Links: Nick Young Is The Barometer For Washington Wizards

The core of this is not that Nick is what makes us better as a team, it’s what he brings, outside shooting. We get some more guys that in can bomb it and we’ll be looking better.

Young brings his beautiful J that he will use 13-16 times no matter what and thats it. That is why he is the barometer. On the occasional nights his often-chucked J goes in often, he provides good value from our 2 spot, which is CRITICAL on a team w/ no other shooters and a pass-first PG.

The huge issue is that on the other nights he brings nothing to the table and takes basically every other skill you would like your 2/3 to have off of it. So on say a portland night, Nick is a huge asset…but in most games hes a huge liability. He NEEDS to be on fire to provide NBA-level value, and the Wiz NEED him to do so in order to win with this roster as constructed.

Neither is a good situation.

there is another math that involves nodes and lines and decision trees.It better simulates the game as its actually played. Not only will it tell you who is inefficient, but why. Usually its because of where players are standing, what decisions they make with the ball and who they give the ball to and where that player is standing. Hence, inefficiency is a team thing that can be distorted towards a particular player when using static, regressive mathematics. If Young isn’t standing in the right spot and the clock is winding down and the call is to pass the ball to young, do you do it if you are Wall or is he better off taking the shot himself? if he passes to Young and Young misses, Wall loses the assist. If Wall takes the shot and misses, that counts against him and Young looks more efficient even though he was less efficient. This happens because there is a 24 second clock. The 24 second clock can also make what appear to be high usage, inefficient scorers desirable. Essentially, someone has to shoot the ball, and for some teams that means an Anthony. Even Crawford depending on who is on the floor.
Basically, breaking down game tape is the best non-mathematical way of seeing how to improve the team and understanding who is inefficient and why. I just watch the game because my brain can process a bizillion billion pieces of information that I later flush out with beer because who needs it?

i dont know what is up with that guy, he clearly has a great skillset and often makes excellent decisions but for the most part he seems bent on taking as many impossible shots as he can