George O'Brien
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Everyone agrees that Shawn Marion is somewhat overpaid. But some people seem to think he is grossly overpaid. I have a hard time finding any evidence in stat sheets.
Shawn had a very poor November, but he is generally putting up good offensive numbers now. His career shooting average is 46.2% and (35.1% for threes) and a very nice 84.1% for free throws (88.5% this year). This year his shooting is up to 43.3% and he is scoring 18.4 ppg.
The biggest problem with his game this year is his three point shooting which dropped from 38.7% in 02-03 to a dismal 29.4% (is was even worse a month ago). On non-3 point shots he is hitting 46.5%. If he got his 3's back to what he did the previous 2 seasons, he would be having a super season.
I think that Marion's numbers will improve over the rest of the season as the offense is adjusted to take advantage of his skills. Shawn does not have the kind of quick first step that great "creators" have, but his ability to jump over people and do put backs is pretty impressive.
The discussion about whether there was friction between Stephon v Shawn and Amare could have some substance. Stephon did not work to get Marion the ball where it would do the most good. Often Marbury used up too much of the clock dribbling around, so there weren't many options to putting up a prayer.
The issue as to whether Shawn can defend really tall opponents is legitimate. I can see Zarko getting those assignments when Shawn struggles. I think Shawn can be a very good man defender, but the Suns trap makes it hard to tell how good he is.
Shawn had a very poor November, but he is generally putting up good offensive numbers now. His career shooting average is 46.2% and (35.1% for threes) and a very nice 84.1% for free throws (88.5% this year). This year his shooting is up to 43.3% and he is scoring 18.4 ppg.
The biggest problem with his game this year is his three point shooting which dropped from 38.7% in 02-03 to a dismal 29.4% (is was even worse a month ago). On non-3 point shots he is hitting 46.5%. If he got his 3's back to what he did the previous 2 seasons, he would be having a super season.
I think that Marion's numbers will improve over the rest of the season as the offense is adjusted to take advantage of his skills. Shawn does not have the kind of quick first step that great "creators" have, but his ability to jump over people and do put backs is pretty impressive.
The discussion about whether there was friction between Stephon v Shawn and Amare could have some substance. Stephon did not work to get Marion the ball where it would do the most good. Often Marbury used up too much of the clock dribbling around, so there weren't many options to putting up a prayer.
The issue as to whether Shawn can defend really tall opponents is legitimate. I can see Zarko getting those assignments when Shawn struggles. I think Shawn can be a very good man defender, but the Suns trap makes it hard to tell how good he is.
