Listen, I'll be the first to admit, I wasn't the biggest supporter of Gilbert Arenas when we were struggling...but in light of some events that occured this morning, I realized that there is something behind Dwight's comments about SVG not using Gilbert the right way.
What could be the reason for a player being able to score 20 pts coming off the bench some games and others just completely losing his self-esteem and stinking it up. You can't say he's washed up when he is producing those 20 off the bench in limited minutes, bottom line he wasn't consistent bc his minutes weren't consistent and he lost his confidence. From what I was told by a source on the Orlando roster, he tore it up in practice, but because he didn't fit in SVG's offense, he didnt get his time.
Did we not win 9 in a row in the beginning of all those trades? And wasn't Gil a pretty big part of that getting a normal amount of minutes and producing?...The chatter about him getting into the starting lineup got a little too loud and then Stan had to keep him on the bench because of his loyalty to Jameer. Bottom line, Stan didn't know how to adjust to what was best for the team. I mean look at Rick Carlisle, the guy adjusts his starting lineup in the 4th game of the Finals and then what? His team goes from down 2-1 to winning 4-2. That's how a coach is supposed to adjust.
Orlando has been dominat the past 4 years, but you want to tell me that's all because of Stan or is that a coincidence that Dwight just happened to be the best Center in the NBA during that time also? Tell me, what other players has Stan developed on Defense and made lock down defenders, aside from Dwight who could've had Mike D'antoni coach him and still be defensive player of the year. Stan is not adapting nor developing his players. He does his homework on teams and has good defensive schemes but aside from Dwight lets be real, who is a good defender on our team that wasn't one before he arrived to Orlando?
Gilbert destroyed the league for 4 straight years for a reason, because he is that good. Granted he might've lost a step but so has Kobe, does that mean he isn't good anymore and can't score 20 on a regular basis? We need to learn how to utilize the talent we have, and Stan didn't do that. When he experimented during that 9 game winning streak, Gil showed what he could do, and thats why Otis was saying he could be in the starting lineup. Now you have Otis, Dwight, and most of the locker room vouching for Gil's playing time...there is a reason behind all that. Those are the guys in there everyday in the practice room seeing what's going on.
I rather have Lawrence Frank in there than Stan if it meant using our players to their fullest. I agree with Defense winning championships, but when you have the talent, and still don't get it done, and then finally put a guy in in a playoff series we lose and he scores 20...there has to be a wake up call that you messed up and didn't play the guys correctly.
We need to get rid of Jameer, Hedo, and Bass and see what that can package us. Bottom line, Stan doesn't have this locker room as much as we thought. Call me crazy but you have to agree there has to be more than "inconsistency" when Gil comes off our bench, scores 20, and then goes back to getting 12 mins a game and puts up 5 pts...If you can score 20 you can score 20...the rest is just being able to have the opportunity. If he gets his Defense together and limits the turnovers which I feel would happen naturally with him playing more, he would be a viable asset to this team.
Don't believe me? Just as Dwight what he thinks, as you all already know. After the third and 4th person start saying something, there might be a little truth to it....
This FanPost was made by a member of the Orlando Pinstriped Post community, and is to be treated as the opinions and views of its author, not that of the blogger or blog community as a whole.
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