Doctor MJ wrote:
Well, let me break Moses' impact down a little bit here using factors:
In '81-82, the 76ers had a TS% of 56.6 and a TO% of 15.5
In '82-83, the 76ers had a TS% of 54.9 and a TO% of 16.3
Their offensive rebounding of course got WAY better, but that still wasn't enough to make the team's offense better than before because of what I laid out here. Despite the fact that Moses presence meant that the team was taking a lot more gimme put back shots, the offense got WORSE with the addition of Moses.
I don't see how you can understand that fact and not dampen your enthusiasm for a man who stands out first to people based on his 25 & 15 stat line. They rearranged their offense around him, and it got worse.
I haven't done a detailed weighted assessment of their playoff offensive performance, but the offense doesn't appear to have made dramatic changes their either.
It's a bit strange to blame Moses for the drop in TS%, when he had a 57.8% TS in 1983. if anything, he was a major reason it was even that high. The rather obvious reason for Philly's dropoff was Dr. J'. In 1982 he scored 24.4 ppg on 59.3% TS, but dropped to 21.4 ppg on 56.6% TS in 1983.
And Philly was still the #5 Ortg in 1983 like they were in 1982. And relative to the league average, they performed better in 1983 than they did in 1982.
1982 76ers - 109.6 ORtg/103.9 DRtg (5.7+)
1982 NBA Average - 106.9 ORtg/DRtg
1983 76ers - 108.3 ORtg/100.9 DRtg (7.4+)
1983 NBA Average - 104.7 ORtg/DRtg
^
I'm perplexed at how you can say Philly's offense got worse, when it actually was better with Moses. BOTH offense & defense was better with his addition, and that's reflected in their improves SRS, and the end result they got in the PS which was an epic all-time great playoff run.
Philly went from a poor rebounding team, to the best. You mention offensive rebounding, but Moses grabbed 9.6 defensive rebounds, at a league leading 28.2% rate. That's a massive amount of extra possessions for his team. Again, Philly went from the #20 rebounding team in the NBA, to #1 with the addition of Moses in 1983. Houston went from #5 with Moses, to #22 in 1983. That a MASSIVE impact.
For comparisons sake, let's look at Houston before and after Moses....
1982 Houston - 108.3 ORtg/108.3 DRtg (0)
1982 NBA Average - 106.9 ORtg/DRtg
1983 Houstons - 97.0 ORtg/108.3 DRtg (-11.3)
1983 NBA Average - 104.7 ORtg/DRtg
^
Clearly they didn't have much defensively, though they were #16 in 1982 with Moses. But offensively they became the worse offense without Moses.
So, short of anyone contradicting me in the details, I just want everyone to get it clear in their head:
The '83 76ers improved because of their DEFENSE not their offense.
So when you say here "he did X, and Y, and Z, and he made All-D", I respond with "He helped their defense. Period."
As pointed out above, Philly improved on both sides of the floor, and their rebounding improvement was the biggest change by far, which had everything to do with Moses.
Now, y'all know I have Russell as my GOAT. I believe that you can be the MVP by a large margin based largely on your defense. I have trouble though thinking of Moses in that way, first and foremost because Moses' Houston teams were always TERRIBLE on defense.
In Moses' 1st MVP year for example, his team was 21st of 22 teams on defense. I fully acknowledge that one player by himself cannot make a defense great, but with Moses bursting on the scene to become the MVP of the league, wouldn't you think he'd be improving his team's defense if he was truly an all-around great defensive player?
It's worth noting that those Houston teams typically had great offenses, and I'd say Moses was certainly a part of that, but what does this all mean when you add it up?
Well, that you've got a guy who can make a difference on offense or on defense in the right situation, but he's not someone who just did his thing and left a large footprint of impact wherever he went, and this key because he did put up big numbers wherever he went.
The same could be said of the vast majority of Garnett's teams too. In 2007, KG anchored a Minny defense that was #21, and then he goes to Boston and they end up #1. Did KG get better all of a sudden, or was it the system? Why were the Knicks mediocre defensely before Riley, and then elite when he came? It's clear that Moses didn't care much about defense before going to Philly, but a team culture can change the mindset of a player. Shaq never led a great defense until 2000 when Phil showed up.
What's obvious is that Moses crazy 9.6 Drpg prevented plenty of 2nd chance points, and gave him team the possession edge. Was Moses playing like Hakeem, no, but he wasn't far off from 00' Shaq defensively.
The big numbers combined with Philly's great success led people to say, "We must go crazy over someone in Philly, how can it not be Moses?". But in reality, this was already a great team that just became a bit more well rounded on defense with Moses' presence. Does that really sound like an all-time individual season to y'all?
It doesn't for me, and I'll leave you with this: Consider what I've said, and consider what happened after '83. Philly fell apart pretty quickly, Moses was soon bouncing from team to team while still putting up strong numbers.
If Moses' simple game, with the gaudy stats it always produced, was adding instant impact everywhere, would this really be happening? If that defensive over-the-top push that Moses gave in '83 basically only happened in that exact one place, isn't this clearly a "last piece of the puzzle" type of situation?
KG's only great defenses came in Boston, so if we were to extrapolate this thesis, should we question his defensive impact? Who's to say Moses wouldn't have crazy APM numbers, which is extremely likely due to the massive possession edge he gave to the 76ers. He played 81 games which negate with/wihtout numbers, and doesn't have the benefit of +/- sorcery, so he's left out in the cold, and his play is being picked apart.
What I see is a player who put up massive RS & PS numbers. Was voted All-NBA/All-D 1st team by his era, won MVP, and led Philly to an all-time great PS run en route to winning FMVP. The 76ers when from a bad rebounding team to the BEST with Moses leading the league. Both their offense & defense improved, while Houston went into the tank. Every metric improved with Moses.
Hands down, Moses should have been picked long ago. The guy was putting up 26/16 in the PS, and 26/18 in the Finals. He took KAJ's lunch money in those 1983 Finals.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PQz4BGMYHk[/youtube]
