Author Topic: Big Miss on Blatche  (Read 10317 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Re: Big Miss on Blatche
« Reply #75 on: January 09, 2013, 09:55:37 AM »

Offline alajet

  • Jayson Tatum
  • Posts: 790
  • Tommy Points: 54
He is having a career year in points, rebounds, steals, shooting percentages, etc. We don't even know if it is sustainable yet, for all we know he will regress for the rest of the season. But still, we are talking about a complete out-of-nowhere renovation of his game. So it's disingenuous to say that it was a "big miss," because based on the way Blatche had played the last 7 seasons there was no reason to want him besides size.

Aside from the FG%, he isn't having a career year. Per minute? Possibly. But per game, he isn't having a career year.
And his game didn't go under a complete renovation. This is the same Blatche that was playing a versatile role in the Wizards before he decided to give zero attention to his on-court performance.

That's the whole point of a surprise draft pick or a surprise MIP-candidate, it's a SURPRISE. Every team passed on Blatche, reasonably considering his career up to that point. The Nets took a gamble, and it ended up working out because he had an amazing turnaround in his level of play. They got lucky. It happens sometimes. But then using it as a flimsy excuse to attack Danny Ainge for somehow not being able to see the future is pointless.

It was a gamble, but not in the sense of expecting him to play good basketball. Before the last season's turmoil, he averaged 16.8 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 2.3 apg and 1.5 spg for the Wizards. Granted, the Wizards were still terrible back then, and Blatche's field goal percentages weren't decent enough to call him great (44% FG isn't desirable for a C, even he is taking outside jumpshots).
Nevertheless, it's not like his performance this season came out of nowhere. He was already capable of it, that's why the Nets took the gamble.

Re: Big Miss on Blatche
« Reply #76 on: January 09, 2013, 10:05:58 AM »

Offline CelticG1

  • Antoine Walker
  • ****
  • Posts: 4201
  • Tommy Points: 288
Blatche is having a good season, but I think it's a bit over-the-top to say that it was a "big miss."

People need to remember that this is a player who had been in the league for 7 seasons, and had been largely terrible in ALL of them. There is a reason that he was sitting on the scrap heap for the vet's minimum. There was no reason in the summer that we should have signed him. Yeah, in retrospect, it looks like he improved his game enough that he would have been a great addition, but that's just hindsight talking.

He is having a career year in points, rebounds, steals, shooting percentages, etc. We don't even know if it is sustainable yet, for all we know he will regress for the rest of the season. But still, we are talking about a complete out-of-nowhere renovation of his game. So it's disingenuous to say that it was a "big miss," because based on the way Blatche had played the last 7 seasons there was no reason to want him besides size.

It's like people harping on Danny Ainge accusing him of screwing up by not drafting Deandre Jordan. Yes, with hindsight, we can see that it might have been a good call, but he was drafted in the 2nd round, so literally every other team in the league passed on him as well.

That's the whole point of a surprise draft pick or a surprise MIP-candidate, it's a SURPRISE. Every team passed on Blatche, reasonably considering his career up to that point. The Nets took a gamble, and it ended up working out because he had an amazing turnaround in his level of play. They got lucky. It happens sometimes. But then using it as a flimsy excuse to attack Danny Ainge for somehow not being able to see the future is pointless.

There were a ton of people on this board alone that wanted him.

Its not like he was some unknown player that came out of nowhere.

Even if he played like he has the last few seasons he would have been worth the vet min. Its the vet min!

I don't even regret signing Darko. We took an extremely minimal risk, it didn't work out for whatever reason and now he's gone. If it would have worked out it would have been great but it didn't and it didn't effect our team at all.

Re: Big Miss on Blatche
« Reply #77 on: January 09, 2013, 10:38:59 AM »

Offline feckless

  • Bill Walton
  • *
  • Posts: 1202
  • Tommy Points: 93
Head Case is too mild here--this is a guy who was shot at 4:30 in the morning hanging out at the wrong place, with the wrong people before his rookie year.  Just interviewed and released in a sexual assault investigation.  A head case as a player, lazy, self absorbed, blows coaches off but a gangster, thug, borderline criminal in the locker room and on the streets.  He simply does not bring enough to the table as a ball player to bring a criminal attitude into our locker rooom.
Days up and down they come, like rain on a conga drum, forget most, remember some, don't turn none away.   Townes Van Zandt

Re: Big Miss on Blatche
« Reply #78 on: January 09, 2013, 03:45:54 PM »

Offline LooseCannon

  • NCE
  • Ed Macauley
  • ***********
  • Posts: 11833
  • Tommy Points: 950
Low ball IQ, locker room trouble, questions of heart and desire. A mix between JaVale McGre and Big Baby for me (attitude and smarts wise). I still pass on him no question.

Other than possibly attitude (the only attitude I've seen is that he wanted to be a starter), Baby didn't have any of the other problems you listed.  He has a decent to high BBIQ and always plays with heart and desire.

One thing that might allow people to draw comparisons to Big Baby is that Blatche ballooned up to around 300 pounds by the end of last season.
"The worst thing that ever happened in sports was sports radio, and the internet is sports radio on steroids with lower IQs.” -- Brian Burke, former Toronto Maple Leafs senior adviser, at the 2013 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference

Re: Big Miss on Blatche
« Reply #79 on: January 09, 2013, 04:15:38 PM »

Offline CelticG1

  • Antoine Walker
  • ****
  • Posts: 4201
  • Tommy Points: 288
Head Case is too mild here--this is a guy who was shot at 4:30 in the morning hanging out at the wrong place, with the wrong people before his rookie year.  Just interviewed and released in a sexual assault investigation.  A head case as a player, lazy, self absorbed, blows coaches off but a gangster, thug, borderline criminal in the locker room and on the streets.  He simply does not bring enough to the table as a ball player to bring a criminal attitude into our locker rooom.

Id still take him.

Wed probably have at least a couple more wins at this point (at the least) and we could just cut him today and never think about it again.