2014-15 outlook on Alec Burks: Starter or 6th man?

[fishonjazz]

Basically if a player is near the top of the PPS list of the nba then that player is either REALLY REALLY good,.......... or doesn't play as many minutes or get as many shots, and isn't the number option in the offense. (alec burks)

 

[GVC]

Looking at the list of top scoring 2s...Maybe Alec is closer to top 6 than I had originally thought.

After Harden, Wade and Joe Johnson, it's kinda wide open (depending on whether you consider Dragic a 2, and what you think about Monta, DeMar, Klay and KMart).

 

[fishonjazz]

Just seems like if it was a worthless stat that shows nothing then there would be more average-below average players like burks in the top 10.

 

[fishonjazz]

Looking at the list of top scoring 2s...Maybe Alec is closer to top 6 than I had originally thought.

After Harden, Wade and Joe Johnson, it's kinda wide open (depending on whether you consider Dragic a 2, and what you think about Monta, DeMar, Klay and KMart).

I think dragic is a pretty valuable player, monta is very talented and helping out a western conference playoff team, Demar derozans team is in third place in the east with him as the primary option (iirc) I think he is pretty good, Klay Thompson has a lot of people thinking he will be a future all star, and kevin martin is probably the worst of the bunch and even he is a pretty tough guy to stop from scoring and has had some borderline all star caliber years.

And alec is higher on the list than some of them? Maybe he is better than we think

 

[Stifle Tower]

My sincere apologies for wasting some space on the internet. I will be more conscientious about the problems it may cause next time I think of starting a thread about the breakout player of this year's Jazz team.

Only Beantown can start stupid threads. He's earned that right by virtue of his constant practice and unparalleled "success" in doing so.
AS to the question, while I do agree Burks COULD be a starter, I love him coming off the bench: if he gets 30+ mins/per. What that entails is starting a replacement for RJ at SF (hopefully a "3 and D" type guy) and bringing him out at the 6 min mark. Then insert Burks and slide Hayward over to SF.

 

[seattlejazzfan]

These stats all miss some of the context, for sure. We don't observe in the boxscore where these shots were taken from, how they were defended, whether they were taken as a last resort, as the end result of well-executed offense, in transition, off an offensive rebound, etc. I agree that drawing fouls is a decent indicator of pressure put on opposing defenses.

There are better ways to correct for that than counting free throw attempts as 0 possessions used. I find it hard to believe you'd take the guy producing 10 points on 11 possessions over the guy producing 8 points on 5, just because of the 5 fouls he's drawn. Again, if those fouls were worth so much, (7.6 points, as calculated previously), there'd never be any reason to challenge any shot where a foul were remotely possible.

Alec is one of the exceptions that proves the rule IMO. He's a nice player, but he certainly isn't the 6th best scorer at the 2.

He might not be the sixth best scorer at the two. We don't know for sure because he doesn't play as many minutes or take as many shots as some of the other guys. However, he does shoot a higher percentage from the field than most twos, he is adequate from three and he is among the very best at his position in terms of getting to the line. So, while if he played a bigger role we don't know what would happen in terms of his production, this year with the minutes he played and the shots he took, he was very, very, good in relation to other twos in the league and I don't think even most of his own team's fans understand that or give him his due.

Let's not forget what's being lost in all of this - he's 22 and a young 22 (in terms of playing time in the NBA) at that. Yet he's putting up numbers that are putting him with the top players at his position, most, if not all, of whom are older and more experienced than him.

It's the most basic of stats, but Burks shot 46% from the field this season. SGs in the NBA just don't do that unless they are good. He did it in what was really his first season as a rotation player.

 

[fishonjazz]

He might not be the sixth best scorer at the two. We don't know for sure because he doesn't play as many minutes or take as many shots as some of the other guys. However, he does shoot a higher percentage from the field than most twos, he is adequate from three and he is among the very best at his position in terms of getting to the line. So, while if he played a bigger role we don't know what would happen in terms of his production, this year with the minutes he played and the shots he took, he was very, very, good in relation to other twos in the league and I don't think even most of his own team's fans understand that or give him his due.

Let's not forget what's being lost in all of this - he's 22 and a young 22 (in terms of playing time in the NBA) at that. Yet he's putting up numbers that are putting him with the top players at his position, most, if not all, of who are older than him.

Great post

 

[fishonjazz]

The best argument for why Burks should not be considered one of the top 5-10 scoring two guards in the league is basically....... "because he is alec burks"

 

[seattlejazzfan]

Really, the next step for Burks is to play 35 minutes a night and see if he can keep up the efficient scoring while getting 5 boards and 5 assists a night.

 

[fishonjazz]

Really, the next step for Burks is to play 35 minutes a night and see if he can keep up the efficient scoring while getting 5 boards and 5 assists a night.

Agreed.

Hopefully he gets the chance and succeeds at it.

 

[seattlejazzfan]

The best argument for why Burks should not be considered one of the top 5-10 scoring two guards in the league is basically....... "because he is alec burks"

Let's get serious here. How could he be one of the best scoring twos in the league. Richard effing Jefferson started ahead of him. /argument

 

[HighlandHomie]

Really, the next step for Burks is to play 35 minutes a night and see if he can keep up the efficient scoring while getting 5 boards and 5 assists a night.

No doubt. That's why I'd like to see him start. He can really put some pressure on opposing defenses and wear them out if he remain close to as efficient as he was the 2nd half of this season. That boy's got some juice in his legs. Can't wait to see what the offseason brings.