Chris Taft looks to rid bad reputation at Nets workout.

[Henacy]

<div align="center"><div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"His body's not soft," said Stenfanski of Taft. " You get a rep and then its hard to play out of it. He has a NBA body with NBA size and he worked very hard in this workout."

Growing up in Coney Island and playing at the same high school as Knicks guard Stephon Marbury, Taft would-if he had a choice-like to play for either of the area teams. As he said, " Knicks and Nets are home for me".</div></div>

NJNets.com


----------------------

I know everyone has wrote Taft off as his stock has dropped. But maybe his stocking dropping so low is truely a wake up call for him that success is not promised. And if he wants to be successful he will have to work hard for it. I think if Taft gets his head on straight. And gets the right direction, we will look back on him as one of the better bigs in this draft. The question is does Ed & Rod think that the upside is worth the risk?

 

[Next Level Game]

Yeah he can work out hard and play hard for this one workout, but would it be consistent? No one but him knows. Yeah he'll be home, but doesn't that just distract him more? Look how long it took Eddy Curry to develop and he still is lazy. If he wants to change his future, he needs to take more than this one workout seriously.

 

[Mr. J]

Don?t fall into the trap, Henacy! The Nets can definitely use a big like Taft who can bang and play defense. This showed in their Finals run two and three years ago. It was either Tim Duncan or Shaq who they played and the Nets had no one to throw at them. Chris Taft could be great ? that is if he decides to stop playing his lazy style of basketball.

Taft just seems like the type of person who just stops trying after he gets what he wants. If it takes Taft getting drafted by the Nets because it?s ?home? to him, than that is exactly what the Nets should avoid. If I was Thorn, I would want a contributor I know will make an impact next season. With Jefferson healthy and Carter finally playing motivated basketball, management should push for winning right now.

I think if New Jersey got someone like Diogu, it would be good for them. They get a hard worker who will benefit playing alongside Jason Kidd ? well everyone does but nevertheless, it should be good for New Jersey. He should also be very solid defensively along with that 7?4 wingspan making Tayshaun Prince jealous. He?s also not as small as people say he is. He?s about 6?9 with shoes on.

Another good player is Hakim Warrick. Just in case New Jersey gets beat by some other team who signs Swift and gives him a heap of money, they get his clone in Hakim Warrick the only thing his he has much more upside than him. Imagine Kidd running the break with Hakim Warrick! Scary thought. A lineup of Carter, Jefferson, Kidd and Warrick will be ridiculous in the fast break.

Finally, a player I think will benefit in New Jersey is Sean May. He is a post up threat and has reportedly lost some pounds and is now running the floor a bit. For the times a team takes New Jersey?s fast break away, May will be good in the half court game. Now the Nets will have a reliable post up threat who they can throw the ball to. They also get someone to draw doubles and create open shots for Carter and dribble penetration with Jason Kidd.

This is a good time for the Nets to make their team more solid and really contend next year and with that being said, if I were a Nets fan, I would want someone who could come in and give me positive results; a player I know will always be working hard to get his game on a higher level. Although this player might not have all-star potential, when building a championship team, you don?t necessarily need that ? you need a player who can help fill in a role and do a good job in doing that. Chris Taft won?t provide anything but a lazy player who inconsistently produces and only tries hard during his contract year. Once he gets overpaid, he continues his lazy ways. Can we all say power forward version of Tim Thomas? Only Tim Thomas was more versatile and than him so imagine what Taft can turn out to be. The Nets should do themselves a favor and draft one of the guys that I mentioned above and if they don?t although they won?t immediately feel it because of their star-studded lineup, but in the future when they see flourishing prospects they?ve passed up on because of ?upside? blinding them, it will definitely leave a sour taste in their mouth especially since they picked up such a bust in Chris ?Lazy Bones? Taft.

 

[Ed!]

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting nextlevelgame:</div><div class="quote_post"> Look how long it took Eddy Curry to develop and he still is lazy. If he wants to change his future, he needs to take more than this one workout seriously.</div>
A big part of the reason it took so long for Eddy to develop was his age. He's been known to be lazy, but he's worked quite hard to get himself into decent shape. Taft's been through college, and if he decides to get his lazy ass in high gear and work hard, the sky is the limit. He could be anything from the biggest steal to a terrible bust.

Based on his combination of talent, athleticisism, and size though, I can't imagine that he won't be in the NBA for just about his whole career. Some GM's will take the risk on him, and some will probably look to lock him up if he has one good year.

 

[j0se]

You can't be lazy when Jason Kidd is on the court, Taft is a perfect fit


Kidd
Carter
Jefferson
Taft
Kristic


I really believe Nets will contend for another title, Taft won't make an impact, but he'll definately be better than Collins

 

[Henacy]

MJ18, Iam not falling into the trap, I mean we already had a bigman here with the same reputation of a lack of work ethic in Derrick Coleman. So I know what talent looks like when it isnt willing to work to reach its full potential. And while Taft doesnt have the skills or accomplishment of a DC coming out of college, the potential upside is clear as daylight, so that is the only reason I dare ask the question is he worth the risk.


I know everyone is high on Ike Diogu,which is understandable. But I think you have to take a serious look and assesment of all your options, what if Diogu isnt still availabe? things like that, Every big in this draft has their strong points and weak points, so drafting anyone of them is a certain amount of risk. So the decision has to be made on which risk will payoff better not only now, but 5-10 years down the road. Diogu, while being the most polished bigman that will possibly be available to us at #15, still even at 6'9 isnt that big. And doesnt have the athletism of some of the smaller bigmen like Kenyon Martin, which allows a undersized 4 to be effective, so you are pretty much banking on him to be an Elton Brand type player. But if he doesnt show the verstalty to a certain degree of an Elton Brand, where he can take the bigger 4's out side of the paint at the NBA level, then you are looking at a player in Ike Diogu, who will have a extremely hard time gettting his shot off in then league. I know he maybe able to add phases to his game as his NBA career moves on but once he needs to start adding things to his game later doesnt that change him from a bit of a garuntee as many claim to more of a project? I mean I think it is just things that have to think about.

Iam in no way saying I want Taft over Diogu, just simply looking at all the options.

 

[kdub]

I don't buy it. Rod and Ed have been known to play chess games (and win) before. Nenad Krstic anyone?

I see this as a plot to trick teams ahead of the Nets to draft him (especially those who haven't worked him out), helping push up the players the Nets really want toward their pick position.