The Linas Kleiza Love Affair Chronicles

goldenkarrrlll · Post #1 » by **goldenkarrrlll** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 4:22 pm

Well after the "no trade" here are the stats:
Game Min pts FG% 3pt FG% assists rebounds

at Chic 19 0 0.0% 0.0% 0 5 horrible
at Milw DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
Det 17 8 57.1% 0.0% 0 3 decent
at Sea 24 15 50.0% 50.0% 3 3 okay
LAC 19 3 33.3% 0.0% 0 1 terrible
AVG 19.75 6.5 35.1% 12.5% 0.75 3
So we made sure to keep a guy who when we bring off the bench at times plays horrible defense at shooting guard (couldn't guard Mobley, Maggette or Thornton) then is shooting 35% and 12% from three. Keep in mind his 3 point shots are always wide open. Well at least he is keeping Karl calm on the bench with his softful bliss. By the way the Nugs sure responded in the second quarter to his bursts of energy. Glad we didn't mortgate the future of team by letting our future backup small forward go....because in three years we might need him to secure the 8th spot in the playoffs for us. Can't wait to see him defend Kobe, lets hope it is not in first round of the playoffs.

Post #2 » by **corona** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 4:45 pm

i'm sure you can go back before the deadline a couple weeks and find similar statistics.

he's been awful for quite some time now.

i think he lets everything outside affect his game/head too much.
if he has a big game (41 points), he'll think he's a superstar for a week and will start to pressure everything and force some shots. if he can't get anything to fall it goes to his head and he starts missing open shots and overthinking the game. if there's rumors of him being traded...it goes to his head and he doesn't play the same, and now that its after the deadline he's probably still messed up because he (and everyone) knows that he's the reason the team didn't trade for an all-star and dpoy.

and that's why i don't think he'll be a very good playoff contributor for us. if you can't handle the pressure of the rigors of the regular season...then you're not gonna be knocking down 3's with 4 minutes to go in a win or go home situation on the road.

M.Balla · Post #3 » by **M.Balla** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 6:05 pm

Next time he has a 40 point game we should trade him if someone offers more than he is, a borderline starter (on two-three years time) who folds under pressure.

Maf · Post #4 » by **Maf** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 7:18 pm

what is this good for? Bashing the cleverest player on our roster, because someone favourite (JR) isn't playing and when he does, he sucks cause he plays stupid.

Everyone will agree he had bad couple of games. You missed he was injured with his ankle? You probably know how fun is to play the game on few day 'cured' twisted ankle. But who cares, let's blame Kleiza. He made Nuggets play badly, sure... :crazy:

M.Balla · Post #5 » by **M.Balla** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 9:15 pm

Kleiza is a nice player, it's good to have him on our bench, his play can win some games here and there and he seems to be a ice locker room fit.

It's unfair to bash him for his poor play right now, we're going to need him, and he will have good games the rest of the season, I'm sure. But let's not overrate him when he goes off for 40 points. He's no All Star. Never will be.

almost famous · Post #6 » by **almost famous** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 9:24 pm

I think people are more annoyed that we didn't get Artest because of LK, rather than LK is taking JR's minutes.

elbowthrower · Post #7 » by **elbowthrower** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 1:10 am

Keeping Kleiza wasn't the real issue. If you believe the rumors, the main issue was that Artest is a head case and Karl thought the distractions outweighed the benefits.

almost famous · Post #8 » by **almost famous** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 4:09 am

elbowthrower wrote:Keeping Kleiza wasn't the real issue. If you believe the rumors, the main issue was that Artest is a head case and Karl thought the distractions outweighed the benefits.

Like getting out of the first round.

elbowthrower · Post #9 » by **elbowthrower** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 4:21 am

almost famous wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Like getting out of the first round.

And getting destroyed in the second round...

pickaxe · Post #10 » by **pickaxe** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 4:24 am

Thing about it is.....guys like him are 7th or 8th guys, who if performing well, are really a bonus. Really, JR and him are in the same boat. Both have had monster games, both have upsides in certain areas that haven't reached the ceiling.

Just like any other under-achiever, it's frustrating to watch him for for 40 or 20 and then completely disappear the next game. That's the diff. between JR and Kleiza is Kleiza disappears completely, JR continues to jack up 3s no matter what.

If only we could combine JR and Kleiza into one player.

almost famous · Post #11 » by **almost famous** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 4:25 am

Doubt it.

Edit: I wouldn't doubt that we would lose, just doubt that we'd get destroyed.

noone · Post #12 » by **noone** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 5:01 am

Kleiza just isn't that good. If he isn't hitting his 3's, he's almost entirely useless. On defense either you have him guarding a player too fast for him (sg) or a player too big for him (pf), and on offense, if you've noticed every decent defensive team has kept him out of the paint on his drives (or at least going away from the basket). I'm not sure what the infatuation is with him. I really don't see that bright of a future for him on any team.

noone · Post #13 » by **noone** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 5:11 am

almost famous wrote:Doubt it.

Edit: I wouldn't doubt that we would lose, just doubt that we'd get destroyed.

Nene>Artest for this team.

A healthy Nene brings this team much more than Artest. Bringing in Artest meant Nene would be gone, and because all reports indicate Nene will be back, I think it'll work out for the better.

