(03-19-2022, 10:16 AM)mvossman Wrote: I think Iztok make it clear he was focusing on offense for that article. In that thread I made the argument that in order for the 4 and 5 to be useful playoff pieces, they need to add defense to the equation (perimeter defense for the 4 and rim protection for the 5) where it is gravy for the other spots.Iztok wrote, and I quote "The first step was to find a matching metric for each of Myers' criteria in the season's data, minus how a player defends his position." He then went on to talk about all the offensive stuff, but never added anything to subtract "how a player defends his position". I didn't see if this was a part 1 of a 2 part series of articles, so that is why I wrote what I wrote. If he meant the "minus" as in not taking defense into consideration, that was poorly worded. In an article titled "What types of players win NBA playoff series? Do the Mavericks have enough of them?" That screams defense NEEDS to be a part of the equation.
Brooks is a better defender than THJ, but I don't really know why you would prefer him offensively to Timmy? I believe you referred to THJ as an inefficient chucker, but Brooks is way less efficient. He has never had a True shooting much north of 50%.
I agree defense is important, especially at the team level, but when evaluating individual players, offense is the bigger driver. There is a much bigger difference between a good offensive player and a bad offensive player than there is on the defensive end.
As far as Brooks vs THJ solely on offense? He's more of what Kidd is trying to do on this team by playing 3 guards to start. Brooks can handle the ball much better than THJ and get to the rim and finish much better, and he does it from the mid sized wing spot. That is what Kidd is trying to create by teaching DFS to do the same, as I've noticed he's gotten a bit more comfortable doing that when he sees a decent opening. Brooks' shots from inside the arc are 70% of his shooting with his lowest % being right inside the 3 line. THJ's is 43% with the biggest % being just inside the 3 line (right at the spot where you take 1 or 2 dribbles to evade the defender, either around a pick or from a rushing opponent). If we had Brooks on the team, Kidd would never need to start 3 guards.
The more of those guys we have on the team, the more they can be taught to buy into finding more assists. After we get those guys, we can focus on getting better shooters to finish off those assists (to which THJ would be great if his 2 year #'s are the new norm...not so much if the 6.5 years are real, albeit he's still on a contract less fitting that type of role).