Where would you rank Lopez?

[BlazerCaravan]

You know, looking at his per 36 numbers, he is a 14/8/2 guy.

His offensive numbers are down this year (expected) but his rebounding numbers are off the hook. Per 36 he is averaging more than two rebounds per game over his career best.

I think if you really look at the centers in the league, you'd have to rank him top 10ish Somewhere around 9-11

And on top of that, his offensive numbers are improving game by game. Free Throw Percent is way up, he's getting a few touches, and he's scoring way more now than at the beginning of the season. I know Utah makes everyone look good, but he was pretty awesome last night.

 

[Draco]

I was thinking about this in another thread...

Where would you rank Lopez among centers? Where would you rank him in the west and where would you rank him overall?

Once other centers come back from injury for this season I’d rank Robin 8th in the west and 15th overall. I think a part of his success is playing with a group of 4 great starters, few centers in the league have that luxury. But he is making the most of it, and if he continues his current play over the rest of the season he will definitely rise up my rankings. There is only so far a player can jump 22 games into a season.

Thus far Neil made a brilliant move bringing in Robin. I’m particularly impressed with his rebounding, I thought he would stay near his career averages. His clone is such a pathetic rebounder it puzzles me everytime Robin gets a board. But the team hasn’t just averted my fear of being the worst rebounding team in the league, rebounding has been a strength of the team. Maybe part of it is the coaching staff or LaMarcus but Robin deserves much of the credit as well.

Now I agree that he is a great value at his current contract but the problem is he will be a free agent along with Aldridge and Wes at which time he will get a massive raise. Lillard will be eligible for a large extension that summer too. We should be able to keep Robin but this team is probably going to be up near the luxury tax just to keep all the current players on the roster. Batum will need a new contract a year after Robin. This is part of the reason I’d trade Meyers today if we could get anything of value for him. Just as with Luke Babbitt I think we will decline Meyers 4th season on his rookie contract which will need to be guaranteed before next October.

What centers would people trade for Lopez? If the new center had a good attitude and be willing to play in Portland I’d trade Robin for any of Howard, Gasol, Hibbert, Horford, Noah, Davis, Drummond, and Chandler. While I rank Brook, Bogut, Cousins, Sanders, Pek and Splitter above him at the moment I’d rather keep Robin than switch with those guys. Its nice to be in a position where we are happy to stand pat with the team instead of hoping to make a move just to shake things up.


HOWARD
GASOL
HIBBERT
HORFORD
NOAH
DAVIS
DRUMMOND
CHANDLER
B LOPEZ
BOGUT
COUSINS
SANDERS
PEK
SPLITTER

 

[Natebishop3]

Once other centers come back from injury for this season I’d rank Robin 8th in the west and 15th overall. I think a part of his success is playing with a group of 4 great starters, few centers in the league have that luxury. But he is making the most of it, and if he continues his current play over the rest of the season he will definitely rise up my rankings. There is only so far a player can jump 22 games into a season.

Thus far Neil made a brilliant move bringing in Robin. I’m particularly impressed with his rebounding, I thought he would stay near his career averages. His clone is such a pathetic rebounder it puzzles me everytime Robin gets a board. But the team hasn’t just averted my fear of being the worst rebounding team in the league, rebounding has been a strength of the team. Maybe part of it is the coaching staff or LaMarcus but Robin deserves much of the credit as well.

Now I agree that he is a great value at his current contract but the problem is he will be a free agent along with Aldridge and Wes at which time he will get a massive raise. Lillard will be eligible for a large extension that summer too. We should be able to keep Robin but this team is probably going to be up near the luxury tax just to keep all the current players on the roster. Batum will need a new contract a year after Robin. This is part of the reason I’d trade Meyers today if we could get anything of value for him. Just as with Luke Babbitt I think we will decline Meyers 4th season on his rookie contract which will need to be guaranteed before next October.

What centers would people trade for Lopez? If the new center had a good attitude and be willing to play in Portland I’d trade Robin for any of Howard, Gasol, Hibbert, Horford, Noah, Davis, Drummond, and Chandler. While I rank Brook, Bogut, Cousins, Sanders, Pek and Splitter above him at the moment I’d rather keep Robin than switch with those guys. Its nice to be in a position where we are happy to stand pat with the team instead of hoping to make a move just to shake things up.


HOWARD
GASOL
HIBBERT
HORFORD
NOAH
DAVIS
DRUMMOND
CHANDLER
B LOPEZ
BOGUT
COUSINS
SANDERS
PEK
SPLITTER

I don't think I'd put Splitter, Bogut, or Chandler above Lopez. The rest of them I agree with. I'm not sure if Pek is better either.

Howard
Gasol
Hibbert
Horford
Davis
Drummond
B Lopez
Sanders

Noah would all be upgrades though. But I will say this, how many of those players would be as successful in our system?

