Billups, the point, and patience

["Peter G. Toner" <Peter.Toner@anu.edu.au>]

Billups really does stink. Among guards in the NBA, he is only 53rd in
scoring, 73rd in rebounding, 31st in assists, and 25th in steals. Pretty
low numbers, eh?

But wait a minute. Among rookies, Chauncey is 10th in scoring (10.2), 3rd
in 3 pt. FG% (.364), 4th in FT% (.811), 4th in assists (3.8), and 3rd in
steals (1.43). These numbers aren't so bad.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that Billups is comparing well to
his peers, and will possibly make the All-Rookie second team. He has a lot
of room for improvement, but he's certainly not stinking up the place. Of
course stats don't tell the whole story, but we might do well to have a
little patience and give him some room to develop to his high potential.

On the subject of trading Billuos for Nash, it's interesting to note that
Chauncey is ahead of Steve in scoring, rebounding, assists, and steals.

Just my $0.02 worth.

Pete

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"re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book,
dismiss whatever insults your soul, and your very flesh shall be a great
poem."
						-Walt Whitman

Peter G. Toner
Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
The Australian National University
Canberra, A.C.T. 0200
Australia
+61 6 249 4419 (phone)
+61 6 249 2711(fax)
Peter.Toner@anu.edu.au (email)
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