djcon57
Living Legend
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- Aug 15, 2011
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My problem with trying to analyze how and where Kadary would have made a difference is that it ignores how Kadary actually played in some of these games.
For example, in the first UNC game, Kadary was -9 in 8 first half minutes - he checked in with 11:43 to play in the half and SU down 1 point, 16-15 - and he checked out with 3:51 to play in the half and SU trailing by 10, 36-26. Then the team promptly went on a 14-4 run to close out the half (Buddy went into NBA Jam 'on fire' mode) and we went to the locker room tied at 40-all.
JB stuck with the same lineup for the start of the 2nd half - and SU did extend to a 56-51 lead with 11:09 to play with Kadary on the bench the entire time. When JB finally did summon Kadary into the game with 9:13 to play, SU was trailing by 6 points (62-56), but I think I understand why JB stuck with the starters as long as he did - that lineup was +15 over an 11 minute stretch of the game.
We did go on a little mini-run after Kadary entered the game and took a brief lead at 68-67 with 3:21 to play on two free throws by Quincy, but we gave it back and trailed 71-68 when JB subbed Joe back in for Kadary with 2:04 to play. Ultimately, it was a couple of Carolina offensive rebounds late, plus Quincy fouling out that was the difference that night. For the game, Kadary was -7 total in 16 minutes on the court.
I love Kadary and I'm happy that he has gotten more minutes as the season has progressed. Please don't misinterpret this post as some sort of Kadary-bashing. But I generally disagree with the simplistic analysis that "if only JB had played Kadary more, we definitely would have won more games". I think that a deeper game-by-game analysis shows that this isn't necessarily true.
If we end up on the wrong side of the bubble, I think it's going to be the collapse against Pitt that we all look back on as the one that hurt the most. And I don't think that loss can be pinned on how many minutes JB did or did not give to Kadary, either.
I’ll give you a specific example from this game...while acknowledging that the starters had a good first half
Joe starts the 2nd half, game goes from tied to -6, the defense gives up 22 points in 11 mins.
Kadary comes in as you stated, UNC proceeds to score 9 points in the next 7 mins. I simply believe his importance to the team defense is/was too important to leave on the bench.
Also...just for reference, the box plus minus isn’t a basic plus minus