bondom34 wrote:Oh my goodness...
FIrst, don't call the "I've watched and played card". That's usually a sign you don't really know what you're trying to say here.
Second, I said his percentages went up while his usage went down. That's not a hard concept. Its easier to play better if other teams let you go because you're not very good.
The fact that Waiters hasn't improved in 4 years is plenty of evidence for everyone other than you, Shumpert went from NY to the Cavs, and hey guess what, he's playing great! Dion went from that terrible Cavs situation to OKC and guess what, he's still the same crappy player! There's always the chance that a player won't change, even in a new place.
1. If we would pay attention to what has been shown and to process of athletes evolving, and didnt say utterly ridiculous things (like a 22 wont improve at all [which he already has for us], or its acceptable to dismiss a players developed after half a season on a wrecked team [which that player has already improved for us in that half season]), no card would need to be pulled. Fact is if people did these things then the NBA would look very different.
2. And unless we are talking drastic minute cuts, this is a rather irrelevant point, or way to deem that no improvements have been made.
Here's my bet, both DWill and Singler (who i think we should resign) will end up as "vets". three to six years down the road they will be taking on two to three year contracts on contending teams and be a vital part of their depth. DWill most likely more than Singler. Which will require them to continue...........keyword, continue, to gain experience, sharpen their game and improve. Singler, btw, has improved his defensive efficiency rating year by year. Excluding his time with OKC which was ridiculously good and i think that was simply a result of playing only 26 games with us. But if i was not being honest, i could include that and make him look better than he most likely is. Although who knows, maybe in our system is that good defensively. But as a responsible person, im not going to apply such a small sample size.
3. Waiters has only played 3 years of basketball. Season 1 he went from back up numbers, to season 2 where he was probably within the top 10 or 12 of scoring for shooting guards. And again, season 3 is when we hit that Cavs rebuild wall.
Im not sure why you want to say he has not improved, this is clearly lacking any bit or truth and you're simply seeing what you want.
You've come to a predetermined position and are trying to justify it instead of the other way around.
And what does Shumpert and Waiters and Cavs point mean? So if one player is playing in a system another had a problem with, that other player is what? bad? cant improve? .... You really want to go this route? Because i think we both know i could very easily start listing off trades and players that show this means nothing. Hell, we can look at trades our team made last season to see this is bull.
Shumpert fit what the Cavs needed more. A 3D guy. Waiters, is not a 3D guy. If you expect him to be and are disappointing, then that is on you and your inability to evaluate players.
We needed a guy who can come off the bench, collapse a defense and score. We all knew we were getting rid of RJ, so we had to bring in someone to replace what he did (to a degree). And when Waiters focused on doing just that, he was very productive and exactly what we needed. While we saw one little period of him slipping up and starting to take more jump shots, he eventually got back on track. Which, im sure they are promoting him taking jump shots to improve his shot selection. This team really seems to harp on that mid range jumper. We also have to remember that while the situation in OKC is better for Waiters, this past season was an absolute mess for the entire team. No one on the team outside of Westbrook, McGary and then Kanter for 20 games, lived up to their name, expectations or development expectations.
