The reason I bring up a point about tips is that many seem to feel Ilgauskas really isn’t much of an offensive rebounder, and tips are the reason. These people would argue that those tip rebounds are “deceptive,” because they imply a kind of control of the ball that didn’t really exist. Perhaps they are right. I haven’t actually seen anyone tell me how many times a game on average Z tips the ball to himself (hence, getting an offensive rebound).

But fair is fair. If those tips also count as shots (as they must, to get him a rebound), then they also count as missed shots, and they are “deceptive,” because they imply he was controlling his shots in a way in which he was not.

Let’s do a little real-world math on this. Last year, Ilgauskas averaged 3.1 offensive rebounds and 7.7 total rebounds in 27.4 minutes of action a game. Let’s take away one of those “controlled tips.” Now he’s at 2.1 and 6.7 rebounds in 27 minutes of action. His rebounding line certainly looks less impressive, even if you discount the minutes he plays.

He also shot .485 from the field, and his detractors say that’s too low. Well, a tip rebound off his own miss means, necessarily, a missed shot. So, instead of making 4.9 of every 10.2 shots, subtract the one “tip shot” for which he received the “bogus” offensive rebound. Now he’s making 4.9 of 9.2 shots, or .539 of his shots, which is a fine shooting percentage.

Take away the tip, you create a marginal big man rebounder (last year). But you also create a pretty good big man shooter (last year). It isn’t fair to handicap his tip rebounds without handicapping his tip shots.

I also haven’t been “on Z’s back” at all. I’ve praised his play this season many times on this blog.

You implied that smart basketball fans who actually watch games would rather have Z playing next to LeBron than Stoudamire or Bosh. That pretty much speaks for itself.

99% of NBA analysis is based on reputation. You would think in the age of the internet with stats at our fingertips and NBA league pass that people would actually be able to make accurate predictions. It simply does not happen.

There are people right now saying:
1.) “LeBron plays zero defense”
2.) “Shaq is a dominant center”
3.) “Tim Duncan is a Power Forward”
4.) “Chauncey Billups hits big shots all the time”
5.) “Gilbert Arenas is a great defensive player”
6.) “Kobe Bryant was the best player and leader of Team USA in this year’s FIBA Americas.”
7.) “Carmelo Anthony is the most important FIBA player”

On a scale of 0-10, 10 being entirely true, the above statements would be about this:
1.) 0
2.) 3
3.) 3
4.) 4
5.) 1
6.) 0
7.) 4

So yeah, reputation exceeds performance in my estimation 99% of the time. I blame highlights. Basketball may be a team game, but highlights are almost always cherry-picked to highlight pre-conceived notions about players/teams.

About that 6.)

I watched every minute of every FIBA game the last 2 years. I’d just like to say Kobe Bryant wasn’t nearly as good as his reputation. Compare his stats from the tournament to LeBron’s. http://www.fibaamericas.com/torneos_roster_us.asp?t=JMXULHQIUS&team=379&n=United%20States%20of%20America&c=USA

I’m convinced people didn’t even watch the games. His most prolific stats (Kobe’s) were Turnovers and Personal Fouls. Seriously 25 fouls! Only Amare had more – and I keep hearing about his suffocating defense. Puh-leeze. All he did was stop Leandro Barbosa for ONE GAME. The rest of the tournament he was getting beat off the dribble like crazy. He’s also a terrible help defender. He forced shots all the time. He missed open dunks and layups. No one knows this because no one watched the games (except me) and the highlights would never show this. Obviously Kobe is a great player, but my point is that I keep hearing about his amazing performance on team USA – it’s just not true. Not at all. Totally reputation-based. He did nothing to warrant this “best player – team leader” crap.

LeBron was CLEARLY the best player on the team. He led the team in assists, 3pFG%, was second in steals, logged the most minutes, and would have set scoring records every game if melo ever passed. The one game melo missed? Bron goes 11-11 in the first half (4 treys) and sits for the second half. Guess they really missed ‘melo right? Wrong.

1. Team rebound – basically the scorer deciding no single player should get credit for the rebound
2. Offensive rebound for Z – if the scorer decides Z took control of the ball and passed it off (could even lead to an assist)
3. Offensive rebound for the player the ball is tipped to – if the scorer decides the ball is still loose and the recieving player should get credit for a rebound

To argue that Z is a better caddy for LeBron than either of those two would be has nothing to do with “watching basketball.” It’s box score analysis over a span of 10 games.

It’s almost as silly as BW’s article comparing the Cavs “big three” to the Celtics.