03-08-2024, 03:20 PM
(03-08-2024, 02:59 PM)Smitty Wrote: I’m not arguing that Gafford isn’t without flaws. Just that he provides something for this team that the other 2 do not. I’ve seen for years the Powell truthers point to his +/- as a reason he’s a great center and mostly ignore them because it does no good to argue with people that only use advance stats to make a case.
I use and look at numbers also. Some fit the eye test - some don’t. Some fit the narrative I’m trying to frame and others dismiss it. You can almost find anything to support your stance if you want to. I’m just as guilty as the next guy.
The point is, Gafford does more positive things than negative in certain matchups. This is my opinion. You have a different one. We will have to agree to disagree.
It's not about being a Powell truther or liking one player more than the other. +/- in itself is objective but obviously comes with a a lot of flaws (lineups, opponent...). The bigger the sample size the better. Or even better a big sample size used in a regression that tries to eliminate the randomness of the mentioned flaws.
But on the same team a direct comparisation between two players in the same role is pretty fair. What is your explanation? Why are the same lineups that outscored opponents with Powell on the floor not able to do the same with Gafford instead of Powell?
Powell outperforming other Mavs bigs in those metrics isn't me trying to make the case that he is a great big. I think he has been a solid backup for his entire career and the dislike of Mavs fans is more about the Mavs inability to find someone that can replace him. We have seen Powell play major minutes year after year because of that. Took a few weeks (maybe a month) and he was getting minutes over the guy that was supposed to replace him. Followed by never ending attempts to explain why players like Wood, McGee, WCS are better and just held back by coaching/teammates...whatever.
Maybe Gafford could be better than Powell in a different setup. But based on the available information I have the Mavs looked better when Powell was getting his minutes. Are lookinng better when Lively/Kleber are playing. That's objective. Once again. Feel free to explain why that is the case. There has to be a reason that explains why Gafford is looking as bad in the mentioned metrics.
Is he playing in matchups that don't favor him? If that is the case why? And what are the matchups in which he provides value?