bball?

[Eric Albert]

><ryanmnelson at verizon.net> wrote:
>
>it does explain why he is only shooting 36% from the floor, not what you would want from a close to the basket player.
>
>All the caveats to small sample size (he has made 6 of 17 shots on the year, so he has as many makes as shots blocked), it is just an interesting first data point and confirms what i saw.
>
>we'll see if this is a temproary blip at the start of a young career or something to be worried about in 40 more games.

Big Baby went 4 for 6 tonight, so he's now 10 for 23 on the season, or 44%. That puts him ahead of Ray Allen and Eddie House this year. When hitting a few buckets drastically changes your shooting percentage, we're definitely talking small sample size.

But, having watched BB this game, I think Ryan has a point: BB does get blocked a lot. Goody also has a point: it's because BB takes almost all his shots from within three feet of the basket, where there are plenty of bodies, big bodies, to swipe at them.

Two points no one's made yet:

1) BB takes so many shots from under the basket because he keeps pulling down offensive rebounds; so far, he's gotten 14 offensive boards and taken 23 shots. (He's by far the team's best offensive rebounder per minute, though, again, the sample size is tiny.) This has got to be the most pressure-intensive situation a ballplayer sees: typically the opponent's big guys have great position, and just getting the board is a challenge -- putting it back up safely is almost impossible.

2) Sometimes the opponent blocks BB's shot. But often, they also foul him. He gets fouled more frequently than Paul Pierce. (Small Sample Size.) If you're going to talk about how often he's blocked, you also have to talk about how many free throws he takes. It makes him a much more efficient scorer than his field goal percentage indicates.

Enough for now -- this discussion is entertaining but meaningless. Let's look again when Big Baby's played some serious minutes. In the meantime, I plan to enjoy his energy and passion, and to root for him to take all of Scalabrine's minutes.

-- Eric