Samardo Samuels: Thoughts Observations and Projections

[DELONTEizDad]

Overshadowed by Thompson (who was awesome but I thought had J.J. like butterfingers at points) but Sam-Sam had a pretty good game tonight.

Then again I'm watching on DVR and he just missed a free throw... then got called for a 3 second violation a little later.

Still reading the box score 10 pts. and 6 rebs. in 19 minutes is pretty good. Also he was +7 to Thompson's -8 as well and showed some good hustle at points going after loose balls and trying to keep plays alive.

 

[Cavatt]

When Samardo got consistent minutes last year he really showed some good things. He didn't play outside himself tonight, but he does need to eliminate those mental mistakes. I think he could still be pretty good. His jumper is nice and his body is really wide, and he has shown some good defensive skills. He really needs some playing time.

 

[Gimme Some Mo]

I can't figure Samardo out. He shows so many flashes of potentially being a beast in the paint and then he will just disappear for a month.

 

[MRMsix6]

Bill Simmons always used to call Tony Allen 'Trick or Treat' Tony when he was with the Celtics.

That's what he have with Samardo right now. We never know what we're going to get.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

This is another example of Scott keeping a very selective doghouse (despite Byron's denials that a doghouse even exists). I agree that Samardo should have reported to (an abbreviated) camp in better shape, and he shouldn't have publicly disagreed with Scott's appraisal of his condition, but guys like Casspi keep their starting positions with awful play, Weak Sauce is immediately returned to the starting lineup despite sucking before his injury (and even worse after) while Hollins and Erden rack up missed gimme dunks and stupid fouls (along with their inability to rebound)

I'm definitely not sold on Samuels, but I do believe he has a far greater potential upside than Ryan or Semih, so why play the mind games as Scott has with him? Poor, poor talent management skill and handling of a young player that could possibly develop, if you ask me.

Scott will play a guy who lacks talent but gives good effort. He doesn't like playing guys who don't give the effort, and I get that. He can't demand full effort from most guys, but then allow one guy to just go through the motions occasionally because "that's his personality". Ignoring Samardo's occasional lack of effort and bad attitude can have a ripple effect when you're trying to develop a young team. Sometimes, it just doesn't sink in with some guys until they're on their second or third team. For some guys, it never sinks in, and they remain just a waste of talent.

 

[Wine and Gold]

I don't care what's going on- Hollins or Harangody should not be playing over Samuels.

This is Cleveland we can't afford to let talent walk out the door.

These guys are all man-children who have been given everything since they were young, as an organization you have to be able to reach them. At a certain point it goes on the staff and franchise versus the player, not everyone is going to be a model citizen by any stretch of the imagination. Using the "stick" on everyone is foolish, some need the "carrot."

You are right, Samardo should be getting more minutes and clearly be higher in the rotation, if not really be our regular starting center without question. But, Samardo ...now that Eyenga is gone, is Byron Scott's biggest enigma. Obviously, pieces of the Samardo Samuels mental puzzle haven't all become well known, nor have really come to the surface ...but we all know something is present that has held this kid back at different points in time, in his basketball life.

We are talking about a kid that was one of the most highly recruited big men in the country coming out of high school, and between then and going pro the guy fell off the ladder and didn't even end up getting a 2nd round afterthought selection. I don't know all that's gone on in the past nor all that's gone on since he came to Cleveland, but I've heard he spent long stints in a vegitative state, flat-lining in his dorm couch at Louisville, and got a bad reputation that included attitude and internal fire and drive lacking.. Coaches close to the situation at Lousville said he became a huge prima-donna in his short time there.

Obviously, getting totally snubbed in the draft eventually lit a fire under him, and he got himself in shape to the point he had some dominating, eye opening performances in Summer League games, to the point a bidding war went out, with numerous NBA teams trying to get this guy onto their training camp rosters. The Cavs, looking for anything of substance, and available roster room space went the extra mile needed to secure him and signed him to a contract.

