Is that really true? Except for others being unavailable, when has he been included in the rotation (other than D League)?
Yes it is. He logged 533 minutes last season in 52 games. Some of that came in mop-up minutes but early in the season he was seeing decent minutes, especially for a rookie that was drafted so low. He looked good in his first few games and then we started struggling whenever he was on the court so his minutes became more sporadic. He played great in a couple of games and when that happened the coach gave him extended minutes.
SF88 keeps trying to flip the script but Goodwin didn't play well because he got minutes, he got increased minutes in those particular games because he was playing so well. Granted, he wasn't given the leeway that someone like Green received. Green could stink it up in the 1st half and still get a chance to turn it around later in the game. Goodwin's second half minutes never came if he didn't play well in the first half. But that's life as a rookie.
I believe we had high hopes/expectations for him this season but then he laid an egg in summer league, a place where you would expect him to shine. Of late though, the guy has been working his butt off in the D League and by all reports he's taking direction and showing improvement in all areas. We're playing him now largely because of the trades but comments before and after the moves suggest they felt comfortable making certain trades because of how well he and the other young players performed in the D League.
I mentioned this earlier but the next test will come when the defense starts playing him for the drive instead of the shot. It will be interesting to see how he responds to increased defensive attention and it will also be interesting to see how the team handles it. Hopefully we're past the point where a bad half puts him on the bench the rest of the game (unless it's effort related). I'm also hopeful that he's made his last trip to the D League. I think he's learned what he needed to learn there.
Steve
