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.
I’ve been surprised how many seem to disagree with even the philosophy of benching players for mistakes/bad decisions/etc. We’ve just gone through a couple seasons of letting everyone “play through it” while actively tanking. At some point every player should be benched for consistent mistakes, especially if it’s something specifically being coached. Playing through it forever will just lead to bad habits that won’t go away. I’m positive being benched will stick in a player’s mind more than being told in a timeout “quit doing that” while they do it again and again without consequence
I haven’t been a fan of everything going on so far this season, but am completely fine with benching a young player with the intention of teaching lessons. Ivey playing 20 mins or Ausar getting benched for a game aren’t the end of the world for their development and won’t end up as “missed experience” that plays a factor long-term. Getting benched is quite literally an experience gained. Cade missing a year or Duren never having a healthy ankle is what will kill us