What do you think of Monty benching Ausar last night? Is this the best way to handle the highly drafted young talent? What’s the most effective way to get young guys to reach their full potential? Any data points from other coaches who have taken raw young talent to winning teams (OKC, GSW)?

Per Monty:

Williams explained what factored in his decision to pull him.

“I think any young player with that kind of talent is going to have moments like he had tonight. I can’t be the coach that I’ve told them I’m going to be if I continue to put him out there and let him play through those kinds of lulls where he is turning it over and not taking the shots that we want him to take.”

https://therookiewire.usatoday.com/2023/11/17/pistons-monty-williams-ausar-thompson-benching/

I am not a fan of what’s going on. I don’t love the way Ivey has played / developed but I don’t think less playing time is the answer. Let these guys sink or swim. We suck anyway. I get maybe a short benching later in the season to send a message but the current Ivey situation runs the risk getting broken beyond repair and wasting a great athletic talent and high draft asset.

  • historical_regret2BEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    People need to explain themselves when they say they don’t like how Ivey has progressed.

    Here’s how his season compared to Shaedon Sharpe’s, for example: https://stathead.com/tiny/EABvu

    Ivey’s TS% is much higher (.628 to .534), and per 36, he’s scoring more (19.2 to 17.4), and gets more assists (4.8 to 3.2), and more stocks (2.0 to 1.4). Ivey averages 0.6 more turnovers per 36, and Sharpe gets more rebounds (5.4 to 4.3). Ivey’s showing better on both 2 point fga (.595 to .462) and on threes (.393 to .329).

    If anyone’s interested, Ivey is outplaying Mathurin even more soundly.

    All of this, despite Ivey’s minutes and role getting jerked around, and him being sick.

    The point is: there’s some narrative out there that says that Ivey isn’t playing well. He’s playing very well, compared to other second-year shooting guards taken near him. He’s probably been our second-best offensive player after Duren, and arguably even better than Duren.