doclinkin wrote:
6, Harden? 15 mins max? We played Dom McGuire at 2 this year, and he can't shoot.
Actually I'm pretty sure Harden might quickly take Nick's numbers. Flip likes smart veterans and has a notoriously complex playbook. The Pistons were fundamentally sound smart ballers and some of them even griped at how many sets there were. Nick Young by contrast had difficulty learning the Princeton sets after 2 years drilling. That's a key reason why I think Harden will be a quick fit. The kid's game relies on cunning and understanding of the game more than blow-by athletix. Flip will use him since he'll see how to run it and how to exploit defense.
7. Curry. As far as getting to the line is concerned Curry and Harden were among the top guards in the draft in Free throw attempts per game. If you iso 'per possession' to account for Curry's insane usage Curry managed the same rate as Tyreke, taking one FT for every three touches. Ditto DeRozan. (Harden is still way up there at the top though).
You're right that the Memphis system doesn't lead to a ton of assists. It's predicated on putting the ball in the hands of top notch one-on-one athletes then clearing space in the lane for them to go get it. Not sure how often he'll get to run in that kind of system. NBA defenders don't suffer from quite the same mismatch. Still if you iso per possession Tyreke is among the worst guards in TO's per possession (loses the ball once every five touches). That's just not great for a guy who has to have the ball to do anything. And as far as creating off the bounce, okay if you're talking about attacking the rim, but the kid apparently rates pretty low shooting off the dribble. I don't recall being impressed by him hitting any pull up jumper, and DX's video/stat database apparently says he was basically miserable trying to shoot off the bounce. I don't claim expertise here, my memory is spotty.
I guess at least 15 minutes and probably 20 minutes max assuming everyone is healthy which is a huge if knowing this franchise and could see more minutes if he progresses. But I have to say 15 mpg for what I've seen from Harden (a UCLA game, the PAC 10 tournament final, and the 2 NCAA games).
I think the glut of big men (Haywood, McGee, DSong, Blatche) will probably lead to Jamison playing minutes at the small forward position and thus forcing Butler to see a few minutes at shooting guard. I think guys like McGuire and Stevenson could see as much as 20 mpg each mostly because of their defensive capabilities.
Did the Wizards really continue to run the Princeton from 08-09 after EJ was fired? Either way, Young did a bit better shooting inside the three point line and you have to think that playing alongside Arenas will spread the floor for him. I believe that the 3rd year is a make or break for Nick Young; I believe he can still make a positive impact for this team if he's still around. For a player that doesn't know the offense, I'll take the 45% shooting; I just wouldn't have him run the offense. Young even managed to have more assist than turnovers so he must have been doing something right.
7. I'm assuming that Davidson tried to get Curry the ball at the end of games where late game fouling is quite common. Someone like JJ Reddick got to the line 7.1 times per game in college. How many of those free throws did Curry get from attacking the basket or just being fouled off the ball when a team is over the limit. One and one foul shots may inflate Curry's attempts. I haven't seen much of Curry this year so I'm just wondering how he got to the free throw line.
It seems like the Wizards offense often relies on mismatches; like handing it to Gilbert or Caron and letting them create a shot; or Antawn Jamison finessing bigger players and posting up smaller ones. I guess I see Evans more as a shooting guard with playmaking abilities. I don't think his turnover rate will be as high with Gilbert primarily running the point. I think his jumper is still a work in progress but slightly better than Derrick Rose's jumper and I think will improve. I guess bigger questions have to be is if he's a ball stopper (ie dribbling around for 6-10 dribbles) but it doesn't appear that way to me.
