February 15, 2009

Joe Schaller

TPR scale: 180+ MVP, 140+ superstar, 110+ allstar, 85+ starter, 65+ bench

New Orleans Hornets
Why James Posey 85? The club was in dire need of depth and decided to sign Posey in the off season. First of all he is not a star and second the primary need is in the power rotation. Hilton Armstrong 29.5 seeing considerable court time is a major problem. Even when Tyson Chandler 79 has been healthy he has been far below expectations. In fact everyone but Posey and Chris Paul 188.5 are below expectations. Posey is right on his projected 85 TPR.

The only thing keeping the club afloat is the spectacular season of CP3. It might be the greatest season by a point guard in NBA history yet once again the media has dropped the ball.

I'm not sure what the Hornets can offer in return however David Lee, Rasheed Wallace, Brad Miller, Sam Dalembert or Marcus Camby would work wonders. Even Rasho Nesterovic or Jeff Foster would be a major upgrade.

minutes___________TPR

• 1716_Chris Paul_____188.5
  
• 1658_David West____105
  
• 1504_Peja Stojakovic__94.5
  
• 1439_James Posey____85
  
• 1406_Rasaul Butler____81
  
• 995__Tyson Chandler__79
  
• 715__Hilton Armstrong_29.5
  
• 665__Devin Brown____69
  
• 433__Antonio Daniels__65.5

Houston Rockets
Yao Ming 138 and Carl Landry 106.5 are performing up to expectations however like the Hornets everyone else is a disappointment.
Tracy McGrady 107.5 and Ron Artest 110 are an odd combination. They are both head cases, streaky shooters and quite eager to shoot. Despite their propensity to gun they carry low adjusted field goal percentages and as a result the club is 18th in offense.

Defensively the Rockets are sixth in def adj fg% however their 29th ranking in creating turnovers reveals an overrated defense.

Point guard continues to be an inherent problem with Rafer Alston 78.5 and Aaron Brooks 79.5 qualified as back-ups yet not the starter caliber for a serious contender.

With the chronic injury issues of McGrady I would never bet on the Rockets to get far and even if everyone is healthy the chemistry issues presented by Tracy and Ron inspire little confidence.

minutes___________TPR

• 1634_Yao Ming______138
  
• 1560_Rafer Alston____78.5
  
• 1526_Luis Scola______96.5
  
• 1375_Ron Artest_____110
  
• 1181_Tracy McGrady__107.5
  
• 1162_Aaron Brooks___79.5
  
• 1116_Carl Landry____106.5
  
• 988__Shane Battier___74.5
  
• 672__Von Wafer______90
  
• 638__Brent Barry_____64
  
• 598__Chuck Hayes___19.5

Total Performance Ratings-- since 1996

1. Scoring
   
2. Scoring Efficiency
   
3. Ballhandling
   
4. Rebounding
   
5. Disruptive Defense
   
6. One on one Defense
   
7. Team Defense
   
8. Team Game Pace
   
9. Schedule Strength
   
10. Projected Improvement or Decline
    
11. Teams Wins Adjustment

Ratings indicate productivity per minute played. See my feature "The TPR Formula" for more information.

• Joe Schaller
  
• 505-722-3103
  
• schaller_6@msn.com