If you're not on the L-Train, what are you waiting for?

[Denny Crane]

No it doesn't. Show me in the formula how eFg takes into account a possession where you're trying to get an open 3 and it never comes about.

It's counted as either a missed 2pt shot, a made 2 pt shot, or a foul, or turnover. It is counted.

 

[Blazer Fanatic]

Earth to Brian, Stats don't tell the whole story.

QFT (Quoted For Truth.) It's the "story" Brian is trying to convey, the totality of his argument that I addressed. It is not that he pointed out that perhaps LA isn't making as many shots as some may think, it's that he built his argument around a different premise entirely, that LA is not even the MVP of the Blazers. He took a belief he holds dear, having wanted to trade LA for years, and sought out an advanced stat (see: Dwight Jaynes) to support his belief.

It's a horrible way to make an argument. And while I don't doubt Brian feels he "laid the smack down", I'm feeling even more confident in my argument knowing people have to really, and I mean REALLY, reach to confirm a long-held a deeply rooted bias toward LA.

This is stupid. Watch a game and you'll see the impact LaMarcus has on it. You can't just look at a box score.

If you are a Blazers fan (I can't tell), you should be enjoying the hell out of this season. If not, go to a Heat forum and drool over Norris Cole's efficient game. I'll continue to watch LMA take over games and enjoy every minute.

When you have to resort to "you don't know what you're looking at, you don't know anything about basketball... you don't watch the game... etc.", as Brian did, you've already lost the argument.

As we see that argument can easily be flipped as Bufalo Blazer did, and what does it prove? Two individuals who neither believes the other knows what they are talking about. lol So, let's cut that argument out of the discussion and look at #1 offense, 30-9, and Brian's malcontent with LA for reason even he can't rationalize with more than a shot chart that lacks context.

Efg doesn't account for how easy/difficult it is to get that particular shot.

QFT

I'd guess that you're the only one here that missed Blazer games because they were in Afghanistan, but I don't think that the amount of Blazer ball you've watched is all that uncommon here at all... hell, I've watched most every Blazer game for a lot longer then 2007. I guess this misconception explains why you're comfortable being condescending towards the masses who continue to disagree with you

STOMP

QFT And it is this misconception that makes him feel that I am telling him "I told you so", when I'm really just pointing out his bias and suggesting he be forthcoming about it. And better still, put a sock in it and stop trying to sharp shoot and diminish everything good that Blazer fans want to appreciate about LaMarcus "MVP" Aldridge. Is it really shocking that on a Blazer fan forum, Blazer fans talking about how great LA is playing?

What was so controversial about my OP that solicited such vitriol and animus toward LA from Brian I'll never know.

To boil down Brian's argument, which actually is really a simple one...

Which would you rather have:

.476 shooter taking the hardest 2pt shots in the game
or
.333 3pt shooter taking all 3pt shots

Simple solutions to complex problems. The downfall of humanity. Yes, let's dumb it down. smh

Let's play a game I like to call: KISS.

● Denny is a Bulls Fan.

● The Blazer lead the NBA in 3P% - 39.8 (technically 0.1% behind SA)

● Denny's "choice" is a false one. It should be: would you rather take contested 3P shots at a lower rate OR uncontested 3P shots at a higher rate. One requires LA in the line-up, one does not.



The Blazer are 4-0 versus the best 2 teams in the West, 2-0 on their home court. They did so with the 3 ball and ball movement, created by LA in the post. Every team in the NBA respects his jump shot. Inexplicably, Brian does not and Denny do not.


I'm not going to force anyone to accept this reality. Unfortunately, that won't stop me from presenting a counter argument for my own entertainment, and to share my opinion with other Blazer fan who also are ecstatic with the amount of success the Blazers are having this season.

 

[e_blazer]

I spent a little time on NBA.com playing with their Player Shots stats and a few things popped out that make me think that Stotts knows a bit about how to best use his All Star. Here's a chart sorted by shot attempts in the 15-19 foot range:

The thing that stands out is that LMA leads the league by a huge margin in shot attempts in this range. He's attempted 299 so far and has made 141 shots from that distance, or 47.2%. The next closest player in shot attempts at that distance, Gerald Henderson, has "only" attempted 207 shots and made 83 for 40.3%. Dirk is clearly the best shooter in the league at that distance at 50.2%, but LMA's shooting percentage is remarkable given his volume of shots in the 15-19' range.

