Mailman didnt deliver on Sundays remember. Stockton was pretty clutch though, they just ran into a certain guy named Michael. Poor guys, just born in the wrong years.
Really? Who are those people, and instead of building strawmen, why won't anybody address Hedo's below-average shooting and PER in both his playoff career and this year's playoffs?
If the guy sucks so much, why is Orlando in the NBA Finals? He's helping them more than hurting them, anybody can see that. There's more to the game of basketball than just John Hollinger's PER stats.
Primarily because they have Dwight Howard. Hedo is shooting below average as well, and he doesn't rotate well on defense. Without Dwight Howard in the paint that team couldn't stop anybody. As it is, the Lakers aren't having much difficulty scoring outside of Bryant chucking up guarded shots on Pietrus. How does Hedo put the Blazers over the top? What in his playoff history illustrates he is the missing piece to a championship team? I didn't say he sucks, but by most objective statistical measures he's been below average for his career in the playoffs. That's his history. I'm wondering how this year's playoffs changes anything.
Dwight Howard is as much to blame for yesterday's loss than Hedo. He missed two game-clinching free throws, was only 5-12 from the field, 6 of 14 from the FT line. Certainly whether Hedo is good for the Blazers can be up for debate, but to say the Magic are Eastern Conference champions and in the NBA finals 'in spite' of Hedo Turkoglu is just not a true statement when he's hit several game-clinching shots for them.
He also had 21 rebounds, blocked 9 shots, and got the entire Laker front line in foul trouble. If you tact is to blame Dwight Howard for one game, then looking at statistics over the playoffs, I can just as easily say that he is the primary reason they are in the Finals. And yes, Howard did miss clutch FTs, just as Hedo did. The difference is that Howard isn't know for his FT shooting. Unless a 13.4 PER over 22 games is somehow more important that a 26.2 PER, that is, in terms of why the Magic are in the Finals. I have statistics, you have opinion, so you resort to falsely accusing me of saying Hedo "sucks". Also, which "game-clinching" shots has Turkoglu hit? I remember the one against Cleveland prior to LeBron James hitting the miracle three to win the game, and I remember Rashard Lewis with 2 game-clinching 3s in these playoffs.
I don't know who is saying that. I'm certainly not. My argument is that Hedo is not someone the Blazers should covet.
[video=youtube;a3Uq5Ib8U78]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Uq5Ib8U78[/video] [video=youtube;L0C2_gcbH3o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0C2_gcbH3o[/video] [video=youtube;RPpo0NyBeLA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPpo0NyBeLA&feature=PlayList&p=8F69E0E2EBCC2D02&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=36[/video] [video=youtube;eDexf_BdrnE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDexf_BdrnE&feature=fvw[/video]
I said an argument could be made. How is 42% FG shooting, 35% 3 PT shooting, and 2.8 TOs a game a definitive positive? People complain about inconsistent players on the Blazers, yet Hedo has been the very definition of inconsistent in these playoffs. Hedo has scored 21+ points 6 times in 22 playoff games. The Magic are 2-4 in those games. He needs to shoot LESS and get the ball in the hands of his teammates. The biggest plus about Turkoglu is that he can get his shot off by himself, and Orlando really doesn't have anybody else who can do that. That said, Roy is the Blazers primary ball handler at the end of games, so I have to wonder what Turkoglu's role would be on this team considering he is a worse defender than Nic Batum.
2 of those were playoff games and they were big shots. How is that "several" games? I do like how pointing out a player's limitations means that I am "hating" on them.
Kobe's shooting 45 percent from the field, 34 percent from 3-point range, and averaging 2.6 TOs a game. Not too much of a difference. Hedo's not Kobe obviously, but Hedo's played pretty well for a guy who's now been asked to handle the ball as a point forward in place of an inconsisent Alston and even more inconsistent Nelson. The whole thing about whether Hedo would be a good fit for the Blazers is another issue, and I'd understand if some would feel he wouldn't be a good player for us. I'm just saying that Hedo's played a pretty big role for the Magic in getting them to where they are, and they're there more because of him, and not in spite of him.
If you have watched this series and don't think Hedo is perfect for our team, then please have your basketball knowledge checked
Kobe Bryant's playoff PER is literally double that of Hedo's, but that's another argument. Perhaps it appears we are both taking extreme positions when neither of us are taking one. My only point is that Hedo may appear to be better than he is because he does handle the ball so well in the half court offense, but when you peel back the statistical layers, the style may not equate to substance. I'd consider him at ~$6-8 million, but as already posted, somebody will overpay for him, and I don't want the Blazers to give up players in an effort to get him. I guess I am seeing his limitations the more I watch of him in these playoffs, and when I researched the stats, I found some validation for my initial opinion.
