Millsap preparing for season despite lockout

[vj_74]

You are out of your skull on this. I don't know what to tell you. Scola at best isn't better than Millsap, and everything else slants heavily in Millsap's favor. Sorry that you got a severe case of grass-is-greener-itis.

Nope I dont. If I had said that Scola was considerably better than Millsap, then yes I do have it. But I said that they were comparable and Scola was slightly better because he has been doing his thing as a starter. I dont think this is an outrageous observation. I suspect most analysts around the league would agree. But somehow you mistook my statement to mean that I would trade Millsap for Scola in a heartbeat. That's not what I meant.

Case in point: Not that I think Bill Simmons is a great basketball mind or anything but I know that he likes Millsap a lot and even he had Scola ranked alongside Millsap, a few places higher, in his annual NBA player value list, as recently as 2011:
https://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/110217

GROUP K: "We'll Discuss Him, But You Can't Tell ANYONE"



45. Paul Millsap
44. Danny Granger
43. Kevin Martin
42. Nene
41. Luis Scola
40. Andrew Bogut



These guys are like quality character actors: You want them in your movie or TV show as long as they're not the ones you're putting on the poster. Millsap, Scola and Martin: hard-working, efficient scorers who wound their teams defensively. Granger: a streak shooter who doesn't seem interested in being much more than that; it wasn't a coincidence that Coach K buried him on Team USA. Nene: a totally solid center who holds his own but can't carry his team for stretches at a time. Bogut: an expensive lottery center who gets you a double-double with three blocks but can't crack 50 percent from the field OR the charity stripe. Ask these guys to be anything more than your No. 3 or No. 4 guy and you won't be playing in June.

This is not just a solitary opinion but I suspect most analysts around the league think this way.

If Millsap was really all that better than Scola as you claim he should be a automatic starter at PF and an all-star by now, because Scola puts up 18 and 8 as a starter. The fact is that he is'nt. He goes through stretches where he struggles on offense or looks just beaten up and tired being overmatched physically on most nights.
In 5 years? Yeah, I would probably take Millsap for a team that needs a solid role player to contend in 2015. But we are talking about the now.

 

[margodydek]

What?

By that logic maybe Hayward should take one for the team and date Lady Gaga.

I find it sad that I have to spell it out like this. It is a well-documented fact that the quickest and easiest way to win a championship in professional sports is to date a Kardashian. Frankly, I'm surprised Sports Science hasn't done a special to show how and why this is the case.

 

[mtnbayou]

Millsap > Scola. Easy. Sap is a vastly better defender.

 

[BabyPeterzz]

Numberica is correct. Millsap>Scola in every way. Did you watch them head-to-head last season? Millsap made Scola his bitch.

Just ask Rocket's fans.

 

[margodydek]

Millsap > Scola. Easy. Sap is a vastly better defender.

Both get worked on defense. Millsap due to his size and Scola because he's greasy.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Numberica is correct. Millsap>Scola in every way. Did you watch them head-to-head last season? Millsap made Scola his bitch.

Just ask Rocket's fans.

Just because a player is able to beat another player doesn't mean he is the overall better player.

 

[Stifle Tower]

Bench/minutes. But I think slotting him in a larger role of his original role (spark off the bench, but now he's refined his game to a high degree so you can make him a feature of an offense, not just a janitor of it, and have him play more minutes [though conditional to the tune of a maybe a 12 minute swing]) could be a huge positive. Besides, Favors should have to cut his teeth competing and being mentored by a guy that has done so much with so little (relative to most of his peers in production) and beat him out fair and square. Millsap's earned that much and Favors will be better for it. Just a perfect guy to have in your rebuild (great intangibles and leads through example, friendly, a straight up man's man, humble, and a veteran that's paid modestly; but one that's still pretty young, continually improves [through nothing but will and work], and is still young enough to be a real contributor if the team becomes a real contender fast enough).

Well said in both posts. Millsap is a dominant force OFF THE BENCH. He's developed a very good perimiter game partly out of necessity, as he just can't match up inside against the bigger starters at PF. Let Favors do the heavy lifting as the starter. His game is based on defense and put-backs right now, anyway. With scorers in Jefferson, Harris (and Hayward?), Derrick would complement the other starters. Millsap can come in as the super-sub he once was. And I agree with Numberica, his role would be expanded and he could still get 28-30 mins/per. An added benefit is that Paul would probably not get worn down as much.

Favors and Kanter still have some growing up to do. Derrick can probably play 25 mins, maybe 30 depending on conditioning and if he stays out of foul trouble. Kanter is extremely raw. I'd be surprised if he plays more than 10-15. And Okur is a complete unknown; he may not be able to play at all. If everyone is healthy, then yes, there's a logjam at the 4/5. But very few players go the full 82 games. Then it will be nice to finally have quality depth and not have to bring in guys like Elson or Collins. Millsap can also slide over to the 3 in certain situations, freeing up additional minutes for the bigs.

Only trade Paul (or Big Al) if/when Favors and Kanter have shown they can be top-level starters. And only trade those guys for quality starters or 6th-man types. Trading a starter for guys who would be role players doesn't make much sense.

 

[GVC]

Millsap hasnt even played an entire season as a starter, has he? He has done spot duty as a starter, at best. Those dont show up in your stats.

Millsap just played an entire season as a starter. Where were you?

 

[vj_74]

Just because a player is able to beat another player doesn't mean he is the overall better player.

are'nt you just amazed that people continue to use this faulty logic all the time?
This is much like the Jazz philosophy of recruiting players like Amaechi or Price impressed by the fact they had one good game(or dunk) against the Jazz

 

[vj_74]

Millsap just played an entire season as a starter. Where were you?

I meant, at PF. Jazz realized the matchup nightmare they have on defense with Milsap and Al at the 4 and 5 and tried him at the 3. Eventually though when Favors and Hayward emerge(and hopefully soon), Millsap will be back to the bench, where he truly belongs.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

If I had to pick a guy to play 35 mpg, I would go with Scola. If I had to pick a guy to be a 6th man, I would go with Millsap hands down. This is of course for a now scenario, I would pick Millsap hands down in a long term scenario because of age.

 

[GVC]

I meant, at PF. Jazz realized the matchup nightmare they have on defense with Milsap and Al at the 4 and 5 and tried him at the 3. Eventually though when Favors and Hayward emerge(and hopefully soon), Millsap will be back to the bench, where he truly belongs.

Until Favors AND Kanter are ready, Millsap should get loads of playing time. The team would get substantially worse with Scola. When (if) Favors are ready, Millsap will be an extremely valuable piece as a third big/big 3. Big Al will be the odd man out, as I doubt he'll be able to become a system player.