The Caron - Gilbert debate

by facekdr on Feb 20, 2008 10:45 AM EST

So the wizards have been without Gil for almost the whole season and without Caron for 10 games. I personally feel that as awesome as Butler is, Gil is much better, and much more valuable for the team. At least when it comes to winning. I understand the spark Butler provides and his defense and hustle is better than Gil's. But to say the Wizards miss Butler more than Arenas is as naive as saying Todd Collins should be the Skins starter next season.

Obv, just my opinion, but when I have co-workers telling me that I'm wrong, I wonder if my thoughts are clouded by Gil's history with the team.

Just trying to get the pulse of the Wizards fan base.

Poll

Who does Washington need more?

Gilbert Arenas

14 votes

Caron Butler

8 votes

22 votes | Poll has closed

This represents the view of the user who wrote the FanPost, and not the entire Bullets Forever community. We're a place of many opinions, not just one.

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Comments

My Vote is Still For Gil

I say "still", because no one knows yet how Gil will play when he comes back from his knee surgery. There's a possibility that Gil's knee will affect him for the rest of his career and he'll never be the same player he was before the injury.

However, assuming Gil can make a full recovery and play like he did before the knee injury, I think that Gil is still the better player, even when you take into account his aversion to defense. Gil simply takes over games, even when the rest of the team is struggling. He can score at will, and when his shot is off he can get to the free throw line easily.

Caron still takes too many jumpers. He needs to learn how to take the ball to the basket more and draw more fouls. He also needs to learn how to handle double-teams more, because he is still not used to them. Caron does a better job at making his teammates better, but if they struggle, he struggles (with a few notable exceptions).

Caron could be better in the future, but as of right now, I think Gil is the best the Wizards have.

"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier

by cuppettcj on Feb 20, 2008 11:07 AM EST reply actions

i vote for caron

i argue that gil is the better player, but caron is harder to replace and means more to this team.

it'd be interesting to see how the wiz fare with:

1 - caron out. tawn and gil healthy.
2 - tawn out. gil and caron healthy.
3 - gil out. caron and tawn healthy.

2 doesn't apply in this discussion. we've seen 3. have we seen 1?

i think wiz would win more games in situation 3 than in situation 1.

by DarrellWalkerFan on Feb 20, 2008 1:26 PM EST reply actions

2004-05 wizards (situation 1)

not to take away at all from caron, but this team won 45 games (more than the last two years) and landed larry hughes that absurd deal.

by facekdr on Feb 20, 2008 3:18 PM EST up reply actions

There was also

Last year's 1-4 road trip in late March, if memory serves me.

You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.

by Mike Prada on Feb 20, 2008 3:31 PM EST up reply actions

good point

but imagine the 04-05 team with caron (at his current level of play) instead of gil for 80 games: swap out gil for AD and jared jeffries for caron. to me, the version with caron seems like a better team.

also, i think the wiz could have won 45 games this year without gil if they had similar good health (like 04-05) for everyone other than gil. and that's without a third scoring option like larry hughes chipping in with a career year.

gil can be a more dominate scorer and a more dynamic individual player than caron, but he definitely isn't a leader, and i don't necessarily think his style of play leads to more team success. i honestly think caron has a better chance of putting a good team on his back and leading them to a championship than gilbert does. you don't have to dominate the ball to carry a team.

by DarrellWalkerFan on Feb 20, 2008 5:33 PM EST up reply actions

Gilbert for sure -

Caron may be the better overall player because he brings it on both sides of the floor but Gilbert is definitely more valuable right now because of his offense. He is instant offense - with him in the game -I don't think we are messing up last second plays to win a game like last night. I also think he is very aggressive with his shot, can score a lot in a short amount of time and he is the one player who as cuppettcj mentions can take over a game. Caron is still learning how to do that. I think Gilbert's shooting can also demoralize opponents as well.

by ooba on Feb 20, 2008 1:27 PM EST reply actions