All you guys do is rip on Darko when I make any point. I'm not saying he's great, I'm just trying to have you look a little deeper into the #s. The standard stats out there only give you a fraction of what is going on in a basketball game.

Baseball was revolutionized when people realized that the standard measurements were distorting the picture. The smart teams started picking up the hidden gems on the cheap.

You can't look at a statistic in isolation. You don't want a guy who scores 50 points a game if he has a 25% FG%. You may not pay as much for a 15 rebounds per game guy if he's stealing your own players rebounds. It goes on and on. You can cut an slice the date in a million ways.

I think that it is significant that when Dale Davis is in the game, the Pistons give up 14 fewer points per 100 possessions and only score 2 less on offense. To me, that suggests that Nazr might be expendable and probably should not start for this team.

Also, despite all Delfino's beautiful form, etc., he is about the least effective player besides Hunter. In other words, his intangibles don't seem to be making up for his lack of tangibles.

It is only because of the exadurated ripping that I feel the need to defend guys like Darko, Kwame Brown, etc., who actually show positive stats in team-related areas. This doesn't mean I think they're going to the Hall of Fame or whatever. If everyone said that Maurice Evans is a joke, I'll probably have to defend him too.

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"Defense fuels your offense. No mystery about that." AA