Tag: Chris Duhon

Knicks 2011 Season Preview – Point Guards

Mike Kurylo 66 Comments

With the Knicks 2011 season almost upon us, it’s time to analyze the roster. Usually teams have some stability from one year to the next, but New York has only a third of the players returning. How New York is going to perform is more of a mystery than previous years. This year’s I’ll look at each position and attempt to address the critical question for those players.

Point Guards: Is this really an upgrade?

Last year if you had to find a single scapegoat for the Knicks abysmal record, you might want to place some horns on Chris Duhon. He played the 5th most minutes on the team, while providing virtually no offense (8.6 pts/36). His scoring was so futile that he would often drive into the paint and be left alone, only to kick the ball out in lieu of an easy layup. Defenses were able to play off of Duhon and concentrate on his teammates, disrupting the offense.

So this season New York decided to invest $7M on a new point guard: Raymond Felton. Based on last year’s stats it seems that Felton is an upgrade to Duhon. He had a better true shooting percentage (TS%: 52.5% to 50.1%) and three point percentage (3P%: 38.5% to 34.9%) while scoring nearly five more points per 36 minutes (pts/36: 13.2 to 8.6). Additionally he was a better ball hawk (stl/36: 1.7 to 1.0) and rebounder (reb/36: 3.9 to 3.1). However a look at his career stats show Duhon’s superior in regards to true shooting percentage (52.4% to 49.3%) and from downtown (36.2% to 32.7%). It’s painful for me to write this, but over the course of their careers Duhon had been a more efficient scorer than Felton.

CAREER MP FGA 3PA 3P% FTA FT% ORB TRB AST STL TOV PTS PER TS% eFG%
Douglas 1087 12.9 5.8 38.9% 2.3 0.809 1.3 3.6 3.7 1.4 1.8 15.9 14.9 57.1% 54.5%
Duhon 12706 8.5 4.3 36.2% 2 0.797 0.5 3.2 6.5 1.1 2.1 9.8 11.5 52.4% 48.5%
Felton 13939 12.5 3 32.7% 3.2 0.782 0.7 3.5 6.6 1.5 2.6 13.7 14.1 49.3% 44.8%
2010 MP FGA 3PA 3P% FTA FT% ORB TRB AST STL TOV PTS PER TS% eFG%
Douglas 1087 12.9 5.8 38.9% 2.3 0.809 1.3 3.6 3.7 1.4 1.8 15.9 14.9 57.1% 54.5%
Duhon 2072 7.8 4.5 34.9% 1.7 0.716 0.5 3.1 6.6 1 1.9 8.6 10.7 50.1% 47.2%
Felton 2643 11.5 2.1 38.5% 2.4 0.763 0.7 3.9 6.1 1.7 2.3 13.2 15.2 52.5% 49.4%

So it boils down to which Raymond Felton are the Knicks getting? Unfortunately even last year’s Felton wasn’t a big upgrade over Duhon. Even worse if that was a fluky career year, then the Knicks have made no progress. Ultimately it means they didn’t significantly upgrade the one position that is most crucial for a Mike D’Antoni run team. From what I’ve seen, the Knicks’ coach requires his point guards to be good passers, hence why he stuck with Duhon last year. Statistically there isn’t much of a difference between the old point guard and the new one. So if Felton hurts the New York offense with poor shooting, it’s likely that D’Antoni will stick with him as well, much to the team’s detriment.

The backup PG will be Toney Douglas, although it’s possible that he’ll play more SG than PG this year. Douglas is more of a scorer than Felton, but a better passer than his predecessor Nate Robinson. Last year Douglas was the forgotten man until mid-March but he played well once given the opportunity. His TS% was well above average (57.1%) and he provided strong defense on the perimeter. Douglas struggles running the offense, as his low assist total (3.7 ast/36) would attest. This year I don’t see D’Antoni ignoring him like last year, but I do see him as a huge underdog in unseating Felton. In the end I think he’ll fit nicely as the backup guard role, much like Barbosa did in Phoenix.

