Interesting Read on THJ's Resurgent 2016
It's a long read, but tons of great material on Hardaway's early struggles in NY and the D-league and how he fits so well in Atlanta. A couple of interesting notes: opposing players are averaging 10% below their season average when guarded by THJ; and Melo once threatened to beat him up after THJ yelled at him about not going after a rebound (not surprising).
Melo can suck it.
like his decision given how Jerian Grant has panned out so far
/s
Yes - because THJ has so clearly outperformed Grant. Oh wait.
That's more important than meaningless stats:
Hardaway Jr.: 11.23 PER
Hardaway Jr.: -1.74 RPM
Jerian Grant: 10.58 PER
Jerian Grant: -3.84 RPM
Again, it's all relative but it's pretty clear, THJ is the better player on a MUCH better team
Older, more experienced, with a edge in selected advanced stats (e.g. Why didn't you pick APM)....
Grant has more upside. Good deal for the Knicks, though I'm sure you're still pining for Trey over KCP also.
KCP is better. Huge difference between Trey and THJ. Junior plays better defense and has the measurables to negate long 2's guarding him
KCP is better, no argument...but I went back and looked at who I would've drafted if I was the Pistons, turns out my team would only probably be a little better.
2010
Drafted: Greg Monroe
IWHD: Greg Monroe
Hindsight: Paul George
2011
Drafted: Brandon Knight
IWHD: Kemba Walker
Hindsight: Klay Thompson (can't take Kawhi a year after George)
2012
Drafted: Andre Drummond
IWHD: Andre Drummond
Hindsight: Andre Drummond
2013
Drafted: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
IWHD: Shabazz Muhammed
Hindsight: Worst draft of all-time? Hindsight says trade the pick for multiple 2014 picks
2014
Drafted: Fuck Joe Dumars - use your amnesty
IWHD: Fuck Joe Dumars - use your amnesty
Hindsight: Fuck Joe Dumars - use your amnesty
2015
Drafted: Stanley Johnson
IWHD: Devin Booker
Hindsight: Too soon to tell
My "I would have drafted" gets you Kemba Walker, but that's really it. I think Devin Booker is going to be a nice player, but I can't say Johnson isn't. But I can't say my laptop GM skills makes the Pistons a contender in the East, they really haven't had an oppostunity to do too much more than they've done - unless you hit on one of those stars in the early 2010's.
Dumars should've been fired on the spot for the Gordon/Villanueva bullshit.
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LeBron wants to play with him, and a Dwayne Wade whose body is about 120 years old in NBA years. That dude must really hate Kevin Love.
LeBron is an amazingly talented basketball player with the mind of a pre-teen girl.
Only child, mom can't say shit because she's always leached onto him.
I have a theory that LeBron would be the greatest player ever if he would've only grown up with a solid older brother.
He seeks out brothers every chance he gets and he has never been put in his place like an older brother would do. He behaves like someone who's never been "checked" in his life.
If he doesn't win this year, I don't think he ever wins another championship.
It's damn cool that Hardaway got after Melo for that. There can't be many unestablished, early career NBA players with that kind of courage.
And it's nice to see Melo's teams continue to tear up the NBA. A true (and selfless) superstar, that guy.
THJ would be our best pro of the starting five from title game. Saw dominate in that Summer League in his second year in the NBA a year and a half ago. He might not ever become an All-Star caliber player, but his bust probability has taken a huge hit in a good way this year
I thought GR3 might be the best of the group once he rounded out his game, but I'd give the edge to THJ now.
Caris should be better than them all though. I expect him to be the best Michigan alum in the NBA since Crawford.
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Good to see this. There was a time when he was literally the worst defensive player in the league by advanced stats. It's good to see he can be a 3 & D rotational wing in the league. Atlanta doesn't have a lot of top shelf talent, but they consistently win.
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I'm not going to watch the Knicks play the Nets, but a Warriors v. Spurs game is going to be really good.
"baskeball is boring" said the golf fan, unaware of the irony.
Better than Ambien!
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I'm sorry, but what is resurgent about having your minutes cut in half and seeing a decline in PER despite being surrounded by significantly better talent (e.g. having a real point guard rather than the ghost of Jose Calderon)?
I like THJ a lot and hope he does become an average or better NBA player, but this piece is too-soon fluff that misrepresents his play this season.
You're also misrepresenting his play this season.
His average minutes are down from 24 mpg to 17 mpg, but the article specifically mentions that that's partly due to him having a wrist injury this past summer and getting off to a slow start. Since the All-Star break, he's been one of Atlanta's top backups, shooting 46% overall and 38% from three for a TS% of 60.5% (which is comparable to, say, Klay Thompson). And the article specifically mentions how his defense has improved.
So yeah, you're right that he got off to a terrible start this season, but that isn't what the article is about.