Ochai Agbaji, Can Someone Shed Some Light?

[Eddie Zero]

He didnt play at the start of the season so, no. I dont count garbage time minutes when he is sharing the court with Dok and potter etc by the way. Literally the first time he got minutes in the regular rotation he looked great. He got minutes in the regular rotation because we were on a huge losing streak. Not because he was suddenly ready right at that particular moment.
Again, this is a rebuilding season. Giving a 4 year kansas player coming off a national championship with an nba ready body 5-10 minutes per game with the regular rotation from day one wouldn't be the end of the world. I watch tht look lost and bad all the time. Even guys like conley and clarkson look lost and bad sometimes. Its ok to make mistakes. All players do it.

I agree, but I think the majority of reasons why he is playing at a higher level, is the Finnisher was not available. Ocahi obviously had to do his homework and earn his playing time slowly regardless for this coach. In alot of ways I think it was best that it went down like it did. He will probably solidify himself in the rotation as the season continues, but I also don't think he has very many games like this one once Marky is back either. Maybe he can get some minutes playing with Marky rather than instead of him then we will see.
The funny part is how many people on here thought he must stink since he wasn't playing, or that he does stink based on those garbage time minutes you mention.
Clearly he is a high IQ player after his time in college, that learned this system fast, & can play well when he is out there with good players, and maybe cannot do so playing with lower iq level projects? He is not a great playmaker or passer, but his off ball game is the best on the roster already imo outside of the Finnisher of course

 

[SoberasHotRod]

He didnt play at the start of the season so, no. I dont count garbage time minutes when he is sharing the court with Dok and potter etc by the way. Literally the first time he got minutes in the regular rotation he looked great. He got minutes in the regular rotation because we were on a huge losing streak. Not because he was suddenly ready right at that particular moment.
Again, this is a rebuilding season. Giving a 4 year kansas player coming off a national championship with an nba ready body 5-10 minutes per game with the regular rotation from day one wouldn't be the end of the world. I watch tht look lost and bad all the time. Even guys like conley and clarkson look lost and bad sometimes. Its ok to make mistakes. All players do it.

The narrative of "this particular rookie wasn't ready for minutes because he might make mistakes that literally every player makes and we need him to be perfect before he gets on the court in this somewhat throw away rebuilding season even though he is coming into the nba much better off and more nba ready than most all rookies" is a strange narrative.

Hardy is a great coach. But using hindsight that we have access to i think its ok to say he isn't perfect. I think even Hardy would admit he isn't perfect if somone was to ask him and he answered honestly. NAW should have been in the rotation ahead of THT from day one. Kessler should have been getting more than 15 minutes per game from day on and KO should have been getting a few less minutes. Gay should not play. Ochai should have been getting a few minutes from day 1.
Hardy has realized all these things at this point I think (we will see what happens when KO gets back on the court but i think Hardy has learned by now that Kessler needs to play more) except for the part about rudy gay. He seems to think that gay is playing well enough to continue to get playing time. Hopefully he learns that is the incorrect move soon too. I think he will. He is a great coach who is still learning too.

This really wasn't that long ago that I don't remember. He got regular rotation minutes at one point in October and then another point in December. He looked really bad at the time. Anybody who wrote him off at that time was being dumb, but he just looked lost, like he didn't know what he was supposed to be doing.

I don't necessarily disagree with anything else you wrote. I just think it's crazy revisionist history to say that Agbaji would have been this good from day one if he was given a chance, when he was given chances, and he wasn't nearly this good.

 

[LogGrad98]

Lol. The minute they start giving him minutes, he starts producing. They deserve all the credit for that. Has nothing to do with fact he’s just pretty good at basketball and he should have been playing all along.

And it’s nothing to do with he just wasn’t ready before and if they’d thrown him in before and he got killed it’d likely have destroyed his confidence?? Ok

Odds are the truth is somewhere in between. The coaches spend a lot more time with these guys than we do, despite the fact that every on-line fan is a stone-cold NBA coaching and development expert with peerless results, so they might know a little more than we do. But at the same time, someone doesn't just suddenly become a high-level contributor if they don't ever, you know, actually play in games. So I am sure his recent surge is a combination of multiple factors, not the least of which is actually getting a chance to play some real minutes and show what he can do.

I do think that coaches get stuck in ruts because they are erring on the side of caution, and what they feel is better for the team trumps what might be better for a single player. Then we see that player get a real shot and suddenly they are showing what they can do. Suddenly for us fans anyway. Hardly suddenly for the coaches. But sometimes it does take an injury or other event to force their hand and let someone like Ochai play meaningful minutes in which he shows he can step up. But when they are trying to field the best team they can they aren't going to just play someone just to play them. They will try to get the best team on the floor they can, and often that does not include rookies unless by necessity. Hell look at Sloan and Williams as an example.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Does nobody remember how lost and bad he looked at the start of the season? It's only been a few months.

