Interesting Article on Hoops about our boy Twaine.

["Troy Hash" <troyhash@xxxxxxx>]

He was named the "most overrated" player in NBA at small forward.

            Statistically Speaking
            By Rod Clarida
            for HOOPSWORLD.com
            Jun 22, 2003, 16:27  Email this article
             Printer friendly page

      Sorry to the regulars for taking so long to write again. Daughter
graduated college and a trip to Las Vegas put me behind. To make it up, this
article is Part 1 of the Most Over-rated Team, covering the frontcourt. I will
post Part 2, the backcourt and 6th man in just a few days (no waiting a week
between articles). Part 3 will be the Most Over-rated Superstar a few days
later. Thus, 3 articles in a short period.

      There is a lot of subjectivity to the term Most Overrated Players. There
are also a couple of different standards to meet. One standard is using Most
Overpaid, which is not what I am talking about. Most Overpaid would be someone
like Juwan Howard who, while a solid player, got signed by an owner who didn't
understand value when there was no salary cap. Most Overpaid would also
include people like Chris Childs, and Brent Price, who turned a good second
half of a season replacing a starter into a huge contract as free agents the
next year when they went back to being journeymen. It also would include Jim
McIlvaine who was paid because his 'blocks per minute' statistic for playing
10 minutes a game impressed an owner who thought if he could play 40 minutes
he would be Tree Rollins and Mark Eaton rolled into one even though he had no
talent. The Most Overpaid player in recent years to me has been Ike Austin,
who was never anything more than a backup to Zo in Miami, but had a nice,
ordinary 2 months coming off the bench while Zo was hurt which got him a huge
contract when the Clippers (who traded Brent Barry for him) refused to sign
him (rightfully so even though critics of Sterling thought he should be
signed). Orlando signed him to big bucks while people who had actually seen
him play knew he was a lump. Fortunately Orlando found out in one year how big
a waste of money he was and traded him to Washington for Ben Wallace in what
rivals the Elton Brand/Tyson Chandler trade for one-sidedness in the last
decade. But again, Most Overpaid is not the same as Most Overrated.

      To me, Most Overrated is a good to average player who is hyped, gushed
over by announcers, talked and written glowingly about, adored by fans and
media alike, but has to constantly have excuses made for why his performance
and results aren't equal to all the hype. I will use statistics to back up my
points, which is something the apologists for the players on the list want to
ignore.

      The following is the NBA's Most Overrated Team, by position,
Frontcount:

      Center: Michael Olowokandi. This is so easy. Not that this guy is
considered great by anyone (except his silly agent), but all the hype over the
last year about what a great and anticipated free agent he would be. Columnist
after columnist wrote how the Clippers should have signed him so as not to
piss him off and lose him. Lose what? He is simply a stiff. One of my friends
dubbed him "OlowaStiffy", and the nickname sticks. This bum has been in the
league 5 years. He was the number-freaking-one pick of the draft! His 'fans'
love to talk about how he has improved each year. At what? His scoring average
has improved. Right. Take a look at that. He has shot EXACTLY 43% ever year!
EVERY YEAR! Never more, never less. So slick, lets see, if you shoot 43% every
year for 5 years, and your scoring average goes up, what does that mean? That
you took more shots every year, because you sure as hell didn't MAKE any more!
Don't you just love a guy that is 7 feet tall and can't make over 43% of his
shots? He has no offensive game, his shots are all taken within arms-length of
the basket, yet this stiff can't make more than 43% of his shots! Steve Kerr
makes that % of his three-point shots! The stupidest comment I have ever heard
was early in the season last year when his moron agent claimed that "if the
draft were held again today, the only player that would be taken ahead of
Michael is Dirk Nowitzki"! And not ONE reporter listening had the balls to ask
"what about Pierce? Carter? Jamison? Bibby?" (I assume they were all laughing
so hard they fell out of their chairs and couldn't speak, because how anyone
could let THAT question go I don't know) Hell, I'd take Raef LaFrenz at center
myself. This guy was being talked about as being a top-flight free agent who
would get the max from San Antonio or Denver. San Antonio is not that stupid,
and in Denver, Kiki has young talent that can actually play the game. He can
rebound some and block a few shots when he stays out of foul trouble, but the
problem is he thinks he has an offensive game. He wants the ball. I can't tell
you how many times I have seen a Clipper game begin with the first 2
possessions being passes in to Olowokandi to 'get him started offensively'
which end up with a blown layup or a turnover. And he pouts and whines when he
isn't involved in the offense (which usually is much better during that time).
While the hype is less this summer, and the talk about him getting the max is
down, lets realize that some fool, somewhere will think a 7 footer he has
actually heard of is worth a lot of money. If the Clippers do what they
should, they let him go. Come to think of it, the Clippers ALWAYS let them go,
and in this case, as in the cases of Mo Taylor and Ike Austin, it's a good
thing.

