Damon came into the league playing on an expansion team in it's first year, they had very little talent. That everything they did offensively went through him combined with extended garbage time to produce some impressive individual stats. With no one playing D, his inability to play any didn't stand out. When he came to Portland he had to integrate with other talented players. His tendency to pound the ball for 15 seconds and then call his own number no longer cut it. His lack of PG feel for setting guys up and inability to feed the post were liabilities. Of course when in crunchtime of meaningful games teams exploited his size/lack of D going at him relentlessly. Patty Mills is 2" taller then DS with a good sized wingspan. We'll see how his game translates, but I'm hoping I'm not reminded of Damon... I didn't even touch on what a shitty "me first" attitude that bonehead displayed. STOMP
The Morale of the story? Beware of guys that score a lot on bad teams. See "Harvey Grant" if you need more information.
All Good Points Stomp. Remember this game? During the Bulls 72 win season, they lost to Damon's Raptors. It was after this game MJ said Damon was going to be a great player for years to come. [video=youtube;XJ-vJhRld9o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJ-vJhRld9o[/video]
Saw him in the hotel lobby this morning picking out suits online. Must think he's going to be around for awhile. Good luck my indigenous friend!
His wingspan is 6'2" according to draftexpress, not very good if you ask me. just some examples, Chris Paul has a WS of 6'4.25". Bayless who is laughed at as having short arms has a WS of 6'3.5". Flynn about the same hight has a WS of 6'4". Mills is not small like ty Lawson at 6'1", but it's close.
I'll see your Harvey Grant and raise you one Tony Campbell. Campbell is the ultimate example of a big-time-scorer-on-a-crappy-team. The guy went from averaging 6.2 PPG for the Lakers to 23.2 PPG for the expansion Timberwolves. That's the problem with guys who play on crappy teams. Somebody has to score. So, the guy who's putting up the most points often looks better than he really is. Put him on a team with other scoring options and he suddenly doesn't look so good. One potential way to tell the REAL value of a player scoring >20 PPG on a crappy team is to compare his PER to his PPG. If the former is significantly higher than the latter, it shows the guy is really not much more than a chucker on a bad team. For example the year Campbell averaged 23.2 PPG, his PER was only 17.1 - indicative of a player who scores a lot at an inefficient rate and doesn't do much else to help his team. Compare that to Brandon Roy's numbers from last season. He actually scored less than Campbell (22.6 PPG vs. 23.2 PPG), but had a much higher PER (24.0 vs. 17.1). That's the difference between a REAL talent like Brandon Roy and a stat padding wannabe like Tony Campbell. In Damon's case his PER was also on the low side for a player averaging 20 and 9. His PER his 1st two seasons in Toronto was 16.7 and 18.1. While those numbers aren't bad for a young player, you have to discount them a little due to the fact that they were inflated by him being the leading scorer on a bad team. Once he was put on a good team with other scoring options, Damon's production was more in line with his talent. During his time in Portland, he was basically an average player (with PERs hovering around 15) with a max. contract. BNM
Yep, he's having a very Campbellesque season. Monta Ellis 2009-10: 25.7 PPG, 17.2 PER, team winning percentage = 28% Tony Campbell 1989-90: 23.2 PPG, 17.1 PER, team winning percentage = 27% BNM
Really nice point. It's not easy for a guard to average 25 ppg, shoot 47%, and yet have a PER of just 17.2. Ellis seemed to score on us at will the other night, he played 47 minutes, he racked up 30 points, and yet he didn't really seem to dominate the game. It's funny because in many ways Ellis is the anti-Damon. He doesn't shoot threes but he's got a really good midrange and close-in game. But as far as overall impact on winning....maybe it's not a bad comparison.
dude is 5'11.25 tall. A plus 2.75" ape index (climber term comparing height and wingspan) is decent for any size. I'm not sure who is laughing at him, but Bayless has an ape index of plus 1.75". I think of him as having solid size for 1. Mills is only 2" less on standing reach which is probably the most telling dimensional measurement. both in size and mentality, Damon brought a whole different level of small to the table STOMP
That is one quick dude. I look forward to him developing for a couple of weeks until we have to send him back to Idaho.
If you read what I wrote, people laugh at Bayless, not Mills, and my point is that Mills WS is still 1.5 inches shorter than Bayless. Sure, the relation between height and WS is better for Mills, but you can;t claim a good WS. He has slightly shorter WS then most 6' players, but the main point is that most 6' players don't have the WS to defend well. Mills might be the exception because his foot speed is so freakish, that he can stay in front of his man. But any way you slice it his WS is mediocre at best. If the average PG is 6'2" with a WS of 6'5" (these are not legit stats, just made them up) then anything less than 6'5" WS is below average even if a player is 5'5" with a WS of 6'3"
Yeah, according to DraftExpress, both Mills and Lawson are the same height without shoes: 5' 11.25" Mills have a wider wingspan by 1.25 inches approxmiately.
I did read it right and then mentioned I don't know who is laughing at Bayless for his short arms. He's got more then enough size and length for his position IMO. his size is at the low end of acceptable. He's a little shorter then you'd like for a PG, but a good sized wingspan makes up for some of that deficiency. I'd point to Chris Paul making 1st team All NBA D last year yet having a standing reach 2" shorter then Mills as an example of this. STOMP
You know that's nice and all, but really what matters is if they get it done while they are on the court. I never ever during a game sit there and think "You know I sure am glad this player has this wingspan."
