<div class="quote_poster">thedude9990 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">im also somewhat mad that he picked wright over warrick, and moore should start</div>
You can be mad for taking Wright, but don't be mad because you passed on Warrick. I wouldn't call his early play a fluke, yet I wouldn't be getting ready to call the kid an All-Star any time soon. You have to take a lot of factors into consideration when discussing his early success. Most importantly, the Grizzlies are just a shell of the team they were last season. The team got rid of Shane Battier and Lorenzen Wright expecting to still be able to run their offense through Gasol in the post, so they didn't sign any free agent big men. That meant that when Gasol did actually go down, they had no roster space for signing any other big men and were pretty much forced to play Warrick serious minutes.
A lot of people know that's the case, but what most people don't realize is that Fratello never changed his playbook from last season, so most of the Grizzlies' plays still run through the four spot: the side screen and roll, high screen and roll, the elbow screen with a four-option, the turn four fist punch, the turn four, the turn out to post play, and lastly, the vplay. I could describe all of those plays in detail, but basically, the end result in all of those plays is a shot by the team's four, which would usually be Gasol but this season is Warrick. So while you have more talented players on the wing like Mike Miller, Eddie Jones, and even Rudy Gay, they're not going to get as many good looks as Hakim Warrick.
Now, a lot of you might point out that Mike Miller has actually gotten more shot attempts than Warrick this season, but that's actually a product of the offense being run through Warrick, because in all of those plays, the direction the offense takes is essentially left up to him. It becomes his choice whether to pass to Jones on the wing, give the ball to Atkins on the cut, or take his defender one on one. In this system, pretty much any four will put up great stats, but that doesn't mean they're succeeding. That is rather measured by wins and losses, and right now the Grizzlies are only 1-2 running their offense through Warrick, with their only win coming against the Charlotte Bobcats.
So with that said, I expect Warrick's statistics to remain about the same as they are now in regards to points and assists until Gasol comes back, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's as talented as Gasol unless he starts helping them win ball games like Gasol did. Also, as far as statistics go, I don't expect his rebounding numbers to stay as high as they are. He's been able to average eight rebounds per game up to this point just because of being on the floor for nearly forty minutes every game. Ultimately, his lack of size is going to catch up with him on the boards.
Also, Jason Kidd is the best point guard in the NBA, has been for the past ten years, and will be until he retires. Players like him don't come around that often, and it's a shame that he pretty much gets ignored on the national level.