      Power Forward: Rasheed Wallace. Now the talent that is overrated is
getting better, but again, not close to the hype it gets. I have heard
Rash-Weed called everything from a 'franchise player' to 'on the edge of
superstardom'. What are these guys seeing? I don't know but it isn't there.
For several years, Wallace did show improvement in all areas of his game. His
rebounds improved and his shooting % was always over 50%. But then he
developed "AntoineWalkerItis". He fell in love with the 3-point shot. His 3's
have increased dramatically in the last 2 years, but his shooting % has
dropped also. His scoring has stopped increasing, and his rebounds are
pathetic for a power forward. It goes without saying that he has hurt his team
badly because he isn't mature enough to stop arguing with the referees (oh, I
forgot, he has to be a 'man' and stand up for himself). I believe his downfall
came when he choked 3 years ago in the 4th quarter of the Laker/Blazer game 7
where Portland led by 78 point or something like that and Wallace took and
missed about 47 straight shots while the Blazers blew the NBA title (yes, it's
called exaggerating, but any Blazer fan will tell you it felt that way at the
time). He doesn't show leadership (how can you lead when you are being thrown
out of games) and he won't take over as Mr Clutch in down the stretch (he
pulls a "Webber"). Is part of this problem due to the fact that the Blazers
have too many players? Absolutely. But superstars find ways to take over and
win. For all the hype he gets, he isn't in the top 7 PF in the West. Garnett,
Duncan, Webber, Nowitzki, Malone, Gasol and Brand are all better (yes, I'd
rather have Elton). And he is lucky McDyess is in the East or he'd drop
another spot. If Jermaine O'Neill signs with the Spurs, he will fall to number
9 (although Karl Malone could retire or move East just so Rash-Weed won't be
that embarrassed). He's also lucky that Marion and Jamison are considered
small forwards. Hey, Amare Stoudamire and Nene Hilario will pass him soon. And
the Blazer writer is speculating that Portland won't give him the 20 million
he wants next year. I should hope not. Who will? He's not a bad player, just
an over-rated one.

      Small Forward: Antoine Walker. Now we are to the King of Over-rated! We
call this guy "An-Tank". His salary is killing the Celtics (you can be
over-rated AND over-paid). Even his own team's announcer, the biggest homer in
history (and one of the worst announcers) Tommy Heinsohn constantly complains
that 'Twoine won't play where he should, inside, but stands outside and shoots
3's all night. Hey, even Tommy is right once in a while. When asked this
season why he takes so many 3's, he claimed "because they don't have 4's". I
guess when you are a career 41% shooter, you don't like to be questioned about
your shot selection. His shooting % has dropped over the last 4 years from a
'high' of 43% (Remember that is Olowostiffy's yearly average) to 41%, 39% and
this year 38%. How low can he go? Celtic fans have to ask themselves that. Of
course, his career FT% is 66%, and this year he shot a whopping 61% from the
charity stripe. What is the strategy of a Celtic opponent? Back off of Antoine
and let him shoot. Chances are, it isn't going in. He does get good assists
and rebounds (seems like he should do something for all that money), but his
rebounds have been dropping off every year also. I guess the more he shoots
outside, the less inside presence the Celtics have. Of course, why do they
need 'Twoine inside when they have Tony Battie and Vin Baker? Walker had a
dismal playoff game shooting, and was quoted as saying "I feel bad about this
because I am known for coming up big in the playoffs over my career". Huh?
When has he ever come up big? (and I don't mean one game) Do reporters just
write what is said and never check out facts, like this and Olowostiffy's
agent's comment? Lets see, 'Twoine was never in the playoffs before last year,
and this year he shot 41% (pathetic, but the same as his career FG%). He also
shot only 41% last year. Seems consistent to me. Consistently bad. Seems also
like he is known more for not making the playoffs and then shooting poorly
when he gets there. This guy will hurt the Celtics for years to come, as it is
apparent that: 1) no one will trade for that salary, 2) he isn't a winner at
the pro level (they never even made the playoffs until Pierce took over the
team), 3) he is uncoachable, as he refuses to stop launching 3's willy-nilly
and playing inside, where he is one of the better players in the Eastern
Conference.

      That's it for the frontcourt. In a couple of days I will post the
backcourt and 6th man. See if you can guess who is in the backcourt. Then a
few days later, see if you can figure out the Most Overrated Superstar. Thanks
for reading, and if you write to disagree, have some facts to back it up. I
don't want to hear crap that I'd hear from some fake cab driver who would
claim Kobe is gay and selfish while being unable to support the claim but
thinks he is funny. I try to back up opinions with stats and facts. I love to
debate, but you need something solid to support your point other than "he
sucks". I may not agree, but I will respect your position.








      Rod is a CPA in Southern California who has been a hoops fan since the
early 60's. He can tell you what college any NBA player went to. Big deal, he
likes numbers and trivia.

[demime 1.01b removed an attachment of type image/gif which had a name of mail-icon.gif]

[demime 1.01b removed an attachment of type image/gif which had a name of print-icon.gif]