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How So?
I'm glad the Wizards signed DeShawn Stevenson, too, but this idea doesn't make sense to me: "He will provide the Wizards with a defender off the bench at the shooting guard position, allowing Antonio Daniels to play more minutes as the backup point guard." How will that allow Antonio Daniels to play more minutes as the backup point guard? Does that mean the virtue of signing Stevenson is that it will let the Wizards give fewer minutes to Arenas, they're best player? That doesn't make much sense.
August 9, 2006 | Permalink
Comments
Matter of framing - if you argue that they are overusing Arenas (which isn't a terribly hard case to make, given that the rest of the team is, er, bad...), then cutting his minutes by using a better backup is potentially a positve.
Though in this case, that doesn't make that much sense, as it's not like Daniels was going to wear out playing 33 minutes per night as opposed to 29
Posted by: Pooh | Aug 9, 2006 5:20:07 PM
Notice how grunfeld said he wanted hardnose players, as if the player he just lost wasn't tough. Ernie probably figured with the poet and Jeffries and Haywood that the wiz were heavy on soft players.
Posted by: drsq | Aug 9, 2006 5:49:13 PM
Basketball is more fluid than this post pre-supposes.
Think about exploiting matchups. That's almost always the key, (and why rigidly statistic-focused explanations of hoops generally miss the point.)
Stevenson is an excellent pickup for the 'zards, especially given the price tag. What he brings is not fewer minutes for Arenas, but instead an alternative 2-guard in matchups where Daniels is not as effective. And, of course, three guard lineups are a possibility in certain matchup situations.
I watched some Orlando games towards the end of last season, and 'zards fans should be pleased with this pickup. Stevenson will be better in the short-term than JJ.
Posted by: Petey | Aug 9, 2006 9:28:11 PM
When I reread this, I realized I was criticizing Matthew's post despite entirely agreeing with him that the quoted passage didn't make sense.
I've been too snippy towards towards Matthew in general of late. I apologize and blame the excitement of Libermania.
Posted by: Petey | Aug 10, 2006 1:45:08 AM
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