How good is Larry Sanders

[tski1972]

from what I understand, his dogs don't like him.

[Ayt]

A serious DPOY level defender who needs to get his fouls in order to the point that he can play 32-35 MPG.

If he didn't improve at all offensively for the rest of his career I wouldn't care as long as he cut his foul rate by another 15-20%. The guy is a **** force defensively and he's somehow developed pretty good hands on the offensive end.

When Larry is on the court we have a top 3 defense.

[El Duderino]

I like Sanders, but I don't think he has much offensive potential. He's much more DeAndre Jordan on offense then Ibaka.

Obviously Sanders will never be an offensive threat in the post and his jumper needs a lot of practice, but i do think he's done a much better job this year finishing in the paint off dishes from the guards and i'm not talking about dunks.

No question his somehow turning his claws into actual hands has been a big factor since he now can catch passes thrown to him, but he has put numerous shots in the basket this year that last year i think he would have missed.

[Run-MKE 311]

He is a solid young player, still very raw on many levels, but I like the passion that he shows.

[mlloyd10]

More energetic Ervin Johnson

[blazza18]

If he were able to play 30 mins a game without fouling out consistently he'd be a threat for DPOY.

[Ayt]

I think some of you who don't give him a huge amount of props defensively should watch the games and keep a tally of every time he alters a shot (block or otherwise), negatively impacts a pick and roll with his length and quickness (hard to quantify, I know, but he's awesome at it), or does a fantastic job of forcing a poor shot by the man he's actually guarding. You should then do the same for other players around the NBA that you watch (only mentally if you are lazy) and realize the type of impact he has on a game. This type of exercise is a very basic from of scouting, but it can be very informative if you take the time to do it and do it honestly.

There are only so many possessions in a single game (between 90-100). If you compare a player to an average guy at his position defensively, a handful of extra alters, disrupted pick and roll plays, and forced poor shots when playing on the ball really adds up to a massive impact for a guy like Sanders. How many points is he taking away from an offense compared to an average center?

With the new camera technology, I bet teams can come up with finishes against percentage for bigs in the paint. I would easily bet that Sanders is top 5 (if not top 2-3) in that regard. Beyond that, he's awesome in the pick and roll (which is huge in the modern NBA game) and he's become a beast one on one. His best best games as a shot blocker have come when the man he's guarding has tried to take it to him (see the Minny trip dub, or against BOS).

[H2tObes]

Lol @ the people who called him soft and overrated!!

If he can get his fouls down, he's a perennial DPOY candidate imo. Insane how much better we are on the defensive end when he's in, and he has the stats to show it. Not to mention he is only in his 3rd year, a lot of room to grow.

Good rebounder also, 8.5 rebounds per game, while only averaging 24 mpg. That's 12.2 per 36. Just incredible length

[europa]

I think some of you who don't give him a huge amount of props defensively should watch the games and keep a tally of every time he alters a shot (block or otherwise), negatively impacts a pick and roll with his length and quickness (hard to quantify, I know, but he's awesome at it), or does a fantastic job of forcing a poor shot by the man he's actually guarding.

Well said. These attributes were evident last season too, which is one of the many reasons why it was so frustrating that Skiles wouldn't play him more.

[Ill-yasova]

I'm kinda surprised anyone would say he has trouble finishing around the hoop. That's been one of the most improved parts of his game IMO. He's done a great job finishing on the move off of face-ups all season.

Also Jbucks was the guy who roughly a month ago said Sanders should be cut because he was the worst player on the team. You might want to take his opinion with a bag of rock salt.

[JBucks]

I'm kinda surprised anyone would say he has trouble finishing around the hoop. That's been one of the most improved parts of his game IMO. He's done a great job finishing on the move off of face-ups all season.

Also Jbucks was the guy who roughly a month ago said Sanders should be cut because he was the worst player on the team. You might want to take his opinion with a bag of rock salt.

Ill-yasova - I actually wrote that he should be traded, not cut. In any event, I'm nowhere near as high on Sanders as most people on this board. I believe that this team is so starved for talent - especially in the frontcourt - that people put Sanders on a pedestal that only exists in Milwaukee.

[Nebula1]

There was a dude here with a tv showing the larry sanders show. I liked that show.

[blazza18]

What is Sanders not showing you for you not to be excited about him ? With him on the floor we are a better team.

[H2tObes]

What is Sanders not showing you for you not to be excited about him ? With him on the floor we are a better team.

Exactly, it's clear to everyone that we are better with him on the court and he has a huge impact when he's on the court.

No matter how good your team is, any fan would be more then happy that their 3rd year extremely raw prospect was suddenly showing to be a top defensive player. The pessimism on this board is unreal sometimes.

[paul]

Mega defensive impact largely because he's maybe the longest guy in the NBA in the paint - his length combined with his jumping ability makes him incredibly difficult to get over or around. His feet aren't terrible but his length gets him out of a whole bunch of rotation misses, he's certainly not what you'd call a smart defensive player or fundamentally great but his length makes up for it. He's a Marcus Camby type - not a great defender fundamentally (despite all those awards) but flashy and intimidating with his length while having similar flaws to his game. Make no mistake, Sanders will have a long career and likely win a few awards along the way that ignore his lack of fundamentals and smarts.

Offensively he's awful in pretty much every facet other than dunking and will likely continue to be, though his restraint on not shooting that jumper is a positive not a negative. He runs the floor really well for a big which should give him 4 points a night on oops and run outs while his opponent is still in his own 3 point line.

Larry barely playing for the previous two seasons really sealed my opinion on Skiles, it was idiotic and cost us getting this Larry a season earlier - as well as several wins along the way. Prior to this season I said he'd lead the league in blocks per36 and get some serious DPOY talk if Skiles would remove his head from his ass. He plays him and.... shocker.
Hopefully Skiles being sacked means Tobias has avoided the Larry treatment for another season.

Finally probably the worst boxing out big I've seen since Charlie V left town. He's a great vertical rebounder because he's so long but FFS Larry put a body on someone rather than letting them coast to the front of the rim, it costs us a couple of putbacks a game. He absolutely takes a nap in the time between the ball leaving a shooters hands and hitting the rim.

He spent his first few seasons being grossly underrated both by fans on here and by the coach, and is now getting overrated as a reaction to seemingly coming from nowhere. The truth is he's an extremely valuable and extremely flawed player - on both ends.

Oh and look after your f'ing dogs, that pissed me off.