I grew up watching players like Maurice Lucas, Buck Williams, Kermit Washington, Rick Mahorn, Charles Oakley, Anthony Mason, Ben Wallace, Dennis Rodman, Karl Malone, and Patrick Ewing, players who were hard-hitting goons when they needed to be. If you hard-fouled one of their teammates, you can bet your ass they were going to come head hunting for you. And while the NBA game has changed, you still need a player in that role. You still need a Draymond. How many times did we watch Lillard get beat to shit driving to the hoop? Opposing teams had no fear of repercussions. What, Nurk was going to run up to them and then flop to the ground? Every team knows, you hard foul Curry, you're going to have to deal with Draymond. That right there reduces the wear and tear on your best players over the long NBA season. Does Draymond push things too far? Sure, but that isn't a bad thing. Lillard and Curry are some of the greatest 3pt shooters in NBA history, yet they push the distance they shoot from. Or look at a player like Steve Blake, I remember so many games where he would have 7-8 assists and 0 turnovers. And while some say that's great, IMO, 0 turnovers for your starting point guard means he wasn't pushing the envelope enough. He wasn't pushing things far enough. Look at the list of point guards with the most turnovers in their career. Now I'm not saying the Blazers need Draymond, but we do need a young enforcer to grow and develop with our young players. We need someone who will throw an elbow if you go head-hunting for a dunking Shae or a driving Ant or Scoot. With the right assistant coach, I can see Jabari growing into that role, but I don't think it's natural for him. But for the most part, I have no problem with Draymond and wish the Blazers had a player like him.
He could be when we needed him to. Watch those playoff series against Stockton and Malone. Buck was one of the few who could go toe to toe with the Mailman. Malone and those elbows were deadly, Buck could take them and dish it right back.
You need someone who is willing to make the game more physical when it gets that way and when that person postures after another team does something dirty, there is something behind that posturing. Draymond really isn't a tough guy. Have you ever seen him do anything when he gets in someone else's face??? No. He is great at cheap shots though. He kicks guys in the balls in the middle of game play and not because they fouled another Warriors player too hard, he knees guys in the groin during game play and again not to protect a teammate, he stomps on guys chests, he sucker punches teammates in practice and he chokes guys from behind that hadn't even engaged him or for that matter actually engaged his teammate and he sucker punched Nurk last night. The fact is that Draymond fouls and fouls and fouls without it getting called and if anyone does it back to him he gets petulant like a fucking child and assaults the player who decided to engage Draymond with Draymond tactics. When he stands up for teammates nothing ever happens. I've seen him stand up for teammates get pushed in the chest for it and wait for someone to hold him back before he started throwing a tantrum. No one needs a Draymond Green on their team, he's never stood up for a teammate in a meaningful way, when they needed it. The dude is a fake tough guy who loves to take the cheapest of cheap shots on guys who do anything other than let him foul the shit out of them without hearing any whistles.
I think you can be an enforcer and still not be an asshole. I remember Wes went up to push Dunleavey and protect his PG after the clear cheap shot, and he got ejected for it.
IMO, Draymond will be in the HOF. It's not his stats that will get him there, it's his toughness and the role he played on the Warriors. He's credited as being a great defensive player, 2-time DPOY runner-up, with a career average of .4 steals and .7 blocks per game. So it's less about his skills as a defensive player and more about the physical attitude he brings.
Andre Miller, IMO, should be in the HOF. Top 11 all-time in assists, top 12 all-time in rebounds for a point guard, 7th all-time in regular season games played by a PG.
Stewart from Detroit? As they approach breaking the record for losses in a row, they might welcome Jerami back...
I wouldn't put in the "enforcer" label, much like I wouldn't put Draymond there either. He's a straight up chump.
There's a difference between playing rough and getting under opponents skin, and just randomly attacking people due to angers problems. Rodman was always starting stuff. Laimbeer was always starting stuff. Both world champs that pushed the limits of dirty play and cheap shots during on era of extremely physical basketball. I never heard of either player attacking their own teammates in practice. I'm sure there were mutual scuffles, but not "I'm gonna lay you out because I don't like your attitude bro." Draymond was never disciplined for mauling Jordan Poole. The Warriors have green lighted his attacks on anyone he feels like hurting. The NBA is going to let it go, because ratings and clicks go up whenever Draymond decides to play MMA instead of basketball.
Yeah Dray made a career of fouling so much that the refs had to choose at some point not to call him for certain things they call everyone else for. PatBev does the same shit. It’s one of the things that make NBA refs such a joke. Draymond is a helluva secondary facilitator on offense but his defense is just the fact that he gets away with playing more physically than other players. It’s definitely not a skill or a physical gift, instead it’s a gift that’s been bestowed upon him by the refs.
Having an enforcer to dish out a little physical payback is one thing. How does that relate to smacking Nurk in the face for allegedly holding onto Dray’s shorts? For an enforcer to be an asset they need to know when to do the enforcing. Otherwise, they’re just sitting in the locker room after being ejected doing absolutely nothing to help their team.
