The class was considered very strong before the NCAA season started (based on scouting the freshman class when they were in high-school). Once the college basketball season had drawn to a close many scouts and draftniks were calling it a deep, but not particularly impactful at the top spots.
Joel Freeland -- 1.2 PPG | 2.2 RPG | 6% FG | -3.0 PER Nolan Smith -- 1.7 PPG | 0.6 APG | 41% FG| 2 PER Luke Babbitt -- 2.2 PPG | 0.5 RPG | 45% FG| 17 PER Victor Claver -- 0.3 PPG | 0.3 RPG | 0% FG | -1.6 PER Jared Jeffries -- 1.0 PPG | 1.2 RPG | 29% FG | -0.03 PER Will Barton -- 1.1 PPG | 0.1 APG | 19% FG| 1.03 PER Sasha Pavlovic - 1.8 PPG | 1.3 RPG | 39% FG | 9.4 PER Ronnie Price - 3.8 PPG | 1.6 APG | 39% FG | 6.6 PER The bench. Holy shit.
Jeffries is still a good player (one of the better +/- s on the entire team) so PER isn't everything. Conversely Babbitt is shit, but has a deceptively good PER.
I think it's short-sighted to focus on the points. Look at the +/-. Are we losing with the bench players in there?
At least the bench is getting us some national recognition! http://nba.si.com/2012/11/16/nba-bench-lakers-cavaliers-blazers-pacers/
"Portland’s starting five has some talented players, but just lacks the firepower to adequately overcome a flock of second-unit albatrosses." Clever line. Or maybe, Claver line.
Our bench did not play well today. However......they missed 10 less shots than NJ's bench did. (For obvious reasons) And one of our normal bench players scored 12 points. The fact that he started today confirms that it may not be the players, just the philosophy. (Get the ball to our starters when you enter the game) Bottom line is Hickson was a -23 when he was in the game. Nic was -17 The worst number for a bench player was Pavlovic at -5 and he actually was the one guy off the bench that played well. With LMA out we need more from Joel. But the starters lost this one. It was a learning experience for Lillard. DWill wanted to make a point and he did.
Pinwheel, you are dramatically misusing the +/- statistic (which, in your defense, is easy to do). Besides the fact that +/- is just about useless on an individual game basis, Nic played almost 4 times as many minutes as Pavlovic, largely explaining their differential. If you really feel the need to compare single-game +/- values, at the very least you must divide by minutes played to get anything remotely useful.
Yes I was dramatically misusing the +/- on purpose. Every statistical measurement that is used on this board can be misleading. To dwell on how many points the bench scored every game is ridiculous. They don't score much when we win either, because they do not shoot as much as most benches.
The pool is rather weak in the FA class this coming summer. I'd look at some veterans from Europe. Though, I'm not totally clear on their buyouts but Milos is an intriguing prospect. Thinking outside the box: MILOS TEODOSIC 6'5" 180 lbs. PG - Age: 25 [video=youtube;_CXTSpxy8Z8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CXTSpxy8Z8[/video]
The game was very close for the whole game until the Nets pulled away in the last half of the last quarter. The +/- stats simply show that Freeland was on the bench then, and Batum and Hickson were on the floor.
Teodosic is interesting, but he seems to have developed horrible problems in the clutch. If we're going for savvy Euro, I'd see if we can get a Greek, someone to keep Kostas happy. I'd love Diamantidis: if Prigioni can be persuaded finally to give it a shot, why not him? Or maybe Spanoulis, who even plays with Kostas and Printezis.
Well, the bench wasn't the problem tonight. Or at least, no more than anyone. And: WILL BARTON! Odd: Leonard was the only plus player at +8, and looked good for his time on the court, but I don't remember seeing him at all in the second half.
