RealGM

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/g ... atsId=3608

I was looking at CB stats trying to figure out what was going on since I noticed he wasn't hitting the 3 ball like he was before when I also noticed a few other stats were dropping.

While his rbs and steals are consistent, he is dropping in pts, FG %, 3FG%

November was his best month for scoring

NOV 39.5 129-240 .538 19-35 .543 66-71 .930 22.9
DEC 40.8 104-222 .468 13-42 .310 37-44 .841 21.5
JAN 39.9 80-182 .440 9-35 .257 50-50 1.000 19.9

I'm sure there are lots of ways to slice this. He had 3 games this month with low % BOS, BOS and Houston, so you can say it may have something to do with who we are playing but we played tough teams in NOV also.

Maybe it's other teams adjusting to him being a main scoring threat but that doesn't explain why he is down for all of Dec and now most of Jan. You would think a more experienced bench would help this situation by now.

I still think CB gives the Wiz what they need to win on any given night but I don't like his FG% dropping like it is. Since he gives such great effort on D and he logs so many mins, I wonder if his legs are getting tired. Legs have a lot to do with shooting.

Year after Year our stars log league leading minutes in both MPG and total minutes played. I hope he isn't wearing down.

MPG
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/statistic ... pg&pos=all

4 Caron Butler, WAS 40 1610 40.3
8 Antawn Jamison, WAS 41 1614 39.4

TMP
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/statistic ... ne&pos=all

11 Antawn Jamison, WAS 41 1614
12 Caron Butler, WAS 40 1610

So what do you'll think? AJ seems to be holding up ok with the same minutes and with teams focused on him, though his 3 ball isn't hitting as well and his rebounds are down slightly.[/i]

He's definitely cooled off from 3. It would have been hard to keep up that pace though. I was at the game last night and he started off really slow from the field--missed a ton of shots. Fortunately, he turned it on late and sealed the game.

Don't think he's tired, rather he wants to get everyone else involved.

Rafael122 wrote:Don't think he's tired, rather he wants to get everyone else involved.

Hopefully when Arenas comes back, Caron's MPG go down.

as well as caron was shooting his threes, i honestly think it was a fluke, he had a good line of games shooting threes, even pulled a 5-5 game, but a bunch of the games were just 1-1 threes, or 2-2, i really dont think hes that good of a three point shooter, good, but not thattt good

First of all, his pace in late November was unsustainable. At one point, he made 10 out of 11 3-pointers in a row (and the one miss was a desperation shot from half court at the end of a quarter).

Secondly, teams have shifted their focus to guarding him. Caron Butler is a great player, but he's not an elite, first-option superstar. He can't sustain a 60% TS% while also being central focus of the opposing defense. (This is the big difference between Arenas and Butler. Arenas can maintain a real good efficiency with high scoring volume despite being keyed on by the defense.) To Butler's credit, he has adapted by increasing his assist rate. He averaged 3.6 assists per game in November, and 5.1 assists per game thereafter. His turnovers have dropped from 2.7 to 2.1 too.

Third, he's probably a bit worn down.

Rafael122 wrote:Don't think he's tired, rather he wants to get everyone else involved.

His shots went down DEC over NOV and assist went up.
His shots are up again probably to Nov levels and assist are down but better then they were in Nov.

Maybe that is the correlation.

I just don't like that his his FG% is down month over month over month.

He could be getting a little tired after logging so many minutes 40 per game.

We don't have a ton of option at SF but we do have some. I hope we can get his minutes down to about 36 more often until the All Star Break. We could try more NY at SF or we have to play someone else at PF so AJ can log more minutes there.

One option is a line up with Songaila there but I'd rather see NY on the court then Songaila.

Another is to get more PT for OP at PF so AJ plays the SF to rest CB

Not having a much better DMAC is limiting our options.

Rafael122 wrote:Don't think he's tired, rather he wants to get everyone else involved.

By shooting bricks? This thread is about his decline in FG%, not attempts.

I said with Gil went down that Caron would have trouble getting his shot off against double teams because he's not an elite scorer. I wouldn't say that he's being double teamed a whole lot but he's definitely not open. He's basically got one move - jab step, dribble to create space, and take the jumpshot. You're not going to keep shooting above 50% when that's your bread and butter.

As nate said there was no way he was going to keep up his November pace. Even so, he's been slow to get going in games lately. He's still clutch when we need it, which is probably the most important thing.

All's it means is that the scouting reports have caught up to his new skill set. No biggie. It was expected. He just gets guarded further out, instead of sagged off on.

On the other hand it has re-invigorated DeShawn's game a little bit since the better perimeter defender gets stuck on Caron some part of the time.

Which is why most knowledgeable folks said we'd get better when Gil gets back at full strength. His talents make the skilled players around him better since he attracts so much attention. Players will sag to guard Gil and leave shooters open at the corners.

Or, pick your poison, Caron's ability to hit a 3 will make it easier on Gil to attack the rim, drive and kick, and in Princeton sets it means Caron or Jamison are interchangeable, right-side left-side, on either the 2-man game on one side of the floor or the 3 man game on the other side. The spread floor is that much wider. The lanes more open to drive down.

We still need an alley oop threat to take full advantage of the wide open backdoor lanes possible, and the passing lanes over the top. But once everybody is back and in rhythm, we've got a chance to see some remarkably efficient offense out there.

doclinkin wrote:All's it means is that the scouting reports have caught up to his new skill set. No biggie. It was expected. He just gets guarded further out, instead of sagged off on.

On the other hand it has re-invigorated DeShawn's game a little bit since the better perimeter defender gets stuck on Caron some part of the time.

Which is why most knowledgeable folks said we'd get better when Gil gets back at full strength. His talents make the skilled players around him better since he attracts so much attention. Players will sag to guard Gil and leave shooters open at the corners.

Or, pick your poison, Caron's ability to hit a 3 will make it easier on Gil to attack the rim, drive and kick, and in Princeton sets it means Caron or Jamison are interchangeable, right-side left-side, on either the 2-man game on one side of the floor or the 3 man game on the other side. The spread floor is that much wider. The lanes more open to drive down.

We still need an alley oop threat to take full advantage of the wide open backdoor lanes possible, and the passing lanes over the top. But once everybody is back and in rhythm, we've got a chance to see some remarkably efficient offense out there.

NY would love someone to feed him up an alley oop. Haywood can finish a few of those if feed near the basket. DMAC, that may be his only scoring move right now. CB can get up. I also think Blatche would take a few of those. Now we just need a PG who can make the pass.

hands11 wrote: Now we just need a PG who can make the pass.

Again, I'll sing the ditty 'til it catches on: Chemistry and continuity. We've got at least one passer at each position (depending on if you play Gil at both 1-2; and Dray at 4-5). They just have to get playtime repetitions and build trust. And keep the team together.

It takes 2-3 years to pick up the offense, but I have full faith in our young guys to get that intuitive feel for each other's game. The best teams play best with each other because they don't have to think out there but just do it by muscle memory and repetition. Twelve guys think as one, play as one. We've got the parts, just need the patience, trust we're improving in critical ways and the team is gonna break thorugh all at once and of a sudden. There's too much talent there top to bottom. Just needs hard work and patience. A rare thing in pro sports but if any team has the chance to do it, it's this one.