Now, let's move in to the 10-14' range:

Dirk is first and LMA is second in the league at shot volume at this distance. Notice, though, that LMA's shooting percentage has dropped to 41.4%. Still respectable, but a clear decline in efficiency over his shots in the 15-19' range.

Move in to the 5-9' range:

LMA drops down to a tie with Tim Duncan for 18th place in shot volume. But look at his shooting percentage; it's dropped to 31%! Shots are more tightly defended in that area so a decline is to be expected, but 31% is the lowest of any player on this chart.

Looks to me like Stotts and LMA know where his strength lies and are maximizing shot attempts in that area. Moving in closer, unless it's to inside of 5 feet, is not going to increase LMA's effectiveness.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

I spent a little time on NBA.com playing with their Player Shots stats and a few things popped out that make me think that Stotts knows a bit about how to best use his All Star. Here's a chart sorted by shot attempts in the 15-19 foot range:

The thing that stands out is that LMA leads the league by a huge margin in shot attempts in this range. He's attempted 299 so far and has made 141 shots from that distance, or 47.2%. The next closest player in shot attempts at that distance, Gerald Henderson, has "only" attempted 207 shots and made 83 for 40.3%. Dirk is clearly the best shooter in the league at that distance at 50.2%, but LMA's shooting percentage is remarkable given his volume of shots in the 15-19' range.

Now, let's move in to the 10-14' range:

Dirk is first and LMA is second in the league at shot volume at this distance. Notice, though, that LMA's shooting percentage has dropped to 41.4%. Still respectable, but a clear decline in efficiency over his shots in the 15-19' range.

Move in to the 5-9' range:

LMA drops down to a tie with Tim Duncan for 18th place in shot volume. But look at his shooting percentage; it's dropped to 31%! Shots are more tightly defended in that area so a decline is to be expected, but 31% is the lowest of any player on this chart.

Looks to me like Stotts and LMA know where his strength lies and are maximizing shot attempts in that area. Moving in closer, unless it's to inside of 5 feet, is not going to increase LMA's effectiveness.

Wow. I did not see that coming.

Repped

 

[Blazer Fanatic]

Looks to me like Stotts and LMA know where his strength lies and are maximizing shot attempts in that area. Moving in closer, unless it's to inside of 5 feet, is not going to increase LMA's effectiveness.

Which leads open looks for the rest of the team and 39.8% 3P%.

30-9

Nice work. Rep.

 

[PapaG]

I spent a little time on NBA.com playing with their Player Shots stats and a few things popped out that make me think that Stotts knows a bit about how to best use his All Star. Here's a chart sorted by shot attempts in the 15-19 foot range:

The thing that stands out is that LMA leads the league by a huge margin in shot attempts in this range. He's attempted 299 so far and has made 141 shots from that distance, or 47.2%. The next closest player in shot attempts at that distance, Gerald Henderson, has "only" attempted 207 shots and made 83 for 40.3%. Dirk is clearly the best shooter in the league at that distance at 50.2%, but LMA's shooting percentage is remarkable given his volume of shots in the 15-19' range.

Now, let's move in to the 10-14' range:

Dirk is first and LMA is second in the league at shot volume at this distance. Notice, though, that LMA's shooting percentage has dropped to 41.4%. Still respectable, but a clear decline in efficiency over his shots in the 15-19' range.

Move in to the 5-9' range:

LMA drops down to a tie with Tim Duncan for 18th place in shot volume. But look at his shooting percentage; it's dropped to 31%! Shots are more tightly defended in that area so a decline is to be expected, but 31% is the lowest of any player on this chart.

Looks to me like Stotts and LMA know where his strength lies and are maximizing shot attempts in that area. Moving in closer, unless it's to inside of 5 feet, is not going to increase LMA's effectiveness.

Repped. You answered my question, and BrianfromWA never even tried to present an alternative on how best to use LMA offensively. Being critical is easy. Finding solutions is why people get paid big bucks in the NBA. Well done, eblazer. I hope we can all have another board party for a playoff game this year!