At the end of the line is Andy Rautins. It’s hard to predict how Rautins will do in the NBA, because he was a three point specialist who played mostly zone for the Orangemen. The rookie looked over matched in summer league, but has looked capable in limited minutes this preseason. Considering how selective D’Antoni is with his PGs, I don’t see him playing a lot of minutes, at least early on. However if in D’Antoni’s mind Felton isn’t cutting it, and Douglas isn’t the type of PG he wants, then Rautins could have a small window to show his stuff.

Poll

Did the Knicks Upgrade the PG position in 2011?

  • A little bit. (60%, 380 Votes)
  • Greatly. (32%, 203 Votes)
  • Not at all. (8%, 52 Votes)

Total Voters: 635

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New York Knicks Preseason Preview 2011

Mike Kurylo 48 Comments

[The good folks at CelticsBlog.com, have been kind enough to invite us to participate in the 5th annual blogger preview. Here is my entry.]

Team Name: New York Knicks
Last Year’s Record: 29-53
Key Losses: David Lee, Al Harrington, Chris Duhon, Tracey McGrady, The Stench of Futility
Key Additions: Amar’e Stoudemire, Raymond Felton, Anthony Randolph, Kelenna Azubuike, Ronnie Turiaf, Roger Mason Jr., Landry Fields, Timofey Mozgov

1. What significant moves were made during the off-season?

If you’re reading this section curious about what New York has done, then you’ve probably just awoken from a coma. Although if you’ve been a Knick fan over the last decade, that’s understandable. In any case, let me be the first to give you the good news. New York signed All Star Amar’e Stoudemire this offseason and has room to sign another top free agent. The bad news is that the team was aiming for two of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. Instead the trio have formed the most hated thing this side of Justin Beiber.

The Knicks also inked Raymond Felton to replace the inept Chris Duhon. Although the team did let home grown All Star David Lee go, getting Anthony Randolph in return could neutralize this loss if the young forward can reach his potential. Ronnie Turiaf will provide much needed shot blocking. Second round pick Landry Fields looked quite impressive in summer league, and Timofey Mozgov showed promise for Team Russia.

2. What are the team’s biggest strengths?

The Knicks greatest asset in 2011 should be their athletic versatility. There’s no arguing that Amar’e Stoudemire, Raymond Felton, Anthony Randolph, Ronnie Turiaf, and Timofey Mozgov are more physically able than David Lee, Chris Duhon, Jared Jeffries, Al Harrington, Darko Milicic, and Earl Barron. With a core of Felton, Randolph, and Stoudemire, the team could go big (add Gallinari, and one of Turiaf, Mozgov, Curry) or small (add two of Azubuike, Fields, Walker, Douglas, Mason, or Rautins). D’Antoni should be able to put out some interesting lineups, causing mismatches for their opponents. If Randolph or Gallinari can run the offense like Lee did last year, the Knicks could get very creative on the floor in a point guard-less offense when Felton needs a rest.

If I had to choose a second strength it might be D’Antoni’s offense. The past two seasons New York featured a ragtag lineup due to the state of the franchise from the Isiah Thomas era. In back to back years the Knicks finished 17th in offensive efficiency, and this year’s team seems more tailor made for the coach. Given the pick & roll tandem of Stoudemire & Felton, the outside shooting of Azubuike, Mason, and Rautins, and the development of youngsters Gallinari, Douglas, Walker, and Chandler, D’Antoni should have plenty of weapons to assault opposing defenses.

3. What are the team’s biggest weaknesses?

New York has been a bad rebounding team for D’Antoni’s tenure, and this is one area Donnie Walsh failed to address in remaking the team. Stoudemire, Gallinari, and Turiaf aren’t good rebounders, and the loss of hyalophile David Lee will hurt the team as well. According to my stat page, the Knicks were 27th on both offensive and defensive rebounding last year. Knick fans who cringe at their team forgoing any second opportunities while allowing tip ins from the opposition will have a furled brow for much of the season. Perhaps Randolph and Mozgov can work their way into heavy minutes and help prevent the bleeding.

