Wojnarowski makes excuses for CP3

[GreenFaith1819]

I find the most shocking part of that argument that Ray Allen apologized in the other team's locker room. How is that not a bigger story>?

Apparently he didn't.

Allen denied part of a Yahoo! [YHOO] Sports report that claimed he later went into the New Orleans locker room to apologize to Paul for Rondo’s actions. Though he went into the locker room to meet with Paul, Allen said he didn’t apologize.

“Chris was giving us an autographed jersey for the High Hopes Fund,” Allen said of a charity his family supports that is sponsored by the Joslin Diabetes Center. “Chris and I share the tie of being Brand Jordan athletes, so we’re in contact.

“I did ask him, ‘What was going on between the two of you on the floor?’ and he said, ‘It was just the two of us out there competing, that’s all.’ ”

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1209513&srvc=rss

Wow, you mean as  writer your not suppose to go on hearsay but actually ask questions of those involved. 

I wonder if Wojnarowski is going to correct his statements.

Probably not. It just adds to the Hate Meter for Anti-Celtic fans.

The Hate Meter is growing and may soon explode unless the C's lose a game here soon, lol.

[crownsy]

I find the most shocking part of that argument that Ray Allen apologized in the other team's locker room. How is that not a bigger story>?

Apparently he didn't.

Allen denied part of a Yahoo! [YHOO] Sports report that claimed he later went into the New Orleans locker room to apologize to Paul for Rondo’s actions. Though he went into the locker room to meet with Paul, Allen said he didn’t apologize.

“Chris was giving us an autographed jersey for the High Hopes Fund,” Allen said of a charity his family supports that is sponsored by the Joslin Diabetes Center. “Chris and I share the tie of being Brand Jordan athletes, so we’re in contact.

“I did ask him, ‘What was going on between the two of you on the floor?’ and he said, ‘It was just the two of us out there competing, that’s all.’ ”

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1209513&srvc=rss

Wow, you mean as  writer your not suppose to go on hearsay but actually ask questions of those involved. 

I wonder if Wojnarowski is going to correct his statements.

It would be the first time. Wojo is a hack who writes inflammatory pieces and doesn't really bother to check facts or context.

[twinbree]

Writers should be fined when they make crap up or don't do their due diligence in getting their facts straight.

I agree with you. It's just irresponsible journalism.
One can only hope the sources who told him what Rondo said are more credible than the witnesses from the Hornets locker room.

[bleedinggreen34]

CP3 is a elite player, Rajon is not elite yet, not even All-Star yet.

Not that I'm too much into metrics - but in his MVP caliber year, and as the MVP debate went on, it was brought up that CP3's defense was so poor statistically that it offset his offensive contributions (according to metrics).  I know these defensive metrics can be very flawed, but it matches what I see in my eyes.  He's good for steals, but he's not a good defensive player.  In his defense, I believe his defensive metrics were vastly improved last season.

CP3 is an elite fantasy basketball player.  He's not yet an elite player with the likes of Lebron/Kobe, no way.

Which defensive metrics are you talking about here?

Don't recall much that I've read about CP3's defense that year either way, so I'd be curious to take a look if you can be a bit more specific.

-sw

My guess is that he's referring to 2007-2008 adjusted plus/minus. It placed CP3s defense as bad enough to reduce him to a middling player. Which just goes to show you that adjusted plus/minus is a very noisy measure.

Exactly, it was the defensive +/- and defensive FG% +/-, isolated to CP3 - there was also opposing PG FG% while he was in the game, which might be the only real telling stat (I'll try to find the exact stats later on).

Yes, they have to be taken with a grain of salt - as all those metrics do - but I do not think CP3 is - overall - a good defensive player, do you?

I do think he's a good defensive point guard. Go find your stats, then we'll actually have something to talk about.

In the 07-08 seasons, team scored on average +6.93 points more per game w Paul on the court.  He gave up an eFG% of 52%.  Unfortunately I can't find a link with context of other PGs, but I'm pretty sure neither of these stats are good.  I know these are from two years ago, but they were thrown around in the MVP debate as a reason against CP3.  Aside from steals, I think he's a below average defender.

[bleedinggreen34]

Here's some discussion on Paul's metrics from a couple years back:

http://sonicscentral.com/apbrmetrics/viewtopic.php?t=1749

Its all very subjective and iffy (ignore the 2nd post about the OP's #s being wrong, b/c they aren't).

