The only reason Aldridge right now has the clear advantage in this comparison is the fact that Bargs had that 10 games stretch where he was putrid.
Other than that, their seasons are very comparable, it's really a toss up, but I feel most people would still give a slight edge to Aldridge because of rebounding.
This statement gets more and more ridiculous as time goes on. Better numbers, better defense, better rebounding, more efficient shooting, and has single handedly put his team in a playoff position out west (5th place) with Wes Matthews as the #2 scoring option. What else is there to say?
When 82% of a players total shots are jumpshots, how can you call him versatile?
When a Raptors fan says something like "Kevin Love is producing 21/15 so he should be an all-star", that is ok, because I guess we all have watched few Wolves' games and we have to rely on stats.
But if you are a Raptors fan posting on a Raptors forum, you are supposed to watch a lot of Raptors games. And if you do that, you know that Bargnani has a versatile arsenal of ways to score. Yes, he should use his size in the low post better and more often. But when he receives farther, he is talented and he gets what the defender gives him. He can catch and shoot from any range, dribble to the basket, fadeaway, shoot after dribble, pump fake and get the fault...
The key to what you just said right there is that he CAN do all of those things. That's why that particular stat that I posted from 82games.com about 82% of his shots being jumpshots is significant. It's not about what you are capable of doing, but it's about what you actually do. Being capable of doing something does not provide tangible results. The defenders know that for every 10 times he shoots the ball, at least 8 times he's gonna shoot a jumpshot so they don't even have to worry about guarding him for the drive or in the post most of the time. It makes it easy for a good defensive team to take him out of the game. Yes there will be times where his jumpshot is so hot that nobody can stop him out there, but it's clearly not sustainable over time.
But if you are a Raptors fan posting on a Raptors forum, you are supposed to watch a lot of Raptors games. And if you do that, you know that Bargnani has a versatile arsenal of ways to score. Yes, he should use his size in the low post better and more often. But when he receives farther, he is talented and he gets what the defender gives him. He can catch and shoot from any range, dribble to the basket, fadeaway, shoot after dribble, pump fake and get the fault...
Yes, as bokes said, he CAN score in a bunch of different ways.. but he doesn't.
Any big man who can step outside for a three and drive to the net is versatile, they are doing things that aren't common for their position and it makes it harder on the defense. BUT, when only 18% of your shots come on drives/in the post.. you're not utilizing you're versatility, so it isn't being used to an advantage.
It's like prime Vince Carter and taking the ball to the basket. He could've potentially taken it to the basket a lot more than he did instead of shooting so many 3's, but he didn't. So should we praise him for something that he is capable of doing rather than something he actually does? Jose Calderon is one of the better FT shooters in the league but he only gets to the line 1.5 times/game. So should we be bragging about his brilliant FT shooting ability when he gets to the line so little that it barely makes an impact?
Basically Chambs and bokes are paraphrasing the below quote from Aristotle,
"Thus, in one word, states of character arise out of like activities. This is why the activities we exhibit must be of a certain kind; it is because the states of character correspond to the differences between these."
Essentially you cannot call yourself anything (heroic, mild-mannered, intelligent, or in this case a versatile offensive player on the hard court), unless your actions back up your words. Bargnani's actions don't justify the statement that he's a "versatile" scorer, and his mere ability to be one is irrelevant until he starts to take advantage of that ability. As long as he behaves like a one-dimensional scorer, he is one.
Stats lecture in one thread, philosophy in another. I'm playing the role of renessaince man this week
Re: Bargnani so far!
Great post!