Last year the Knicks were tied for 3rd worst defense in the NBA, and it has been a recurring issue with the team for the last decade. The Knicks have some good defensive pieces in Azubuike, Randolph, Douglas, and Turiaf. However most of the team (including the coaching staff) leans to the offensive side of the spectrum. If New York isn’t among the 10 worst defenses this year, it should be considered an accomplishment.

4. What are the goals for this team?

On April 29th, 2001, Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell combined for 44 points and led a Marcus Camby-less New York to victory over Toronto. Despite being up 2 games to 1 in a best of 5 series, the Raptors would win the next two games and knock the Knicks out in the first round. That was the last New York playoff win. The Knicks should aim to end that drought before the streak reaches its 10th birthday. To do so, they’ll need to do better than the 8th seed, since that spot will likely face the Miami Heat, who will likely sweep their first round opponent.

A playoff spot would mean success for the Knicks. A playoff win would be a nice bonus. Anything beyond a second round appearance would be a Gotham fantasy. On the other hand, entering the draft lottery would be seen as a complete failure considering the team has offered Houston the right to swap picks.

5. Who is D’Antoni going to alienate this year?

In 2009, Stephon Marbury was exiled from the team. In 2010 Nate Robinson was chained to the doghouse for most of the year, and was joined by Darko Milicic and Larry Hughes. As I mentioned last year, the D’Antoni Rules aren’t kind to players who aren’t in the rotation. The combination of D’Antoni’s short rotation and his inability to communicate with his players inevitably leads to a player being irate over a lack of playing time. This year’s likely candidate is Mozgov, given his inexperience and D’Antoni’s gigantasophobia. If I had to put money on a dark horse I’d take Turiaf or Chandler. The former has a Twitter predilection that might hit a nerve with the communicationally challenged D’Antoni. The latter because after having no competition at shooting guard for two seasons, Chandler might find himself on the outside looking in. Azubuike, Fields, and even Mason could push Wilson for playing time, and those players fit D’Antoni’s offense better than Chandler.

From the Mailbox: T-Mac for 2011?

Mike Kurylo 203 Comments

Been a while since I’ve gotten a request from the old inbox, so I thought I’d take the time to answer.

Do the Knicks have any interest what-so-ever in resigning Tracy McGrady? I know that most people think T-Mac will never be half the player that he once was, and there is more than enough evidence to support that. However, he won’t be worse than he was last year, and last year, even injured, he still always seemed to have the highest IQ on the floor, especially in a Knicks uniform. He can pass as good as anyone in the NBA, and hes clutch. Additionally, Wilson Chandler is a small forward, not a 2 guard. I like him, but he does not have the handling, or the jump shot the Knicks need at SHOOTING guard. Bill Walker is good, but i dont think he is ready to start just yet. So again, do you know if the knicks have any interest in T-Mac? Looking forward to your response!

Thanks,
James

First, the reliable Alan “my sources say LeBron is going to Miami” Hahn tweeted that neither McGrady nor the Knicks were interested in a reunion. So it doesn’t seem like a likely possibility.

Second, I’ll start this off by saying I’m not a fan of McGrady’s, and I’ll try to convince any New Yorker not to be either. Let’s look at what I said about him after the season ended:

I had hoped that McGrady would benefit from a reduction in shot attempts upon arriving in New York. But even when he cut his FGA/36 to 12.6, T-Mac put up the lowest TS% of his career (46.6%). You know your career is over when you’re a former All Star trying to beat out Chris Duhon for a starting job, and you fail. Probably some team will sign him to a minor contract this year, I just hope it isn’t New York.

How bad is a 46.6% TS%? Well Jared Jeffries managed a TS% of 52.4% for the Knicks last year. Chris Duhon was at 50.1%. Larry Hughes was at 47.3%. Darko Milicic 47.1%. This number is a personal low for McGrady, but poor shooting has been a staple of his late career. In 4 of the last 5 years McGrady hasn’t gotten his TS% above 50%. And mind you that 54% is the league average for true shooting percentage.

