Maggette Undergoes Successful Wrist Surgery

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I forgot he was on the team. Man, how I can't stand his game. He makes everyone else around him.... so much worse.

 

He is a cancer. I think we would be way better off without him and his horrible contract. He's just messing up the time for our younger players to develop.

 

It's really hard to say anything about Maggette these days. I wish he was half the price at half the length of his contract. I'd feel a lot better about him on the team as an exclusive 6th man if that was the case.

 

I will give Maggette credit for not whining (at least publicly) about his position (4) or coming off the bench or the fact that the Warriors stink (then again he came from the Clippers). But that's it.

He's the same gunner you see in your local pickup game. The guy who thinks he's killing the other team on offense when really all he's doing is dominating the ball while shooting 40% with killer turnovers meanwhile he's getting smoked on the other end and not hustling or going to the glass. Its not even really about the effort but how he's always in the wrong position at the wrong time, the lazy rotation, the half step to run out for the fast break while his man sneaks in for the put back. That's the Maggette I see.

 

The worst thing about Mags is his contract. It's too much and too long, but that was Mullin's fault I suppose. I don't think Mags is cancer though. Al Harrington was cancer and Mags hasn't been a whiner like Al was. But I think you hit the nail on the head when you talk about selfish, ball hog, gunner and no defense. Partly I blame Nelson for the no D, but it's not like Mags will play D for any coach. Still, I blame Nelson for playing Mags at PF. Sure, he can rebound, but he's a SF and not a banger and PF. He's playing way too much PF and there's no need when we have Brandan Wright or even Anthony Randolph.

 

Mags does one thing better than 95% of players in the league. He gets to the line. I see a little of it in Buike and Monta has the potential too, but he (Monta) gets beat up quite a bit in the paint. Either Buike or Maggs needs to be around to change the game up if the shots aren't falling. I hate his contract, but I appreciate that aspect of his game.

 

Yup, and it's been something the Warriors have lacked for many years. Getting to the free throw line and especially converting at the free throw line. There's one thing I can't stand is missed free throws. THEY'RE FREE!!! Make them! I just don't understand how PRO players can't make a damn free throw.

 

I agree with Run, plus he gets respect at the foul line. Give me a player that can do that and hit 80% when it counts and I'll be happy.

 

I thought the freethrowing was going to be a major plus when we picked up Maggette. However, I didn't know he was such a ballhog with such horrendous shot selection (remember him bombing away from 3 pt range while he was shooting 19% and with Morrow open 1 pass away?), that more than cancels out the freethrows for me. Secondly, the rest of the team is better at freethrowing than they were before Maggette. We got rid of JRich and Pietrus, both poor FTers, and added higher % guys like Morrow and Belinelli, and Randolph, Wright, and Turiaf aren't bad for big men. Now we added Curry who shoots something like 88%.

 

Maggette's shot selection improved a lot after he went to the bench. He still took ill-advised shots, but not as many. His 3FG% also was closer to 40% after he was moved to the bench, as a result of him taking less 3-pt shots. I think people focus a lot on the first impression, which was bad, but once he moved to the bench, he was much more tolerable.

I think the simple fact is, he's unmovable and he's going to be our 6th man. We might as well deal with it and appreciate what good he does in that role. I'm certainly not saying people should stop complaining...that's their right, but I think people will be complaining for at least two more years of Maggette.

 

I don't forget it. What I'm wondering is why he thinks it's okay to completely forget about his team and just try to bull rush his way in and get free points. He shot over 10 free throws 38 times last year. The team was 11-27 in those games. Granted, the team had about the same winning percentage for the season as in those games, but, could it be that part of the reason why they lost so many is because of Maggette's play?

Yes, Maggette gets to the line. But that doesn't equal victory. To me, that stat is SO overrated. I was very enamored with it when we traded for him, I thought "finally, a guy that can get to the line and get the other team in foul trouble." Kind of a neat novelty.

