One benefit of Waiters' emergence

[billsin01]

Waiters' development from an inconsistent scorer and occasionally disruptive team presence last season into a positive presence and dynamic scorer (12 ppg doesn't stand out until you realize he's doing that in 21 mpg and on 52.3% shooting) has allowed Scoop to reprise his role from 2009-10. As opposed to essentially being the go-to guy (by default) last season, Scoop has settled back into the role of simply being an integral cog in a pretty well-oiled offensive machine (probably still a bit jumper heavy and not quite at the level of 09-10, IMO, but still pretty good). And, if you remember, no one was complaining about Scoop in 09-10.

Take a look at the numbers (aside from free throw shooting, which is a strange anomaly, and FG percentage this season, which is unlikely to remain quite that high):

09-10 Scoop
22.2 mpg
9.1 ppg
4.3 assists/game
1.9 TO/game
1.2 steals/game
.489/.389/.750

11-12 Scoop
21.8 mpg
9.3 ppg
4.1 assist/game
2.1 TO/game
2 steals/game
.553/.345.450

And, just for kicks since I don't imagine this stretch will continue throughout the season, Scoop in his last 7 games:
12.3 ppg
4.1 assist/g
3.0 rpg
2.4 steals/g
3.0 TO/g
.617/.500/.454

Anyway, the takeaway, IMO, is that Scoop is really nice complementary player who looked ugly at times last season due to the fact that he was really the go-to guy, particularly at crunch time. Yes, turnovers are a part of his game, which is frustrating. No, there's no real answer for the FTs. But Scoop is a really valuable part of this basketball team and for those that wanted him gone prior to the season, I hope you realize how misguided you were (are).

 

[OttoMets]

Great post.

It's the Jason Hart syndrome. Scoop is a good player who's a huge asset to good teams. He's also someone who got stuck playing a role for which he was poorly suited last season. He shouldn't be taking more shots than anyone else. When we have the players to take that burden from him, we'll be a good team.

 

[stuckinbig11]

Good point, Scoop seems to GET it now.

 

[billsin01]

Great post.

It's the Jason Hart syndrome. Scoop is a good player who's a huge asset to good teams. He's also someone who got stuck playing a role for which he was poorly suited last season. He shouldn't be taking more shots than anyone else. When we have the players to take that burden from him, we'll be a good team.

Yeah, Hart is a perfect comp. I also think the tempo this year -- which thanks to improved defense is much quicker -- suits Scoop's game better than the grind it out style we played last season.

 

[billsin01]

Good point, Scoop seems to GET it now.

I guess I feel like it wasn't so much that he didn't get it last year as much as it was, who else do you trust to create and make plays at the end of games/shot clocks, etc.

 

[iommi]

Great post. And also very true about the up-tempo this year being to his advantage. Scoop seems to thrive on chaos. As someone said last night (either on the board or the chat room), Scoop thrives when you don't expect him to. His shot goes in when his form is bad or he is taking what is typically a poor shot. When he is wide open, he misses. I think that goes to the point of the tempo; when things are more chaotic, Scoop makes threes.