Also, come playoff time, Melo needs to take the role of taking on the best wing player on the opposing team. He's capable of playing very good man defense, he just needs to set his mind to it.

pickaxe · Post #14 » by **pickaxe** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 6:28 am

noone wrote:Kleiza just isn't that good. If he isn't hitting his 3's, he's almost entirely useless. On defense either you have him guarding a player too fast for him (sg) or a player too big for him (pf), and on offense, if you've noticed every decent defensive team has kept him out of the paint on his drives (or at least going away from the basket). I'm not sure what the infatuation is with him. I really don't see that bright of a future for him on any team.

When he is good, he is driving to the basket and getting baby hooks in there for easy points. He also runs the floor very well. He also hits the three.

We can't expect a lot more from him, but the downside is that he doesn't bring that every single night yet.

There are times when he sits on the perimeter and when it's his turn to shoot he keeps passing it a little too long. He can be unselfish to a fault.

If we're talking about a guy that is really there just to hit threes, he brings a lot more than expected.

At one point he was very high on 2pt FG% and was doing most of it away from the basket. It's just deciding on what it is that he brings exactly, and how much to expect on any given night. Surprises are nice, but the team needs to know.

Post #15 » by **corona** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 8:08 am

There are times when he sits on the perimeter and when it's his turn to shoot he keeps passing it a little too long. He can be unselfish to a fault.

that's the first time i've ever seen kleiza and unselfishness mentioned in the same sentence.
seriously?
he never passes up a good shot to get a great shot. whether that's a product of his environment or not, i'm not sure....but he hasn't shown to be unselfish. from what i see...when he's out there, he's thinking shot first on everything. just because you aren't capable of dribbling more than twice to get yourself a shot doesn't make you unselfish. (exampe: reggie evans can't dribble...and i think he's incredibly selfish in most aspects of the game)

and if he's just there to hit 3's...he's done a pretty poor job of it. 34% is below the league average, and he's not a consistent threat (i'd argue even less consistent than jr).

DNIsLeGiT · Post #16 » by **DNIsLeGiT** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 8:16 am

corona wrote:
There are times when he sits on the perimeter and when it's his turn to shoot he keeps passing it a little too long. He can be unselfish to a fault.

that's the first time i've ever seen kleiza and unselfishness mentioned in the same sentence.

lol, i found that funny as well, i think he gets quite selfish at times and like you say never passed up a good shot for a great shot, he also takes some ill advised shots from time to time as well.

almost famous · Post #17 » by **almost famous** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 8:20 am

noone wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Nene>Artest for this team.

A healthy Nene brings this team much more than Artest. Bringing in Artest meant Nene would be gone, and because all reports indicate Nene will be back, I think it'll work out for the better.

Also, come playoff time, Melo needs to take the role of taking on the best wing player on the opposing team. He's capable of playing very good man defense, he just needs to set his mind to it.

Well before Nene was practically forced to do some kind of therapy, we didn't know when he would ever play again. Even more, when was the last time Nene ever played 100% healthy? Even when he comes back, he will be rusty for about 3 months. I think a trade for an expiring Jason Williams would have been a good move to complement the Artest trade. Yes it's a band-aid, but who knows if Nene will ever reach his potential. He clearly doesn't have the same love for the game and desire to win that the rest of the team has. I think he will end up being a bigger distraction than Artest would have been.

Trading Nene could have opened doors. We would clear money off our books to resign Artest, or even make a pitch at Brand this summer. With AI and Najera signing smaller contracts this summer, we could get a stronger post presence to compete with the Gasols and Duncans of the west.

Frankly, I believe Artest fills a bigger need than Nene for this team. Our inside defense is usually pretty solid. Najera is pretty good inside, and Kmart is better than Nene. It's the perimeter that we have problems with. Counting on Carmelo for defending the Kobes and Ginoblis is fun to dream about, but it'll probably never be a reality. I've seen Melo make some great defensive plays on really good offensive players, but I also see him get burned by average players. It's really hard to be the best player on both sides of the floor.

M.Balla · Post #18 » by **M.Balla** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 10:48 am

I think that we should move on. There's no need to mention Artest anymore until April 5th game thread.

Maf · Post #19 » by **Maf** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 11:12 am

DNIsLeGiT wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

lol, i found that funny as well, i think he gets quite selfish at times and like you say never passed up a good shot for a great shot, he also takes some ill advised shots from time to time as well.

oh my god... Is there any player in the league who doesn't? At least he doesn't make you scream like Martin 'stop dribling, please," or Camby 'don't shoot it, please" or JR "get the f*ck out of the line-up."

MELO4MVP · Post #20 » by **MELO4MVP** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 3:27 pm

noone wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Nene>Artest for this team.

A healthy Nene brings this team much more than Artest. Bringing in Artest meant Nene would be gone, and because all reports indicate Nene will be back, I think it'll work out for the better.

Also, come playoff time, Melo needs to take the role of taking on the best wing player on the opposing team. He's capable of playing very good man defense, he just needs to set his mind to it.

Getting Artest meant LK and Najera was gone. I don't mind that. Unless you're talking about the Nachbar trade in which Nachbar is better than LK and more useful on this team than Nene because he's always hurt. I'm tired of waiting for Nene. Its always something with him.