http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2665203 http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/16055450.htm Webber's pissed about it, but Mo Cheeks has finally stopped pretending that Webber is an All Star. Webber came to town loudly running his mouth about never being a role player for anyone, but at this point he's about as bad as Ewing in his final Knick years. Lumbering, kills the offense calling for touches he can't make good on, and unable to move laterally. You aren't going to win with a post player shooting under 40%, unable to draw fouls, and not passing. Washed up. Evan
i have to question Cheek's coaching if you cant win with a passing big man who can knock down an open jumper, and has decent post up. Plus Webber is still one of the savviest PFs in the game. I wonder if its possible he might get traded back to the Kings.
Webber's still a great passer but the rest of his game is completely gone, post microfracture surgery. He's just a jump shooter now. His post game rivals Juwan Howard's post up game and its just comical to see him try to keep up on defense. The guy moves at the speed of a sloth. And like our own Juwan Howard, he's got a 6 inch vertical leap at best. Webber is still much better than Howard. He can do a lot more than Juwan but his contract is triple what Howard's is.
So? Just saying someone is a lot better than Juwan doesn't mean they aren't also washed up. Seriously, I agree with Cheeks this time, which I rarely do. Webber is a shadow of his former self. If the Sixers are serious about developing their team, Webber must sit. His salary doesn't matter. For everyone's sake, the best thing that could happen would be a buyout.
Although Cheeks isn't that great of a coach you can't put the blame solely on him for not coaching the team to victories when Webber is shooting a pathetic 38% and averaging 10 and 8.
I don't know that you can say this anymore. Watching him in games, he's calling for the ball a lot more than he's moving it.
Are you guys sure it's not just a bad start to the season? People compare him to Ewing in his final years, but last year Webber averaged 20-10 with 3+ assists per game and shot about 76% from the line.
The stats REALLY don't tell the story. Watch him in person. Many times, a player maintains their stats at the detriment of the team. In the case of Webber, he's never been the same since his microfracture surgery, but has insisted on remaining on offensive focal point despite it. If you check the numbers, you'll find that Webber's shot attempts went up to maintain a scoring average that was dipping anyway, his blocks per game dropped by almost half, his ability to get to the line dropped, his assists went down, and his offensive board work (requiring more hustle than defensive) fell off. In short, he was squandering possesions out of pride - taking extra shots and less willing to pass - just so he could still score 20 a game. Evan
Webber shot 43.4% last year. He shot 39.1%, the year before that. He is shooting 38.4% this year, which is comparable to the previous 2 years. Forget the coach, let's go back to a different coach and team. 44.9% and 41.3% in his last 2 years at Sactown. Some players are never the same after surgery. His career average is 47.9%, but the last 5 years, his averages have been 39.1%-44.9%. That's awful for a Power Forward.
Webber just doesn't fit into that system there. He lost all his athletic ability when he was in Sacramento, but he still excelled there because he was put in a system that took advantage of his strengths and veteran savvy. Webber and Divac, another slow and immobile big man both thrived in Sac-town. I think Webber just needs to find a new home and in a system that plays to his strengths. Maybe Miami? If not, Im sure Isaiah Thomas will take him.
There is no other system for Webber in my opinion. Sacramento was perfect for him because Adelman ran a motion offense that ran the offense through big men. That's why great passing big men like Vlade and CWebb thrived there. It was the perfect system to utilize their great court vision and the offense emphasized moving the ball around a lot. (It was essentially a pro-style princeton offense) After CWebb and Vlade left, Brad Miller filled that role nicely but even he is struggling in Musselman's new offense. No one else runs anything close to that in the NBA and now that CWebb is a shell of himself athletically, he's a 20 million dollar paperweight who's been reduced to jumpshots and a weak post up game. He's just another victim of microfracture surgery.
I can't remember the last time I saw a player affect a team's defense as much as Webber did last year with the Sixers. There was one game last year against the Celtics that Philly should have won by 20, but it seemed like every other Celtic basket was a result of Webber being a step slow somewhere -- sooner or later, the dominoes fall, and someone scores. He puts four other teammates at risk with his play. He's trying, but hell, WE could try out there. Doesn't mean we deserve minutes.
