Schilly

Through 2 games....

Zach in Per minute, per48 in ()
Portland: 1.94 (93.12)
Opponent: 2.19 (105.12)

Zach Out
Portland: 2.43 (116.64)
Opponent: 2.24 (107.52)

Now compared to Roy (used due to similar playing time)
Roy in
Portland: 2.12 (101.76)
Opponent: 2.08 (99.84)

Roy Out
Portland: 1.87 (89.76)
Opponent: 2.30 (110.4)

Ok now what it means...To me, it shows that Zach while putting up great numbers doesn't make the team as a whole more efficient...at either end of the floor. Brandon's presence on the other hand boosts the teams efficiency at both ends of the floor.

mook

actually, Dallas did. Dirk may still have his reputation, but it's not nearly as deserved as it used to be. a lot of the Mavs offense comes out of Dirk in the post now.

Phoenix happens to have the best distributor in the league. everybody wants to be Phoenix, but it's not like there's a Steve Nash on this team. without a Kidd or Nash, a low post scorer does significantly help to organize an offense.

mook

I was using "playground ball" to suggest uptempo style. the Suns play playground ball by my definition, but certainly are crisp.

without much time to practice together, guys who've spent their entire lives being faster and stronger and better leapers than their competition naturally find it easier to play a fast game. it's what they are familiar with.

how many of our guards and SF's have played on a team in college/high school where the best scorer on the team was somebody in the low post and not them? few if any, I'd guess.

so we tell these kids to run a half court, low post offense with a few months of practice and they aren't great at it. is anybody really surprised?

Schilly

Another thing I was wondering is how other teams "Best Players" rate out efficiency wise. 82games.com is a great source for that kinda stuff, and I think the Roland ratings are pretty accurate guage for overall impact.

Here is a list of the other 29 teams and their highest Roland Rated player.

Highest for their teams last season (no garbage timers)
Atlanta: Johnson +0.4
Boston: Paul Pierce +8.7
Charlotte: Gerald Wallace +6.6
Chicago: Deng +4.3
Cleveland: James +15.7
Dallas: Dirk +11.6
Denver: Melo +6.1
Detroit: Billups +11.9
GS: Richardson +7.0
Houston: Yao +12.5
Indiana: Artest +8.2
Clippers: Brand +12.1
Lakers: Kobe +14.8
Memphis: Gasol +7.7
Miami: Wade +15.4
Milwaukee: Redd +10.4
Minnesota: Garnett +12.6
New Jersey: Carter +11.1
New Orleans: Chris Paul +4.6
New York: Frye +4.6
Orlando: Dwight Howard: +4.1
Philly: Iverson +11.6
Phoenix: Nash +9.1
Sacramento: Brad Miller +4.2
San Antonio: Ginobilli +10 (Duncan +9.9)
Seattle: Allen +9.6
Toronto: Bosh +8.2
Utah: AK47 +9.8
Washington: Arenas +6.9

I suppose Fry is arguable in NY. Of the starters in NY Marbury Ranked highest at +1.6.

Now Portland
Ruben Patterson +2.6
Joel Pryzbilla: +1.8
Zach Randolph: +1.6

I think it's interesting that Portlands best player last year was our 3rd rated on the Roland scale.

mook

part of that, I think, was just that our team seemed to lose hope in a lot of games. Patterson, despite his countless faults, never quits. that guy just brings it and brings it and brings it. I'm not that surprised he had that kind of impact--a lot of the time he was the only one who cared.

Przybilla should rank well in such measures because he was probably our most consistant advantage. he was simply a better center than the majority of centers he faced on a nightly basis. there's no other position you can say that about.

hopefully, this year a healthy Zach will be a consistant advantage for us AND be the "never quit" guy. cross your fingers.

Dan

yah, he never quits..cept when the team tells him he's not going to play as many minutes because he's a freaking spazoid.

__________________
A Buddhist walks up to a hot dog vendor and says "Make me one with everything".

when will the loss of life end?

The world respects the power of our example, not an example of our power.

I'd like to say I made this, but I didn't

Fork

Phoenix and Dallas won the NBA championship last season?

__________________
When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross. -- Sinclair Lewis, 1935

If you sit by the river long enough, you will see the body of your enemy float by. -- Japanese proverb

Schilly

So if I understand Mook right our best player is the only best player in the league who doesn't have teh most possitive impact on what happens on the florr for that given team. Sounds like kinda odd logic if you ask me.

Schilly

No but Dallas was in the finals.

cpawfan

The teams with a low post presence made the West Conference Finals last season? Or did Portland suddenly join the Eastern Conference?

__________________

Schilly

Might as well, we'd stand a better chance!

yakbladder

So since those teams didn't, the only way we can make it is by not having a low post presence (which, as has been pointed out, really only Phoenix didn't)??? Odd logic.

Funny, because as I hear it Miami does pretty well in the league and they have a low post presence... In fact, I believe we're supposed to be looking at winning the league championship, not the conference championship.

mook

McGrady didn't have the highest rating for Houston.
Duncan didn't have the highest rating for San Antonio.
Bibby or Artest didn't have the highest rating for the Kings.
Ditto with Kidd, Marbury and Okafor.

Oh wait. We can't count McGrady, Duncan and Okafor because they were injured, right?

So was Zach.

Oil Can

Shilly,

Looks like Dwight Jaynes is following your work...

http://www.portlandtribune.com/sport...03046870748500

Oh wait, thats right.."DJ", Canzano, The Fan and Jason QUick are conspiring against the Blazers!


Blazers can’t afford a selfish Randolph
On Sports
By Dwight Jaynes

The Portland Tri