In his time here, he has shown that he has very real talents to be a quality big man in this league, but ...I'm sure the internal issues that caused problems at Louisville have faded in and out here as well. I think Scott, although never havng anything slip out in the press, has had to use several means that are at a coaches disposal to try and get messages through to him to try and get him to get on course and stay on course.

I don't think he's a bad cat or anything ...I don't know many specifics, but I just think he's immature, and displays attitude and sporadic hustle and drive ...with so much at stake, and so much money that he could make if he could get his mind right and really work and get himself in top physical shape in the offseason, and tap intoi the vast potential that is within him, he could be another key core piece for us moving forward. But, he's got to conquer those demons that have, at times, hurt him and set him back both in college and in his time here.

He's not the type guy any organization would feel comfortable with offering him a longterm, big money type contract. The fear being, once he gets it, he will revert back, and end up being a bad investment.

Time will tell, but their is more to the issue than meets the eye when trying to figure out the strange and inconsistent swings in how many minutes he gets throughout the course of this season. Obviously something has been go9ng on, and messages beinbg sent by our head coach to try and get this kid focused and on point.

 

[SOA]

the one thing that I heard didn't bode well for Samuels is when he made statements in the press that e felt Thompson was getting playing time due to his draft position

admitteldy statements like that didn't set well with an old school coach like Byron Scott

Rather than working hard to get back into scott's good graces Samardo acted entitled

after Hollins and Erden showed how little they deserve to be playing the NBA, Scott told Samuels his time was running out

Samuels has played better as of late , but he seems to be his own worst enemy in getting minutes as an NBA player

Wine & Gold how far off am I in these estimations?

 

[Jon]

Samardo is a fun player to watch even if he just shows up every few games. When he shows up, it's usually worth it.

But I used to enjoy those nights when Tractor Traylor would go nuts...

 

[The Process God]

Samardo is a fun player to watch even if he just shows up every few games. When he shows up, it's usually worth it.

But I used to enjoy those nights when Tractor Traylor would go nuts...

Those are days I'd rather forget.

 

[narbar32]

Those are days I'd rather forget.

Come on, guitar - you really didn't get all hyped when Robert would stretch one of those big paws up there, palming the ball like is was Galley Boy, and throw it down, followed by Reghi (before we knew what a dildo he is) describing it as a "man-sized dunk from the Motown Man"? Man, I miss the Motown Man.

Anyways, hearing Samardo talk is still sort of jarring to me, but it really does help me understand why he is such an enigma on the court. Awesome accent notwithstanding, the guy just doesn't sound like he's all there. I make fun and am a pretty big asshole, but I'm not even going to be mean about it. It's like he doesn't even hear the questions that are being asked. He just kind of vacantly and deliberately spouts rote and sort of meaningless answers, often without addressing the question itself and certainly without any hint of critical thought or on-the-fly evaluation.

 

[DELONTEizDad]

Come on, guitar - you really didn't get all hyped when Robert would stretch one of those big paws up there, palming the ball like is was Galley Boy, and throw it down, followed by Reghi (before we knew what a dildo he is) describing it as a "man-sized dunk from the Motown Man"? Man, I miss the Motown Man.

Anyways, hearing Samardo talk is still sort of jarring to me, but it really does help me understand why he is such an enigma on the court. Awesome accent notwithstanding, the guy just doesn't sound like he's all there. I make fun and am a pretty big asshole, but I'm not even going to be mean about it. It's like he doesn't even hear the questions that are being asked. He just kind of vacantly and deliberately spouts rote and sort of meaningless answers, often without addressing the question itself and certainly without any hint of critical thought or on-the-fly evaluation.

Between your post and Wine and Gold's it sounds like Sam-Sam has a serious case of adult ADHD. As in genuine, diagnosable real ADHD- which the always reliable medical reference guide Wikipedia says people suffering from "often have such associated psychiatric comorbidities as depression, anxiety disorder, substance abuse, or a learning disability." (For the record Wikipedia is not the only reference I am using in my admittedly "amateur", yet somewhat well-informed, diagnosis.)

