Battle of the Bloggers - Analysis No. 3

Another series of thoughtful answers have produced some movement in our Battle of the Bloggers, as basketball uber-fans from across the state of Minnesota weighed in on how much of a difference fans will see in the 2007-08 edition of Randy Foye.

For the second-straight week, Anthony Hall put in some good research, and this time emerged with the victory after finishing second last week. Also gaining some ground was Derek Hanson, who jumped from 6th place to just four points out of the lead, which is shared by Hall, Grover and Litel with 15 points each.

Following are the standings from this week, with total points in parenthesis, and subsequent analysis of the analysis.

7 points: Anthony Hall, (15 total): twolvesblog.com
6 points: Derek Hanson, (11 total): twolvesblog.com
5 points: Sonia Grover, (15 total): twolvesblog.com
4 points: Stephen Litel, (15 total): minnesotabasketball.blogspot.com; hoopsworld.com
3 points: Kate Doan, (10 total): mnsportsfans.com
2 points: Alex Halsted, (5 total): minnesotasportszone.com
1 point: Dave Kelsey, (13 total): twolvesblog.com

WEEK THREE QUESTION:
Heading into year two, how much of a difference will one year of experience as an NBA point guard make for Randy Foye?

WHY DID WE SCORE LIKE THIS?:

HALL:
- The No. 1 thing I was looking for in this answer was a comparison between what other young point guard in the NBA have done in their second years, namely Chris Paul and Deron Williams, who made quantum leaps in their second seasons. How and why did they make that jump? Can Foye do the same thing? Anthony Hall added Hinrich, Ford, Ridnour and Felton and crunched the numbers, and I loved it.
- Can we stop the “true” point guard thing? All it really means is a pass-first, set-up-the-offense-first guard, and there are about six of these players in the entire NBA. - Liked how specific you were about Foye's fourth-quarter excellence...

HANSON:
- Good stuff here when you needed some points, Hanson. I agree that he's already looked to as a leader of this team despite his relative youth.
- Nice research -- I'm not sure if you first saw those in the Foye-Roy column, but I'm sure you looked everything up yourself anyway. Not only will he be playing more minutes, but numbers tend to improve even more with increased play as players figure out the game increasingly as it goes on.
- I like the FT shooting mention and the listing of clutch plays ... Others include at Dallas and Houston and at home vs. Phoenix (the ridiculous hanging/leaning put-back in the lane).

GROVER:
- You're right, other steller combo guards made the All-Rookie First Team. Who were they, and how does Foye compare? Hook up the info next time, because you're on the right track!
- "Due to offseason changes, Foye now has a greater opportunity to utilize his expressed desire and ability to be a leader. He’ll no longer have to look over his shoulder at a slew of guards waiting to come in if he makes an untimely turnover."
---- Yes. - You mentioned the important point that after hearing about the trade, Foye only rededicated himself and put more pressure on No. 1. Perhaps the biggest reason of all that Foye will succeed next year, talent and character aside, is that he has a very unique desire to be great.

LITEL:
I'll break your fragmented response down in fragments. Word.
- Opportunity: No arguments about this fact. I wrote an earlier column comparing Foye with Brandon Roy, centering on the differential in playing time. If Foye gets a starting guard's minutes, I'm excited about his production.
- Familiarity: I've also written about the fact that guys like Foye, Gomes, Telfair, Jefferson, Brewer, etc. have played against each other in high school, AAU or what have you. So far they seem to get along well and like the idea of growing together in the league, but of course we won't know if they have good basketball chemistry for a hot tick.
- Confidence: Right on. You know this because you were around him all season, and confidence even drips off Foye when he sweats. Easy on the "insider" trade speculation though ... That's never been confirmed.

DOAN:
An effective NBA point guard acts as the quarterback for the entire team, and must not only worry about getting scoring opportunities for himself, but also getting the ball to his teammates, such that they might be in position to succeed on offense. Randy Foye was at his best in his rookie year when he was allowed to simply go into attack mode, the way he played at Villanova. However, at times when Randy was in attack mode, he would attempt to get all the way to the basket and racked up 21 offensive fouls last season. After a year in the NBA at the point, Randy will be better able to see when the driving lanes are open, make better decisions with the ball, and become a better playmaker.

Randy now understands two of the most important mantras for an NBA point guard, feed the hot hand and take what the defense gives you. Randy’s performance this year in Summer League showed that he has embraced these mantras; the young Wolves recorded a 4-1 record in Summer League. Randy correctly read mismatches, and exploited the mismatch, either by scoring himself or feeding the ball to the player with the mismatch, until the defense adjusted. The balance between playmaker and scorer was clearly present in Randy’s performance in Vegas this year, and will be important for the future success of the Wolves.

HALSTED:
- You were the only one to mention KG's positive influence on Foye. They were tight, and your point is fairly stated. - Sure he got a chance to run the offense and he made some clutch shots, but break that down a bit further for me. What does it mean for this season? How does it compare to other players? Why does it matter?

KELSEY:
- Your score isn't low just because this was the only negative/skeptical column in terms of Foye's development, as you did raise some decent points. However, your take is the least supported in terms of research and data, and you missed some key points: First of all, you mentioned cohesion from last year as being important and a lack thereof heading into this year as being a problem. Well, the cohesion in general was awful last season. Secondly, Foye spent more time on the court with Smith and Davis than anyone else (two players who should see significant minutes this year) and they actually looked fine. It'll surely take Foye some time to get used to Jefferson and Gomes, but those two don't pound the rock and seem to be almost ideal, easy players with whom to compete; Foye will have the chance to dictate that give-and-take. Furthermore, Foye's chemistry with Brewer and McCants in Vegas was terrific.
- Vegas is the reference point for my next point as well. You wrote: "With more experience, he will become more adept at finding the open man and knowing when to look for his own shot." Didn't you watch the summer league or read the comments from coaches and scouts alike? Finding the open man and knowing when to shoot and from where to shoot was the No. 1 improvement Foye showed from the regular season in Vegas. Sure, he has to do this in the actual NBA, but watching him in Vegas was absolutely night and day. It seems like he gets how to play the position, how to get his shot in the rhythm of the offense and when to dish the rock.
- It wasn't just me that disagreed with your cynicism on Foye's chances as a starting point guard, or I would have reconsidered. To be fair, I'll check in with you midseason and we'll see if your points end up looking better than mine.