John Smallwood Must Not Know Who the Sixers' GM Is

From Smallwood's column on the Iguodala negotiations:

If the fourth-year swingman does not continue his progress and perform to the level anticipated this season, or if he suffers a devastating injury, he could have potentially blown tens of millions of guaranteed dollars in pursuit of a bigger payday.

Does he know something about Billy King's future that we don't? Because I don't think he's talking about the Sixers' Billy King and their history of re-signing their own. Let's go into the time machine and go back to the summer of 2005, shall we?

July 2005: Billy King is ready to overpay another player, this time Willie Green. Green is offered a deal for around 6 years, 20 million dollars.

August 2005: Willie Green suffers knee injury playing a pickup game. Apparently it was inflicted by one of his own teammates after Green shot the ball for the 17th time in the team's last 17 possessions.

August 2005: Billy King does not pull the contract offer, instead he puts it on "hold". Because as had been proven before, Billy King isn't addicted to crystal meth or candy. He gets his high from overpaying his own players, and he'll be damned if a minor setback like a torn knee ligament is going to keep him from getting his fix.

August 2005: Green goes under the knife.

April 2006: Green returns from his knee injury. He plays the remaining ten games of the season and shoots a career best 42.4% from the field.

July 2006: Because of the intense demand for unproven shooting guards coming off serious knee injuries, Billy King does not waste any time getting Willie Green's signature on a contract. Based on the 150 minutes that he played in April, King essentially offers Green the exact same contract that he did the previous offseason, five years for 17 million dollars. Rumor has it that Green's agent was so eager to sign the contract that he allowed Willie slice open his artery because they didn't have a pen lying around the desk. The agent survived, but spent three weeks in the hospital.

Currently: Willie Green is still the same lousy player that he has always been. But at least King has him under contract through the 2009/10 season.

Has Billy King learned his lesson? Of course not. It probably took quite a few sessions with the Sixers prescribe hypnotist to restrain King from offering Iguodala a max contract. And come next July, I'm sure that he won't hesitate to offer Iguodala more money than Igoudala was currently asking for to prevent him from testing free agency. But if the Sixers want to reach their goal of consistently being the eighth seed in the playoffs, then there is not better man to lead them than Billy King.

To The Dummies Who Don't Get It

First, if you think Willie Green is a good player, this is not the blog for you. Yes, I understand he works hard and is a "sparkplug" and all that bullshit. But he has no place starting for ANY NBA team.

Second, there is a difference between scoring points and scoring points efficiently. If someone on average needs 20 shots to score 20 points, as Green would based on his career points per shot numbers, they're actually not doing a good job of scoring efficiently. Points per shot takes into account more than FG%- it's simply the total points scored (from FG's and FT's) divided by the field goals a player attempted.

For example, Andre Iguodala, an actual good player, scored 1.4 points per shot (18.2 PPG on 13 SPG) he that took last season. That is someone you want taking shots. So is Dwight Howard- he put up a monster 1.65 PPS last year. Willie Green averaged less than one point per shot he took- that is AWFUL. When Willie Green is firing away, it costs the Sixers wins because there are other players on the team can score more points on fewer shots. It's about maximizing each offensive possession. Having Willie Green out there makes that difficult.

If the simple math we're pulling out here is too complex or seems stupid to you, you're not going to enjoy what we write. Feel free to bash us, but you will not change our opinions. We're not the rah-rah, intangibles and hustle matter more than ability and skill types here. We don't say they don't matter, but they also don't make up for lack of talent.

You Crack Me Up Phil Jasner

From his article today previewing the Sixers' season:

In order to find enjoyment and fascination in the season, it will help to focus on:

* The return to form of scoring guard Willie Green, a full year removed from knee surgery.

My question is, wh-wh-what? When has Willie Green ever shown any form to actually return to?

Per Basketball Reference, here are Willie Green's Per 40 Minute numbers on a yearly basis:

      FG  FGA   3P  3PA   FT  FTA  TRB  AST STL  TO  PTS
03-04 7.5 18.6 1.0  3.2  3.1  4.2  3.4  2.8 1.4 3.1 19.0
04-05 5.8 15.9 1.1  3.9  3.6  4.7  5.0  3.8 1.3 2.8 16.4
05-06 7.3 17.3 2.6  5.0  1.0  1.3  3.9  1.3 0.5 3.1 18.3
06-07 7.8 18.8 1.1  3.4  1.6  2.4  3.4  2.4 1.2 2.3 18.2

Pssst, Phil....Willie Green has always been the same lousy player. In order to score 20 points, he needs to take 20 shots. He doesn't go to the free throw line. And he doesn't pass the ball.

Willie Green Stat of the Day

Willie Green has played four seasons in the NBA for a total of 194 games. In those 194 games, he has attempted 1714 shots. And scored 1710 points.

I wonder if there is anyone closer to exactly a 1.0 points per shot ratio than Willie Green.