Van Horn vs. Croshere

by Rigaudeau on Jan 1, 2007 10:49 AM CST

Watching Austin Croshere try to fill in for Dirk against the Nuggets was pathetic. He's not a good defender, and while often said to be a good shooter, he missed all six of his shots, many of which were taken without a defender in his face. Though I don't expect any backup to be nearly as productive as Dirk, didn't we have a better backup last season?

Keith Van Horn was, by no means, my favorite player on the roster last season, but as the 7th or 8th man in the rotation, he was much better than Croshere last season. Is this a surprise? Not really.

Before this offseason, Keith Van Horn has always been regarded as the better player. Van Horn went second in the same draft, Croshere went 12th, and he has always been a signficantly better shooter. Both rebound at about the same rate, while Van Horn has statistically been the better shooter in FG% and 3P%.

Furthermore, we didn't have to give anything up to retain Van Horn, while we had to see Daniels depart for Croshere. While I didn't mind seeing Daniels depart (and he's not exactly lighting it up in Indiana), letting go of Van Horn and trading Daniels for Croshere might not have been the best move. Wouldn't we have been better served re-signing Van Horn for 2-3 years, and trading Daniels for either a draft pick or coaxing a bad gm like billy king or isiah thomas while they still have jobs.

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One problem

We didn't "let go" of Keith Van Horn- he retired. He hasn't made an official announcement (to my knowledge) but for this year, that's what it boiled down to. Apparently several teams have approached him, but he wants to take the year off. Hell, he made 16 million dollars last year. If you'd made 16 million dollars, wouldn't you be sitting on a beach somewhere right now? I would. There's a chance he'll be in the NBA next year or year after, but for the moment, he's not playing- for us, for anybody.

So while I agree with your premise (KVH would be better than Croshere), the facts don't support the conclusion (that management farked up by not retaining him). As for Croshere, he wasn't just brought in as a sub for Dirk, but also because he'd been to the finals before, and there was a feeling that the team last year suffered for lack of deep playoff experience.

Daniels was traded, in part, becauase he didn't really fit in Avery Johnson's system. He was a great Don Nelson player, but just didn't have a role anymore. So, get what you can, fill a gap.

In all truthfulness, I love the way that Devan George has been playing in the last week or so. I think he's going to move well up the bench. I'm kind of surprised that he didn't start last night.

by BrodyV on Jan 1, 2007 1:58 PM CST reply actions