Sure, the 300 minutes Giles played in college tells us a ton. Certainly more than the 1500+ minutes he's played in the NBA, in which he's scored, rebounded, assisted, and overall played better than Zach. But sure, Zach's performance in 1 year as a reserve in the WCC speaks volumes about his future.
Collins was more impressive in college...because (IMO) Giles rushed back from injury. However, I would submit, Giles has skills/abilities that Collins doesn't come close to, even if Collins has done a bit more in limited fashion. Career FG% - Giles 52%, Collins 44% 3-pt% - Giles (doesn't shoot them), Collins .324 Points/Per 36 - Giles 17.5, Collins 11.8 Reb/Per36 - Giles 9.9, Collins 8.2 Asst/Per 36 - Giles 3.5, Collins 1.9 Stls/Per 36 - Giles 1.3, Collins 0.6 Blks/Per 36 - Giles 1.0, Collins 1.4 ORtg/DRtg - Giles 105/109, Collins 105/109 WinSh/48 - Giles .081, Collins .069 BPM - Giles -2.2, Collins -2.6 VORP - Giles -0.1, Collins -0.4 TS% - Giles .548, Collins .528 Rebound/Asst/Steal/Blk% - All in favor of Giles Just not seeing where Collins has been overall.....better.
Interesting since I didn't know that. I hope it doesn't have influence on who Stotts chooses for the rotation.
I agree 100%. Isn't Giles doing (albeit on a limited sample, yes) exactly what we WISH Zack could do? I get that we Blazer fans tend to fall in love with project forwards -- Skal, Caleb, Ed Davis, Thomas Robinson, etc. -- but this time it may be real. Hope springs eternal!
Oh boy. Let’s use stats to tell our story. Three point shooting has an effect on the entire offense not just the player shooting although it also effect total percentage and performance. Teams absolutely know Giles will not be shooting from outside. He really can’t even be considered a mid range threat. Then of course you have what other teams have to do to cover or substitute to play a player. Now as far as fouls go let’s see if Giles can get a call in this league. We all know Zach gets blasted by the refs. Defense is about playing smart. I did not see that yet with Giles but he might be able to? IMO Zach is the better option at this point but I most certainly would be pleased to see Henry improve in every aspect of the game.
Zach show he can hit the 3 plus he better defender on the premieter then Giles and both can block shots but Zach changes shots around the rim and don't see Giles does that right now. Now Giles can do more then Zach on offense but I believe Stotts would go with Zach over Giles due that they need more defense role then the offense role playing on either unit. But Zach might get shut out in the game due to Melo playing the 4. But we will see but there going be disappointment I will 2 or 3 players. Stotts going to play Melo at the 3 or 4 and that's going to hurt players like Trent Hood Zach for minutes. Kanter going hurt Giles for playing time even though Giles is out playing Kanter right in the first two preseason games. But this is when we are healthy.
I don't consider "per 36" a good measure for comparing backups. Collins has played more minutes for a better team and his totals per game are better. That tells me he's the better player.
Most the stats give Giles slight edge on Zach but shooting the 3 in Stotts offense is the biggie in all those stats. I have seen Zach switch off on guards and been pretty successful holding his own with them. Plus I said before both can block shots but Zach has 2 6 block games in his career and one of them was against the Lakers. Zach also make people miss on shots because he contest majority of the shots. I don't see Giles does that through out his career. We can look at stats all day long try figure who the best players but sometimes throw the stats aside and watch the little thing a player does to help a team to win and Zach has decent +- record for this team. Now don't get me wrong I like both players and think they both can play next to each and be successful because both have different skill set that actually benefits both players.
If nothing else, this whole Giles/Zach debate has shown everybody how much we (and the organization, specifically Neil) tend to overrate our own players. Not long ago Olshey was calling Zach a foundational piece, and now there’s a legitimate argument that can be made that a guy on a minimum contract is better. I guess that brings me to this question; let’s say Zach has another season like he did last time he was healthy. How much is he getting in free agency? Do you even give him a QO, which should be around 7M? Would anyone actually pay him that much in unrestricted free agency?
This is part of the reason I wasn't excited about Melo coming back. The brought in all front court additions and now it is crowded. Melo is going to take away minutes from Hood or Trent or RoCo or DJJ or Zach.....and will play poor defense and pass very little the entire time. That excites me....not.
I'll bet if he dominates the second unit and doesn't share the ball or shots, there will be a player or two that comments on it.
I know this has already been pointed out but these per 36 numbers are a joke. If you can't earn minutes on a far worse team then you are not as good. Zach earned minutes regularly on a playoff team and Giles couldn't earn as many meaningful minutes on a lottery team. I like what I've seen from Giles but don't twist stats to fit your narrative... it's so lame when guys in here do that. What we should be looking at with these two guys is who has had more real game impact in winning performances and that answer is so obvious you don't need stats that give the other guy slight edges to prove it wrong.
