I'm not exactly a fan of Kwame but the reasoning behind your post is insane. You ignore every other change associated with the teams.
Sound logic if your a GM, but this isnt a moneyball question, its a straight up player comparison. Everybody knows about Kwames troubles cupping the ball, so did Ben Wallace and he was a great rebounder. Point being Kwame has improved on that end, his rebounding marks rival Hayes. But yes I agree with your overall assessment
If I had to pick between the two for the Rockets, I would rather have Kwame Brown because we lack size in the middle. ANY other team I would go with Chuck Hayes.
Is that a trick question...? KwwaaaAAME Brown!? <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/p5-A8Ao47nU&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/p5-A8Ao47nU&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
I was being as <i>logical</i> as Chronz was earlier in this thread, yet you didn't criticize him? I <i>Aped</i> his earlier post to prove a point.
He probably knows I put forth more effort contextualizing a players impact on his teams performance than that. Yes your being as logical as I am, but I never really put forth my findings the way you did, so he cant really judge my work. Your feeble attempt was worthy of criticism, I know you were tryin to prove a point (that I dont know what Im talking about), but really, all youve done is shown how bias you can be.
Chuck without a doubt. I wish I could pull up the stats but they are not easy to find the relevant ones. All you need to know is DM praises Chuck to the high heavens as a top elite post defender in the league who rarely hurts his team. The same can't be said of Kwame.
You have to understand why and where they suffered. Considering the subject of Kwame's impact was his defense, a team getting worse offensively should hold no barring on this matter, besides a team trading Pau for Kwame should expect worse results. Pistons getting worse had nothing to do with Kwame's addition and more to do with Billups departure and natural decline of their vets, I understand you could say the same thing about most players who join or depart a team, but Win-Loss record is really not the way I judge a players defensive abilities. I try to focus on the teams success defensively, and try to isolate a players contributions to find out if hes impacting the team ratings positively or negatively. Like I said in my initial post, part of that involves the team shift from one year to the next. Kwames History in this regard: In 2001 the Wizards were the absolute WORST defensive team in the league. Though they improved the following year it was definitely not because of Kwame as he played a minimal role for them, much more likely it was the addition of Brendan Haywood and departure of Juwan Howard, and the addition of an old MJ could be seen as an upgrade on an old Mitch Richmond. Still Kwame's individual defensive #'s for them was impressive, made moreso considering his youth. In the ensuing years they continued to improve and when Kwame was healthy, they typically defended better with him on the court. When he left the Wizards they didnt drop off significantly until they lost Brendan Haywood, another great defender. Kwame's addition to the Lakers really opened my eyes to his abilities. The 3 teams I follow most religiously are the Rockets, Clippers, and Lakers being that I live in LA, and the change the Lakers underwent in defending the pivot that year was remarkable, and Kwame received almost no recognition for it. They stopped sending double teams at will, were able to defend the 3 ball. Opposing Centers went from posting a PER in the 17's to 13.5 when Kwame was on the court. In other words bigs went from looking like damn near all-stars against LA to containing them comfortably below league average. LA went from being the worst defensive team in the league and missing the playoffs in 04-05 (Sound familiar) proceeded to trade away a budding star for a bust, and became a halfway decent defensive team because of it. Going from a team that allowed 111.4 Ptsx100Poss to 105.7, a huge jump made more remarkable when you factor in the influence handchecking had on the league. And once again Kwame's individual and team #'s were strong, as his team defended better statistically with him on the court vs off it, and Kwame usually only played when there was a post threat for him to cover. The following year, with the same squad only an injured Kwame (and Odom), their defense fell and they slid in the standings. What happened from here on out was a series of injuries. Yet even in this diminished state, the tendency of his teams defending better with him on the court continued. And did so in Detroit as well. This is just the gist of what I like looking into, but there are several other defensive metrics I think we should consider but am currently having difficulty attaining for seasons beyond this past year. Im not sure of the methodology specifically dPOSS, dMult, and dQual from the brilliant SCHOENE system.
Alright so that last one sounded homerish but its true, Coaches and GM's alike have praised Kwame's defense. Nobody like DM backing him, and Id admit Hayes is probably the better defender overall, but Kwame is a superior offensive player. Making the comparison closer than given credit for, but that is all
Big mistake there IMHO. Hayes is actually the better offensive player. He knows how to cut to the basket, he can handle the ball and he can pass. What does Kwame Brown know on offense? Nada. He can't handle, he's too dumb to know when to cut and to pass, he has no offensive moves, and his ft's are about as good as Chuck Hayes. Plus his small hands prevent him from catching and finishing under the basket.
Kwame Brown can't hold a jock strap to chuck's D and it is not like Kwame has any better post skills or shooting touch. Your post fails when you compare a former number one overall in the draft to a guy in chuck who was undrafted. That should say all about the comparison.
