# Was Telfair The Worst Starter In The NBA Last Season?



## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

> In a recent post about Shaun Livingston, I tossed out a casual line which called Sebastian Telfair "one of the worst players in the league last season." This claim was made without research and is completely, 100% wrong. There were much worst players in the NBA last season. Ask Clippers fans. Ask Heat fans. Ask Knicks fans.
> 
> But let's set some parameters based on the role Bassy was asked to fill and the quality of his performance. With Randy Foye knocked out much of the season, Telfair was a starting point guard in the National Basketball Association. Heavy stuff. There are only 31* starting point guards in the league any given moment. An elite class, if you will. The same goes for NBA starters: it's a limited group of the best ballers in the world.**
> 
> ...


http://nba.fanhouse.com/2008/09/15/was-telfair-the-worst-starter-in-the-nba/


----------



## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

And the response:



> So, we can all agree that Bassy was not one of the worst players in the league last season. But, it's now time for us Timberwolves faithful to prove him to not be the worst regular starter of last season. Despite the fact that changing the assertion from worst in the league to worst of the starters is a huge jump, let's see what we can do.
> 
> Ben Wallace, Tim Thomas and Jamaal Tinsley have all been offered up as competition for Bassy at the bottom of the barrel. But, while looking at that list of four, do you get a "one of these things is not like the other" feeling? You should, because Wallace, Thomas and Tinsley are all aging, broken down vets who are either currently or have been ridiculously overpaid. If this discussion is based solely on ability, feel free to throw this aspect out. But I have a hard time believing people would completely separate that from their evaluations.
> 
> ...


http://www.canishoopus.com/2008/9/16/615198/the-gauntlet-thrown-telfai


----------



## jokeaward (May 22, 2003)

Are we counting Heat D-Leaguers? How about those so awful they got benched?

Telfair did what he was supposed to do, he passed well but lacking a shooter hurt his assist totals. And stats are good but if he hits 43% and 35% from three he's good and if it's 40 and 25 he's terrible. He was better than James and a worthwhile throw-in with Jefferson.

The difference between 50% and 45% for, let's say Shawn Marion is just under 1 basket per game. I don't know what it does to PER.


----------



## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

Sebastian did an admirable job last season. He improved in several areas and was excellent in both assist to turnover ratio (what the hell do you want a point guard to do if not that!?) and on-ball defense against smallish PGs. He's still a poor shooter and nobody disputes that. He surprised me by being as bad a finisher he was when he got to the rim, too. But I'm sure I could come up with plenty of players, including guys who started a big (say, 30+) number of games, whom I think are worse than Bassy was last season. And people whose main goal in life is finding "the worst" of anything suck.


----------



## jokeaward (May 22, 2003)

Marbury was more effective but he was worse. Talk about a loon.


----------



## GNG (Aug 17, 2002)

Good thing for Damon Stoudamire that he wasn't in Memphis long enough to qualify for this conversation. That guy is shot.


----------



## shazha (Nov 20, 2002)

luther said:


> Sebastian did an admirable job last season. He improved in several areas and was excellent in both assist to turnover ratio (what the hell do you want a point guard to do if not that!?) and on-ball defense against smallish PGs. He's still a poor shooter and nobody disputes that. He surprised me by being as bad a finisher he was when he got to the rim, too. But I'm sure I could come up with plenty of players, including guys who started a big (say, 30+) number of games, whom I think are worse than Bassy was last season. And people whose main goal in life is finding "the worst" of anything suck.


Actually from what i hear, Telfair has spent all offseason working on his ability to finish at the rim and in traffic. I think you will see a much better Telfair this year. If this practice pays off and he can get to the rim and finish, it will create much more space for his jump shot

I see a 12 point 7 assist season coming up.


----------



## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

shazha said:


> Actually from what i hear, Telfair has spent all offseason working on his ability to finish at the rim and in traffic. I think you will see a much better Telfair this year. If this practice pays off and he can get to the rim and finish, it will create much more space for his jump shot
> 
> I see a 12 point 7 assist season coming up.


Yeah, that's what they say: working on shooting and finishing. And if his improvement coming in to last year is continued, I do expect him to be better. But 12 and 7 seems unlikely just because the plan isn't for him to start. Something would have to go wrong with the plan of Foye at PG for that to happen because otherwise he just won't get the minutes.