 

[Blazer Fanatic]

And what's wrong with that argument is that if all a team offers up is 3pt shooting, the opponent has only to defend 3pt shooters and soon the percentage falls to .250 or so.

The argument is flawed in its simplicity. These shots don't go up in a vacuum.

Y'all were way ahead of me. Can't take a day off without getting way behind on this forum. lol

 

[HailBlazers]

e_blazer for President.

 

[Blazer Fanatic]

Would you say, Buffalo, that not using them is better for understanding and analyzing the games and players? Do you advocate just going by what people's recollections of games are?

A tool is only a good as the individual using it. You're trying to use a rolling pin to open a can of soup, and you've gone and spewed Campbell's all over the Kitchen again. smh

 

[Blazer Fanatic]

Actually, it does.

And Brian's argument isn't solely about eFG%, but also that 17' shots are low percentage (more difficult).

I do think LMA is easily the team's MVP.

Brain disagrees.

If you really want to make MVP arguments, and you really want to "jump on the L-Train", then stick with the counting stats and enjoy. The more you watch, and the more that you study what your eyes may not see, the more you realize that LMA has become the perfect Robin, and that he probably isn't even the team's MVP (I'll save that for another post), and he probably shouldn't keep jacking up the voluminous amount of jumpers that he does, since he's not doing any better than anytime else in his career (actually, worse, since he's shooting more of them).

He also feels that if you disagree with this perception, although I'm not sure how my OP solicited this type of reaction, that you don't understand the game. He got everything he asked for in my response, and a whole lot more from other's.

 

[Blazer Fanatic]

Or, if we don't like something, we can point it out in the thread. This was supposed to be a thread praising LMA, which seems fairly reasonable for a Blazer board, until two of the bigger know anti-LMA posters hi-jacked it to start criticizing LMA.

One of them made an absolute fool out of himself this summer with his non-stop LMA bashing, and he still carries it over to this season. Yes, I am sick of it. How about a Sticky thread so blue9 and BrianfromWA can find various ways to post "jump shooter" and "poor rebounder" over and over and over and over again?

This what my take away from the entire context of Brian's original post. I'm all "eyes" if that wasn't the intended take away.

It never ceases to amaze me that the most vocal of critics cannot provide an alternative approach that makes any sense.

 

[Denny Crane]

D'oh?

http://stats.nba.com/playerShotchart.html?PlayerID=200746&zone-mode=basic

 

[Strenuus]

 

[Blazer Fanatic]

I guess what I don't understand is getting upset over someone posting actual facts to back up an opinion.

If this was a case of Brian simply saying, "LA sucks. I don't care what anyone says," I guess I could understand.

Facts taken out of context are useless Nate. It's science. Even if they are correct when doing so, the explanation for why is shit logic. Brian doesn't care what people think. lol What in his OP in this thread led you to believe that he cares what other people think? No one is vilifying or piling on Brian, they are piling on, chewing up, and spitting out his is bad argument. Subtle difference, I know.

Brian, through his post, has shown that he doesn't understand or appreciate LA's value or game in relation to a 30-9 record. It's not me saying Brian is incapable of doing so, or doesn't watch the games. He made the argument, and drew the conclusion (LA probably isn't even the MVP of the Blazers) from that bad argument.

 

[Blazer Fanatic]

Your contribution to this thread has been invaluable. Keep up the good work.

Brian throwing the facts around. I like it.

 

[Denny Crane]

 

[Natebishop3]

Facts taken out of context are useless Nate. It's science. Even if they are correct when doing so, the explanation for why is shit logic. Brian doesn't care what people think. lol What in his OP in this thread led you to believe that he cares what other people think? No one is vilifying or piling on Brian, they are piling on, chewing up, and spitting out his is bad argument. Subtle difference, I know.

Brian, through his post, has shown that he doesn't understand or appreciate LA's value or game in relation to a 30-9 record. It's not me saying Brian is incapable of doing so, or doesn't watch the games. He made the argument, and drew the conclusion (LA probably isn't even the MVP of the Blazers) from that bad argument.

Which is fine, if you can refute the points then more power to you, but I wish people would stop defining what a true fan is. There's no reason to make it personal. If you disagree with him, just refute his points and move on. That's the fun of debating an issue. You asked why people aren't on the L Train and Brian posted his reasons. Wasn't that the point of your thread?

