I love Pat Bev to death, but at age 29, he appears to have peaked. 13 PER this year, 13 last year, and 13 the year before. I brought it up mostly to show that advanced stats aren't real kind to him, either.
It's not hard to look at stats and say Jim sucks but Jack is great, but the case for Austin is that he's still only 25 and he's steadily improved since he walked in here as one of the worst statistical players in NBA history. The extenuating circumstance is that the only minutes available were with one of the worst benches in the league or playing out of position because JJ couldn't play anywhere else but the 2. The promising bright spot was Austin' performance when he got to play with the starters, which was very good. With the JJ roadblock gone, this year was going to be his coming out party.
Then CP--who wanted Austin to start last year--leaves to become Harden's sidekick, and we get a PG in return who can't play PG in Pat Bev. So it's back to impersonating a PG at least part of the time, then the house of injury cards promptly collapses and he finds himself starting next to a G-League 2nd-rounder. [Who did creditably, mind you, but making the transition to the 2 himself, can't do much to make Austin's life any easier.]
So yes, now Austin's down to shooting 38%/38% [still 40/40 as a starter], and yes he's scuffling. And it's probably going to get worse. But until he gets his chance as a SG for 20 or 50 games, it's not fair to pronounce the death sentence.
Game 19: Clippers (7-11) Host Lakers (8-11) on 11/27 @ 10:30 PM ET
Re: Game 20: Clippers (8-11) Host Lakers (7-11) on 11/27 @ 10:30 PM ET
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Re: Game 20: Clippers (8-11) Host Lakers (7-11) on 11/27 @ 10:30 PM ET

Re: Game 20: Clippers (8-11) Host Lakers (7-11) on 11/27 @ 10:30 PM ET
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Re: Game 20: Clippers (8-11) Host Lakers (7-11) on 11/27 @ 10:30 PM ET
esqtvd wrote:I love Pat Bev to death, but at age 29, he appears to have peaked. 13 PER this year, 13 last year, and 13 the year before. I brought it up mostly to show that advanced stats aren't real kind to him, either.
Actually most stats LOVE Beverly, specially adjusted +/- stuff. PER, VORP, BPM, WS are neither very advanced nor very telling for a player like Beverly, they measure boxscore productivity and obviously that's not what Bev is about. But for instance RAPM had him in the top 20 in the league the last two years (the single-year, not-prior-informed version by JE), and top 30-ish the year before that. Counting Basket's player-tracking-PM had him 26th last year. So stats that try to measure "impact" in the team's score always have him really high.
Anyway, Austin was on an upward trajectory and he's really young still, he's actually the same age as guys who just got into the league like Brogdon and Valentine, but he should've kept building from what got him minutes in the first place, pesky defense and playing contained under his role, mostly off ball. But he's been going the other way, lazy and uninterested whenever he's on the weakside (at either end) and way too eager to make something happen when the ball gets to him. Which has made his numbers and his contribution to the team pretty bad.
Trust me, I'm the first to laugh off the nepotism hot takes, but going against that is one thing, and ignoring what he's been doing on the court is a different one.
Re: Game 20: Clippers (8-11) Host Lakers (7-11) on 11/27 @ 10:30 PM ET
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Re: Game 20: Clippers (8-11) Host Lakers (7-11) on 11/27 @ 10:30 PM ET
QRich3 wrote:esqtvd wrote:I love Pat Bev to death, but at age 29, he appears to have peaked. 13 PER this year, 13 last year, and 13 the year before. I brought it up mostly to show that advanced stats aren't real kind to him, either.
Actually most stats LOVE Beverly, specially adjusted +/- stuff. PER, VORP, BPM, WS are neither very advanced nor very telling for a player like Beverly, they measure boxscore productivity and obviously that's not what Bev is about. But for instance RAPM had him in the top 20 in the league the last two years (the single-year, not-prior-informed version by JE), and top 30-ish the year before that. Counting Basket's player-tracking-PM had him 26th last year. So stats that try to measure "impact" in the team's score always have him really high.
Anyway, Austin was on an upward trajectory and he's really young still, he's actually the same age as guys who just got into the league like Brogdon and Valentine, but he should've kept building from what got him minutes in the first place, pesky defense and playing contained under his role, mostly off ball. But he's been going the other way, lazy and uninterested whenever he's on the weakside (at either end) and way too eager to make something happen when the ball gets to him. Which has made his numbers and his contribution to the team pretty bad.
Trust me, I'm the first to laugh off the nepotism hot takes, but going against that is one thing, and ignoring what he's been doing on the court is a different one.
By most accounts Austin's defense has fallen off. But his offense has improved considerably. The nepotism rap is bull sh*t. He's taking minutes from nobody better.
Not a bad job tonight. But if he's smart he'll stop trying to win games and concentrate on padding his stats like half the NBA does.

Re: Game 20: Clippers (8-11) Host Lakers (7-11) on 11/27 @ 10:30 PM ET
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Re: Game 20: Clippers (8-11) Host Lakers (7-11) on 11/27 @ 10:30 PM ET
His offense hasn't "improved considerably," he simply has the unlimited green light to chuck right now and just had a hot shooting night last night. This season so far is still his worst FG%, second-worst eFG% and second-worst TS% as a Clipper. He's only averaging two more points per game than last year despite playing a few more minutes per game and taking significantly more shots per game. Where's the improvement?
The nepotism is blatant and undeniable. Harrell and Dekker proved they could contribute to a 55-win team last year. They can't even get consistent minutes on this team while the coach's son is guaranteed 33 minutes per game no matter how badly he sucks. Doc's whole "system" and rotations are geared towards padding Austin's stats as much as possible, and everything he says after losses is a bunch of thinly-veiled excuses for Austin. 'Nuff said.
The nepotism is blatant and undeniable. Harrell and Dekker proved they could contribute to a 55-win team last year. They can't even get consistent minutes on this team while the coach's son is guaranteed 33 minutes per game no matter how badly he sucks. Doc's whole "system" and rotations are geared towards padding Austin's stats as much as possible, and everything he says after losses is a bunch of thinly-veiled excuses for Austin. 'Nuff said.

Re: Game 20: Clippers (8-11) Host Lakers (7-11) on 11/27 @ 10:30 PM ET
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Re: Game 20: Clippers (8-11) Host Lakers (7-11) on 11/27 @ 10:30 PM ET
MartinToVaught wrote:His offense hasn't "improved considerably," he simply has the unlimited green light to chuck right now and just had a hot shooting night last night. This season so far is still his worst FG%, second-worst eFG% and second-worst TS% as a Clipper. He's only averaging two more points per game than last year despite playing a few more minutes per game and taking significantly more shots per game. Where's the improvement?
The nepotism is blatant and undeniable. Harrell and Dekker proved they could contribute to a 55-win team last year. They can't even get consistent minutes on this team while the coach's son is guaranteed 33 minutes per game no matter how badly he sucks. Doc's whole "system" and rotations are geared towards padding Austin's stats as much as possible, and everything he says after losses is a bunch of thinly-veiled excuses for Austin. 'Nuff said.
Too much said. Blake is down from last year's 49.3% to a pitiful 42.5%. No Chris Paul does that to a fella.

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