Here's a couple tidbits:

This one has nothing to do with defense:

Since 2004-05, the bottom ten players in terms of impact on teammate's TS% (expressed in points per 48 minutes) are,

Code:
Teammate   Team     MINS    NET    NET/48
Paul        NOH     8139   -212    -1.3
Bell        PHO     8476   -245    -1.4
Chandler    NOH     5299   -158    -1.4
Snow        CLE     6388   -203    -1.5
B.Wallace   DET     5533   -181    -1.6
Przybilla   POR     5740   -220    -1.8
Brezec      CHA     5523   -264    -2.3
Jack        POR     6299   -306    -2.3
Foster      IND     6790   -357    -2.5
Haywood     WAS     7676   -409    -2.6

According to Eli's adjusted +/- splits Paul scores the 3rd weakest defensive +/- of all minutes qualified players at any position across the league and is the worst PG on the measure

Again, take it with a huge grain of salt.

[connerhenry43]

i read this article and was enraged. wojo is a meathead. he got the ray allen part of the story wrong. he made up a quote (“If Rondo had to trade in K.G., Pierce, Ray and Rasheed for the guys that Chris plays with [in New Orleans], I guarantee that you wouldn’t be seeing Rondo get a $55 million contract,” one Hornets source said.) I am sorry, no Hornet exec said that. why would a hornet exex make fun of his own roster in order to make a point about rondo? rondo may be surrounded by HOF talent, but if you actually watched the playoffs last year, you would see that #1, he was down to two hall of fame teammates, and #2, he was the best player the c's had on most nights.

he brushed over the fact that paul got in an altercation with al harrington the prior night. maybe paul is frustrated and is sick of losing. paul is an amzing player, better than rondo. i do not think many people would dispute that.

he quotes rondo's trash talk as if to point out the fact that rondo started it. quick update, 90% of the league trash talks; just because you have the exact quote does not mean you can pinpoint who is right or wrong.

rondo is no saint, but this article was wrong. way off base and unprofessionally written. i am glad this thread was started.

[chelsearules]

woj gets seriously pwned on csl

http://www.celticsstufflive.net/csl-home/kevin-henkin/208-adrian-wojnarowski-lathers-weak-sauce-on-rajon-rondo-and-chris-paul

“Beyond the charming smile and gentlemanly disposition, Paul has a tenacious will and a terrific temper. Beyond it all, he’s downright ferocious.”

Good lord. “Charming smile”? “Gentlemanly disposition”? “Tenacious will”, “terrific temper” AND “downright ferocious”?  At this point, Wojnarowski could have slipped in “extremely buff without a shirt” and “in possession of soft brown eyes that will melt your heart” and I wouldn’t have even blinked.

Of course, in typical Wojnarowski fashion, the remainder of the article is peppered with numerous quotes and inferences from a gaggle of anonymous tipsters, unspecified sources and mysterious “witnesses”. It’s a weak form of journalism in which the writer uses the musings of people who lack the conviction to put their names behind their words to bolster his points. Here are some excerpts that serve as prime examples:

“The procession of trash talk, sources said, pushed into the personal when Rondo was heard to tell Paul, ‘I’ve got a ring, and you’re never gonna win one.’”

“As they traded technical fouls at the Boston Garden, as emotions escalated, sources said Rondo declared that Paul wished he could be him, suggesting that his frustration dripped with envy.”

“If Rondo had to trade in K.G., Pierce, Ray and Rasheed for the guys that Chris plays with [in New Orleans], I guarantee that you wouldn’t be seeing Rondo get a $55 million contract,” one Hornets source said.” (hey, at least he finally shared something about one of his precious sources)

“After the game Sunday night, Celtics [sic] guard Ray Allen walked into the Hornets’ locker room, witnesses said, and all but expressed his embarrassment for Rondo’s increasingly tired act.”

What exactly was said? Without the benefit of what was said by Allen, or even reasonably paraphrased, Wojnarowski’s spoon-fed interpretation means nothing to me. Also, who are these people that are saying these things? Players? Coaches? Front office personnel? Fellow media members? Popcorn vendors? Because it makes a big difference to the reader in who is saying the what, especially with regards to that last excerpt highlighted above.

Okay, let me make sure I get this straight. If Chris Paul gets into a confrontation with Rajon Rondo, it’s because Rondo is a punk partaking in outrageous trash talk (Wojnarowski’s invisible sources say so, so it must be true!). If Paul smacks his friend Al Harrington in the head during a game the very next night, it’s because Paul cares so much about winning. To the more casual observer, it might seem that a player who has confrontations with opponents on back-to-back nights and even has to be held back by coaches from entering an opposing locker room to continue that confrontation after the game…well, some folks might consider that particular player to be the problem.

well played henkin

[tbs]

You have to admit, Rondo does have a false bravado about "I have a ring and you don't." 

Devean George has 3 rings.  So Rondo's point is... what exactly?