I agree that McGrady has good basketball IQ with regards to passing. However the prerequisite for shooting guard is, as you aptly put it, “SHOOTING.” And hands down T-Mac was one of the worst in the league. If there is any role for McGrady to play in an NBA offense it’s point guard, but even then he’d need to be the basketball equivalent of Stephen Hawkin to make up for his poor shot.

Now, it’s been no great secret that shooting guard has been a Knick weakness for the past few seasons. As you point out, Wilson Chandler is a forward masquerading as a guard and this summer didn’t do anything to improve Bill Walker’s stock. However, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that Chandler finally addresses one of his offensive weaknesses (although I’m still waiting). Nor is it inconceivable that Bill Walker turns into an NBA starter at shooting guard. But if neither happens New York has more depth beyond them. Azubuike was a starter for most of 2009, and seems to be a great fit for D’Antoni. Douglas will likely see time alongside Felton, and either Fields or Rautins could surprise fans this year as well. Between Chandler, Walker, Azubuike, Fields, Rautins, and Douglas the Knicks finally have some better options to get some real production from the 2 spot this year.

Three Or So Minutes With Mike Kurylo

Mike Kurylo 67 Comments

Summoning my inner Andy Rooney, here are some things that I’m going to nitpick on.

John Krolik on where LeBron could go:

Say “screw it,” join Amar’e on the Knicks, run some great pick-and-rolls, make a lot of money, possibly become the A-Rod of basketball, win relatively few playoff games.

OK so it’s supposed to be a tongue in cheek remark primarily for humor, but there’s an ounce of truth to every joke. This swipe at D’Antoni’s playoff record riles me up, because under the surface it’s an extension of the cliche [only] defense wins championships. The common wisdom is that D’Antoni doesn’t care about defense, but according to Kevin Pelton, “D’Antoni’s teams have never been the defensive liabilities they were made out to be in the media.” Additionally implying that offensive minded coaches don’t win championships ignores the contrary. There are lots of defensive minded coaches that were unsuccessful in the playoffs: Mike Fratello, P.J. Carlesimo, Doug Collins. Larry Brown coached for 21 years until he finally won an NBA championship.

Every year there are 29 coaches that end the season without a new ring, so the inability to win a championship isn’t strictly a D’Antoni trait. The other LeBron-a-thon coaches have the same issues. Is Byron Scott a playoff risk because he was unable to win a title in New Jersey or couldn’t get out of the second round in New Orleans? Avery Johnson’s playoff record is worse than D’Antoni’s. In only 3 seasons, he managed to have back to back first round exits. One of those teams won an astonishing 67 games during the regular season.

Kelly Dwyer on Chris Duhon:

This is a good acquisition, for the Magic. A very, very good one, I’d say; and that’s coming from someone who has spent a good chunk of this decade ruing Duhon’s very presence and the strange hold he had on a very good (but very flawed) pro basketball coach and the resulting minutes allotment with a team located in the American Midwest. Chris can play, he can pick up plays very quickly, and he gives good effort.

To give Dwyer credit, the majority of his article is about how bad Duhon is. Nevertheless I could be convinced that Orlando signing him as a backup PG is a decent move. A solid move. A safe move. But a “very, very good one?” No way. If Nelson misses a chunk of time this year their fans are going to hate Duhon. If it happens deep in the playoffs, they’re screwed. The PG depth in free agency isn’t much, but compared to Felton & Ridnour, Duhon is awful. And let’s be blunt, Felton & Ridnour aren’t all that great themselves.

Playoff teams usually play it safe, instead of taking risks. Instead of choosing a PG that could win a playoff game, they went with one that they hope won’t lose one. They might not have landed one of the guys above, but maybe they could have gotten a player like Jordan Farmar. Compared to Duhon, Farmar is 4 years younger, a better defender, scores twice as many points with a sizable advantage in efficiency (TS% 53.5% to 50.1%).