----------



## Redeemed (Feb 2, 2008)

I'd take Telfair over Radmanovic or Erick Dampier.. i'm sure there's others.


----------



## Chan Ho Nam (Jan 9, 2007)

DienerTime said:


> I'd take Telfair over Radmanovic or Erick Dampier.. i'm sure there's others.


.... that's foolish almost half of the league's bench is more serviceable than telfair


----------



## Redeemed (Feb 2, 2008)

Okay lets compare. Telfair averaged 9/6/2 on 40% shooting. Radmanovic averaged 8/3/2 on 45% shooting (for a "big man"} on a better team with a better offense. So would you actually take Radmanovic starting on your team rather than Telfair? This thread is asking whether Telfair is the worst starter in the league. And i'd say he's not.


----------



## shazha (Nov 20, 2002)

luther said:


> Yeah, that's what they say: working on shooting and finishing. And if his improvement coming in to last year is continued, I do expect him to be better. But 12 and 7 seems unlikely just because the plan isn't for him to start. Something would have to go wrong with the plan of Foye at PG for that to happen because otherwise he just won't get the minutes.


Crap i didn't think of that. Good point.

Personally i think Foye is better suited at SG but the Wolves have Mcants there who was filling it up last season. 

I would really like to see Telfair get good minutes. But you're right, with Foye around that wont happen.


----------



## knicksfan (Jan 4, 2003)

Shoot, my Knicks would gladly take him for Jerome James. I'm a big Telfair fan, and I think he can be a high-level starter if given experience. This guy has the skills to perform, he just needs to develop them. He's not the strongest defender in the world, which is not a good thing for a PG, or a good shooter for that matter which makes point A worse, but the man is a sick passing PG who knows how to set up teammates. If he improves his jumper and gets a bit more aggressive on D, watch out.


----------



## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

shazha said:


> Crap i didn't think of that. Good point.
> 
> Personally i think Foye is better suited at SG but the Wolves have Mcants there who was filling it up last season.
> 
> I would really like to see Telfair get good minutes. But you're right, with Foye around that wont happen.


While talking about SGs, don't forget Mike Miller, who is actually most likely to start there.


----------



## shazha (Nov 20, 2002)

luther said:


> While talking about SGs, don't forget Mike Miller, who is actually most likely to start there.


I think Miller will start at SF. I dont think Carney or Brewer are ready to man that SF spot yet. TWolves possible starters

5. Jefferson
4. Gnomes/Love
3. Miller
2. Mcants
1. Foye

I think Telfair can still get some decent minutes on this team.


----------



## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

There is no way that Miller and McCants would both start at the wing spots: imagine the (lack of) defense. I think Gomes or Brewer is going to start at the 3, primarily for that reason. And Miller is the best pure shooter to take pressure off Jefferson and a tough matchup at guard, so I'm certain he'll start games there.


----------



## hutcht02 (Sep 22, 2006)

Just a few other names that come to mind when it comes to worst starters last season:

*Anthony Carter* started at PG for Denver when Chucky Atkins went out.

*Jared Reiner *started for the Bucks when Bogut went out towards the end of the year.

*Quinton Ross* started about half of the season for the Clippers. He's not bad defensively, but a complete offensive nonfactor.

*Antonio Daniels* for the Wizards when Arenas got hurt. He was so nad that he eventually got replaced by Roger Mason as the temporary starting PG until Arenas came back.

*Darko Milicic*. Memphis Grizzlies. Enough said.


----------



## BlakeJesus (Feb 1, 2006)

What a terrible thread question.


----------



## Shamrock32 (Jul 28, 2007)

hutcht02 said:


> *Antonio Daniels* for the Wizards when Arenas got hurt. He was so nad that he eventually got replaced by Roger Mason as the temporary starting PG until Arenas came back.


*Wrong* on more than one level:

A. Daniels was the starter for the rest of the season after Arenas went down.

B. Arenas didn't come back, as you mentioned.

C. Daniels is one hell of a backup, and did a terrific job in the starting lineup... just as he did for Seattle in 2005. Washington moved the ball extremely well with Daniels on the floor, which is why they maintained a .500+ record.


----------



## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

GregOden said:


> What a terrible thread question.


It's perfectly legitimate because it's based on an article. If you dislike it, there are plenty of other threads in which you can post: don't stop in here just to be negative but contribute nothing.


----------

