Agreed, convincing Sanders to start up again should be a priority of NO this off season. He would totally thrive in the blazers culture.
http://www.columbian.com/news/2016/mar/27/aminu-making-mark-for-blazers/ Here's a good article on playing Aminu at the 4.
Did Harkless do anything after the first quarter last night? That's the thing with projects. They play great in spurts but can't sustain it. That's why coach would play Noah 6 minutes a half then sit him the rest of the time. I definitely think we keep Harkless next season and get him some more experience and see if he can (1) learn to shoot, and (2) gain consistency. I love his game. I'm calling him Baby Nique.
Harkless is definitely a better SF than Aminu. And Aminu is definitely better at PF than at SF. But is Aminu better than Vonleh? A couple weeks back, when we first switched out Vonleh for Harkless, I suggested that we were better simply because Harkless is better than Aminu, and that it didn't really matter if Aminu or Vonleh were at PF. Someone pulled the numbers, and not too surprisingly it somewhat backed up that idea. If after 6 seasons Aminu is just barely better than Vonleh is in 2ish seasons, I think it's not much stretch to imagine that Vonleh will easily be better than Aminu once he develops confidence.
It would be interesting to go back and see if there are certain types of teams he thrives against and others that he doesn't. I hope it wouldn't be that he doesn't do as well against better, more organized teams.
I don't put much stock in advanced stats, especially when measuring a player who barely gets any minutes, and is barely utilized in the minutes he gets. What I see, looking at Per36 numbers, is that they are fairly even with the main exceptions being: FGA - Aminu +2.5 (which leads to increased PPG) 3P% - Aminu +10% RBD - Vonleh +1.5 AST - Aminu +1 Aside from 3P%, nothing too major. Vonleh is supposedly a good shooter, so I think it's just confidence that's keeping him from equaling or bettering Aminu's 3P%.
I really like the varied looks and extended time these guys are getting at different positions. Will add to their confidence if Terry decides to go to unorthodox lineups in the playoffs. He's been pretty bullish on his lineups in his coaching tenure, but that seems to be changing a bit this season. Good look for sure.
Vonleh's shot is garbage. All theoretical. He's an awful shooter right now and can't stretch the floor for shit.
5.5 more points on 3.3 more shots is a pretty significant variance, underscored by Aminu's superior TS% (an advanced stat to which any FG% advocate should pay attention). 3 fewer PF per 36 is also a pretty big difference. Also, I'd be curious to see what Aminu's stats as a PF are (curse you 82games.com!). I wouldn't be surprised if the gap widens.
Vonleh's shot is like so many 20 year old players adrenaline kicks in and shit gets ugly. Once he develops his poise and comfort he will be a pretty dang good player. If he simply developed a reasonable elbow jumper I could easily see him as a 16/10 guy in regular starters minutes.
I agree with all of this, except the very first part - 5.5 on 3.3 doesn't impress me. Aminu and Vonleh both sport the same FG% (which is garbage). While TS% isn't listed (or did I just miss it?), it's almost entirely due to Vonleh's AWFUL 3p% vs Aminu's pedestrian 3P%. Given the discrepancy in 3PA, it doesn't seem like a big deal - I certainly don't want Aminu shooting FIVE 3-pointers a game, as the per36 numbers account for. But really, we don't really want offense from Aminu OR Vonleh at this point. And I think my original point still stands that if Aminu is barely better than Vonleh, doesn't it stand to reason that Vonleh is worth more of an investment given he's 5 years younger, with much less experience. (It would be nice to break the numbers apart by position...)
You should do the math then. 5.5 on 3.3 is 1.67 ppp. If the average NBA game is 80 possessions, do you realize how much a team would score on 1.67 ppp? 5.5 points on 3.3 shots is YUGE.
Nobody is saying Aminu is better than Vonleh can ever become. We can keep both in the future. Today Aminu is clearly superior so I want to see him continue to start. I'm interested what MoAl do in the playoffs. We can check up on Vonleh in summer league.
Yeah, I suppose the way we're framing out thoughts has a lot to do with it. I certainly wouldn't start Vonleh over Aminu in the POs - but looking to next season I just don't see a big enough talent gap between the two to say that Aminu would be a better PF than Vonleh.
While statistically 1.67 ppp might be great, it's on such a small number of shots that it really shouldn't make any difference vs whatever ppp Vonleh would have on those same shots. We're talking about a point or two per game.
