Tyson Chandler
When the Chicago Bulls traded Tyson Chandler to the New Orleans Hornets after signing Ben Wallace, they subsequently colored every article this season that would be written about Tyson Chandler and perhaps those written in the future. By virtue of playing the same position and Wallace essentially replacing Chandler on the Bulls, the two players and their career paths are now indelibly linked. The problem with this linkage is that for this season it does a great disservice to the performances by Tyson Chandler for the New Orleans Hornets.
Chandler is doing more than just out-playing Wallace, which he is doing oustandingly, at least on the offensive side of the ball. When we look back at Chandler's career after it is completed, we may very well point to the 2006-07 season as the one where he finally realized his potential and figured out this thing that goes by the acronym, NBA. It is easy to forget this with five seasons already under his belt, but Chandler is only twenty-four years old and so it took him some time to blossom into a star. Chandler currently has the highest true shooting percentage (61.2%) and rebound rate (20.5) he has ever assembled. In addition, if he continues to score at the rate he has done since the beginning of February, he will set a career high for points per game while doing so efficiently.
At the same time, and it is this that is subconsciously driving all the articles dealing with Chandler and Wallace, Ben Wallace is having the worst year he has had in quite some time. His true shooting percentage (44.9%) is the lowest it has been since the 2003-04 season and his rebounding rate (17.1), the calling card for his career, is the least impressive it has been since 1997-98. His age being what it is, thirty-two, forces one to conclude this decline in production is the result of an inevitable downward slope in his ability and is not simply a blip on the radar. And that is why you do not throw a young player with great potential off your team for an older player on the tail end of his career.
For as long as Wallace continues to play, it is unlikely he will ever come out smelling better than Chandler when their careers starting from 2006-07 are compared to each other.
Chandler is doing more than just out-playing Wallace, which he is doing oustandingly, at least on the offensive side of the ball. When we look back at Chandler's career after it is completed, we may very well point to the 2006-07 season as the one where he finally realized his potential and figured out this thing that goes by the acronym, NBA. It is easy to forget this with five seasons already under his belt, but Chandler is only twenty-four years old and so it took him some time to blossom into a star. Chandler currently has the highest true shooting percentage (61.2%) and rebound rate (20.5) he has ever assembled. In addition, if he continues to score at the rate he has done since the beginning of February, he will set a career high for points per game while doing so efficiently.
At the same time, and it is this that is subconsciously driving all the articles dealing with Chandler and Wallace, Ben Wallace is having the worst year he has had in quite some time. His true shooting percentage (44.9%) is the lowest it has been since the 2003-04 season and his rebounding rate (17.1), the calling card for his career, is the least impressive it has been since 1997-98. His age being what it is, thirty-two, forces one to conclude this decline in production is the result of an inevitable downward slope in his ability and is not simply a blip on the radar. And that is why you do not throw a young player with great potential off your team for an older player on the tail end of his career.
For as long as Wallace continues to play, it is unlikely he will ever come out smelling better than Chandler when their careers starting from 2006-07 are compared to each other.
Labels: NBA
posted by David at
4:52 PM
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