I'm willing to admit that I'm relatively green when it comes to saber metrics, but I had some time to look at the statistics on 82games.com and came to an interesting conclusion. Perhaps others have seen it as well.

I continue to hear that the Bucks need to trade Ilyasova, which I understand due to his disappointing year. In the end, I disagree with those sentiments. Ilyasova is not a stat stuffer, and his 3 pt. percentage has been extremely disappointing. However, when looking at the top 5 most productive lineups the Bucks used last year (based on Win %), it becomes pretty clear that the Bucks are better with Turk Nowitski on the court than without him.

See, the Ersanator is someone who makes his teammates better - he works hard, he gets extra possessions, he rebounds well, and he is another solid defender (as long as he's not against a very quick 4). Here are the best lineups from last year.

So maybe the Bucks should be looking at Ilyasova at starting the 4, instead of all the other candidates, (LRMAM, Gooden, Harris, etc.). Ersan may not seem like a contending starting 4, but the stats seems to bare otherwise.

I'd love some guidance from the more savvy sabermetric people on this blog. It's been a blast reading a BrewHoop on a consistent basis. I know I don't often comment, but it is out of respect for the knowledge here, not because I don't want to participate.

Look forward to your responses!