Samardo Samuels: Thoughts Observations and Projections

[Lumthemad]

I loved the shock coming from Don McLean and the Clippers announcers. They had no idea who made the shot. Sadly that is the problem with Samardo. When it comes to having a floor game and battling inside, he goes unnoticed.

I'd rather see Leuer than Sam Sam or The Six Million Dollar Man.

I think we'll see Leuer out there at somepoint as well. Byron knows what he gets out of Samardo and it is a mixed bag of circumstances. I will give credit where it was due for Samuels though last night. He got a nice board and took a charge while he was out there. The stepback jumper was just extra gravy.

Also, i wouldn't be surprised if announcers (even former players) didn't know our guys. I mean, i am pretty into NBA basketball and i didn't know one of the guys on their injured list. (and i don't mean Grant Hill) It makes me think of back in the day how they used to call Dick Versace "the professor" and he would talk about players that he didn't know sh*t about. Some of these people love to talk to hear themselves talk. Jalen Rose certain fits that demographic.

 

[Pioneer10]

The Clippers announcers are actually pretty decent: they got a homer streak like everybody but they are pretty knowledgeable about the game. Last night they called that bullshit Zeller charge call something along the lines of a "lucky break" for the Clippers and they were all over Kyrie and Waiters. Particularly how good they looked for being 20

 

[FiveThous]

I noticed the same thing Pioneer, I was able to only catch a quarter and a half but they seemed very knowledgeable and objective as far as announcers go

 

[MYoung23]

That's a "numbers-only" comparison, interesting because the similar body-types, but not accurate... Traylor was high-motor and most definitely made his team better. Watching an Anderson Varejao/Tractor Traylor All-Harassment bench unit in 04/05 was FREAKING FANTASTIC. Guys would try to drive through their double team trap only to be left wondering, "How is this guy's hand coming out the bottom of my jersey?"

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/t/traylro01.html
http://espn.go.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/2419/anderson-varejao

Back on topic...Samardo, yeah, not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Also having the same problem DeJuan Blair has, just 2 inches too short for PF to be out on the floor a lot.

Robert Traylor was shit here in both stints. I dont know why people thought he was any good. I guess people liked to watch the dancing bear.

 

[Lumthemad]

Robert Traylor was shit here in both stints. I dont know why people thought he was any good. I guess people liked to watch the dancing bear.

He was semi effective in his one stint with us, in terms of bench production. In terms of his talent versus how he played, he always under-performed and yes, we all DID love to watch the dancing bear. What's not to like? Now a Titanic full of bears on the other hand....

 

[Kypus]

Robert Traylor was the shit here in both stints.

Fixed.

 

[Tornicade]

Although Samuels didnt look lke superman in his start he did play hard and was effective on the court. this game went along way towards his confidence as he could see for himself his offseason work pay off some dividends

Samuels looks pretty confident and his intreview demonstrates he is starting to get it mentally,



[video]http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/video/2012/11/06/practicecoach121106avi-2284116[/video]

 

[rabman_gold]

But his defense is putrid. You can't score 10 points and let the opponent score double that, you know? That's why Carl Landry feasted on him. Shots, layups, everything.

 

[Jon]

But his defense is putrid. You can't score 10 points and let the opponent score double that, you know? That's why Carl Landry feasted on him. Shots, layups, everything.

And doing little to nothing on help D to boot.

 

[Lumthemad]

No credit to a good offensive player on Landry? Not being a Samardo apologist but Carl Landry has always been pretty solid at scoring the basketball. I think the communication out there was a little weak all in all. It was like losing Peyton Manning in terms of communication and being stuck with whoever backs up Peyton Manning. You could tell the guys weren't communicating well enough out there.

Point taken though, even with improvements, Samardo isn't perhaps the kind of defender we want. Still, he is working on being that guy and i'll take a young guy who's coachable versus a overly talented idiot like JJ Hickson.

 

[Jon]

Samardo and Leuer aren't showing anything in terms of defensive awareness. Until they do, they might as well be JJ.

 

[RTrees]

I think Samardo needs a good healthy dose of minutes before we can determine if he'll ever help this team or not. Consistent playing time for him might yield better results. If not increased, consistent. He seems enough in his own head worrying about playing time, because he often is rushing to get things done when he gets out there. If we could tap into his patience and nourish those shooting skills and finishing near the basket skill he might actually develop into a contributing role player. He also might not. But it's a waste not to give him minutes to find out. Enough with the back and forth playing not playing for Samardo. Let him get some confidence (minutes) on the court. Let him get into a rhythm for once and see if he can grow from there. Just a suggestion. It seems like a waste to have a guy with those skills if you're not going to figure out how to use them to help the team.