Yesterday actually turned out to be a big game for young Mr. Jennings. That’s because he thoroughly outplayed his opponent (for most of the game) Aaron Brooks. Thanks to Popcornmachine.net, I am able to provide exact Marginal Win Score numbers for each of the Milwaukee Bucks players in every game. Please click on the Milwaukee Bucks Win Chart page on this blog to view the updated win credits and win contributions from each Buck.
Here is a summary of the way players are trending. Luke Ridnour is falling back to Earth, Andrew Bogut is Steady Eddie, Luc Moute is down severally, Charlie Bell is always down, Carlos Delfino is really surging, Kurt Thomas has lost it completely, Ersan Ilyasova is a dependable producer, and Jodie Meeks is back to being awful.
Here are the raw Marginal Win Score totals from yesterday’s matinee against Houston. If you add them up you will notice the Bucks deficit was only (-1.5), reflecting the close game:
1. Brandon Jennings, PG, 42 minutes (+9.5)
2. Carlos Delfino, SF/SG, 37 minutes (+6.5)
3. Hak Warrick, PF/C, 18 minutes (+4.0)
4. Andrew Bogut, C, 45 minutes (+3.5)
5. Kurt Thomas, C, 6 minutes (-1.5)
6. Ersan Ilyasova, PF/C, 9 minutes (-2.5)
7. Charlie Bell, SG, 20 minutes (-3.0)
8. Jodie Meeks, SG, 14 minutes (-5.0)
9. Luke Ridnour, PG/SG, 31 minutes (-6.5)
10. Luc Richard Mbah Moute, 45 minutes (-6.5)
COURTSIDE ANALYST 
January 19, 2010 at 3:35 pm |
Is Jennings’ defensive production always this good?
Because I would think a guy who shoots as poorly as he does would be destined to be a poor contributor to wins.
January 19, 2010 at 9:38 pm |
Its not a night-in, night-out, thing, but his defense has been surprisingly good for a guy of such relatively diminutive stature. Opposing Point Guards are averaging a Win Score per 48 of just 5.2 when Jennings is on the floor, which is well below the average of 6.8.
The one area where he has been effective is field goal defense, particularly against the 3 point shot.
BTW, did you happen to see the “5 things” post about the Detroit Pistons on Basketball Prospectus and if so, what are your opinions on it?
Something about it struck me as not right, but now I can’t remember what that was.
January 20, 2010 at 8:17 am |
Gotcha.
No, I didn’t see that. I’ll google it, too, but do you have a link?
January 20, 2010 at 8:32 am |
Just found it and read it. Here’s the only place where I really disagree:
“2. We should be seeing more Jerebko / Summers / Daye and less Wallace / Hamilton / Prince.”
Right now, Ben Wallace is the only thing that is keeping us Piston fans alive. He’s the only guy who plays well night in, night out. And he’s producing at a rate that’s astonishing for an old veteran. Playing Ben less certainly means losing more games.
The counter argument offered here seems to be a long-term argument, but it’s only 2/3 accurate. I would love to see more Daye and continue to see Jerebko (he’s played a lot on Tay’s absence, probably a little too much though). And I think those two should get minutes at the expense of Rip and Tay — as hard as that is to say as a long-time die hard fan, it’s true. Rip especially has been a favorite of mine …
The last thing I’d say is that Summers simply sucks. He sucked in college, and he’s going to be out of the league by the end of his rookie deal. He’s not even a serviceable backup, nor will he become one. He doesn’t need minutes at all, but especially not at the expense of Ben Wallace, who’s clearly this team’s MVP.
I’d also offer a resounding “Yes!” to point #1: “The Pistons can’t win with Rodney Stuckey playing the point.”
Rodney’s a terrible PG. Thing is, he’s not a very good SG either. He’s got no range to speak of. He’s also not a good distributor, so most nights he’s an easy cover. If he gets the ball, odds are he’s going to put his head and shoulders down and try to get to the basket (where he finishes at a below-average rate, mind you). So defenses can simply collapse, because even if we are healthy, Rodney’s not going to kick it out to an open shooter.
Obviously, Rodney has talent and athleticism. But he plays the game so poorly so often … I know he has the potential to improve, but so many guys have busted out of this league because they never reached the potential they possessed. I hope Rodney’s not one of those guys, for his sake, and also because the immediate future of the franchise depends on him.