One word to summarise Kosta's 2007-2008 campaign. Raw. He may be big and long which is exactly what the Warriors need in a big man and he does actually have post moves he can use over a 6'5 and above Frontcourt player but the guy is still raw. Yet a typical Don Nelson team wouldn't be the same without a wacky foreign Center something Kosta has adjusted to. During his late season performances one main encouraging sign was his willingess to throw his size around down low and take up space. Kosta’s minutes against Shaq went from being a classic “isn’t Nellie crazy” story to a viable strategy in a few quick minutes. He's always been offensively skilled if reports from the D-League are anything to go by and his Blocking and Rebounding seem to be encouraging.
Best place for himWhat was the most noticable attributes was when he got in the game he showed a nose for the ball and made a bee line for the front off the rim both on both offense and defense. Still a bit slow but man he knows he’s a center and doesn’t pussy foot around the perimeter. He may be still raw but the Warriors could use some more of that.
The question surrounding Kosta is simple: will Nellie find time for him to develop? We spent an entire season watching Andris yanked only to be replaced at center by Al Harrington or Mickael Pietrus. Kosta would allow the team to go bigger or slide Andris to power forward (as the team did successfully during the Phoenix game). Still, given Nellie’s big man track record and the limited minutes Andris saw this season, I’m not sure how a slower big man like Kosta fits into the Warriors’ game plan. Of course, some great rebounding and shot-blocking during the summer league would go a long way towards forcing Nellie’s (or any other coach’s) hand.
To put it bluntly the use of the mid level exception of 2.3 milliion for Kosta will be known as the worst since the Knicks did the same to Jerome James
Overall Grade: Incomplete
Irish Warriors 2007-2008 Report Card Archive
Chris Mullin C+
Kelenna Azubuike C-
Matt Barnes D-
Andris Biedrins A-
Marco Bellinelli D+
Austin Croshere C-
Baron Davis B-
Monta Ellis A+
Al Harrington C-
Stephen Jackson B+
Patrick O Bryant F
No comments:
Post a Comment