Porzingis Injury Update (Returns 11/25!)

[Vermont Green]

Porzingis seemed fine.  I only saw highlights though.  His personal box score wasn't anything special but the team overall looked really good with him on the floor.  It changes the whole way that the other team can defend.  And also how we can defend.

And now he gets 4 days off before the next game.  Doesn't seem like that is by accident.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I thought he looked a little slower, and a little less explosive than last season when he was healthy. He may need some time to get his legs back.

The inside presence was nice. I forgot what it was like for the other team to choose to not even drive some possessions.

[Phantom255x]

I hope he can play the next two games. Bulls in an NBA Cup game (group play finale), then Cavaliers Sunday. We have 3 days off now. He can rest a bit again after Sunday.

[Vermont Green]

I would say that Porzingis is not 100%.  He has been good, but not at the top of his game.  Below are his plus/minus per 100 possessions when paired with other players.  Other than his pairing with Peterson which is negative, all the others are positive, but in reverse order of how you could rank the other players.  Pairing with Tatum is low, pairing with bench players is high.  Sample size can distort these numbers, of course, but the overall trend of these is interesting.  Kornet and Porzingis only have 14 min together total.

I was listening to the DET game on the radio.  They were making a big deal over the "Ivory Towers" line up of Porzingis and Kornet.  They were +8 in 9 minutes, not bad.  Porzingis was +23 in 30 total minutes, really good, even in an easy win.

K. Porziņģis - L. Kornet       40.0
K. Porziņģis - N. Queta        25.0
K. Porziņģis - S. Hauser      16.8
K. Porziņģis - P. Pritchard    15.9
A. Horford - K. Porziņģis      15.3
K. Porziņģis - J. Brown        14.8
K. Porziņģis - D. White        10.5
J. Holiday - K. Porziņģis        7.3
K. Porziņģis - J. Tatum         7.1
K. Porziņģis - D. Peterson    -8.3

[Goldstar88]

I thought this got bumped because he was injured again. Not cool! 

[SHAQATTACK]

I thought this got bumped because he was injured again. Not cool! 

I had heart failure too for a second

[byennie]

I would say that Porzingis is not 100%.  He has been good, but not at the top of his game.  Below are his plus/minus per 100 possessions when paired with other players.  Other than his pairing with Peterson which is negative, all the others are positive, but in reverse order of how you could rank the other players.  Pairing with Tatum is low, pairing with bench players is high.  Sample size can distort these numbers, of course, but the overall trend of these is interesting.  Kornet and Porzingis only have 14 min together total.

I was listening to the DET game on the radio.  They were making a big deal over the "Ivory Towers" line up of Porzingis and Kornet.  They were +8 in 9 minutes, not bad.  Porzingis was +23 in 30 total minutes, really good, even in an easy win.

K. Porziņģis - L. Kornet       40.0
K. Porziņģis - N. Queta        25.0
K. Porziņģis - S. Hauser      16.8
K. Porziņģis - P. Pritchard    15.9
A. Horford - K. Porziņģis      15.3
K. Porziņģis - J. Brown        14.8
K. Porziņģis - D. White        10.5
J. Holiday - K. Porziņģis        7.3
K. Porziņģis - J. Tatum         7.1
K. Porziņģis - D. Peterson    -8.3

He's played 6 games, and the last 2 were:

24 point victory with Tatum out
6 point loss with Tatum in

Pretty much explains that entire list. As far as raw numbers... a beat from 20/8 every single game.

Not denying he could have a little rust, but for a 6 game run the numbers seem about as expected as possible.

[Roy H.]

I would say that Porzingis is not 100%.  He has been good, but not at the top of his game.  Below are his plus/minus per 100 possessions when paired with other players.  Other than his pairing with Peterson which is negative, all the others are positive, but in reverse order of how you could rank the other players.  Pairing with Tatum is low, pairing with bench players is high.  Sample size can distort these numbers, of course, but the overall trend of these is interesting.  Kornet and Porzingis only have 14 min together total.

I was listening to the DET game on the radio.  They were making a big deal over the "Ivory Towers" line up of Porzingis and Kornet.  They were +8 in 9 minutes, not bad.  Porzingis was +23 in 30 total minutes, really good, even in an easy win.

K. Porziņģis - L. Kornet       40.0
K. Porziņģis - N. Queta        25.0
K. Porziņģis - S. Hauser      16.8
K. Porziņģis - P. Pritchard    15.9
A. Horford - K. Porziņģis      15.3
K. Porziņģis - J. Brown        14.8
K. Porziņģis - D. White        10.5
J. Holiday - K. Porziņģis        7.3
K. Porziņģis - J. Tatum         7.1
K. Porziņģis - D. Peterson    -8.3

He's played 6 games, and the last 2 were:

24 point victory with Tatum out
6 point loss with Tatum in

Pretty much explains that entire list. As far as raw numbers... a beat from 20/8 every single game.

Not denying he could have a little rust, but for a 6 game run the numbers seem about as expected as possible.

Yep.  His shooting is a bit rusty, but his raw production matches last season so far.

[Vermont Green]

Didn't mean to scare people by bumping this thread, but I thought it was the right place to continue the discussion of his return and the status of his play.

