best scorer the Nets have had off the bench since the finals teams were broken up. There are a lot of plusses to focus on. As we;ve said, the first six weeks will be a challenge. None of these players have played together before. Many are very young and will be erratic. What kills me is that the people here who are complaining the most (especailly about Coach Frank) are those that predicted that the Nets would win no more than 22-25 games. You can't have it both ways. They are playing hard and determined, and have shown flashes of tremendous defense and good offense. It is just a matter of putting it all together and being consistent.
Najera's line in 9 minutes last night: 0 points, 0 blocks, 0 steals, 1 rebound. But yeah, he dove on the floor, let's play him 25 minutes a game. Give me a break, he should not get minutes over Anderson or Williams. And neither should Hassel. This is a rebuilding team, play the frickin youngsters, and accept you're not getting to the playoffs.
You guys are knocking down Najera as if everything about a player should be determined after no training camp and only after 4-5 games.
I don't have a problem with Najera. But Hassell over Anderson? I can't think of any reason why Frank is doing it.
Because Hassell is a backup SG and Ryan Anderson is not. Why is that so hard to understand? This team does not have a backup SG with Harris and CDR hurt. Jarvis Hayes is the only one who resembles a SG on this team but he is not one either.