[Note: I highly respect the work of Krolik and Dwyer. For instance Krolik’s most recent piece on LeBron James is stunningly beautiful and well thought out. It’s a prime example of what blogs do right, that newspapers get wrong. Newspapers have been focusing on the rumors, speculation, and hoopla. Krolik is quite reasonable and gets to the heart of the matter, in a profound manner. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t read Ball Don’t Lie to get Dwyer’s keen opinion on any transaction or event in the league.]

2010 Report Card: Sergio Rodriguez

Mike Kurylo 29 Comments

Last year the Knicks were struggling to get production from the point guard position, so they managed to snag Sergio Rodriguez in their mid-February deadline deals. However Rodriguez never stuck in D’Antoni’s rotation. He had the starter’s role on two different opportunities, but his playing time was erratic in New York.

On one hand, Sergio receiving so few minutes was good because it enabled the development of Toney Douglas. Obviously for New York’s future it’s more important for their first rounder who has great defensive ability to succeed more than someone who is on their third NBA team. On the other, it would have been nice for Rodriguez to banish Duhon to the bench for good. Rodriguez’s stats weren’t awful, but were favorable when compared to Duhon:

Player Age MIN FGA 3PA 3P% FTA FT% TRB AST STL TOV PTS PER TS% eFG%
Duhon 27 2072 7.8 4.5 .349 1.7 .716 3.1 6.6 1.0 1.9 8.6 10.7 50.1 47.2
Rodriguez 23 1048 12.1 3.1 .352 3.2 .731 3.1 7.3 1.7 3.9 14.9 14.8 55.4 52.1

In 2010, Sergio was above the league average in shooting efficiency (55.4%), and he chipped in 68% more than Duhon’s scoring volume (8.9 to 14.9 pts/36). Rodriguez’s big deficiency was his turnovers, which was considerably higher (1.9 to 3.9 to/36). His defense was below average as well.

At only 24 years of age and earning about $2.8M in 2010, Rodriguez might have been a good find for the Knicks. Unless the team grabs a point guard this summer, New Yorkers are hoping that Douglas is the starter next year. Sergio could have been a decent relatively cheap option to backup Douglas, but unfortunately that seems extremely unlikely. Rumors are that he’s likely (but not yet officially) to head back to Spain

Report Card (5 point scale):
Offense: 2
Defense: 2
Teamwork: 4
Rootability: 3
Performance/Expectations: 3

Final Grade: C-

Similarity Scores:

z-Sum FLName Year Tm PER TS eFG PTS ORB TRB AST STL BLK TOV
.000 Sergio Rodriguez 2010 TOT 14.8 55.4 52.1 14.9 0.8 3.1 7.3 1.7 0.2 3.9
.047 Billy McKinney 1979 KCK 15.6 55.5 50.3 17.7 0.6 2.5 7.3 1.7 0.1 3.6
.063 John Crotty 1993 UTA 13.2 57.5 52.8 15.1 0.6 2.5 8.1 1.6 0.0 4.4
.072 George Karl 1975 SAA 14.8 54.2 49.3 14.7 1.0 3.4 7.4 2.1 0.2 3.5
.108 Cory Alexander 1997 SAS 14.3 52.8 49.2 14.3 0.7 3.0 6.3 2.0 0.4 3.6
.119 Pearl Washington 1987 NJN 11.5 51.9 48.1 13.9 0.8 2.9 6.8 2.1 0.2 3.9
.123 Robert Pack 1993 DEN 16.4 54.5 47.1 18.5 1.2 3.6 7.6 1.8 0.2 4.2
.127 Carlos Arroyo 2003 UTA 14.1 51.0 47.2 15.2 1.4 3.3 6.6 1.5 0.1 3.8
.131 Larry Drew 1982 KCK 15.3 52.0 47.8 15.9 0.5 2.7 7.6 2.0 0.0 3.2
.143 Allen Leavell 1981 HOU 13.9 52.3 47.3 13.7 0.6 2.9 8.2 2.1 0.3 4.0
.145 Stan Pietkiewicz 1980 SDC 14.3 57.2 53.4 14.2 1.6 2.8 5.9 1.6 0.2 3.2

2010 Report Card: Toney Douglas

Mike Kurylo 92 Comments

Douglas’ initial season with the Knicks was filled with ups and downs. His NBA career started on a sour note, as some New Yorkers were upset that in a point guard rich draft, the team failed to fill its void with either Brandon Jennings or Ty Lawson. Following the draft, Douglas had a poor showing in summer league, shooting a feeble 28.8% eFG%. However at the start of the season, he played well enough to make the rotation. In mid-November on the heels of a 21 point outburst off the bench, D’Antoni made him the starting shooting guard. The Knick rookie played well enough, dropping 23 in a loss against the Hawks.