Let him make his case, if you think he's wrong then you can counter, and let people decide for themselves. I just wish people wouldn't call other posters haters or tell them they're not real fans.

 

[Blazer Fanatic]

Which is fine, if you can refute the points then more power to you, but I wish people would stop defining what a true fan is. There's no reason to make it personal. If you disagree with him, just refute his points and move on. That's the fun of debating an issue. You asked why people aren't on the L Train and Brian posted his reasons. Wasn't that the point of your thread?

Let him make his case, if you think he's wrong then you can counter, and let people decide for themselves. I just wish people wouldn't call other posters haters or tell them they're not real fans.

I didn't use the term "hater" or question anyone Blazer fan-dom in my OP. I DID point out that Brian's opinion is excruciatingly bias (and according to others, it has been so for years), and that he sought out a stats to support that opinion.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Brian is going to ban 6 or 7 of you.

 

[BrianFromWA]

It's the "story" Brian is trying to convey, the totality of his argument that I addressed. It is not that he pointed out that perhaps LA isn't making as many shots as some may think, it's that he built his argument around a different premise entirely, that LA is not even the MVP of the Blazers.

There isn't a single post you can quote to say that.

He took a belief he holds dear, having wanted to trade LA for years, and sought out an advanced stat (see: Dwight Jaynes) to support his belief.

You can't possibly think that you can make up history for me, can you?

And while I don't doubt Brian feels he "laid the smack down", I'm feeling even more confident in my argument knowing people have to really, and I mean REALLY, reach to confirm a long-held a deeply rooted bias toward LA.

Don't worry about how I feel, worry about your made-up statistics being refuted and your conclusion being incorrect. You're 0-2 so far, dear.

30-9, and Brian's malcontent with LA for reason even he can't rationalize with more than a shot chart that lacks context.

You still have yet to put up a stat that shows that a) LMA has done anything different than last year (or else I'll just keep putting up 33-49! and look as dumb as your conclusions do) to give us the #1 offense other than chuck 3 extra shots a game, or b) point out that the shot chart, basic stats, advanced stats and video show that you're wrong.

Every team in the NBA respects his jump shot. Inexplicably, Brian does not and Denny do not.

If that's the case, then why do so many teams give it to him? Teams have jumped Lillard on the P&R to take it away. Teams have doubled LMA on the block to keep him out of the paint. None have fronted him to keep the ball out of his hands on the block, and few have denied him the "pop" on the Pick and pop. Once again, an incorrect assumption, partially clouded by the fact that you're pulling it out of your keister, with zero proof or backup.

Unfortunately, that won't stop me from presenting a counter argument for my own entertainment, and to share my opinion with other Blazer fan who also are ecstatic with the amount of success the Blazers are having this season.

You must've been a hoot last year, High Priestess, screaming out "33-49!" "10 in a row!...no, 11!...no, 12!...no, 13!

I'll get to the rest later.

 

[BrianFromWA]

I didn't use the term "hater" or question anyone Blazer fan-dom in my OP. I DID point out that Brian's opinion is excruciatingly bias (and according to others, it has been so for years), and that he sought out a stats to support that opinion.

It wasn't hard. I'm not 'bias' for or against anyone, but every single stat available supports my opinion and counters yours, which was based off a made-up stat to begin with.

 

[BrianFromWA]

I spent a little time on NBA.com playing with their Player Shots stats and a few things popped out that make me think that Stotts knows a bit about how to best use his All Star. Here's a chart sorted by shot attempts in the 15-19 foot range:

The thing that stands out is that LMA leads the league by a huge margin in shot attempts in this range. He's attempted 299 so far and has made 141 shots from that distance, or 47.2%. The next closest player in shot attempts at that distance, Gerald Henderson, has "only" attempted 207 shots and made 83 for 40.3%. Dirk is clearly the best shooter in the league at that distance at 50.2%, but LMA's shooting percentage is remarkable given his volume of shots in the 15-19' range.

