You’ve seen us write about Wins Produced Per 48 Minutes (WP48) previously, now read what the man who created the advanced stat has to say about the Cavs performance through 22 games.
The big headline is that Shaq and Z are under-producing big-time.
The smaller headline is that practically every other player on the Cavs roster, besides Varejao, Moon, and Boobie, is under-producing as well.
And the elephant in the room is the fact that Ben Wallace is having a monster season so far this year for the Pistons.
The debate, of course, revolves around what the hell is causing all of this. Are Z and Shaq playing poorly because of age? Will Delonte’s health improve to the point that he can be consistent and approach his level of production from last year? Can JJ, a young player and therefore prime for improvement, get better over the course of the season?
Or is what we’re seeing so far in the case of all of these down years merely a slump that will average out over time, so that when all 82 games are in the books, things will look a lot more similar to what we expected when the season started?
Obviously, talking about WP48 is just one way to try and quantify what’s been going on with the Cavs over a month into the season. It doesn’t account for variables like match-ups, schedule, and injuries … but if anyone was to stand up and say that the idea that Shaq and Z have frequently looked old and shot badly is absurd … well, I would tell them they were wrong.
Danny Ferry was a guest on Wednesday’s Coach Brown Radio Show, and I sensed some concern in his voice about the way the team played against Memphis; that they laid an egg against Houston could not have made him feel much better.
(As a side note, Ferry stressed that the widely perceived idea that the Cavs aren’t trying to win as many games as possible during the regular season, just so long as they’re “ready” for the playoffs, was b.s.)
(Also on the show, Danny Green was quoted saying that he wants to be one of the all-time great players in the NBA.)
This season is perhaps becoming even more drama-ridden than we imagined going into it.
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