whats funny (minor digression) thinking about yao and the makeup of the rockets, is... Tmac is a pretty bad pairing with Yao. the only reason that team SHOULD be good is they have 2 VERY good players (and this year the role players were significantly better then years past) but tmac is similar to Carmelo in a lot of ways (although he's a much better distributor and a slightly better outside shooter). a pure shooter probably would open up their offense and increase the efficiency. Yao is so good working down low and he's so unathletic that he doesn't get alot of points off assisted feeds. i think when rafer started looking for his shot more (and it was going in) the rockets offense got MUCH better in the middle of the season. something to think about, i guess

+1.

Rodman's PER was crap but he was a defensive dynamo and one of the greatest rebounders of all time. He was also extremely efficient offensively. Anyone who shoots 58% from the line and still has a .546 TS% is EFFICIENT, and it is b/c he is probably the greatest offensive rebounder ever (2nd off reb % in NBA history), put backs are high % but like mentioned it is about poss.

PER should be considered but not only considered. PER is just one of the metrics that needs to be used to get an idea of what the player could/can do.

HEY...quit assailing my choice to pair with Yao just because Melo doesn't shoot the three well. The year he won a title with Shaq, D-Wade shot 17% from three, and he's only shot 26% for his career, which is worse than Melo (granted, he doesn't shoot nearly as many...I've gotta get myself a really good coach). But if I can get Melo to simply NOT shoot the three unless he's stone-cold wide ****** open late in the shot clock, and if I fill the rest of my roster with three-point shooters (I feel I can do better than Antoine Walker and Jason Williams in this draft), then there is absolutely no problem at all with this pairing.

tdarko - i dont think anyone is going to turn this into a PER fest. it would gay it up fast. that said, PER is a great tool that shows peaks in careers/growth/and expected value.

i think of all the teams to base around, tho, the heat is one of the worst ones simply because many around here (rightfully so) attribute their title to luck (well, they were good, but very lucky). carmelo is good at getting to the line, but wade was simply UNSTOPPABLE there. (and benefited from being a golden child) but you're right, its bad to pass judgment after 2 picks bc there is a LOT of picking left to be done!

bobbo- agreed. I use PER for about 5 hours a day (the amount of time I am on basketball-reference a day, sadly?)--just saying that it shouldn't be all that is used.

Bobbo,

PER is not a *great* tool. It's not bad, but...well, you know my thoughts on it. Can a stat be "overrated" on a particular website?

Sammy,

Wade shot 17% shooting like one three every other game IIRC. Melo jacks up way more than that.

Clark,

I've toned down my love for PER. It is not ideal to compare players to each other.

However, it is incredibly good for tracking a players improvement and decline as he gets older and declines, respectively.

i think alot of the reason some older players arent getting picked right now is people (including me) are unfamiliar with their actual game and ONLY have stats to go on, so when thinking about things like chemistry, play style, strengths/weaknesses, we simply don't have a full picture.

but just bc PER will not and should not be over emphasized doesn't mean it wont get thrown out the door... a guy like james worthy (lol gotta make fun of this one again) is a good player and all but probably not better then a slewwwwwww of the guys picked around him (which PER and other stats would validate)

i literally said this 5 mins ago

GKA,

PER is useful, I would never deny that.

Which I acknowledged in my last post. I must get a coach who can break him of that habit.

haha, good one.

bobbo get on aim.

I'm gonna gnaw my arm off if I don't get to move up

Picking a coach will take some finesse imo. May be one of the tougher decisions of the draft. Need to know the right time to pick the coach, the right coach that would fit the make-up of the team--these two details need to be cohesive. God I love this draft.

lol yeah seriously.

plus, im feeling pretty happy because i think there will still be alot of solid value in rounds 3-5, i worried with 40ish teams there wouldnt be. but there will.

tdarko has Marion and DWill?!!!!

<---holy instaboner!

Will most teams be better than the best team from 07-08? What about historical teams? I'm already worried that my team will be worse than this year's Lakers.

This draft makes the Phoenix Suns look like an abject failure of a team.

Whats the biggest thread ever in SE? What about on all of 2p2?

Any chance this passes them?

SE this seasons NBA thread was like 16k posts.

I think the longest thread in POG (Puzzles and Other Games) was up around the 8K mark. This will surely obliterate that.

Also, I am sooooooooo glad I pulled out of this thing. I would be embarassing myself right now.

.