I like this. I would submit that if you ask many coaches (completely my opinion), but aside from Dirk But I don't know why it's clipped, or that
(BTW, if someone can show me how to copy this, I'll post what I found...if not, you can just look at it yourself)
Scola- 55.6% on 99 shots. B. Lopez 55% on 40 shots. Hibbert 52.5% on 40 shots. Varejao 52.4 on 82 shots. West 51.9% on 129 shots. Big Baby 50.4 on 129 shots. Dirk 50.2% on 205 shots. Sullinger 51.2% on 43 shots. Hell, Freeland's at 50% on his 32 shots. Jason Smith (NOP) 47.8% on 159 shots. Mike Dunleavy 47.5% on 57. Kawhi Leonard 47.2% on 53 shots. And I'm just counting bigs. Lillard, Afflalo, Redick, etc all are higher with >40 shots.

Looks to me like Stotts and LMA know where his strength lies and are maximizing shot attempts in that area. Moving in closer, unless it's to inside of 5 feet, is not going to increase LMA's effectiveness.

I notice you didn't have his 41% on 99 shots from 19-23, but you made a good point. LMA takes way more shots in the league than anyone from the place that is the worst in the league to shoot from. 300 possessions where we get .94 points per possession? Anyone want to tell me how that stacks up? And another 140 from his "bread and butter" spot 10-14 feet where he gets .82 points per possession? Our average PPP is 110. When LMA shoots his "good" jumper, he gets fewer PPP than the worst team in the league on average, MIL at .95. When he shoots from his next "respectable" position, he gets .84 PPP, or roughly what DeAndre Jordan shoots from the foul line. His team takes him out of the game so that they're not subjected to that shot. You're saying LMA's "respectable" with it, and others surmise that I should "be on the L_Train" because of it. Sorry.

Your conclusion that "LMA knows where his strength lies" seems to disregard the 65% he's shooting in close, or the 58% in the paint. That seems higher than the other stats you posted. Is that not a strength?

But repped. I love reasoned arguments.

 

[BrianFromWA]

Repped. You answered my question, and BrianfromWA never even tried to present an alternative on how best to use LMA offensively. Being critical is easy. Finding solutions is why people get paid big bucks in the NBA. Well done, eblazer. I hope we can all have another board party for a playoff game this year!

Last year LMA shot 510 shots from 16' to 23', (6.9 per game) making 41.8% of them. The next highest total was Demar DeRozan (457, or 5.6 per game) and then Steph Curry and K*be at 384 (5.0 per game).

So even if LMA just maintained being as voluminous a chucker as Steph/K*be/DeRozan, and took those extra 2 shots per game from 3pt land instead of where he does, he would only have to shoot 27.9% on them to be more effective (and help the team more). If he was at, say, 33% instead of 28%, then he scores 30+ more per year (about half a point per game). And that's IF HE STILL CHUCKS AS MUCH AS K*BE AND STEPH CURRY!

Now, LMA isn't the only big who likes the long jumper. KG, Bosh, Melo, Horford and Scola are all in the 300's (about 4 shots per game) from there. But they all shoot better than LMA does. KG and Scola shoot 45 and 46%. Bosh shoots 52% on his mid-range shots. If LMA was able to curtail his 16-23' to KG/Bosh levels, and mix 2 more shots inside and 2 outside, it would be great. Assuming his career percentages (and adding in a 34% 3pt%, which personally I think is low), he would trade 7 16'-23' shots per game with a 41.8% clip (netting 5.8 ppg, on average) for 2 shots 0-15 feet (53.6%), 3 (16'-23') at 41.8%, and 2 3pters at 34%, those 7 shots would go up to 6.8 ppg. I'm not talking about turning him into a low post player, or getting any better at shooting than he already is. If he just took a step back twice a game, and a step in twice a game, he (and therefore, the Blazers) score 0.9 ppg more.

http://sportstwo.com/threads/247358-Aldridge-plans-to-shoot-more-3s/page2

That's just the first I found. There are at least two threads more.

 

[e_blazer]

Scola- 55.6% on 99 shots. B. Lopez 55% on 40 shots. Hibbert 52.5% on 40 shots. Varejao 52.4 on 82 shots. West 51.9% on 129 shots. Big Baby 50.4 on 129 shots. Dirk 50.2% on 205 shots. Sullinger 51.2% on 43 shots. Hell, Freeland's at 50% on his 32 shots. Jason Smith (NOP) 47.8% on 159 shots. Mike Dunleavy 47.5% on 57. Kawhi Leonard 47.2% on 53 shots. And I'm just counting bigs. Lillard, Afflalo, Redick, etc all are higher with >40 shots.