I hope he gets help for it.

 

[FiveThous]

Send him to delonte's guy

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

I don't care what's going on- Hollins or Harangody should not be playing over Samuels.

This is Cleveland we can't afford to let talent walk out the door.

These guys are all man-children who have been given everything since they were young, as an organization you have to be able to reach them. At a certain point it goes on the staff and franchise versus the player, not everyone is going to be a model citizen by any stretch of the imagination. Using the "stick" on everyone is foolish, some need the "carrot."

When he got the "carrot" of a scholarship to a major D-1 program, he responded by laying on his couch and becoming a prima donna. It took the "stick" of not getting drafted to get his flabby ass in shape for a good summer league showing. It looks to me like Scott is trying to balance the "carrot" of more playing time with the "stick" of benching his ass when he goes into a sulking funk, because feeding him a steady diet of carrots just doesn't work.

Between your post and Wine and Gold's it sounds like Sam-Sam has a serious case of adult ADHD. As in genuine, diagnosable real ADHD- which the always reliable medical reference guide Wikipedia says people suffering from "often have such associated psychiatric comorbidities as depression, anxiety disorder, substance abuse, or a learning disability."

I'd be really surprised if the Cavs haven't at least considered that possibility, or something at least related to that. One problem, though is how you broach that with a player, whether the player thinks it is a problem, and what the player is willing to do about that. Absent a dose of humility (fat chance) from Samuels, I think we're going to have to hope that Daddy Scott's coaching works. In any case, the ultimate responsibillty for, and control over, whether Samuel's pulls his head out of his ass is his.

 

[TitleTown]

When he got the "carrot" of a scholarship to a major D-1 program, he responded by laying on his couch and becoming a prima donna. It took the "stick" of not getting drafted to get his flabby ass in shape for a good summer league showing. It looks to me like Scott is trying to balance the "carrot" of more playing time with the "stick" of benching his ass when he goes into a sulking funk, because feeding him a steady diet of carrots just doesn't work.



I'd be really surprised if the Cavs haven't at least considered that possibility, or something at least related to that. One problem, though is how you broach that with a player, whether the player thinks it is a problem, and what the player is willing to do about that. Absent a dose of humility (fat chance) from Samuels, I think we're going to have to hope that Daddy Scott's coaching works. In any case, the ultimate responsibillty for, and control over, whether Samuel's pulls his head out of his ass is his.

If he can't pull his head out of his ass by the end of the season, I hope we replace him with a second round pick and move on. Two seasons is enough messing around with head case.

I'd love to replace Samardo with a guy like Crowder, but I don't know if he will fall to the second round.

 

[Biw]

Come on, guitar - you really didn't get all hyped when Robert would stretch one of those big paws up there, palming the ball like is was Galley Boy, and throw it down, followed by Reghi (before we knew what a dildo he is) describing it as a "man-sized dunk from the Motown Man"? Man, I miss the Motown Man.

Anyways, hearing Samardo talk is still sort of jarring to me, but it really does help me understand why he is such an enigma on the court. Awesome accent notwithstanding, the guy just doesn't sound like he's all there. I make fun and am a pretty big asshole, but I'm not even going to be mean about it. It's like he doesn't even hear the questions that are being asked. He just kind of vacantly and deliberately spouts rote and sort of meaningless answers, often without addressing the question itself and certainly without any hint of critical thought or on-the-fly evaluation.

I was thinking this exact thing when I was watching the replay of the game last night. Samardo was interviewed at the half and was asked how the Cavs let the nets make a run and get back in the game. He spouted off some nonsensical "answer" without touching any of the points in the interviewers question(and it seemed like he was struggling to get that out). I definitely think something might be wrong mentally with him. I mean Ryan Hollins is dumb, but the guy can formulate a sentence when asked a question.