Having watched Ebert the last two seasons there is no denying the kid has the talent to play the game, unfortunately it takes more than just having the talent though and this is where he is lacking.
He has gone from a kid who showed he had all the talent in the world to someone who looked to be waiting for a reason to show he had any talent.
He reportedly showed up completely out of shape, appeared to have no interest in what was going on with his game on the ice (all areas were headed downhill) and still apeared to believe he was the top pick for the draft.
He appeared to believe his own hype regardless of what fans or scouts were saying. It appeared that nothing would convince him he needed to show he was a high end prospect.
Sure there was expectations and pressure on him and while he did not drop off completely statistically you could see this was not just a sophmore slump. I know these kids need to move on when they have a bad game but this was not just a bad game or two, this was more than half a season before he appeared to have any interest in doing anything to try to improve his game.
He just appeared to be believing the pre season rankings were going to stick all year regardless of what he did or did not do on the ice. No urgency or effort to his game until after the trade deadline.
Even then he appeared to be trying too hard, trying to do it all himself. Too little, too late.
I'm wondering if he has always been "the kid" on the ice? Has he never realized that each level he has moved up there are more and more kids who were always "the kid" on the ice. If being "the kid" always carried him through in the past maybe he just never learned how to work for it.
Regardless of what has happened up to now I hope he realizes he has the skill to be a pro, just needs to understand that no one is going to give him anything from this point forward. He either works for it or he will soon be at the end of his career.
He has gone from a kid who showed he had all the talent in the world to someone who looked to be waiting for a reason to show he had any talent.
He reportedly showed up completely out of shape, appeared to have no interest in what was going on with his game on the ice (all areas were headed downhill) and still apeared to believe he was the top pick for the draft.
He appeared to believe his own hype regardless of what fans or scouts were saying. It appeared that nothing would convince him he needed to show he was a high end prospect.
Sure there was expectations and pressure on him and while he did not drop off completely statistically you could see this was not just a sophmore slump. I know these kids need to move on when they have a bad game but this was not just a bad game or two, this was more than half a season before he appeared to have any interest in doing anything to try to improve his game.
He just appeared to be believing the pre season rankings were going to stick all year regardless of what he did or did not do on the ice. No urgency or effort to his game until after the trade deadline.
Even then he appeared to be trying too hard, trying to do it all himself. Too little, too late.
I'm wondering if he has always been "the kid" on the ice? Has he never realized that each level he has moved up there are more and more kids who were always "the kid" on the ice. If being "the kid" always carried him through in the past maybe he just never learned how to work for it.
Regardless of what has happened up to now I hope he realizes he has the skill to be a pro, just needs to understand that no one is going to give him anything from this point forward. He either works for it or he will soon be at the end of his career.
