GhostsOfGil wrote:A TEAMS offensive rating is a product of MULTIPLE individual offensive ratings. When you considere Leonard played in a highly effective offensive, it's bound to have a positive impact on his individual performance.
Huh? If his teammates shoots a higher %, that will make his own shots go in more often? I don't think so. Plus, there is no data whatever to support this contention.
GhostsOfGil wrote:I'm not sure how saying "a good team is good because it has good players," has anything to do with rookie player development. You are a Wizards fan. You more than anyone should know what kind of impact a good organization can do for a player's growth.
I wasn't talking about "rookie player development" I was comparing how well two players performed -- Leonard much better than Thompson. Viz.:
"As I said Leonard is a much better player than Thompson."As to the impact of a good organization on a player's growth, no thanks on that either. Note that JaVale McGee played just about exactly as well for Denver as he did for us, and I read many media comments about how much better he was over there. One I read said that you could tell by how he ran down the court that he was much better (!). BS is a portable element.
Vesely better rookie than Thompson -- you commented: "Now your just reaching. I'd be interested in hearing your reasoning behind that.."
If you list all 3s who played 20+ minutes and look at overall productivity measures, you'll see PER (which *way* overvalues volume shooting) puts Thompson in the top 30%. If you look instead at WS40, he ranks in the bottom 25%. Whether you trust either of these measures, that differential tells you that the only thing he did well is shoot. He did the other stuff so badly that it pulled him way way down in a measure that takes that stuff more seriously.
If you look at the two players WP48 -- which incorporates correction for position difference -- Vesely ranks slightly above average for the season (and significantly above average for the last 2/3 of the season); Thompson ranks extremely low.
The raw numbers support this. Per 40 minutes, looking at guys who played 20 minutes a game, Thompson was one of the worst rebounding 3s in the league. He was below average in steals and waay above average in turnovers. He fouled a lot as well. Although his FT% was outstanding, he got to the line seldom and was way below average in made FTs. His 2pt FG% was also below average.
What did he do well? He shot an exceptional 3pt %, and he took a ton of them. That's what he did well. That and nothing else. It's a good thing, and of course it's highly visible (not getting a rebound isn't visible, for example). Helps him look good.
Take a look at this comparison of numbers between Leonard and Thompson. They played almost exactly the same number of minutes per game. Compare the numbers across the board, and tell me Leonard isn't much better.
http://bit.ly/TtVqJIThere is no comparison.