I'd submit that those guys who are shooting a higher percentage from that range on a much lower volume of shots are not the focus of their team's offense and that most of those shot attempts occur when they happen to get an open look. That's a lot different than LMA who usually is closely guarded and is the driving force of Stott's offense.

I notice you didn't have his 41% on 99 shots from 19-23, but you made a good point. LMA takes way more shots in the league than anyone from the place that is the worst in the league to shoot from. 300 possessions where we get .94 points per possession? Anyone want to tell me how that stacks up? And another 140 from his "bread and butter" spot 10-14 feet where he gets .82 points per possession? Our average PPP is 110. When LMA shoots his "good" jumper, he gets fewer PPP than the worst team in the league on average, MIL at .95. When he shoots from his next "respectable" position, he gets .84 PPP, or roughly what DeAndre Jordan shoots from the foul line. His team takes him out of the game so that they're not subjected to that shot. You're saying LMA's "respectable" with it, and others surmise that I should "be on the L_Train" because of it. Sorry.

I didn't include LMA's longer shots because I don't think that he should be shooting as many of them as he does. That said, I think a lot of them result from broken down sets where he's putting the shot up at the end of the clock.

I think you're talking apples and oranges when you mix PPP from a given location vs. overall average PPP for a game. I think that this is my main objection to your basic argument, or at least what I understand your main argument to be. There certainly are more efficient places to score points than the 15-19' range, but I think that you have to have LMA setting that as a mainstay in the Blazers' offense in order to open up the opportunities for the more efficient shots. Threes are only more efficient if they're not closely guarded. Layups are only available if the defense has to give attention to other areas.

Your conclusion that "LMA knows where his strength lies" seems to disregard the 65% he's shooting in close, or the 58% in the paint. That seems higher than the other stats you posted. Is that not a strength?

But repped. I love reasoned arguments.

The 65% from in closer than 5' is certainly more efficient, but you certainly can't be saying that that can be a mainstay of LMA's offense. Those pesky defenders tend to try to dissuade you from getting looks from there. I'm more than happy to have LMA shoot nothing but dunks and layups if we can figure out a way to make the defense go along with that strategy. Jedi mind tricks maybe?

Same to you on reasoned arguments.

 

[Blazer Fanatic]

There isn't a single post you can quote to say that.

ORLY? I did, several times in fact. lol

The more you watch, and the more that you study what your eyes may not see, the more you realize that LMA has become the perfect Robin, and that he probably isn't even the team's MVP (I'll save that for another post)

At this point, I'm inclined to not discuss this much further with you. You dispute what you wrote even in this very thread. How can you possibly be expected not to incredulously dispute what others type as well? You can't.

The line you posted in the OP is wrong.

From Dec 1st thru the date in January when I made the post, it is correct. Dec stats + Jan stats = the stats cited in my OP

It's math. smh

You can't possibly think that you can make up history for me, can you?

Your beef isn't with me on that issue. I wasn't here. But I'm inclined to believe others who have said you've been down on LA for years based on your argument in this thread.

[Skip to the insults]

... homeristic Blazer Priestess... holier-than-thou Blazer Priestess...High Priestess

The misogyny of a bad argument. I guess it's cool to know there are two people who think this of me. Not sure how my husband would feel about it. Awkward.

At Homer's Edge they may not have cared about you backing up your opinion, but there are more than a few here who don't fall for "told you so" B.S. from people who just toss crap at the wall to see if it sticks... I've been a little tired of the holier-than-thou Blazer Priestess crap muddling the board, so I decided that this time I wouldn't just sit by and let you attempt to play the "I told you so" card again by making up stats and pushing them off as you being correct.

Let it out. We're all here for you... maybe. As you wrote to me, look in the mirror. You have 3 fingers pointing back at you, and perhaps a thumb pointing up at God. Who knows? I just hear rage when I read your post. Can't handle the heat, get outta my kitchen.

 

[Blazer Fanatic]

I'd submit that those guys who are shooting a higher percentage from that range on a much lower volume of shots are not the focus of their team's offense and that most of those shot attempts occur when they happen to get an open look. That's a lot different than LMA who usually is closely guarded and is the driving force of Stott's offense.

