Re: Vet PG who do you want?
Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2015 7:27 am
Monster, don't regale us with video of Andre Miller when he was a young 38...he's 39 now, and everyone knows a player's performance falls off a cliff once he gets past 38!
I'm disagree with the posters who don't like picking up Miller for the vet minimum to back up Ricky Rubio. For years we have watched the Wolves fall apart whenever Ricky came off the court, whether for injury or rest. The plus/minus comparisons between Rubio and whoever replaced him were absurdly poor. But now we actually have a guy who can manage a game and protect leads. He has been unathletic, a bad 3-point shooter and a below average defender his entire career, and yet his plus/minus and efficiency numbers have been consistently good. Two seasons ago, he ranked 19th out of 70 point guards in real plus/minus (Rubio was 9th), virtually tied with the guy he backed up after being traded to Washington (Wall) in about 17 minutes per game. And last year, despite playing half the season with the hapless Kings, he still ranked 44th out of 82 PGs...and played 16 MPG in 81 games! Isn't that what we have been hoping for out of the back up PG position...a durable guy who gets other players involved and doesn't give up leads when he comes in?
I read a lot of comments about how Miller slows down the game and makes us less athletic, and can't shoot the 3-pointer. Guilty as charged, just as he has been guilty his entire career. But it's like saying the Twins get worse when Tommy Milone comes in with his 88 MPH fast ball instead of Alex Meyer's 98 MPH one. There are different ways to be effective, and Miller has put together a borderline HOF career despite playing a slow, old man's game. And because he has never relied on athleticism, his performance hasn't fallen off much in his late 30s...he looks the same to me as he did when he was 25, and just as durable!
I also read the comments that Miller isn't ready to play bigger minutes if Ricky goes down...again true. But that doesn't concern me. Just like other years, we are doomed if Ricky gets hurt. Williams, LaVine, Ridnour, Brown et al were all ready to come in and play big minutes after Rubio's injuries, but with horrible plus/minus results and lots of losses. And the free agent PGs that were available would have given us similar results. A 35/13 minute split with Rubio/Miller makes us a playoff team. But if Rubio gets hurt again, we are looking at another lost season...with Miller, or anyone else that would have been available to Flip. Rubio is that important to this team. Come on...does anyone here look at this year as anything other than another lost development year if Rubio misses a lot of gams again? I prefer to analyze this pickup by putting Miller in his intended role...managing games when he gives Rubio a blow for the 12-15 minutes he plays. And I can't come up with a better veteran PG for that purpose.
I'm disagree with the posters who don't like picking up Miller for the vet minimum to back up Ricky Rubio. For years we have watched the Wolves fall apart whenever Ricky came off the court, whether for injury or rest. The plus/minus comparisons between Rubio and whoever replaced him were absurdly poor. But now we actually have a guy who can manage a game and protect leads. He has been unathletic, a bad 3-point shooter and a below average defender his entire career, and yet his plus/minus and efficiency numbers have been consistently good. Two seasons ago, he ranked 19th out of 70 point guards in real plus/minus (Rubio was 9th), virtually tied with the guy he backed up after being traded to Washington (Wall) in about 17 minutes per game. And last year, despite playing half the season with the hapless Kings, he still ranked 44th out of 82 PGs...and played 16 MPG in 81 games! Isn't that what we have been hoping for out of the back up PG position...a durable guy who gets other players involved and doesn't give up leads when he comes in?
I read a lot of comments about how Miller slows down the game and makes us less athletic, and can't shoot the 3-pointer. Guilty as charged, just as he has been guilty his entire career. But it's like saying the Twins get worse when Tommy Milone comes in with his 88 MPH fast ball instead of Alex Meyer's 98 MPH one. There are different ways to be effective, and Miller has put together a borderline HOF career despite playing a slow, old man's game. And because he has never relied on athleticism, his performance hasn't fallen off much in his late 30s...he looks the same to me as he did when he was 25, and just as durable!
I also read the comments that Miller isn't ready to play bigger minutes if Ricky goes down...again true. But that doesn't concern me. Just like other years, we are doomed if Ricky gets hurt. Williams, LaVine, Ridnour, Brown et al were all ready to come in and play big minutes after Rubio's injuries, but with horrible plus/minus results and lots of losses. And the free agent PGs that were available would have given us similar results. A 35/13 minute split with Rubio/Miller makes us a playoff team. But if Rubio gets hurt again, we are looking at another lost season...with Miller, or anyone else that would have been available to Flip. Rubio is that important to this team. Come on...does anyone here look at this year as anything other than another lost development year if Rubio misses a lot of gams again? I prefer to analyze this pickup by putting Miller in his intended role...managing games when he gives Rubio a blow for the 12-15 minutes he plays. And I can't come up with a better veteran PG for that purpose.