SSj4Wingzero
All Star
I'm not comparing the players talents I'm comparing their situations. Bavk then the Pacers coach could have bench Smits for an entire season the way MDA is trying to do with Moz. It would have hindered Smits development not helped. He may have still developed into the same player but at a much slower pace.
I agree benching him entirely is insane...
...But the talent is important...
There comes a point where a player is so raw that playing him is just worthless. See: Hasheem Thabeet, for example.
Smits was never that raw, he was already a competent player so of course he got playing time his first year.
Mozgov is much more raw than Smits was and he was also getting accustomed to a new style of play (Euroball vs. NBA) so yes it's going to take him a lot more time to become a competent player who gets minutes. The talent matters. A player who is good is going to get more playing time. A player who is not as good...isn't.
There comes a point where a player being on the court does him more harm than good, and I think Coach thought of Mozgov as being at that point. Turning the ball over 4 times, dropping passes, and getting booed off the home court is not a good thing for a player.
That being said I do think D'Antoni should've played Mozgov in some of the games we could've won if we had just one more big man (Kings, Suns, etc.) but that's a story for a different time.
I do agree that benching Randolph was absolutely idiotic.