Podcast: Jon Leuer, Tobias Harris, Scott Skiles And The Meaning Of The Minutes Crunch

I’m on board with hoping the organization doesn’t waste their talents as well. There is some threshold where these guys might lose their confidence if they are left off the floor too often, so Skiles should find time for them even if only for the sake of throwing them a bone and putting them in game situations that accentuate their strengths and minimize their deficiencies.

You agree that Skiles has played indeed rookies (Jennings and LRMAM), and those happen to be the best ones he has been given during his run with the Bucks, but still say he doesn’t play rookies.

Then you say he has been given “far too many poor picks,” but then say that the ones he doesn’t play are “released, traded, or otherwise dismantled long before having a opportunity to shine.” Joe Alexander, Jodie Meeks, Darington Hobson and Tiny Gallon (those are the only other rookies he has had that have departed) have gone on to shine? Even with Meeks, Skiles played him 12 min per game, which is the same run get got after being traded to Philly that season. With Meeks it is also the case that Hammond shipped him out because they thought the Jennings/Meeks backcourt was too small to compete with NBA starters.

As for those still here, Sanders has yet to shine or suggest that he will (except in very isolated facets of the game), and Leuer and Harris are stuck behind vets who know Skiles’ defensive system in the SF/PF logjams.

Not exactly sure where you might disagree with our assessment, but I’d love to continue the conversation.

The NBA management structure generally mirrors the corporate structure. The coach is like a mid-level manager that is tasked with getting the most of what he is given to work with on a day-to-day, week-to-week and month-to-month basis. Coaches are paid to maximize the number of wins they can scrape of a season, and that goes double for veteran coaches like Skiles that make a healthy salary.

GMs are like the CEO, they should be the ones keeping the long-term view at the front of their picture. The year-to-year goals, the 2-3 year play for reaching a level of meaningful competition, etc.

The logjam at SF and PF gives Skiles veteran options who know his defensive system better than the rookies, so naturally Skiles is going to gravitate towards the known quantities while trying to do his job and win every next game and collect as many games as possible in the season. It is Hammond’s responsibility to clear out the vets via trade if the organization is moving into a developmental stage and rebuilding towards another 2-3 year plan. As of now, he has provided Skiles with an army of veteran players and should expect that his coach will use them.

To this point, Hammond hasn’t really signaled that he’d like it to be any other way. He keeps giving Skiles vets, and Skiles keeps playing them. I think the GM is stuck in the middle, as he can’t decide if he will survive a second run at a rebuild, thus the Bucks soldier on.

To me, it makes more sense to be upset with Hammond than Skiles on where the opportunities for the rookies currently stand. Skiles is just doing his job.

Did you try that in the Trade Machine?