Quote:
Originally Posted by Mateo
Walker was never a productive player. His shooting was not jus low, it was abysmally low. Like, one of the lowest in the league, low. And his rebounding was below average for a PF for most of his career. When you are below average at everything, you are a below average player. The only thing Walker was ever good at is field goal attempts, and I don't think FGAs makes one a good player.
I'll stop loving Craig Smith when he stops producing every moment he's on the floor.
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I can't believe I'm defending Antoine Walker, considering I don't even like him. But how is 8+ rpg below average? And how is 4+ apg below average? He was a bad percentage shooter, but that's really it as far as being below average for his positions of SF/PF. You don't have to like him or his game (I know I don't), but be realistic, at least.
As for Craig Smith, he's a very good player. I like him. But it seems to me this board has a bit of "Backup QB Syndrome" when it comes to him: love him because he's not playing a lot. He's productive, sure, but only in two areas: scoring and rebounding. Frankly, he's not all THAT much different than a guy like Gary Trent. Play him and he'll score points and grab rebounds. Trent got about 30 mpg in 98-99 and got 16 ppg and 7.8 rpg. But that year, Trent also averaged 1.7 apg. 30 minutes, less than 2 apg. Trent was rightly known as a guy who could get his own when given the ball on the block, and that's about it.
Move over to Craig Smith. He's getting about 16 mpg and 7.4 ppg and 4.2 rpg. Double it and you've got 15 ppg and 8 rpg. Look similar to Gary Trent? Yes, nearly identical, in fact. Except assists, which so far Smith is averaging .1 each game. Not 1.0, but 0.1. Double his minutes and he gets you 0.2 per game. Too few games for a legit sample size? Check out last year, when he averaged a whopping .6 apg. Double his minutes to that and you're still less than Gary Trent, who was widely known and mocked as a black hole on offense. And you think Antoine Walker is "below average at everything" with his 4-5 apg as a PF? Per 30 mpg, that is still about 20 times more than Craig Smith is currently averaging.
Craig Smith catches and shoots. EVERY TIME. And when you've already got one post player who isn't going to pass out of double-teams well in Al Jefferson, do you really need another one who's even WORSE? Add to it that Smith would foul out of every game if he played 30 minutes (he averages 2.9 PF in his 15 minutes) and the fact that with his lack of size as a 4 he has already proved himself a well below-average defender, and the reason he is a reserve is clear. He is good at coming into games and scoring points when playing with reserves (often, but not always, against reserves). He is a valuable player in that respect. He is not some kind of savior, all-star, or even star. Or second option. Or third option.