Ohhhh Please Drew......

[GameTime]

• “I am hoping this will be kind of a springboard for him,” Drew said. “It’s been kind of an up-and-down season for him. He’s played some minutes, he’s started a few games, and he’s gone stretches where he hasn’t played. But during that stretch I never stopped believing in that kid because I saw the package that he brings. He can make shots, he’s got speed, he’s got quickness, he can go from end to end. Defensively he can be a nuisance.”
• Teague couldn’t be blamed if he didn’t always feel the love from Drew but he said his confidence never wavered.
• “It felt great to get an opportunity to get out here and play, something I’ve wanted to do all year,” Teague said.
• “It’s important that he keeps believing in himself because I will never lose the belief in him,” Drew said. “I’m committed to him. I know that at times he shows signs of a lack of confidence. For whatever reason, I don’t know, because I recognize the fact that this kid if he’s playing at a level I know he can he can be pretty good and tonight he showed that. I just have to keep being that little birdie on his shoulder and keep letting him know how good he can be for our team.”

[TheTruth]

Yeah, Drew ain't convincing me that he believes in him. If he did, maybe he would have, I dunno, gotten at least SOME burn against Rose in our last game against CHI...and maybe, maybe would have given the kid some CONSISTENT minutes over time. He didn't deserve 15-20 every night, but with the likes of a rapidly-declining Bibby at the time manning the point full time, you mean to tell me that you believed in him so much that you STILL would hardly play him?

Yeah, ok.

Whatever Drew. You are full of empty words to me after you pulled your repeated "I'm going to change the lineup" empty threats.

Now, let's see if Teague goes back to being buried on the bench after his breakout game of the season against a quality opponent in the Blazers.

[frankthetank966]

Yea LD is a fool and needs to go after this season. Its a joke that he was able to earn a Head Coaching job in the NBA. He certainly does not seem like he is right for the position based off what I've seen this season. He should have given Teague a fair chance earlier in the year, but its too late to close the barn door once he's let the horse out... What an idiot!

[thecampster]

There's a lot of truth in this. Last night while watching the game with my boys, I kept commenting during the game that the problem with Teague isn't ability, it's confidence. That he was fairly ruined last year by our old coach and at times has played tentative. Specifically I said, "You can't drive the lane hoping not to make a mistake." Especially late in the game, there was an extra step on his drives to the basket as he wasn't afraid to miss.

[Hawkxan1]

• “I am hoping this will be kind of a springboard for him,” Drew said. “It’s been kind of an up-and-down season for him. He’s played some minutes, he’s started a few games, and he’s gone stretches where he hasn’t played. But during that stretch I never stopped believing in that kid because I saw the package that he brings. He can make shots, he’s got speed, he’s got quickness, he can go from end to end. Defensively he can be a nuisance.”
• Teague couldn’t be blamed if he didn’t always feel the love from Drew but he said his confidence never wavered.
• “It felt great to get an opportunity to get out here and play, something I’ve wanted to do all year,” Teague said.
• “It’s important that he keeps believing in himself because I will never lose the belief in him,” Drew said. “I’m committed to him. I know that at times he shows signs of a lack of confidence. For whatever reason, I don’t know, because I recognize the fact that this kid if he’s playing at a level I know he can he can be pretty good and tonight he showed that. I just have to keep being that little birdie on his shoulder and keep letting him know how good he can be for our team.”

Translated: Oh !@#$ why haven't I been playing this kid?

[RedDawg#8]

Teague looked good 2 weeks ago right when we made the trade, that would have been the perfect time to change the rotation and give him consistent minutes. All of a sudden he disappeared again. Teague to me is no more inconsistent that anyone else on this team and he doesn't deserved to be benched for "bad play" while Josh, Jamal and Joe can run rampant without consequence. Last I checked, none of them have a ring, so why are they entitled to playing time over others who give better effort. Teague WILL fall back the rotation again because the second he has a bad game Drew will sit him until he has no other choice but to play him...again

[Lascar78]

If you want to inspire your NBA player into feeling like a legit starting-caliber man, I would probably start by not calling him "kid" over and over again.

[AHawks89]

Let's relax. Teague has only had one good game. Let's wait to see if he keeps playing good, or goes hiding again.

[niremetal]

Why are people talking as if Teague has always played as well as he did Sat night? Right out the gate during the game, he was hawking his man and driving the ball aggressively. Same was true against Phoenix and GS a couple weeks ago. But no one can say with a straight face that he's always done that. You don't need minutes to move your feet on defense or even to take the ball to the rim instead of simply handing it off to Jamal. If Teague had come out every time really getting after his man on defense, that would be one thing. But he didn't. He defended with his hands (resulting in lots of reach-in fouls) and then handed the ball off to Jamal on the other end.

He played well Saturday night. He's played well several times before. The problem is that he hasn't been consistent even with the things that you don't need minutes to do consistently, and young players on playoff teams can't expect to be gifted minutes just to build their confidence.

All that said, he beasted Saturday night and I hope he keeps it up. We need him to.

Edited March 14, 2011 by niremetal

[JackB1]

It's funny how suddenly Drew "believed in him all along" :)

How about the other night against Chicago when Rose was getting layup after layup and you left him getting splinters on the bench.

What a joke!

[ATLSmith]

Teague looked good 2 weeks ago right when we made the trade, that would have been the perfect time to change the rotation and give him consistent minutes. All of a sudden he disappeared again. Teague to me is no more inconsistent that anyone else on this team and he doesn't deserved to be benched for "bad play" while Josh, Jamal and Joe can run rampant without consequence. Last I checked, none of them have a ring, so why are they entitled to playing time over others who give better effort. Teague WILL fall back the rotation again because the second he has a bad game Drew will sit him until he has no other choice but to play him...again

Didn't he hurt his ankel?