How good is Larry Sanders

[Badgerlander]

http://www.bsports.com/statsinsights/un ... protectors

the article sucks but I like the stat

[emunney]

How tf does Maxiell get in there?

[mlloyd10]

From ESPN insider

The improvements Larry Sanders has made at both ends of the court this season are both impressive and surprising; not only has he become one of the game's top shot-blockers, he's also shooting much better, rebounding more and fouling less.

As Dan Sinclair of BrewHoop.com points out today with a compelling breakdown, one surprising development to come out of Sanders' emergence is that the Bucks still are a much better offensive team with Sanders on the bench.

"When Larry Sanders is on the court, the Bucks score 96.5 points per 100 possessions, just slightly better than the Wizards' 30th-ranked attack," Sinclair writes. "With Sanders on the bench, their offensive rating spikes to 106.7, a top-10 mark. Basically, Larry Sanders presence on the court seems to be morphing the Bucks from a top-10 offense into an absolute disaster. What gives?"

Sinclair gives four possible explanations:
1) Sanders stifles ball movement
2) Sanders turns it over too much
3) The Bucks shoot better shots with Sanders on the bench
4) The Bucks play a different style with Sanders on the bench

There are no definitive answers yet, but these are all things for the Bucks to consider during the second half of the season, and as they construct their roster in the months and years ahead.

[D-BE-LAW]

Wow, i watched last nights game and its insane how easily he blocks/alters shots.

[ampd]

The answer to the Bucks being so much worse with Larry on the court offensively is the lineups he plays in.

Code: Select all

Jennings / Ellis / Dunleavy / Ilyasova / Sanders 105
Jennings / Ellis / Daniels / Ilyasova / Sanders 106
Jennings / Ellis / Dunleavy / Udoh / Sanders 100
Jennings / Ellis / dunleavy / Henson / Sanders 105
Jennings / Ellis / Daniels / udoh / Sanders 118
Jennings / Ellis / Dunleavy / Moute / Sanders 109
Jennings / Ellis / Moute / Ilyavosa / Sanders 92
Jennings / Ellis / Moute / Udoh / Sanders 78
Jennings / Ellis / Daniels / Moute / Sanders 96

Certainly some (all) of those suffer from relatively small sample sizes. But the biggest take-away for me is that its not Larry per se, but rather playing Larry and Luc together without enough efficient offense or floor spacing at the other spots.

[JimmyTheKid]

From ESPN insider

The improvements Larry Sanders has made at both ends of the court this season are both impressive and surprising

Its really not that surprising. He just needed a chance to to play consistent minutes night in and night out. We saw plenty of glimpses last year but Skiles always had a quick hook. This year, Larry has been allowed to make mistakes and remain on the court. He still takes inexplicable 18-foot jumpers, he still argues every foul call, he's still out of position on defense a lot of the time, he's still a hot head... however, he's FINALLY getting starter's minutes. And no more quick hook. GOOD Larry far outweighs BAD Larry. Thats why you have to take the bad with the good. Thats what a lot of us were screaming last season. So, no, his "improvement" is actually not "surprising" at all.

[Fight the Tank]

It is just unreal how good of a shot blocker Larry is. I still think he has some tools offensively that could work as he gets more time.

I really feel this team needs to pair him up with a good offensive player in the front court. Queue up the Gasol trade. I think those two would be nasty together and could really complement each other.

[LUKE23]

Skiles has nothing to do with it, since he was breaking out while Skiles was coaching this season. He's improved a ton since last year and that's why he's getting more minutes. His hands for rebounds are better, his offense is more under control, and he's trimmed his fouling. His per minute production is better across the board, and this year he can actually stay on the court.

[JimmyTheKid]

Skiles has nothing to do with it, since he was breaking out while Skiles was coaching this season. He's improved a ton since last year and that's why he's getting more minutes. His hands for rebounds are better, his offense is more under control, and he's trimmed his fouling. His per minute production is better across the board, and this year he can actually stay on the court.

Its cute you think that.

And there goes that "per minute production" line again. You can't honestly believe that comparing Larry's per minute production from last year to this year tells us anything, can you? Considering how inconsistent his minutes were a season ago... lay off the stats, kid.

So if you agreed with Gooden playing 25 minutes and Larry 12 last year, and you think that Larry Sanders is the best player on the Bucks, do you feel that Larry has improved more in one year than any other professional athlete in the history of professional sports?

[ampd]

One of the biggest surprises is that his production hasn't seemed to fall off at all as he has gotten more minutes. 30 minute Larry is just as good as 15 or 20 minute Larry. If he could average around 35 mpg I have little doubt he really would average around 5 blocks.

[LUKE23]

Its cute you think that.

And there goes that "per minute production" line again. You can't honestly believe that comparing Larry's per minute production from last year to this year tells us anything, can you? Considering how inconsistent his minutes were a season ago... lay off the stats, kid.

So if you agreed with Gooden playing 25 minutes and Larry 12 last year, and you think that Larry Sanders is the best player on the Bucks, do you feel that Larry has improved more in one year than any other professional athlete in the history of professional sports?

Actually yeah, it tells us a lot. It tells us he's fouling less, which means he can play more minutes. His efficiency is WAY up offensively. His rebounding rate is up. He worked his ass off in the offseason. There is a reason his minutes were down last year. Hell, you'd probably blame global warming on Skiles.

[H2tObes]

How can you possibly say that Larry hasn't improved this season from last? He actually keeps his arms in the air to defend now, doesn't bring them down on people to get called for the foul. His hands improved exponentially, improved his rebounding rates, and his pick & roll game has gotten a lot better as well.

[LUKE23]

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/ ... ed-players

4. Larry Sanders, Milwaukee Bucks

Baseline: .066 | Current: .158 | Probability: 0.0064

Sanders' career true shooting percentage coming into the season was .454, making him one of the most inefficient scorers in the NBA. This season, however, Sanders has a .555 true shooting percentage, a figure that is well above the league average of .530.

On the defensive end, Sanders is blocking about 9.5 percent of opponents' 2-point shots while he is on the floor -- by far the best block percentage in the NBA -- and he has become one of the best defensive rebounders in the league, grabbing approximately 26 percent of all available defensive rebounds while he is on the floor.

Most importantly, Sanders' foul rate has dropped from 7.4 fouls per 36 minutes last season to 5.4 fouls per 36 minutes this season. While still too high, the decrease in Sanders' foul rate has allowed him to play for longer stretches of time without interruption, leading to a doubling in his minutes per game from last season.

Blocking almost one of every 10 two point shots is insanity.

[ReasonablySober]

Was gonna note that it was a nice endorsement for WS/48, then I noticed it was written by the founder of basketball reference. So of course.