euphorbus wrote:catch20two wrote:It's amazing how much our season has turned around ever since PJ Hairston fell out of the rotation upon MKG's return and being traded after MKG's injury.
We're 11-4.
It's easy to second-guess--I do it all the time here--but it was pretty obvious that Hairston had by far the worst on-court statistics among rotation players on the team. His offensive rating is 97 and his defensive rating 106. His DBPM is -.9. Hairston's performance did not justify a starting position. The coach decided to use him as a placeholder for Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who hurried back from injury. We saw how that turned out. Then Courtney Lee got plugged into the same slot, without ever having done anything to earn a rotation position on this team, much less a starter's position. I always thought that to become a starter, you had to earn the right. But not in HornetsWorld. Coach Clifford kept saying that Hairston was doing a great job on defense, but the numbers tell a different story.
I have to tell you, Lee's advanced stats are less than inspiring right now. His DefRtg is the same as Hairston's, 106. His WS/48 is .06, second-to-last, but ahead of Hairston, at .047. You know what is really surprising? Al Jefferson leads the team in DefRtg at 102. He also leads the team in defensive rebounds per 36, although Hansbrough, a great offensive rebounder, leads the team overall, as he has done nearly all season.
To start games you have to make sense with the other guys. Lee makes the most sense with the other starters. At this point I think he's getting a lot of minutes to acclimate so there is a justification for his minutes. I think it is better to close with Lin most games however, not Lee.