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Originally Posted by Dumars4Ever  There are other ways to look at it too. It's all well and good to say that any points from AA are a bonus, but as of now, he can't jumpers--AT ALL. And that has an effect on everyone else on the floor. Teams can sag off him to double the post or leave him open in the corner when they're trapping on the other side of the floor, and he simply cannot make them pay for it. I do hope he can do that in the future--he was a good scorer in college and people can certainly improve their jumpers in the NBA, as Stuckey has already done this season--but as of now, AA simply cannot hit ANY outside shots. Dixon is clearly a lot more reliable in that department.
On defense, AA is obviously bigger and stronger than Dixon, which is clearly an advantage for him. But he's also a rookie and more prone to get fouls called on him, especially in the playoffs.
AA does have good things about his game that I like. He works very hard and I'm confident that he'll get better; by this time next season, I'm willing to believe that he'll solidly be a better option than someone like Dixon. But as of right now, i.e. the playoffs that start in about 10 days, I simply don't see him being much better than Dixon. It seems to me that splitting the spot duty between one or the other in the upcoming playoffs, depending on matchups, might be the best way to go. |
Afflalo just hit three jumpers in a row, just two games ago. He needs to shoot more, to get comfortable shooting. But look, even if we simply don't have him shoot outside shots, he is still a threat to drive in. As long as he is surrounded by scorers, it should not matter much whether he can shoot or not. You do not need five scorers on the floor.
Whether Afflalo plays or not, Dixon playing is bad news. He is such a poor defender, it negates any good defense anyone else plays. No matter how good you are at D, it really does not matter if the other team is just going to ignore you and pick on someone like Dixon. Dixon also means our bigs get into foul trouble because he is so easily gotten by. Dixon improves the other teams outside shooting, because everyone is leaving their guy to help out Dixon. Its plain ugly.
One last thought. The same thought. If Afflalo does not play, and a lot, we are going nowhere in the playoffs. Without him, we just do not play enough defense to win. If Afflalo is taken out of the rotation for the first series, whether we play Toronto or Philly, we will lose in the first round.