And that’s when things took another downturn for Douglas. The next night he would come off the bench, and following that his minutes would begin to fluctuate. He started on November 18th, but only managed 12 minutes of court time. By then Larry Hughes was on a shooting streak, and D’Antoni would stick with his hot hand playing the veteran over the rookie. Even when Hughes crawled into the coach’s doghouse in mid-December, Douglas would find court time sporadically. It wouldn’t be until early March that D’Antoni would awaken Douglas from his winter hibernation and allow him to see regular action again. From March 12th until the end of the regular season, he played 25+ minutes in every game save for two.

Douglas-Minutes-Per-Month

Perhaps what surprised me most about Douglas’ 2010 season was his efficient scoring (57.1% TS%); prior to the start of the season I envisioned him having a TS% under 50%. However I remain curious if he can keep this efficiency so high. Douglas didn’t earn a lot of trips to the free throw line and shooting percentage is volatile season to season. To his credit an overwhelming majority of his shots (73.4% according to HoopData) come either from downtown or point blank. Perhaps his scoring competency relies more on his ability to take intelligent shots.

Although his shooting might be suspect going into next year, his vigorous defense isn’t likely to wane. Douglas remains vivacious on defense, continually moving his feet. He’s a threat in the passing lanes and plays good ball denial as well. Another area where his physical ability and his intelligence make him an asset to the team.

Report Card (5 point scale):
Offense: 3
Defense: 4
Teamwork: 4
Rootability: 5
Performance/Expectations: 5

Final Grade: A-

Similarity Scores:

z-Sum FLName Year Tm PER TS eFG PTS ORB TRB AST STL BLK TOV
.000 Toney Douglas 2010 NYK 14.9 57.1 54.5 15.9 1.3 3.6 3.7 1.4 0.1 1.8
.037 Leandro Barbosa 2006 PHO 15.1 58.9 55.8 16.8 0.7 3.4 3.6 1.1 0.1 2.0
.039 Kevin Gamble 1989 BOS 15.8 58.4 55.9 18.0 1.1 4.0 3.3 1.3 0.3 1.8
.047 George Hill 2010 SAS 14.7 57.2 52.9 15.2 0.7 3.2 3.6 1.1 0.4 1.6
.055 Mike Glenn 1979 NYK 15.5 56.7 54.1 17.9 0.9 2.5 4.2 1.1 0.2 2.0
.064 Reggie Miller 1989 IND 15.7 60.2 53.8 16.8 1.0 4.1 3.2 1.3 0.4 2.0
.066 Rudy Fernandez 2009 POR 15.5 58.8 55.2 14.7 0.8 3.7 2.9 1.2 0.2 1.6
.078 Kyle Macy 1981 PHO 14.5 56.7 52.3 16.2 1.1 3.2 3.9 1.9 0.1 2.3
.084 Jim Paxson 1981 POR 16.9 56.4 53.7 18.0 1.0 2.8 4.0 1.9 0.1 1.7
.088 Chris Mullin 1987 GSW 15.8 58.0 52.4 18.8 0.6 2.7 4.0 1.5 0.5 2.3
.091 Hubert Davis 1994 NYK 14.0 55.8 52.4 16.6 0.6 1.8 4.5 1.1 0.1 2.1

It’s good that great players like Reggie Miller and Chris Mullin appear on this list, but Douglas sees himself as a point guard not scoring guard. It’s no secret that D’Antoni has a disdain of playing combo guards at the point. Douglas would be wise to work on his passing skills this offseason.