 

[blue9]

PEK
SPLITTER

I'm not sure I agree with these two. Also, not sure if Chandler can play anymore. Maybe he can - I'm just saying I personally don't know much about how he's doing these days.
Also, where's Asik? Did we really drop him off the list of good Cs because we finally have one who's better than serviceable? Surely Asik > Pek & Splitter!

 

[Natebishop3]

For me, my top five centers (in no particular order) would be:

Howard
Gasol
Hibbert
Drummond
Horford

I don't think Davis is a center.

 

[Mediocre Man]

How many total points MM for games? He's also on a rookie scale contract? Lopez isn't on his

HCP's argument is a dumb one, sorry. the question was where would you rank him, not where would you rank him taking injury, salary, team performance, etc into the equation

 

[noknobs]

Where would you rank Lopez among centers? Where would you rank him in the west and where would you rank him overall?

That's easy- Among starting centers he's 7th in the west and 15th overall. Let me know if you have any additional inquiries.


I will add that he's been a Godsend for this team and fits with the other starters perfectly. So for what this team needs and taking into account salary, age, homerism, etc, I'd obviously rank him higher.

 

[Mediocre Man]

And on top of that, his offensive numbers are improving game by game. Free Throw Percent is way up, he's getting a few touches, and he's scoring way more now than at the beginning of the season. I know Utah makes everyone look good, but he was pretty awesome last night.

Ya, he has been a blessing this year for sure

 

[Natebishop3]

That's easy- Among starting centers he's 6th in the west and 14th overall. Let me know if you have any additional inquiries.


I will add that he's been a Godsend for this team and fits with the other starters perfectly. So for what this team needs and taking into account salary, age, homerism, etc, I'd obviously rank him higher.

And that's an interesting question, because statistics aside, how many of the top centers could you plug into our offense without causing problems?

I would guess probably Gasol, Noah, Hibbert and MAYBE Horford. Howard would change the dynamic of our offense, as would Brooke Lopez. I think any of the big offensive threats at center would mess with our offense. Guys like Cousins, Lopez, and Howard.

Drummond is intriguing though. I'd really like to watch him more because I'm not really sure what his offense looks like.

 

[THE HCP]

HCP's argument is a dumb one, sorry. the question was where would you rank him, not where would you rank him taking injury, salary, team performance, etc into the equation

I can't honestly rank players without taking all those factors into account.

 

[Natebishop3]

I can't honestly rank players without taking all those factors into account.

They each represent a different kind of ranking though. You can rank players statistically, you can rank them based on production vs contract, you can rank them based on team performance, injuries, and minutes played. It would be very difficult to work all those factors into a single ranking because some of them contradict each other.

 

[Mediocre Man]

I can't honestly rank players without taking all those factors into account.

ok.

 

[MAS RipCity]

RIGHT NOW….Off the top of my head:
1- Cousins
2- Gasol
3- Hibbert
4- B. Lopez
5- Drummond
6- Howard
7- Noah
8- Horford
9- R. Lopez
10- Jordan

There's actually a lot more competent centers than I thought before compiling my list. Howard at 6 seems low to me, but I'd take everyone above him over him. Throw in attitude issues and it feels right to me.

 

[PapaG]

Tangent: A couple of spots above Lopez on that list is DeJuan Blair--he of no games missed due to knee injury yet in a career where he STILL hasn't made over 1M a year, and signed a vet minimum 1-yr deal with DAL this summer.

Blair eats up minutes in the regular season. Pop wouldn't let him see the court in the playoffs the last two years.

 

[noknobs]

And that's an interesting question, because statistics aside, how many of the top centers could you plug into our offense without causing problems?

I would guess probably Gasol, Noah, Hibbert and MAYBE Horford. Howard would change the dynamic of our offense, as would Brooke Lopez. I think any of the big offensive threats at center would mess with our offense. Guys like Cousins, Lopez, and Howard.

Drummond is intriguing though. I'd really like to watch him more because I'm not really sure what his offense looks like.

Not sure about my complete list, but the top three centers I'd currently swap with Lopez straight up (taking into account attitude, age, health & the way they play): Hibbert, Vucevic, Drummond. Marc Gasol would take Drummond's place if he were healthy.

Drummond is on my fantasy team so I've been watching some Detroit games. He's still pretty raw, but reminds me of Oden to be honest, in the way he moves and looks. Maybe not quite as big, but seems a little more coordinated in his movements. Very good around the basket, but step out a few feet to say the freethrow line, and he's God awful. I think he'll eventually be an allstar though.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

I don't mean to troll here, but what I am interested in is who is the best player for the Portland Trail Blazers with the schemes we're running offensively and defensively. So, yes I think that Robin is better than his brother, for example - not in a vacuum but for US.

