Minnesota Sports Forum

khans2k5 wrote:

JasonIsDaMan wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:

JasonIsDaMan wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:

JasonIsDaMan wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:Why do people like Bazz? He plays hard. Great. So what? He still is an atrocious defender and a black hole offensively. In his third year instead of improvement we saw a fully healthy season where his shooting percentages outside of FT's dropped and he passed the ball even less (his assists cut in half per game playing only 2.3 minutes less). He's an undersized 4. I can't imagine anyone enjoys playing with him. His game is old school in a new NBA. Frankly he could ride the bench all year and I wouldn't care. He already plays hard so I don't know what more Thibs can do to make him a better player. He doesn't have the athleticism to be a good defender and I don't know how you change the mindset of someone to become a willing passer.

1. I can't recollect ever saying I liked how "hard" someone played. If he's getting it done, I don't care how hard he's breathing.
2. Ah, the Kahn's methodology. Decide if you like a guy, then find an obscure stat that you think backs it up. So the shooting percentage drop. Are they from the same place from the floor as the year before? Could it be from him being guarded more closely? So the assist drop. Could it be that guys were passing up shots and passing to others who then got the assist? Could it be that guys were missing shots? Was there an overall drop in assists year-to-year as a team with him on the floor? What do you think of Lebron's OPS? Or the fact that Curry seems to have a lot of touchbacks?
3. I can imagine players enjoying playing with him.
4. That is so disappointing to hear that you don't want to watch him. Maybe they can trade him for Eric Gordon so you can watch him wear a suit all for 40 games.
5. Really? You don't know what Thibs could do as a coach? That's a shock.

Ah. I see. His statistical drop almost across the board is everyone else's fault. God forbid a player be accountable for his own performance. His teammates must be the reason he missed all those shots. His teammates must be the reason he played selfishly and didn't move the ball. Oh wait. Those are the same teammates he had from the year before when he posted better numbers and I can tell you his teammates didn't get worse from the year before. He did. Did you watch any games last year because it's extremely questionable to say Zach is just a dunker who hasn't proven anything else if you actually watched this team when he took over the starting role?

Everytime I have ever mentioned "PER" or "PER split", someone has used that argument, but I can't? One fountain of Basketball knowledge said on the "Offseason" thread that Gasol has always sucked and been carried by his teammates, but I can't add conjecture on Bazz's teammates?

And I'm still waiting for your answer. Just like a QB can only throw one touchdown pass a possession, there can only be one assist per possession. Do you have evidence that this number went down, and if you do, was it because there was more "iso" scoring or a scoring drop?

Do you understand that stats that intricate and specific cost money to attain if they even exist on sites like synergy sports? Does knowing the team assist total going up from 21.6 ('14-15) to 23.4 ('15-16) while Bazz's number was cut in half help you realize it was him and not his teammates? Go ahead though. Keep trying to find excuses. Why don't you do the research and provide the context that supports your questions/claims about Bazz. I have 2 numbers. Bazz's assist totals cut in half while the team as a whole assisted on more shots. Now show me your stats that prove that's not his fault that his number cut in half because of his play.

No, it doesn't help me because it doesn't tell me what happened when he was on the floor, or whether or not he made a lot of "Passes that led to passes that led to assists". So I stand by my original argument. You don't like him and you worked really hard to find a reason why. But I have to give you credit. At least you haven't decided he's a PF.

It's not hard to find his per game averages on ESPN to backup a point anyone can see just by watching him play. The dude is a black hole.

JasonIsDaMan wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Jason, I don't think anyone is saying LaVine is already a superstar and doesn't have more work to do. But if you watched him as closely as most of the obsessive folks (myself included) on this board did last year - and I don't get the sense you did - then it would be pretty obvious to you who has more game-changing potential when comparing Bazz and LaVine.

You also might want to be careful about how reliant you are on 82games for info - some of their positional classification is guesswork. I realize it shows Bazz as 0% time at PF, but if you look at the top 5-man lineups he played in terms of minutes (which is also on 82games by the way, but may be you missed it), you'll see the one with the second most minutes was KAT-Bazz-Wiggins-LaVine-Rubio. I can tell you that Wiggins, LaVine, and Rubio were not the PF in that lineup.

But 90 minutes is 2% before you figure for overtime. So they were off by 2%. And 2% at PF does not make you a PF. You're right that they are in error on that, but I am comfortable giving a free site a pass on that, considering they aren't financed by a cable channel that people who have cable HAVE TO pay for whether they want to or not.

And let me just say for the record, that 90 minutes says more about Payne than it does about Bazz. Belly, Pek and KG were injured, Smith was about as good as you would expect a D-League guy to be, and Kat & Dieng got way more minutes down the stretch than they should have. The fact that Payne didn't play those 90 minutes is all I need to know about him, not Bazz.