He looks good because he looks comfortable with where he is supposed to be on offense and defense and has started to adjust to the NBA length and speed.

Yup.

He looked terrible. Hardy is trying to manage how much he puts on the young guys plate. If you come out and just play terrible, you might figure it out or you might just drown and lose all confidence.

Everyone is different. Everyone learns and progresses differently. Maybe Hardy was wrong but overall he's getting the results so it's tough to argue against.

 

[Eddie Zero]

This really wasn't that long ago that I don't remember. He got regular rotation minutes at one point in October and then another point in December. He looked really bad at the time. Anybody who wrote him off at that time was being dumb, but he just looked lost, like he didn't know what he was supposed to be doing.

I don't necessarily disagree with anything else you wrote. I just think it's crazy revisionist history to say that Agbaji would have been this good from day one if he was given a chance, when he was given chances, and he wasn't nearly this good.

he never got regular rotation minutes without someone raw out there with him though. He plays as well as anyone on the roster if he has good players around him. He also got into some action in this game offensively he was never given earlier in the season, when other players had the rock and didn't give it up to him.
What you say looks lost, I say he didn't look lost, he was just iced out by selfish teammates.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

he never got regular rotation minutes without someone raw out there with him though. He plays as well as anyone on the roster if he has good players around him. He also got into some action in this game offensively he was never given earlier in the season, when other players had the rock and didn't give it up to him.
What you say looks lost, I say he didn't look lost, he was just iced out by selfish teammates.

Jazz got no selfish players on the roster.

 

[Eddie Zero]

He better be in the rising stars game with Kessler given its in SLC .I know he might not given his lack of time on the floor. But this game alone was a reminder of who he was in his final season in Lawrence. He is who he was and no amount of bench study was necessary for this guy to warrant minutes. It was always about others with bigger salaries, more experience and the coach being a rookie himself that Ocahi rarely got off the pine

 

[Eddie Zero]

Jazz got no selfish players on the roster.

THT JC and Beasley are all selfish at times

 

[Eddie Zero]

Yup.

He looked terrible. Hardy is trying to manage how much he puts on the young guys plate. If you come out and just play terrible, you might figure it out or you might just drown and lose all confidence.

Everyone is different. Everyone learns and progresses differently. Maybe Hardy was wrong but overall he's getting the results so it's tough to argue against.

THT is done genius, time for a new facsphincter

 

[HermanG]

I just dont know where Ochai was gonna get his minutes early season. His main competition was Lauri (didnt miss games), JC (didnt miss games), Beasley (didnt miss games and was hot off the bench) and Sexton (played 2nd team minutes at 2 with THT while he was still hot).

So essentially our top 4 scorers.

In fact, we staggered Beasley minutes with both Lauri and JC a lot because Hardy wanted him out there as much as possible.

Also NAW showed flashes and was the more urgent one to evaluate due to not being on a rookie deal.

He got in now because Lauri and Sexton have been out and Beasley has been cold as ice... so there are more minutes available at wing. And good for him.. thats usually how rookies break in to the rotation. They arent just granted minutes out of the gate.

 

[Nate505]

Dude is earning himself some minutes. I can have some gripes about players getting PT and how they were developed, but Ochai seems to be the absolute textbook success story so far. He was pretty lousy his first month, got some seasoning in the G-League, has worked his *** off to be better, and right now he's becoming a solid rotational piece who is just a great burst of enegy off the bench, and will hopefully develop into a solid starter. Kudos to him and the staff and everyone else involved.

 

[Douchebag K]

he looked like a rabbit in headlights earlier in the year. Reminded me of Exum's scared look

 

[Watcher]

I just dont know where Ochai was gonna get his minutes early season. His main competition was Lauri (didnt miss games), JC (didnt miss games), Beasley (didnt miss games and was hot off the bench) and Sexton (played 2nd team minutes at 2 with THT while he was still hot).

So essentially our top 4 scorers.

In fact, we staggered Beasley minutes with both Lauri and JC a lot because Hardy wanted him out there as much as possible.

Also NAW showed flashes and was the more urgent one to evaluate due to not being on a rookie deal.

He got in now because Lauri and Sexton have been out and Beasley has been cold as ice... so there are more minutes available at wing. And good for him.. thats usually how rookies break in to the rotation. They arent just granted minutes out of the gate.

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That's actually a good observation.

 

[Eddie Zero]

That's actually a good observation.

he just didn't play much early on because he is a rookie, stuck behind vets at the same position. NBA readiness had nothing to do with it imo. Marky is hurt = Ochai steps up playing with starters or close and not scrubs like THT trying to get his like early on.