The silverlining on his comparables is the guy at the top of the list: Leandro Barbosa. The Brazillian Blur thrived under D’Antoni in Phoenix, so perhaps Douglas is playing for the right coach. Barbosa did increase the number of free throw attempts and points per minute as he progressed, so that is another barometer on Douglas’ development.

Between Barbosa and Gamble, it appears that Douglas ceiling in the NBA is as a reserve guard. Perhaps his defense, coupled with a strong playmaker at another position (ahem LeBron) could make him starting material.

2010 Report Card: Chris Duhon

Mike Kurylo 19 Comments

How bad was Chris Duhon’s 2010 season? I first advocated for benching Chris Duhon on November 14th. That’s barely 2 weeks into the season. Of course Knick fans know that D’Antoni stayed with his point guard until February when the Knicks received Sergio Rodriguez in a trade. Duhon would relinquish the starter’s role a few games later to Toney Douglas, but then start the last 7 games of the season. Despite his season long poor play, he managed to find 2072 minutes of court time.

Duhon’s season was so bad, I wondered if I was too kind giving Duhon a B+ last year. But I only had to look at his career stats to see the reason why. Between 2009 and 2010, Duhon’s TS% dropped nearly 70 points to a subterranean 50.1%. He did see a drop in his free throws attempts (2.6 to 1.7), but his poor play was linked directly to his shooting woes.

Duhon-2010-Shooting-2

From the chart above, you can see that his efficiency is closely tied into his shooting and it appears as if Duhon’s first year under D’Antoni (2009) was an outlier. That season was his only one above the league average. For the rest of his career he’s been a wretched scorer.
Shooting percentages fluctuate from year to year, so we don’t expect a smooth line when we look at a player’s shooting per year. However 2010 has dropped the Dukey’s shooting percentages down to a level just above his rookie year. Incidentally, “dropping the dukey” can be used to describe Duhon’s season.

If I had to select one single player to blame the misfortunes of the Knicks 2010 season, I’d have no other choice than to select Duhon. He was 5th on the team in minutes played, an astonishing amount considering how bad he truly was.

Report Card (5 point scale):
Offense: 1
Defense: 3
Teamwork: 3
Rootability: 1
Performance/Expectations: 1

Final Grade: F

Similarity Scores

z-Sum FLName Year Tm PER TS eFG PTS ORB TRB AST STL BLK TOV
.000 Chris Duhon 2010 NYK 10.7 50.1 47.2 8.6 0.5 3.1 6.6 1.0 0.1 1.9
.053 Steve Blake 2008 POR 12.0 51.8 50.2 10.3 0.5 2.9 6.1 0.8 0.1 1.7
.061 Lee Mayberry 1998 VAN 9.2 48.9 46.6 7.1 0.4 2.2 6.8 1.3 0.2 2.2
.097 Howard Eisley 2000 UTA 11.5 49.2 46.2 12.2 0.4 2.9 6.0 1.0 0.2 2.3
.115 Rory Sparrow 1986 NYK 13.0 51.1 48.1 12.2 0.8 2.6 7.2 1.3 0.2 2.4
.118 Steve Kerr 1993 TOT 9.4 50.5 45.9 10.0 0.4 3.4 5.2 0.7 0.1 2.0
.130 Bimbo Coles 1996 TOT 12.4 51.3 46.6 12.3 0.7 3.6 5.8 1.3 0.2 2.4
.130 Kirk Hinrich 2008 CHI 13.1 50.1 46.7 13.0 0.4 3.7 6.8 1.3 0.3 2.4
.133 John Bagley 1988 NJN 12.4 50.3 46.5 12.7 0.8 3.3 6.2 1.4 0.1 2.6
.135 Phil Ford 1984 HOU 10.4 54.8 50.4 10.2 0.5 2.4 7.3 1.1 0.1 2.4
.139 Doug Overton 1997 PHI 13.2 51.4 45.3 12.3 1.0 3.9 5.7 1.4 0.0 2.2

‘Nuff said.