JasonIsDaMan wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:

JasonIsDaMan wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:

JasonIsDaMan wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:

JasonIsDaMan wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:Why do people like Bazz? He plays hard. Great. So what? He still is an atrocious defender and a black hole offensively. In his third year instead of improvement we saw a fully healthy season where his shooting percentages outside of FT's dropped and he passed the ball even less (his assists cut in half per game playing only 2.3 minutes less). He's an undersized 4. I can't imagine anyone enjoys playing with him. His game is old school in a new NBA. Frankly he could ride the bench all year and I wouldn't care. He already plays hard so I don't know what more Thibs can do to make him a better player. He doesn't have the athleticism to be a good defender and I don't know how you change the mindset of someone to become a willing passer.

1. I can't recollect ever saying I liked how "hard" someone played. If he's getting it done, I don't care how hard he's breathing.
2. Ah, the Kahn's methodology. Decide if you like a guy, then find an obscure stat that you think backs it up. So the shooting percentage drop. Are they from the same place from the floor as the year before? Could it be from him being guarded more closely? So the assist drop. Could it be that guys were passing up shots and passing to others who then got the assist? Could it be that guys were missing shots? Was there an overall drop in assists year-to-year as a team with him on the floor? What do you think of Lebron's OPS? Or the fact that Curry seems to have a lot of touchbacks?
3. I can imagine players enjoying playing with him.
4. That is so disappointing to hear that you don't want to watch him. Maybe they can trade him for Eric Gordon so you can watch him wear a suit all for 40 games.
5. Really? You don't know what Thibs could do as a coach? That's a shock.

Ah. I see. His statistical drop almost across the board is everyone else's fault. God forbid a player be accountable for his own performance. His teammates must be the reason he missed all those shots. His teammates must be the reason he played selfishly and didn't move the ball. Oh wait. Those are the same teammates he had from the year before when he posted better numbers and I can tell you his teammates didn't get worse from the year before. He did. Did you watch any games last year because it's extremely questionable to say Zach is just a dunker who hasn't proven anything else if you actually watched this team when he took over the starting role?

Everytime I have ever mentioned "PER" or "PER split", someone has used that argument, but I can't? One fountain of Basketball knowledge said on the "Offseason" thread that Gasol has always sucked and been carried by his teammates, but I can't add conjecture on Bazz's teammates?

And I'm still waiting for your answer. Just like a QB can only throw one touchdown pass a possession, there can only be one assist per possession. Do you have evidence that this number went down, and if you do, was it because there was more "iso" scoring or a scoring drop?

Do you understand that stats that intricate and specific cost money to attain if they even exist on sites like synergy sports? Does knowing the team assist total going up from 21.6 ('14-15) to 23.4 ('15-16) while Bazz's number was cut in half help you realize it was him and not his teammates? Go ahead though. Keep trying to find excuses. Why don't you do the research and provide the context that supports your questions/claims about Bazz. I have 2 numbers. Bazz's assist totals cut in half while the team as a whole assisted on more shots. Now show me your stats that prove that's not his fault that his number cut in half because of his play.

No, it doesn't help me because it doesn't tell me what happened when he was on the floor, or whether or not he made a lot of "Passes that led to passes that led to assists". So I stand by my original argument. You don't like him and you worked really hard to find a reason why. But I have to give you credit. At least you haven't decided he's a PF.

It's not hard to find his per game averages on ESPN to backup a point anyone can see just by watching him play. The dude is a black hole.

It's America, and you are allowed to use any word you like, but when I think "black hole", I think of a guy who can't his shots and won't stop. In the NBA, that doesn't happen much because the coach just pulls him after he does it twice in a row. It's almost relegated to the "Y" at this point.

His "usage" might be high, and his jumpshot % could be higher, but I don't think "Blackhole" is accurate.

JasonIsDaMan wrote:

PorkChop wrote:

TRKO wrote:It was either value signings or overpaying for Mozgov or Noah. Durant and Horford weren't coming here. What should we have done instead?

The three major sports teams in Minny, whose made the most moves risky or otherwise? The Vikings. Of the three whose had the most success? The Vikings. God bless them for trying and breaking my heart.

The Vikings made "The most moves risky or otherwise"?!?!?!?!? Well, the Twins just drafted 60 guys a few weeks ago, so I'm going to say them. As long as MLB teams employ 175 or so players, they are always going to lead the NFL and NHL (roundabout 50) and NBA (15).

I terms of risky, nothing the Vikes have done approaches signing Nolasco (4.27 ERA in the NL), Hughes (great talent, lazy as a Walmart greeter), or Pominville (went to high school with Sid).

I get it. The Vikes are the most successful team in town right now, and you really wanted to say....something, so you chose them. And I don't remember you having anything to say about Garnett's or Pek's contracts as they were happening. Maybe you can spend the time you use making really cool threads to bump those up so we can read your very important thoughts as they were happening in real time.

thedoper wrote:Majority of Bazz's shots last year were late in the shot clock meaning he was the last option, of course his secondary assists would be low. Our second unit was Lavine dribbling for 15 seconds then taking a bad shot or making a bad pass.