Lamar Stevens: Junkyard Dog

[Cavatt]

It wasn't just rushing, his attempts were heavily contested. Brook and Giannis play really good defense and they were bothering more than just Stevens close to the rim.

Stevens also knocked down some threes and midrange shots, remember that? And he played excellent physical defense against Giannis.

Stevens >>>>>> 0k0r0.

Yeah he missed a couple of Bunnies that were pretty demoralizing. The one where he got the rebound and had an uncontested layup that didn't make it over the rim felt like the end of the game. That was during that awful scoring drought in the 3rd.

 

[CavsKermit]

He blocked four shots against Milwaukee and was 2-for-3 on 3's. He's 9-for-10 on free throws this year.

He's very strong and a tremendous leaper. He's much better finishing at the rim than Cedi or Okoro, although 6'11" guys like Giannis and Brook Lopez gave him trouble. But normally he gets the bucket or the foul.

I'd like to see him get 20 minutes a game for 10 games and see what he does. He didn't sniff the court for the first two weeks, playing just 4 minutes in the Cavs' first seven games.

There's no evidence he's better at finishing than Cedi or Okoro. I'm afraid I'm going to have to have you show your work on this one.

 

[Kouki]

Cedi is the best layuper ever

Lamar can dunk with authority but Cedi is a god damn wizard at finishing

 

[foucault87]

Lamar's box numbers don't look good and his BPM was bad today, but I thought he had some really clutch plays at the end of the game. That little floater was great. For a 10th man to have that in his bag is a nice luxury when this team is at full health. The block was pretty solid too. Id like to upgrade the guys in front of him, but as our 4th/5th wing, I am fine with Lamar holding that spot down

 

[Kouki]

He's exactly what you want at the end of the bench. Plays his ass off, is not afraid of the moment, is aggressive, has enough in his bag to not be a liability. A guy you can put in if the team is stinking to send a message.

 

[CavsKermit]

He didn't miss those at all last year. He was rushing. It is hard not getting sped up against that team when you have had so little playing time.

HE needs more minutes and should be playing Wades minutes for now

He played against second units last year.

 

[B Mac]

He was not very good tonight.

Actually pretty terrible.

We need Wade back and/or a shakeup via trade.

 

[Lee]

There's no evidence he's better at finishing than Cedi or Okoro. I'm afraid I'm going to have to have you show your work on this one.

Just lookat @Wham with the Right Hand 's face...obviously Lamar is better at finishing.

 

[Kizzle]

Lamar even when bad is better than Okoro

Caris is too good of a defense to justify Okoro getting minutes over him, especially if you are pegging Okoro as a defender

 

[CavsKermit]

Lamar even when bad is better than Okoro

Caris is too good of a defense to justify Okoro getting minutes over him, especially if you are pegging Okoro as a defender

This is literally like arguing over what deck chairs on the Titanic look better next to the iceberg.

 

[Jscc]

This is literally like arguing over what deck chairs on the Titanic look better next to the iceberg.

You still have to choose one of them. I'm taking the chair furthest from the iceberg.

 

[buzzdog]

You still have to choose one of them. I'm taking the chair furthest from the iceberg.

I'm taking the one that has an inflatable raft built in.

 

[Canoe]

At this juncture we’re arguing over minutiae because the core of the team is set and the role players on the team don’t add enough together to make the returning player of a trade an upgrade.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

"He’s Mr. Everything,” [Donovan] Mitchell said of Stevens. “He’s guarding. He’s running the floor. He’s making the extra effort. He’s holding us all accountable.”

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

There's no evidence he's better at finishing than Cedi or Okoro. I'm afraid I'm going to have to have you show your work on this one.

Fair enough. Last year (large sample) shooting percentages at the rim per cleaningtheglass.com:

Stevens 69%, Okoro 63%, Cedi 62%

This year (small sample):

Cedi 74%, Okoro 62%, Stevens 60%

I don't know if they factor in getting fouled at the rim since that is not a shot attempt, but it does result in free throws. Also, sometimes you get an uncontested dunk off a pass following dribble penetration, so a better number would be something like points scored (both on buckets and free throws) per contested shot at the rim. But I don't think they keep track of that.

I thought Stevens was the best of the three at finishing contested shots at the rim, but I don't have the numbers. At this point they're all pretty good for wings. Cedi has improved at finishing since last season. Stevens is down from last year, but it's a small sample.

I think the key is effective shooting percentage, which takes all shot attempts into account, not just at the rim. This year Cedi is at 60.3% (83rd percentile for forwards), Stevens at 58.3%, and Okoro at 42% (5th percentile).

Cedi's eFG the last three years (including this year): 45.8%, 54.6%, 60.3%. His shooting percentages at the rim: 55%, 62%, 74%. In his 6th season he still seems to be improving.