He's from Seattle and needs to have his jersey hung from the rafters though, he isn't going anywhere!
My theory is that playing with a worse point guard in Felton is hurting his shooting numbers. We all know Wes is a rhythm guy, whether he's hitting layups or jumpers, it doesn't matter. Wes got a lot more open looks close to the basket with Miller than with Felton, and that is in turn, making him shoot worse on his jump shots. Last year 25% of his shots came close to the rim, he converted at at rate of .623 eFG and was assisted on 65% of those baskets. 28% came at the rim, he converted those at .635% eFG and was also assisted on 65% of those. http://www.82games.com/1011/10POR7.HTM This year, 22% of his shots came close to the rim, but he's converting those at a rate of .469 eFG, more than 15% lower than he did last year. Plus, he's only being assisted on 39% of these baskets. Likewise, 23% of his shots come at the rim, hes shooting .462 eFG on those, and also being assisted only 42% on those. So we see he's shooting less shots close to the basket, shooting significantly worse at the basket, and also being assisted on less of those baskets. http://www.82games.com/1112/11POR6.HTM The "eye" test supports this as well. Miller knew how to get the ball to his teammates, and he would throw passes that put them in a position to score. Matthews has been trying to create more himself because his backcourt partner does a poor job setting him up. I think we all underestimate the importance of a good pass. Even if a guy catches the ball wide open, if he has to bring the ball up because it was thrown too low, bring it down because it was thrown too high, or too hard that it throws off his rhythm, he's more likely to miss. Miller and guys like Steve Nash deliver passes to teammates in rhythm. Felton throws wild passes that make the target, but force them to adjust.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the statement of the year about the 2011-2012 Portland Trail Blazers! What a pathetic franchise this is.
I remember reading an article early in the season about how Andre Miller was one of the rare players in the league that boosted his teammates FG% wherever he went. It's pretty easy to believe it now.
Good post B-Roy. There is a difference between getting the ball to your teammates in a position for them to be successful, and playing like a chicken without a head and passing a nut to a blind squirrel now and then. Or something like that. I miss Andre.
I wonder how many more excuses they'll come up with tonight. You can only take so many "we're getting better...next game, I promise!!!" before you stop believing. And it's not a whole lot more before you stop caring.
Let's not forget this squad was better with Andre, but nothing special. This team needs to get worse before they get better. And we are definitely worse right now.
This team is more talented than the one with Andre. (Not the season with Roy, Andre+Roy=Not good) After they got Wallace last year they were one of the hottest teams to finish out the season.
