OK Now what-a-we do???

[mjs34]

Alex, you aren't looking at the bigger picture. Pek is a better matchup against a guy like DMC. Where he would struggle is with the PnR trying to contain Thomas. You can't just look at position-position as if that represents the defense. Dieng does a great job of getting out and stopping the PnR. Sometimes they may swing the ball and make an outside jumpshot, but Dieng did his job defensively. Dieng also blocks, alters or discourages shots at the rim. I think everyone on this board likes Pek, but his fit with Love doesn't work, and paying 12 mil for a second unit guy doesn't make sense.

Pek isn't significantly better, but makes six or seven times the amount Gorgui does. Most of us think that money can be better spent elsewhere. Take into account the missed games annually, and it makes it even more one sided imo.

[alexftbl8181 [enjin:6648741]]

Alex, your loyal defense of Pek is admirable, but I don't often agree with your logic. The consistency of your position has gotten me to wonder about something though. I'm going to test my suspicions with a question:

How do you feel about ice fishing?

not a fan

[alexftbl8181 [enjin:6648741]]

Alex, you aren't looking at the bigger picture. Pek is a better matchup against a guy like DMC. Where he would struggle is with the PnR trying to contain Thomas. You can't just look at position-position as if that represents the defense. Dieng does a great job of getting out and stopping the PnR. Sometimes they may swing the ball and make an outside jumpshot, but Dieng did his job defensively. Dieng also blocks, alters or discourages shots at the rim. I think everyone on this board likes Pek, but his fit with Love doesn't work, and paying 12 mil for a second unit guy doesn't make sense.

Pek isn't significantly better, but makes six or seven times the amount Gorgui does. Most of us think that money can be better spent elsewhere. Take into account the missed games annually, and it makes it even more one sided imo.

shouldn't those translate to the team stats then? is it a positive that he held thomas 5 points under his average, but let cousins score 15 more then his average?

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Dieng might look like the better defender, but quality centers have put up big time numbers against him so far. Pek right now is a better man defender then Dieng. Our overall defensive numbers also haven't been any different with Dieng playing instead of Pek. Dieng might prove to be a more valuable player in the future, but for now, Pek is the more valuable player now

This is a point Alex has made a few times which nobody on the board has refuted well yet. I haven't seen or crunched the numbers, but I don't know that opponents' PPG have declined with more Dieng and less Pek.
Maybe I'm wrong, but that has been my perception. Just from using the eye test, it certainly seems like our defense looks better with Dieng on the court. And Jim Pete keeps raving about the number of shots Dieng is altering. But is this showing up in a lower opponents' FG%? Anyone got the numbers?

[mjs34]

He didn't let Cousins score 15 more, because it isn't always his responsibility. Love and DC were covering him for part of that as well. The refs let DMC get away with quite a lot last night, and DMC is a mismatch for Gorgui. but lets not overlook Gorgui's output. 21 pts, 14 rebs, 4 ast, 2 blks and 2 stls is nothing to sneeze at. Those are significantly better numbers than I would have expected out of Pek. When you consider that DMC did his damage taking 6 more shots and 11 more trips to the line, I don't think Gorgui did too bad. Gorgui is a rookie, and DMC is their franchise player. This game was lost in our backcourt due to horrendous shooting from Ricky, JJ, Martin, and Brewer.

[mjs34]

Long I don't know what the numbers are, but we were a .500 team when everyone was healthy, and we have still been a .500 team with Pek out, and that includes missed time from martin as well. That alone shows that Pek's money could be better spent somewhere else.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Long I don't know what the numbers are, but we were a .500 team when everyone was healthy, and we have still been a .500 team with Pek out, and that includes missed time from martin as well. That alone shows that Pek's money could be better spent somewhere else.

No disagreement with that conclusion at all, sjm...I was just curious if anyone has any team defense stats since Pek went down. Might be an interesting talker.

[mjs34]

Long I don't know what the numbers are, but we were a .500 team when everyone was healthy, and we have still been a .500 team with Pek out, and that includes missed time from martin as well. That alone shows that Pek's money could be better spent somewhere else.

No disagreement with that conclusion at all, sjm...I was just curious if anyone has any team defense stats since Pek went down. Might be an interesting talker.

I'd be interested to see what our defensive fg% at the rim is since Pek went out.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

I like this lineup playing a 3-2 Zone

Dieng
Pek
Luc
Brewer
Rubio

Nobody would score on us!

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Basketball reference has Pek with a defensive rating of 107 and Dieng with a defensive rating of 100. Pek beats Dieng with a 117 offensive rating to Dieng's 107. Pek has a 20 PER and Dieng has a 17 PER. Dieng is the better rebounder out of the two which should also contribute to a better defensive effort as there are even less second chance opportunities with Dieng and Love on the floor than Pek and Love. The numbers show that Dieng is the better defender just as they show that Pek is the better offensive player. It's pretty clear that the eye test matches the stats with these two. The biggest difference. Pek makes 12 million a year and Dieng makes 1.4 million a year.