We have the best ORtg in the league by 2.4 points, so we really don't need a player that shoots better than Robin but makes fewer picks. Here's what I'm looking for in a Center:

• Takes pride in defense and rebounding,
• Takes pride in picksetting instead of scoring,
• Enough of a threat so the opposition can't leave him completely on offense,
• Team first player,
• Likes Portland,
• Doesn't make near a max contract.

Generally, analytics hint at what we need, but are not even close to the last word.

With MY measures Robin Lopez ranks very high. Of course so might someone like Asik.

They each represent a different kind of ranking though. You can rank players statistically, you can rank them based on production vs contract, you can rank them based on team performance, injuries, and minutes played. It would be very difficult to work all those factors into a single ranking because some of them contradict each other.

 

[BrianFromWA]

Blair eats up minutes in the regular season. Pop wouldn't let him see the court in the playoffs the last two years.

Would you (personally) play Blair or TRob 12-15 mpg in Round One?

 

[PapaG]

Would you (personally) play Blair or TRob 12-15 mpg in Round One?

Robinson, and I wouldn't think twice about it. He brings an energy off the bench that I love to watch.

Plus, Blair may be the worst PF in terms of defense in the NBA. He fouls the opposing player a lot. He's a beastly garbage player, I do give him that.

 

[BrianFromWA]

Fair enough.

 

[Natebishop3]

Not sure about my complete list, but the top three centers I'd currently swap with Lopez straight up (taking into account attitude, age, health & the way they play): Hibbert, Vucevic, Drummond. Marc Gasol would take Drummond's place if he were healthy.

Drummond is on my fantasy team so I've been watching some Detroit games. He's still pretty raw, but reminds me of Oden to be honest, in the way he moves and looks. Maybe not quite as big, but seems a little more coordinated in his movements. Very good around the basket, but step out a few feet to say the freethrow line, and he's God awful. I think he'll eventually be an allstar though.

The thing is, because of Aldridge we really don't need an offensive minded center. Someone like Cousins or Howard would demand touches. We don't need that. I could see Noah, Gasol, or Hibbert being plugged in seamlessly though. Gasol would be amazing. We need a guy who is capable of scoring when necessary, plays tough defense and rebounds. That fits Robin down to the letter. His defense isn't quite as good as a Hibbert or a Gasol, but he's decent.

 

[magnifier661]

RIGHT NOW….Off the top of my head:
1- Cousins
2- Gasol
3- Hibbert
4- B. Lopez
5- Drummond
6- Howard
7- Noah
8- Horford
9- R. Lopez
10- Jordan

There's actually a lot more competent centers than I thought before compiling my list. Howard at 6 seems low to me, but I'd take everyone above him over him. Throw in attitude issues and it feels right to me.

Wow cousins #1? He's a playa, but I just can't stand his attitude

 

[Draco]

Asik is way overrated, he is basically on par with JJ Hickson's level of talent; a guy who could be a contributing role player on most teams but less than ideal as a starter. He is a one dimensional player with major holes at the other end of the court. He benefited from a crazy pace on that Rockets team and defensive schemes that highlighted his rebounding. His actual production is closer to his career averages on the Bulls as well as this season.

I would hate having Boogie Cousins on my team. Yes athletically the guy can score with the best of them but he has all sorts of Josh Smith moments out there and is a horrific teammate. I don't think his teams will ever be a legit playoff team as that attitude makes everyone around him play a bit worse then they are capable of. He's basically the Stephon Marbury of centers.

 

[MAS RipCity]

Since Shaq took interest in the Kings, Boogie's been a monster.

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

I think we are forgetting Tyson Chandler because of his injury. When healthy, not including salaries, you take Chandler over rolo

 

[Sinobas]

Robin Lopez is awesome, he looks and talks like an Ogre, I love watching his facial expressions when he gives interviews. He's been doing a pretty good job this year, but if he could grab the ball more as opposed to tipping it, and if he could finish strong inside instead of missing a point blank layup, it'd be even better.

 

[Sinobas]

[video=youtube;_28uQi66E7M]

 

[jlprk]

Definitely. What I love is that he'll get an offensive board and then kick it back out, rather than jack up some bad putback. Hickson used to drive me nuts when he would do that.

http://bkref.com/tiny/Bv7qc

FTA per 36 minutes: Hickson 4.2, Lopez 2.8
FG%: Hickson .562, Lopez .503

Hickson got opponents to foul him more, yet still put in his FGs better.

 

[magnifier661]

http://bkref.com/tiny/Bv7qc

FTA per 36 minutes: Hickson 4.2, Lopez 2.8
FG%: Hickson .562, Lopez .503

Hickson got opponents to foul him more, yet still put in his FGs better.

Maybe on Denver because they have zero inside presence. That number is skewed

 

[BlazerCaravan]

That's last year for Hickson... But I bet he was fouled more because he was shaky at the line. Robin makes nearly as many FTs per game with a full attempt less.