Context missing from Brian's argument. +1

I think a lot of them result from broken down sets where he's putting the shot up at the end of the clock.

Context missing from Brian's argument. +1


I applaud your patience.

 

[BrianFromWA]

At this point, I'm inclined to not discuss this much further with you. You dispute what you wrote even in this very thread. How can you possibly be expected not to incredulously dispute what others type as well? You can't.

Aw, quitting so soon? And with the "I'm inclined not to discuss..." well, thank you for your politeness. It's much better than the standard put-offs. Carry on and enjoy your weekend.

Your beef isn't with me on that issue. I wasn't here. But I'm inclined to believe others who have said you've been down on LA for years based on your argument in this thread.

Well, there you go making factually-incorrect opinions based off of bupkis. Again.

Let it out. We're all here for you... maybe. As you wrote to me, look in the mirror. You have 3 fingers pointing back at you, and perhaps a thumb pointing up at God. Who knows? I just hear rage when I read your post. Can't handle the heat, get outta my kitchen.

You're the one who has still yet to post a single non-made-up stat or argument to back up your opinion. This isn't Homer's Edge.

And I'm pretty good in the kitchen.

 

[BrianFromWA]

I'd submit that those guys who are shooting a higher percentage from that range on a much lower volume of shots are not the focus of their team's offense and that most of those shot attempts occur when they happen to get an open look. That's a lot different than LMA who usually is closely guarded and is the driving force of Stott's offense.

So what you're saying is that LMA shooting "closely guarded" jumpers at 42-47% is better than one of those supposedly-spaced players shooting 43-45% from 3? Why's he taking them? No one's saying "don't take open 15-foot J's off the pick-and-pop." I (in particular) am saying that the offense would be much more efficient (acknowledging that we're #1 right now) if LMA wasn't taking as many "closely guarded" J's at 42-47%.

I didn't include LMA's longer shots because I don't think that he should be shooting as many of them as he does.

Agree, but why? If he shoots them at the same "respectable" rate as he does from 10-14 feet, what's the difference? Spacing? The fact that he could take a step back and get another point? [/quote] That said, I think a lot of them result from broken down sets where he's putting the shot up at the end of the clock.[/quote]82games.com doesn't agree. If there are more than 14 seconds on the clock, his eFG is 59%. If there are less than 14 seconds, it's 42.8% (and 37% on his end-of-clock shots).

I think you're talking apples and oranges when you mix PPP from a given location vs. overall average PPP for a game. I think that this is my main objection to your basic argument, or at least what I understand your main argument to be.

Isn't PPP overall the sum of your PPP's at different areas?

There certainly are more efficient places to score points than the 15-19' range, but I think that you have to have LMA setting that as a mainstay in the Blazers' offense in order to open up the opportunities for the more efficient shots. Threes are only more efficient if they're not closely guarded. Layups are only available if the defense has to give attention to other areas.

So, assuming LMA is "closely guarded", then why is he taking the shot and not passing to a (presumably less-guarded?) teammate? Again, no one's telling him not to start at the 15-foot mark or the low block and draw defenders. No one's telling him not to shoot a wide-open shot, whether 12 feet or 21. But IF he's "closely-guarded" on a bunch of his J's (which I concede he is) and the point of him shooting is to draw defenders to open up teammates, why isn't he passing to those open teammates instead of taking contested shots at a rate that the Milwaukee Bucks would say hurts their offense?

The 65% from in closer than 5' is certainly more efficient, but you certainly can't be saying that that can be a mainstay of LMA's offense. Those pesky defenders tend to try to dissuade you from getting looks from there.I'm more than happy to have LMA shoot nothing but dunks and layups if we can figure out a way to make the defense go along with that strategy. Jedi mind tricks maybe?

He's doing pretty well tonight, right? And why is it that 4x World Champ Tim Duncan can make being in the paint a mainstay of his offense, but LMA can't? 28 more teams in the league shoot more shots in the paint than the Blazers---how do they do it?

 

[blue9]

I'm waiting for him to play like this (@DAL) every game! I'm on the train...tonight.

 

[PapaG]

Brian is going to ban 6 or 7 of you.

Nobody likes having their idiotic ideas thrown back in their face.