USG% doesn't tell you how much a player is used, though. It's a percentage of how many possessions end with them getting a point/assist/turnover/etc. Crawford's assist % of 25.3% is actually not bad for a SG forced to play PG. Odd thing is, his WS/48 this season is the 2nd-best of his career. As bad as he is shooting, if he can go even back to his norm, he'll be a near 19 PER.
I was using basketball-reference.com. I trust their stats more as they only include players on pace to meet the minimum requirements to quality for league leaders. BNM
Nic played like he did tonight in some of the early Euroleague games this season. He even averaged more assists because he was lead guard. He certainly can do it on this stage.
How the fuck can you support that conclusion based on team defensive efficiency?????? The Net Production stats at 82games.com tell a much different story. Felton this season (before getting completely outplayed, once again, tonight) has a Net Production of -7.5. Last year Miller had a Net Production of +4.1. Third best on the team behind Aldridge and Wallace. For all the uninformed rhetoric from the Miller haters, the fact is he was rarely lit up by opposing PGs last season, not nearly as bad as Felton is getting outplayed on a nightly basis this year. You're blind hated of all things Andre Miller never ceases to amaze me. ALL the advanced stats point to the fact that Miller was CLEARLY and by a VERY wide margin, a MUCH better player than Raymond Felton, yet you stubbornly cling to some delusional fantasy that as bad as Felton sucks, he is somehow an upgrade over Andre Miller. Thinks that all you want. That doesn't make it true. Our team defense is better this year for reasons that have nothing to do with Raymond Felton: Full season of Gerald Wallace. Healthier Marcus Camby missing far fewer games (so far - fingers crossed). Greatly improved defensive play of LaMarcus Aldridge. Wesley Mathews is the one who sucks on offense but has stepped up his defense. His Net Production is +4.9 and he's holding his opponents to PER of 8.6. Unlike Felton who's opponents are going off for a PER of 17.4. BNM
Thanks for posting that. He's got such a high release on that three point shot that it seems like he could take it whenever he wants. I hope Aldridge recovers quickly, but if an injury like this had to happen, I'm glad it happened now. Hopefully Batum can build off this game to cement a role as a featured scorer on this team. His goal should be 20 shots every game with Aldridge out of rotation, and probably 15 with him in.
I hope that dunk that he had last night was a light bulb moment on how he needs to take the ball to the hole. There are very few people in the league that would be able to block him without fouling him. And he shoots good from the line. Only good things can happen.
There were two other times he took the ball hard to the hole like that. He does that more than people realize, I think. On the play where he stole the ball, dribbled it around the ref Globe Trotters style, then had his dunk attempt blocked -- that would have easily been the ESPN play of the day! So close!
Well, wins and losses come into play, of course, and in Roy's last healthy year, the Blazers were still 13th in DEF EFF, compared to 7th so far this year. See what I did there...
You seem to have a pattern of making up things that posters don't post, and then spending multiple paragraphs debating that point that only exists in your head. At the end, you claim victory, but the reality is that I certainly don't think that Felton is any kind of upgrade over Miller. I was pointing out the team DEF EFF stats, and Felton, while horrific on offense, is part of a team that is more efficient on the defensive end than we saw when Miller was PG.
Showing the full offensive arsenal. [video=youtube;DUnPqm5mN88]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUnPqm5mN88&feature=g-u-u&context=G2198be0FUAAAAAAAAAA[/video]
Batum just needs to take more shot attempts. He has moves that allow him to separate, he doesn't need to wait for open catch-and-shoot opportunities. He can get around a screen and take step-back threes, he can post up guards, he can attack the hoop both in the middle of the court and along the baseline. And boy does he have the ability to finish. Yeah, I mentioned the risks of pushing him to shoot more if he doesn't have the talent to sustain efficiency doing so (mook made a good reference to Travis Outlaw in that regard), but I think Batum very well might have the talent. He's also showing himself to be more adept at passing than in past seasons. Assuming his decision-making remains sound, I see little downside in having him use more of Portland's possessions.
If he keeps this up and I certainly think he will he is going to get a very nice pay day, the Blazers may wish they got signed him in January.
Possibly, but that may have been a strategic move. His cap hold for this summer is only $5.3M--anything he would have accepted in January would have started significantly higher. We may have to pay him more this summer than we would have last month, but we may also have significantly more available with which to sign other players (if we don't have to match another team's big offer too early in the FA period).
I dont want to say that I "knew" this at time but I highly suspected it and I still hope that it doesnt backfire on us
