2011 CB Draft Western Playoffs: 1st Round

[The Walker Wiggle]

Big Al's defense is perhaps being maligned a bit unfairly, based solely upon reputation.  Last year, he was actually fairly respectable there.  He was top-50 league wide in both post-up and P&R defense, and his points per possession was 70th overall.  That's very good.  Even acknowledging that stats can be misleading, it's unlikely that Big Al would put up defensive numbers like that if he was abjectly terrible.  He's probably about average as a man-to-man defensive center, with the numbers saying he's above-average.

Well, He did post the worst defensive differential of any starter in the league – Utah gave up 6.8 more points per 100 possessions when Jefferson was on the court than when he was off. 113.3 when he was ON, 106.5 when he was off.

But then Utah has the league's best defensive power forward and a pair of strong wing defenders to mitigate the problem.

[indeedproceed]

I've got nene and bosh over kg and al by smidge talent-wise. Likewise jj and batum over pierce and butler talent-wise. But, I've got Utah 2-5 in a big way in consistency and experience, sans big al, but more as a group.

Ive got Calderon and baron.....I don't know. Not even talent-wise. I think baron has a advantage there. But jc is more predictable.

I'd vote Denver to likely get better regular season marks. In this exercise they did not, so al and Davis couldn't have sucked.

Hmmm... And Utah has homecourt. Hmmm....

[The Walker Wiggle]

Jazz,

Defensively who covers Joe Johnson?

Also, I think you might be overstating his decline. Is there anything statistically that backs up your argument?

He was 29 years old last year and only just turned 30. Are you trying to make us believe that JJ is in decline at age 29 when just about every basketball pundit, fan, follower etc. KNOWS that NBA stars hit their peak between age 28 and 31? Was JJ some statistical anomaly and he was declining at age 29?

I'm surprised this is as up for debate as it's been. His scoring average dropped for the fourth straight season, down to 18.2 ppg and among franchise players in the playoffs only an injured Amar'e Stoudemire posted a worst PER. Even hobbled Brandon Roy put up a better mark, 16.42 vs. 15.36.

[KCattheStripe]

Legit question:


Is Kyle Lowry willing to take Bogut's freethrows for him?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ_DVzHrG_4&feature=related

[mgent]

I agree that Nene's defense is overrated, but that's mostly due to his consistency.  In Denver, he has often showed little commitment on the defensive end.  However, after the Carmelo trade, Nene seemed to be re-energized, and his defense was very good.

That's all I am saying here. Nene is a good player but he's by no means a top 5 defensive center. Also the center position in a way has become overrated as it is a shallow position from a talent stand point. It's been five or six years since a team with an all star center was on a title team. In fact like Jefferson and nene it's a position that a lot of PFs play.

One other thing to remember is that defensive rebounding is a part of defense as it ends positions. Jefferson is a very good defensive rebounder and a better one then nene.

No but he's top 10.

[The Walker Wiggle]

I've got nene and bosh over kg and al by smidge talent-wise. Likewise jj and batum over pierce and butler talent-wise.

I disagree strongly, Garnett and Pierce clearly out-class Bosh and Johnson respectively. But Batum was one of a handful of promising young players - Jennings and Beaubois also come to mind - who faltered. He wasn't a starting calibre small forward last season.

And although he came up with some game changing defensive plays, among Synergy's five worst rotation defenders judged by PPP: 1. J.R. Smith, 2. Ramon Sessions, 3. Daniel Gibson, 4. Marco Belinelli, 5. Nic Batum. He also posted a negative defensive differential and allowed an unflattering opponent PER.

He's still a player I like and am hopeful for, but I was very surprised by how poorly he rates out.

[Who]

Nicolas Batum doesn't play for the Nuggets. He plays for the Warriors

The Nuggets have Mbah a Moute as their stopper on the wing + Dorell Wright as their main backup wing.

[The Walker Wiggle]

Nicolas Batum doesn't play for the Nuggets. He plays for the Warriors

The Nuggets have Mbah a Moute as their stopper on the wing + Dorell Wright as their main backup wing.

You're too quick a draw Who. (TP.) I was just catching up on the Grizzlies/Warriors argument and came back to amend... I blame IP. Dorell Wright versus Butler is a much closer match up, with Butler having the far better career but Wright passing the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately test, and both having championship rings as end of bench guys.

[Kane3387]

Nicolas Batum doesn't play for the Nuggets. He plays for the Warriors

The Nuggets have Mbah a Moute as their stopper on the wing + Dorell Wright as their main backup wing.

Yeah but I like batum better then both those guys.

[The Walker Wiggle]

I think they're near-perfect complementary pieces.

co-sign

I agree, as well.  Ray will fit next to Rose.  My bigger question is Memphis' big men; I'm not in love with a Hibbert / Humphries combo.

This is likewise the series that has given me the most trouble. Closest match-up of the first round.

[Kane3387]

Lowry started 71 games last year. That's what bugs me sometimes about my guys I guess. I've done the research, and a lot of them I've watched them play a lot, because I'm a fan, that's why when I say that lowry was the rockets best two way player from the allstar break on last year, I'm confident, or that Bogut is the bucks best player and the biggest reason they made the playoffs last year, I'm confident. But, while I understand that people know Lowry as a backup, or Bogut as 'the white center that plays in Milwaukee, and white centers are slow and unathletic'. But, I know they're wrong.

Compared to most bigs and other NBA players in general bogut is not a top athlete. Is bogut a great athlete compared to me? Sure. But compared to other NBA players he isn't at an advantage from a strictly athletic standpoint.

At his position:

Howard, Noah, deandre, dalembert, horford, nene, gortat, Bynum, Anthony, Chandler, kwame, amare, McGhee, biendris.

Those are just off the top of my head, and at best you could argue bogut is a middle of the pack athlete at center. Still I think there are other guys who are more athletic at center.

[indeedproceed]

We will talk about it tomorrow Kane. You're wrong colonel sanders. Bogut is a better athlete than some of those guys easily....but than what are you basing it on?

[indeedproceed]

Me too...I voted jazz

[RebusRankin]

When do the results get announced? Tomorrow?

[mgent]

We will talk about it tomorrow Kane. You're wrong colonel sanders. Bogut is a better athlete than some of those guys easily....but than what are you basing it on?

Which ones?  Biedrins, maybe Dalembert.  That's it.