Thanks for displaying your very limited knowledge of basketball. You obviously haven't seen AI play this year. I wonder why people like you never call players like TMac "ballhoggers". AI has shed his rep a long time ago.
From the url: http://www.nba.com/statistics/default_48_minute_leaders/LeagueLeadersEFF8Query.html The formula is: Efficiency Formula: ((PTS + REB + AST + STL + BLK) - ((FGA - FGM) + (FTA - FTM) + TO)) / (MINUTES/48) I missed the FTA - FTM part when I did the calcs on these two, but still...
Let me redo these numbers... EG is: (271*2 + 64 + 58 + 461 +86 + 52 + 111 - (678-271) - (94-58) - 136)/(1890/48) = 20.165 RJ is: (456*2 + 6 + 324 + 514 + 201 + 80 +44 - (911 - 456) - (436-324) - 156)/(2979/48) = 22.641 Ok, I know what I did. I dropped EGs and RJ's free throws entirely, + and -, when I roughed this the first time. Nah, RJ is better in per minute production. But the difference is smaller than you might think, and I did some rough calcs elsewhere that suggest it wouldn't take much improvement (mostly, he needs to get his shooting percentage up) for EG to be producing at a ER/48 of around 25. Now, that doesn't guarantee anything about EG's defense, or time on court, or whether big PFs will still blow him out. ER/48 is a aggregate offensive measure, for the most part. Dave
dw, Thanks for clarifying that stat. It is true that Jefferson wasn't much higher than Eddie, but as it is said a lot of times, stats can be misleading. It seems to me that Jefferson has been a WAY much better fit for the Nets than Eddie has been for us, but a lot of that has to do with Kidd. However, as much as I hate to admit this since I dislike Jefferson, I think he has clearly been the better player so FAR compared to EG. But EG still has a chance to be better than him, but the question is when will that happen (if it ever does)?
FWIW, Kelvin Cato (25.54) and Adonal Foyle (25.38) are rated more highly than Steve Francis (24.98) using this stat. http://www.nba.com/statistics/default_48_minute_leaders/LeagueLeadersEFF8Query.html
Eddie has more range because he sits outside and takes shots, becase he can't bang inside. He has been working with NBA strenght and conditioning coaches for 2 years now and he has yet to bulk up, and if he hasn't learned aggresion and confidence by now, I don't see how he ever will. What does he need? More motivation? The difference goes way beyond stats IMO, and the gap between the two is huge.
Let's see, hot shot Big East tweener forward, coming off a fabulous freshman season. YEah, how could the rockets lose?....ohh, wait......
Or Lebron James (never happen) or that Darko Millicek kid. The reason there is so much argument on this board over individual players is because individually, they all have talent, or potential for even more talent. Collectively, they get worse, not better, so some people have to go. I'm fairly confident if you put EG on the Nets and RJ on the Rockets the last 2 years, "perception" would change. I see a few camps: 1) Stay the course - at the very most, a minor change (an unexpected MLE signing, a new assistant coach), and hope to make the playoffs next year and eventually challenge. 2) Some changes - Mobley or EG or a package of them or Moochie, etc. goes for something decent in return. Try to make the team, well, a team. 3) Radical changes - start over, try and package Francis for a significant All-Star return, or a top pick and a good player. Rudy & staff are replaced. "Rebuild" again, but do it smarter, and quicker, because the main cog - Yao - is already there, and the other - Francis - will get you a crapload in return. I'm with either 2 or 3, but expect to see 1 happen.
In the Western Conference where every playoffs team have a stud PF (apart from Lakers, but hey they have Shaq who is equal to 2 players in the middle), EG is simply too weak to compete with them and make it a big hole every single night for us. It's just unfair. At No. 8 pick, Suns got Amare but we got Eddie Griffin.
