A Different View Of Brandon Rush's Value

by Tom Lewis on Apr 2, 2010 12:01 PM EDT in Indiana Pacers News

Last week, John Hollinger went out of his way to take a shot at Brandon Rush for his low PER rating despite playing the most minutes of any player on the Pacers. For one, Rush's play has improved throughout the year. Plus, Rush leading the team in minutes wasn't by design. The second-year guard has simply been available to play every game and play in a variety of lineups.

All of this isn't to say Rush has had a great season or even played consistently well, but I also wouldn't consider him a leading scapegoat for this season.

Wayne Winston actually responded to Hollinger's story with his adjusted +/- rating to offer Rush a little help-side. Since Hollinger has Troy Murphy at a 17.7 PER (as of March 26) compared to Rush's 9.96 PER, Winston compared Murph's adjusted +/- value to Rush's and found that the Pacers fare better with Rush than with Murphy.

As we have often stated, the box score misses a lot. When we look at how the score of the game moves and adjust for the strength of players Murphy and Rush play with we find Rush has an Adjusted +/- of around 0 and Murphy has a -7 Adjusted +/- which means we estimate that Troy Murphy in for 48 minutes is 7 points worse than an average NBA player. So we believe Murphy must be doing some bad things that do not show up in the box score and in all likelihood Rush does many good things that do not show up in the box score. Jim O’Brien must also believe that Rush has "hidden virtues."

Winston also breaks down the impact on other players on the roster when Murphy and Rush on in or out of the game, which also favors Rush. Again, these numbers aren't great nor a defense of Rush as a great player, but they do show he is adding some value to the Pacers not captured in his low PER rating.

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As Tech9ne (Kansas City's favorite rapper) would say,

Yada, yada, yada, that’s all talk. Watch the games, B-Rush is completely in the background most of the time. His value is little to anything, and the fact that his adjusted plus/minus is 0 just about sums up his value to me. He’s a complete non-factor on the court, whatever happens when he’s out there good/bad is merely coincidence.

by ThirtyOne on Apr 2, 2010 1:05 PM EDT reply actions

Brandon's Effectiveness

Brandon has been the Pacer’s best on ball defender all year, and yes that includes Dahntay Jones. He is not the most consistent offensive player on the roster but he has improved as of late. He is still young and learning the offensive game. I don’t think he will ever be a 20 per game scorer but I think he could settle in the 16-17 ppg range if the Blue and Gold ever acquire a point guard that can make plays. While I agree he can be frustrating at times I think his value as a player goes beyond that. As TL pointed out, it isn’t like we went into the season hoping Brandon would lead this team in minutes. He has been durable and consistent with his minutes which is more than we can say for anyone else on the roster.

"My game’s like the Pythagorean Theorem. It ain’t got no answer." - Shaq

by bleedinblueandgold on Apr 2, 2010 3:37 PM EDT reply actions

No value

I see nothing in Brandon Rush. Sure, he’s been decent this last month but i see no reason why i would invest anything in him in the future. This is as good as it gets for him. He as no desire or fire to play the game. There’s some talent there but not enough to feel good about. He needs to be gone when his contract expires with us. I just see no upside or value in him whatsoever.

by blueandgold24 on Apr 2, 2010 3:46 PM EDT reply actions

DEFENSE. He’s a good fit for us. A great bench guy. As long as he’s a bench guy.

by ben.renz on Apr 2, 2010 5:28 PM EDT up reply actions

He's overrated

on defense just as bad as he is on offense. He can usually put together a decent quarter defending a standard starting player, but when it comes to a game-changing defensive performance, he’s got nothing. He is a decent bench guy, but not even on the type of team I want heading to the playoffs in the future. He’s going to be a player we talk about in 10 years on how he’s never made the playoffs in his career.

by blueandgold24 on Apr 3, 2010 9:01 AM EDT up reply actions