thead wrote:
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I suppose if I'm going to make grand sweeping claims I should provide some reasons:
1) He can't post up. I've always found this kind of funny/ironic since that's part of what he was lauded for when he was signed. I still don't understand why Casey calls him one of our best low post options (maybe it's because he's being contrasted with Bargs?). Almost every time Kleiza gets the ball in the post, he uses a few dribbles to back his man down (usually, without success) picks the ball up, gives one terrible shoulder fake, and then pivots RIGHT INTO THE HELP DEFENSE for a lazy hook shot that gets swatted 90% of the time, and misses the other 10%.
2) He is slow as molasses. It's brutal to watch, because the fact is, he's as slow in the open court as in the half court. That is, he's not just straight line slow, he has NO first step. A defender like Allen or Battier could give him a 2s head start and still take a charge. It's actually too bad that he's not a good post player, because I think part of the reason he's as slow as he is is his size. Unfortunately, this size doesn't make him an effective 4 (it's horizontal, not vertical size if you know what I mean) and it certainly doesn't make him an effective 3, as far as speed and quickness go.
3) Which brings us to his defense. As a slow 3 or an undersized 4, the odds are stacked against him to begin with. Unfortunately, he doesn't make up for it with great length, great motor, or great instinct. Anyways, there's only so many ways you can describe a bad defender, they come a dime a dozen, and Kleiza is one of them.
If you're still not convinced, here are his career averages:
MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
20.1 .441 .337 .759 3.6 .8 .4 .2 8.8
And for the record, most people get worse after microfracture surgery -- not better.
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