My exact words were "He has been good, but not at the top of his game".  I feel like people are disagreeing with me and then saying exactly the same thing with different words like "could have a little rust", "a bit rusty".  Rusty implies to me his shot or timing is a little off.  And that seems to be the case.   46% overall and 33% from 3, down from 52% and 38% last season.  Small sample size this season (6 games) so one good or bad game can distort this.  FGA attempts are up from 13 last season to 15 and 3PA up from 5 to 7 this season but his scoring is about the same.  He is taking more shots to get the same amount of points.  All of this (except the increase in FGA) is perfectly expected and not concerning to me.

To me though, he also does not seem to be moving as well.  He seems to be laboring a little more than last season to move around the court, to get to his spot, to close for a block.  Again, nothing unexpected or concerning after such a long layoff, just not Porzingis at his best.  I expect steady improvement in both his shooting/timing and his overall strength/conditioning.  In the meantime, if I was the coach, I would ask him to throttle back of FGA and 3PA through better shot selection.  Get your points more efficiently, then ramp up as needed.  And focus on, have more energy for, rebounding and defense.  Whether he scores 17 or 22 in a Thursday game in December means nothing.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Didn't mean to scare people by bumping this thread, but I thought it was the right place to continue the discussion of his return and the status of his play.

My exact words were "He has been good, but not at the top of his game".  I feel like people are disagreeing with me and then saying exactly the same thing with different words like "could have a little rust", "a bit rusty".  Rusty implies to me his shot or timing is a little off.  And that seems to be the case.   46% overall and 33% from 3, down from 52% and 38% last season.  Small sample size this season (6 games) so one good or bad game can distort this.  FGA attempts are up from 13 last season to 15 and 3PA up from 5 to 7 this season but his scoring is about the same.  He is taking more shots to get the same amount of points.  All of this (except the increase in FGA) is perfectly expected and not concerning to me.

To me though, he also does not seem to be moving as well.  He seems to be laboring a little more than last season to move around the court, to get to his spot, to close for a block.  Again, nothing unexpected or concerning after such a long layoff, just not Porzingis at his best.  I expect steady improvement in both his shooting/timing and his overall strength/conditioning.  In the meantime, if I was the coach, I would ask him to throttle back of FGA and 3PA through better shot selection.  Get your points more efficiently, then ramp up as needed.  And focus on, have more energy for, rebounding and defense.  Whether he scores 17 or 22 in a Thursday game in December means nothing.

I would agree generally with you. I've also been encouraged by the fact that he has already looked like he is moving better and more explosive each game.

[Goldstar88]

I thought this got bumped because he was injured again. Not cool! 

I had heart failure too for a second

Nice.

[trickybilly]

I would say that Porzingis is not 100%.  He has been good, but not at the top of his game.  Below are his plus/minus per 100 possessions when paired with other players.  Other than his pairing with Peterson which is negative, all the others are positive, but in reverse order of how you could rank the other players.  Pairing with Tatum is low, pairing with bench players is high.  Sample size can distort these numbers, of course, but the overall trend of these is interesting.  Kornet and Porzingis only have 14 min together total.

I was listening to the DET game on the radio.  They were making a big deal over the "Ivory Towers" line up of Porzingis and Kornet.  They were +8 in 9 minutes, not bad.  Porzingis was +23 in 30 total minutes, really good, even in an easy win.

K. Porziņģis - L. Kornet       40.0
K. Porziņģis - N. Queta        25.0
K. Porziņģis - S. Hauser      16.8
K. Porziņģis - P. Pritchard    15.9
A. Horford - K. Porziņģis      15.3
K. Porziņģis - J. Brown        14.8
K. Porziņģis - D. White        10.5
J. Holiday - K. Porziņģis        7.3
K. Porziņģis - J. Tatum         7.1
K. Porziņģis - D. Peterson    -8.3

He's played 6 games, and the last 2 were:

24 point victory with Tatum out
6 point loss with Tatum in

Pretty much explains that entire list. As far as raw numbers... a beat from 20/8 every single game.

Not denying he could have a little rust, but for a 6 game run the numbers seem about as expected as possible.

Yep.  His shooting is a bit rusty, but his raw production matches last season so far.

He's taking some 3's that are unnecessarily long - just take a dribble, hand off, and get into pick and roll/pop. I know he makes quite a lot of those, but I'm sure if we looked at the stats for very long 3's (i.e. >25ft), his numbers would be lower.

[Goldstar88]

@AdamHimmelsbach
Porzingis said he banged his ankle in the first quarter and felt something linger but sat out for precautionary reasons and thinks he'll play in the next game.

[ozgod]

Let's hope it's not serious...my heart stops whenever he has to leave the court due to an injury 

[Vermont Green]

We are now 6 - 5 in the games that Porzingis has played.  He has left two of those 11 games after "tweaking" something.   I would shut him down.  I don't think he is fully strengthened or conditioned yet.  Give him maybe 3 weeks of some kind of a program to get him stronger.  I am sure that they think playing is the best way to get in shape, and I understand that, but 11 games in, he doesn't look any better to me.

He is +2.6 per game in these 11 games, playing primarily with starters, while the team overall is +6.5 in those 11 games (+3.9 without him).  He isn't making a difference.  Horford has been way better.  Even Kornet has been way better in those 11 games, in terms of +/-.  He is 32.8 3P% while putting up 6.1 3PA per game.

It doesn't sound like this most recent "injury" is serious.  But he is not going to hold up for 52 more games and the playoffs at this rate.  He needs to get right and it does not seem to me that just continuing to play him is going to get him right.