FanPost

NBA Wowy! or a case for the Bledshow?


I had a hypothesis about the Buck's team building going into free agency. After the playoffs, I have been thinking up moves to improve the team, including trading Bledsoe. I thought it would be prudent to test my ideas with NBAwowy, before I posted them. After looking closer, I'm questioning my original thoughts.

First lets look at how the Buck's did with the big 4(3) on the court.

Giannis 2.7 net, (the Buck's out scored their opponents by 2.7 points/100 poss when he was on the court)

Bledsoe 5.1

Middleton 1.6

Parker -4.6

While those numbers are interesting (Bledsoe having the best net), they can be misleading because we do not know who else is on the court with them. What happens when the big 3 play together?

Giannis, Bledsoe, Middleton together have a 7.5 net.

Also during clutch time (NBA.com) the Buck's had a 7.5 net. A team with a 7.5 net for the year is close to a 58 win team. So, in the 1404 minutes the big 3 played together, they were a very good team. What happens when they do not all play together?

Giannis, Bledsoe/ No Middleton has 3.9 net (193 mp)

Giannis, Middleton/ No Bledsoe has a 0.3 net (563 mp)

Bledsoe, Middleton/ No Giannis has a 0.3 net (540 mp)

The Buck's are barely above average when only 2 of the big 3 play, with Giannis, Bledsoe being the best pairing. Not quite the results I thought I would see, it appears Giannis and Bledsoe made a nice combo in limited minutes. Also makes you wonder why they did not do it more? What happens when only one of the big 3 plays without the other 2?

Giannis/ no Bledsoe, Middleton -9.2 net (599 mp)

Bledsoe/ No Giannis, Middleton -3.4 (72 mp)

Middleton/ No Giannis, Bledsoe -13.4 (457 mp)

None of the big 3 on the court -15.4 (151 mp)

Again, look how Bledsoe in limited minutes did a better job of carrying the team. Not the results I was expecting and why did he not get more minute alone rather the Middleton who failed miserably?

Lets not forget about Parker. Remember the big 3 had a really nice 7.5 net. How about the big 4?

The Big 4 had a net of -3.2 net in 77 mp. Parker fans might argue that it is a small sample size, but I do not blame Prunty too much for not playing them together that much. This 4 man line up had so much potential in theory, but it did not show on the court.

Parker/ No Giannis, Bledsoe, Middleton -21.7 net in 49 mp. (not good).

Conclusion, it is hard not to remember the egg Bledsoe laid against Boston, but by looking at the numbers above, trading him might not make the team better. You could even argue that we would be better if he was given a bigger role and that we might have missed the playoffs without him. The numbers above also make Middleton look a little over rated. How much should we let the playoffs cloud our judgement? I do not have the answer to these questions, I hope Horst does.

FanPosts are user-generated blogs-within-the-blog. We require that members abide by our <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/community-guidelines" target="new">community guidelines</a> and keep things respectable.