Re: Inefficient scoring

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Cecil,

McGrady's at 1.110, which is pretty close to the top 10 "major scorers" used
in the story. Kobe is 1.101, also pretty close to the top 10. Pierce is at
1.055. As for the Nets, Jefferson is at 1.119. For those who didn't bother
clicking on the link, Antoine's efficiency is .959. Only Olowokandi, Malik
Allen and Dejuan Wagner are worse among the "major scorers." That's defined
by guys averaging 10 or more points per game. Tony Battie, by the way, is
ninth overall in efficiency, at 1.203.

Look at the rest of the bottom 10 "major scorers." Only Vince and Antoine
average over 14 points per game. You know what that tells me? The other guys
know their limitations. And Vince has the injury excuse and small sample
size. He's so far averaging career lows in field goal percentage,
three-point percentage and free throw attempts per game. 

Would we welcome guys like Antonio Davis, Cliff Robinson and Michael
Olowokandi? Sure, at the right salary and if they continue to limit their
inefficiency to 10 or 12 shots per game. But you might feel differently if
they're on a max contract and firing away more than 20 times a game.

I'm not saying Antoine doesn't do some good things, but this gets to the
heart of what bothers many of us about Antoine-the guy's career numbers
clearly show he's not a good shooter or efficient scorer. Yet he continues
to hoist shots at near a league-leading rate. I guess a lot of fans have
just accepted it and bought into Obie's company line about the perfect
Antoine, but some of us haven't. The guy continues to show the same
tendencies and at the same time the other things he contributes-rebounding
and assists-continue to drop. 

Mark

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Cecil wrote:

I was wondering how long it would be before someone posted this.

There are several players on that list who we would welcome on the Celts
with open arms....players like Vince Carter, Antonio Davis, Olowokandi,
Cliff Robinson and Caron Butler to name a few.  I'm not sure how much stock
I'd put in any system which has Najera ranked ahead of the pack in scoring
efficiency.  And where are Kobe and Tmac?

There is so much discussion on this list about the importance of a heady
point guard, I would have thought the Nets would have someone near the top.