Question for the Nets:
To me, where you could find a lot of success in this matchup would be Richard Hamilton. How do you see the matchup against a young defender like Meeks playing out?
Knicks
Are your guards up to chasing Rip around Perk picks? (Well are your Gs besides Young who doesn't play defense)
Question for the Knicks:
What do you expect the minute breakdowns to be for Meeks vs. Young?
I'm gonna tackle these 2(+1) together. As I mentioned in my press conference I'm gonna play Young 28-30 mpg, Meeks 20-22 mpg. Meeks starts b/c I'm a big fan of Red Auerbach's philosophy of the benefits of a 6th man.
Look, I'm not gonna pretend to try and win the public relations battle of Nick Young over Rip Hamilton (a losing battle I fear given peeople's perception of Young -- though I agree with JB from CelticsStuff Live in calling Rip the "rat faced weasel").
But to act like there is a HUGE gulf between Young and Hamilton at this point -- or even that this series would turn on the SG matchup -- ignores Young's improvement and Rip's decline.
Their games are very similar: Is Young going to have trouble staying with Rip off of all those picks? Yeah. But so will Rip -- who's never been confused as a great defender.
Look at the
2010-11 comarison of Young & Hamilton. Comparing their per36 numbers (to try and account for DET's abysmal coaching):
Young:
19.7 pts, 1.9 3pts, 44.1% FG, 38% 3Pt, 53.8% TS%, 14.5 PER, 114 Def. Rtg, 0.4 Def Win Shares
Hamilton:
18.7 pts, 1.3 3pts, 42.9% FG, 38% 3Pt, 52.0% TS%, 15.8 PER, 115 Def. Rtg, 0.2 Def Win Shares
Am I missing something here? Can 2 players be statistically closer?
Rip is clearly the more seasoned, experience player, but their games are very similar -- constant motion, quality mid-range & outside shooting not a whole lot of defense. Hamilton is a better passer (4.1 to 1.3 ast/36 -- but as I covered in my press conf. Young was asked to shoot when he got the ball ... and he did), Young takes care of the ball better.
Hamilton could/should have been a veteran leader on the Pistons, instead he couldn't get consistent minutes. And in the few Pistons games I saw he clearly had lost a step. Yeah i put alot of that on Kuester, but some of that has to fall on Rip.
On the other hand Young did everything he was asked to. From my press conference:
My position is that Nick is an efficient scorer - but because of his role in the Offense, he is not asked to "create" offense, but rather to finish offensive plays...
I decided to look back at the 2010-2011 season and watch each and every offensive play available to me on MySynergySports.com. I hoped to draw some conclusions from watching the actual plays. I hoped to gather some facts that either proved or disproved my point. And of course, since there's no actual basketball, I'm kind of going into withdrawal...
Spot up shooting, Screen plays, Iso's and Transition make up more than 75% of the offensive plays Nick was involved in. After watching all 1,105 plays, I was blown away by how efficient Nick was at spot-up shooting, especially 3-point spot ups. He shot 46% (69% TSP , or 1.38 points per play) from the 3-point line in spot up situations...For comparison Ray Allen, the premier shooter in the League, shot 49% in spot up 3-point situations last year.
Out of 1105 offensive plays, I saw exactly THREE instances where Nick shot the ball and a teammate was (semi) open either under the basket, or closer to the basket with a clear lane to the hoop... THREE TIMES - and he hit one of those shots.
To those who insist on pointing to the anemic assist numbers for Nick - let's remember what his role was on the team. His role was not to dominate the ball. He was not supposed to hold his dribble, survey the court, look for openings in the defense, create driving opportunities, which in turn create open shots for teammates - and then pass to them to take a shot. It was Nick's job to be continually moving without the ball. Running around screens. Setting up in the corners. His job was to get open and shoot. If he didn't get open, he didn't get the basketball. It's hard to get assists when you don't have the basketball - and when he DID get the basketball, it meant he was open and his Coach and teammates expected him to shoot. Clearly the Wizards coaching staff were maximizing Nick's strengths (46% spot up 3-point shooting - ability to catch-and-shoot off screens), and minimizing his weaknesses.
I fear this is one of those arguments that I'll only be vindicated in after the next season (which may never happen) b/c people are thinking of Rip Hamilton (c. 2009 not 2011):
In the last 2 seasons Hamilton has scored 20+ points in 31 of a possible 164 games (playing in only 61% of those games b/c of injury or DNP-CD).
By contrast, Nick Young scored 20+ points 30 times LAST YEAR ALONE in 64 games. And he did it shooting a higher percentage.
Topic: 2011 CB Draft Eastern Playoffs: 1st Round (Read 50057 times)