alexftbl8181 wrote:
Their field goal % at the rim and overall were historically bad. That's with Dieng playing big minutes at center as your rim protector pretty much the whole season.
There are lots of different stats and ways to measure a player. Win Shares, PER and VORP are my favorite as they incorporate a lot of different data. The anti Gorgui guys always point to FG% at the rim. I think that's an interesting stat. But it's only one stat and far from the end all for trying to determine a players overall worth. Interestingly, I found a "Rim Protection" stat which measures "Points Saved".
http://nyloncalculus.com/stats/rim-protection/
Dieng is pretty much in the middle of the pack which is where I'd expect a young, back up Center to be. But some of the names below Dieng I consider better defenders, which I think shows why we should never use one stat to determine a players value.
For all the anti-Dieng guys, it will be interesting to see if they blame Towns for "FG % at the rim" this year. I don't think it will get much better because the team defense issues remain. Of course, Rubio and KG should be much more help to Towns than Thad Young and LaVine were to Dieng - so there is some hope. But it hasn't looked great this preseason.