The problem is, just because he gets some points at the freethrow line, doesn't mean a GS win. What else is going on in the game? That's the big question. And the answer is that, by trying to shove a square peg through a round hole every time, Maggette's awkard ass is spoiling it for the rest of the team. They don't feed off him. They stand and watch, exasperated, while he does his shtick.

He doesn't make anyone better. Yes, he puts up some 1s and some 2s as he's bulldozing his way into charges and fouls. But even if he goes 15-20 from the line... big friggin woop! That's 15 points. That's also many possessions where he doesn't get to the line, commits a turnover or charge, or otherwise produces nothing. Meanwhile, on the possessions where he doesn't get an opportunity to force it (i.e. his team doesn't pass to him), what is going on? Whatever it is, it's pretty ugly.

I don't forget that, either. Ugly ball movement. Monta literally trying to dribble away from Maggette because Maggette is trying to steal it from him. No screens. No backdoor cuts. Just standing... Watching...

This game is about guys getting hot. How can Morrow or Bellinelli or even Jax EVER get hot when Maggette ices them every time with his selfish play. I mean, everyone in the building could be thinking "GET IT TO MORROW" and Maggette will look at him, wide open, shake his head as if "nah, sorry buddy" and then run somebody over for a momentum-killing turnover.

It's ugly basketball, folks, and what matters so much more than any one individual's performance is how they contribute to the greater collective. This is a team game. It's all about teamwork and chemistry. What would you rather have: a guy who scores 20 a night and makes it hell for everyone else to play with him, or a guy who scores 10 and is a mind-reader of his teammates, always in the right place at the right time, getting them the ball, giving them a screen, finishing off a nice pass, to help contribute to a victory.

You can't focus on the stats on paper (even if you do, it's obvious Maggette's blind-folded bull-rushing is not taking any teams to the playoffs). You need to focus on the overall energy and flow of the team. When Maggette is in, chemistry friggin sucks. When Maggette is in, teams lose.

 

I agree that it's not pretty basketball, but it's an aspect of the game -- Karl Malone was a dirty player...that was just part of the game. It's not like the ball is in Maggette's hands every possession of every minute he's in the game. He gets the ball in spurts and does his thing. Not every possession has to be a set play or a beautiful backdoor bounce pass after a perfectly set screen. Sometimes you need to play dirty and get points in different ways. Thankfully, Maggette is the only player that plays this way and thankfully he's the 6th man and not the top player on the team, even though he's paid like one.

I agree that he has a tendency of taking the rhythm out of certain plays, but that's why he's the 6th man. Ever since he was relegated to that role, without dispute, he certainly hasn't hurt the team as much as some people are making it out to be.

His play might not equate wins, but the Warriors didn't do that as a whole the entire season. You certainly can't blame him for the losses just as you can't credit him for wins because the Warriors won as much with and without him (though, I don't have the stats to backup this statement). You can credit him for taking a 6th man role, not complaining, and playing his game. Hopefully, the coaches can utilize his contributions where it can lead to more wins next year.

The team as a whole was incomplete and unsuccessful. I think it's unfair to criticize one player so much when there were SO many things wrong with the team. One of those being injuries. Injuries took away cohesiveness and it took away players' effectiveness, including Maggette's (others being injured emphasized his play and perhaps he tried to do too much and him being injured didn't help his cause either). How can you expect to garner more positive results over negative when there were so many injuries? Out of injuries came opportunities. Randolph and Morrow showed up and took advantage of others' being injured by playing hard and more importantly, not getting injured themselves.

I hate to sound like Bob Fitzgerald and say because of injuries, the Warriors didn't succeed, but that was a huge theme of last season, beginning with Monta. With Monta out, our newly appointed "franchise" player, other players' roles changed and it screwed a lot of things up.

With all of this being said, do I wish the Warriors didn't sign Maggette...YES. But we did and it's not the worst thing in the world. Monta getting injured was the worst thing that happened last season.

 

Great post. My thoughts 100 percent.

 

Right we need people that can get to the foul line and play defense and pass the ball. We just can't seem to find the complete swingman/power guard. If Mags played defense and passed like at least a Jrich, we'd have a Paul Pierce light.