GT #53: ATL Hawks @ Wizards 7 PM (NBCSW/1500 AM)

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Should the rule of scarcity be taken into consideration? How many players have Klay's skill set? Not many. How many 6-4/6-7 wing players can rebound at a fairly high level? A decent number. I'd place a higher value on what is harder to replace.

I can find plenty of good rebounding wing players who can't space the floor. I can't find many guys who can score efficiently on a high volume of jump shots.

This is the best point anyone has made in response to my claim.

My answer is pretty straightforward.

In fact, every basketball skill -- every skill of every kind in every activity -- is distributed on a bell-shaped curve. A few at each end of the curve & most under the fat part of the curve. There is no way that it's easier to find a guy who is one of the best rebounding guards in the game than it is to find a guy who is one of the best 3-pt. shooting guards in the game.

Yet, for reasons that are probably obvious, it's the guys who' are best at shooting/scoring who are most likely to be over-rated. Not always -- no one thought the Worm was much of a scorer, but everyone knew he was great. But usually all the same.

But in a team sport all those skills get mixed together by the game, right? & if your team doesn't rebound well, & like the Wizards this year, you routinely give the opponent more shots on basket, then they don't have to shoot all that well to beat you, right?

That's how you can wind up scoring 3 more points than average, as the Wizards do, how you can have an above average TS%, as the Wizards do, & still be 22-31, because your opponents are scoring 6 more points than average.

The Golden State Warriors this year get 46.5 rebounds per game. We get 40.8 rebounds per game. Opponents score 5 fewer points against them than against us.

So, every night it looks like GS is just a better scoring team than their opponent, because... well, they win a lot, which means that, yeah, they've outscored their opponent. The scoring stands out. It looks like the only important thing.

But, what's important is how it happens. & all the skills contribute equally to that.

[Kanyewest]

I would say that you are underrating Klay Thompson if you are evaluating him by his career numbers. Yes his TS% during his first couple seasons in the league were sub-par. On the other hand, Mark Jackson was his head coach who wanted him to settle for a lot of mid range post ups. Thompson instantly became much more effective within Steve Kerr's system, and has a 59 TS% within those years....

Good point. For that matter, nearly every vet is underrated if you include his first couple of years. Take a look at Brad's numbers for example....

Yes Kevin Durant and Steph Curry are superior players. Not sure if there is anyone making that point in this thread although I will point this out to my friend who thinks that Thompson is on par with Curry.

But the Warriors are clearly a worse team when Thompson doesn't play.

If the guy who replaces Thompson isn't as good as Thompson, then the team will be worse. Duh.

...I would also point out there is a degree of difficulty in becoming that the 3rd star on a team as with Kevin Love with the Cavs, Chris Bosh with the Heat while some players thrive in that role (James Harden with the Thunder). There is a good chance that Thompson could be a better player with a bigger role in this offense.

Last year was Love's 2d best year ever in his career.

Don't think you are wrong in saying that Beal has been a better player than Thompson in the last 2 seasons.

Last 3 years -- i.e. this year, last year & 2016-17.

Fine Beal has been better than Thompson for the past 2 years and 2 months

Did Kevin Love's numbers translate in the postseason (and in the NBA finals)?

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Fine Beal has been better than Thompson for the past 2 years and 2 months

Did Kevin Love's numbers translate in the postseason (and in the NBA finals)?

Hey... it's 3 seasons. Seasons are what count. And anyway, it's 3 months not 2!

As to Love, I have no idea & what does it matter? You were making a point, & it wasn't accurate. You going to say, "look, he played bad in this game & that game. Means I'm right" ??? No.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Horribly? In caps?

You are absolutely right that Thompson is one of the best 3-point shooters in the history of the game. No one would question that. & I don't question what you say about his defense either, which, in fairness, I was not -- but should have been -- thinking about.

& he's a great FT shooter, which you don't even mention (almost 85% -- on his career!).

But, again, we can't draw conclusions without taking into account all those things you suggest he isn't asked to do -- like shoot 2-pointers, which in fact he has done 30% more often than an average 2 guard over his career. Then again again, he's ok at that too! Not outstanding, the way he is on 3's, but still pretty good.

IOW, if you ask me whether I think Thompson is overrated AS A SCORER my answer is NO. In almost 20K minutes, he has a TS% of 57.4% (well above the 2 guard average of 53.9%) on very high usage (@40% higher than an average 2 guard).

That's fantastic. Does that make him a "great" scorer? Well... lets put it this way: Steph Curry has played @23,000 minutes. His TS% on his career is 62.5%. KD has played over 25000 minutes. His career TS% is 61.2%. Both of them are even higher usage than Thompson.

Those are 2 great scorers.

Both of them are also well above average at pretty much everything else they do as well. & both of them are asked to do way more than Klay is. Etc. etc. etc.

I.e. those are 2 great players. In the true meaning of the word.

Klay Thompson, OTOH, is over-rated.

Calling him over-rated is one thing, but actually comparing him to Huerter is crazy.

I’d take it a few steps beyond crazy.

Imagine a 24-year old Huerter playing in Klay Thompson's spot in place of current Klay on the current Golden State roster.



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[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

My only comment about Huerter is that Turgeon is a hell of a recruiter. Much better at recruiting than at game X's and O's. Huerter is going to be a real solid pro at the very least.

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[closg00]

My only comment about Huerter is that Turgeon is a hell of a recruiter. Much better at recruiting than at game X's and O's. Huerter is going to be a real solid pro at the very least.

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Huerter may end up being better than Trae, not writing-off Trae though

[Kanyewest]

Fine Beal has been better than Thompson for the past 2 years and 2 months

Did Kevin Love's numbers translate in the postseason (and in the NBA finals)?

Hey... it's 3 seasons. Seasons are what count. And anyway, it's 3 months not 2!

As to Love, I have no idea & what does it matter? You were making a point, & it wasn't accurate. You going to say, "look, he played bad in this game & that game. Means I'm right" ??? No.

Ah, I had that in mind. Beal was terrible in the first month of the 2016-17 season when everyone was complaining about his contract.

You were citing Klay Thompson sub-par postseason- same goes for Kevin Love. Also being available for barely 60 games has to discount his value. Not sure why we are talking about Kevin Love anyways. Random note, good non-move bythe Warriors not to deal Thompson and assets for Kevin Love. Trading Thompson alone would have been a mistake.