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Philadelphia 76ers / What the Sixers Really Need from a 2 Guard
« on: August 02, 2008, 02:23:03 PM »
I posted this on realgm but I wanted to post it here as well to get feel back.
Yes this is an Iguodala thread. Yes we have too many but at least this one starts out with that topic rather than changing to it in mid thread. I don't usually like to start new threads but here it goes. Yes it's long, it's Saturday and I was bored.
People have been saying for a while now that Iguodala is a bad fit because he can't shoot. I'm hearing names like Mike Redd or Mike Miller, people who can shoot but not do much else. And people are ok with that, because it seems like that's our "missing piece," a shooter. With someone hitting 3s it opens down low for Brand, ect...
The problem is that without Andre, different holes open, much more major holes. I'm going to use Mike Redd as an example because he's been talked about alot, but you can read it as "generic shooter."
Here is why Iguodala is a good fit for this team:
1. Defense.
Right now, our two wings are Andre and Thad. Andre as we all know is an above average defender. Thad, while he gave a great effort last year, did not amaze with his man to man skills, and I don't think anyone has confidence in him keeping up with fast 2 guards like Kobe or Wade.
So, if you bring in Redd, now your wings are obviously now Redd and Thad. We're facing the Heat tonight. Do you see the problem? Who is covering Wade? Do we play Willie extra time? Great now one of Thad or Redd are playing less and we have Willie freaking Green playing major minutes.
And what about when Thad isn't in the game? Thad is 20 years old, can we really expect more than 25 good minutes a night from him? We're playing Cleveland. Who the hell is covering James during the 20 minutes Thad isn't in? Willie again? Good lord.
So it doesn't make any sense to trade him for Mike Redd and you definitely can't trade him for a bench player like Mike Miller unless you want to get lit up by opposing wing players every night.
2. Ball Handling
Yes, we have Andre Miller and he's fine until he falls apart horribly like the Blue Brother's Mobile as all point guard do when they get old. But, good teams have multiple guys that can handle the ball. Boston, LA, the Spurs, Detriot, all these teams have wing guys that can handle the ball. Iguodala, despite what some may believe, did not have major TO issues. He averaged 2.6 a game, which is fine, and 2.0 after the ASB, which is more than fine. And his assists were fairly high for a guy that spent a lot of the year at the 3.
Now, who do we have after Miller? Louis. Who is not point guard (Yet), he's a scorer, and when you have a scorer at the 1, you need a guy at the 2 that can split the point guard spot and handle the ball or else you end up like, oh I don't know, Milwaukee where everyone just stands around and isolates. So when Miller isn't in the game we need someone that can handle. Like Iguodala.
3. Elton Brand doesn't need a great 3 point shooter to be effective
Remember that guy we gave 80 million to? He's really good. In 05/06 he was one of the best players in the NBA, went for 25/10 a night. His team was 26th in 3 point shooting % that year.
4. How important are 3s, really?
People are getting so crazy about three pointers that they forget that it's just one small aspect of the game. It's not as important as defense, it's not even really as important as ball handling. You shoot them like 18 times a game. The best teams will make a little more than 7 out of 18, the worst will make a little less than 6 out of 18. Of course the best teams will shoot more than 18 and the worst will shoot less, but the difference isn't insurmountable and definitely can be made up in other areas (Like Defense and ball handling.
You can be a good team without being good at 3s, you can been a great team being bad at 3s. Sixers fans of all people should know this.
This team won 48 games and a playoff round shooting a worse percentage than we did last year and their main post presence was a 35 year old Derrick Coleman.
This team made the finals shooting .9% better than we did last year.
So what I'm saying is, don't let one aspect of the game rule who you want at a position. Because it could be much worse...
Yes this is an Iguodala thread. Yes we have too many but at least this one starts out with that topic rather than changing to it in mid thread. I don't usually like to start new threads but here it goes. Yes it's long, it's Saturday and I was bored.
People have been saying for a while now that Iguodala is a bad fit because he can't shoot. I'm hearing names like Mike Redd or Mike Miller, people who can shoot but not do much else. And people are ok with that, because it seems like that's our "missing piece," a shooter. With someone hitting 3s it opens down low for Brand, ect...
The problem is that without Andre, different holes open, much more major holes. I'm going to use Mike Redd as an example because he's been talked about alot, but you can read it as "generic shooter."
Here is why Iguodala is a good fit for this team:
1. Defense.
Right now, our two wings are Andre and Thad. Andre as we all know is an above average defender. Thad, while he gave a great effort last year, did not amaze with his man to man skills, and I don't think anyone has confidence in him keeping up with fast 2 guards like Kobe or Wade.
So, if you bring in Redd, now your wings are obviously now Redd and Thad. We're facing the Heat tonight. Do you see the problem? Who is covering Wade? Do we play Willie extra time? Great now one of Thad or Redd are playing less and we have Willie freaking Green playing major minutes.
And what about when Thad isn't in the game? Thad is 20 years old, can we really expect more than 25 good minutes a night from him? We're playing Cleveland. Who the hell is covering James during the 20 minutes Thad isn't in? Willie again? Good lord.
So it doesn't make any sense to trade him for Mike Redd and you definitely can't trade him for a bench player like Mike Miller unless you want to get lit up by opposing wing players every night.
2. Ball Handling
Yes, we have Andre Miller and he's fine until he falls apart horribly like the Blue Brother's Mobile as all point guard do when they get old. But, good teams have multiple guys that can handle the ball. Boston, LA, the Spurs, Detriot, all these teams have wing guys that can handle the ball. Iguodala, despite what some may believe, did not have major TO issues. He averaged 2.6 a game, which is fine, and 2.0 after the ASB, which is more than fine. And his assists were fairly high for a guy that spent a lot of the year at the 3.
Now, who do we have after Miller? Louis. Who is not point guard (Yet), he's a scorer, and when you have a scorer at the 1, you need a guy at the 2 that can split the point guard spot and handle the ball or else you end up like, oh I don't know, Milwaukee where everyone just stands around and isolates. So when Miller isn't in the game we need someone that can handle. Like Iguodala.
3. Elton Brand doesn't need a great 3 point shooter to be effective
Remember that guy we gave 80 million to? He's really good. In 05/06 he was one of the best players in the NBA, went for 25/10 a night. His team was 26th in 3 point shooting % that year.
4. How important are 3s, really?
People are getting so crazy about three pointers that they forget that it's just one small aspect of the game. It's not as important as defense, it's not even really as important as ball handling. You shoot them like 18 times a game. The best teams will make a little more than 7 out of 18, the worst will make a little less than 6 out of 18. Of course the best teams will shoot more than 18 and the worst will shoot less, but the difference isn't insurmountable and definitely can be made up in other areas (Like Defense and ball handling.
You can be a good team without being good at 3s, you can been a great team being bad at 3s. Sixers fans of all people should know this.
This team won 48 games and a playoff round shooting a worse percentage than we did last year and their main post presence was a 35 year old Derrick Coleman.
This team made the finals shooting .9% better than we did last year.
So what I'm saying is, don't let one aspect of the game rule who you want at a position. Because it could be much worse...