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[B Purist]

I have seen almost every game that Delonte West has played in the NBA. He is a complete player and there is not a single weakness in his game. He is a solid and polished offensive player but his most extraordinary and under-recognized skills are on the defensive end. When guarding against the dribble he can contain and sometimes overwhelm the best point guards in the game. Few players have ever possessed the footwork, anticipation and determination to do that. As a shot blocker Delonte is in a class with the finest off the ball defenders that the guard position has ever seen. I have witnessed Delonte West duplicate or outdo Tayshaun Prince's block of Reggie Miller at least ten times. That is incredible for a guy 6'4'' tall. Delonte should be considered for all NBA defensive honors. FIRST TEAM!

Whether Delonte West plays the 1 or the 2, he will run the show in Seattle be a team leader. Delonte West could have a bust out year and be one of the best acquisitions of this off-season. He has potential that could catapult him into the discussion of best all-around guards in the league.

John D
The Basketball Purist Inc.

[Mountain]

That is quite an endorsement. Will be interesting to see how he is used and performs next season. Looking at the past two seasons at 82 games it appears West was used very differently- in 05-06 they have him almost exclusively at PG and in 06-07 a bit more SG than PG. How close are these assignments to what you saw? Since you also study coaches, from your vantage what did you make of Rivers' use of West and did the changed usage to more SG make sense given West's game or was it driven by Celtics roster situation?

[ChrisH]

according to draft express Delonte west was measured at 6' 2.75" in shoes, at the 2004 pre-draft thing. I like his game but I don't know how they get away with listing him at 6'4.

[John Hollinger]

Thanks for checking in Delonte.

[JNichols42887]

For what it's worth West ranks as a below average defender according to DCS.

[Mountain]

A 6'6 wingspan makes West play bigger. His standing reach is similar to a lot of 6'4 guys. Since he was playing some SG, they might have been explaining effective size or covering real height.

DCS will help with talk about above average and average defenders. But it is still affected by teammates and other players at the position (Rondo?) and position actually played and the average offensive quality there.

West in 05-06 looks better at PG defense (44% eFG% allowed at PG).

I noticed West cut his foul rate by 25% from 05-06 to 06-07. To some degree random, but maybe he went too far in cutting them and wasn't getting as much pressure or impact? Maybe playing on such a bad team last year affected West's intensity?

[gabefarkas]

[B Purist]

[Mountain]

For his size, his block rate per 48 is excellent. ESPN has him listed with SGs and there he is 18th on block rate. Put him on PG list he would be third. Looking at 82games data, using their position assignments, I notice that his block rate is surprisingly much higher (several times higher) at SG than PG. Perhaps SGs see his height and think they have an easy matchup and find out differently when his reach and I presume hops make up. Still his block rate this season was down from the even more outstanding previous season- ESPN listed him as 5th best on SG list but if 82games was right and he played almost all PG then he would have been 2nd on PG list to very tall/long Shaun Livingston. 06-07 lower rate health related, effort or folks catching on to the threat of getting blocked? (Dwayne Wade, also a combo guard, had a small lead on West on blocks rate in 05-06 but doubled him with a very impressive 1.54 per 48 this season.)

[ishmael]

I've been following the guy for about 5 years ever since he came on the scene at St. Joe's (probably have seen upwards of 20 college starts and three quarters of his NBA games).

As an old school basketball player and just plain character, I'm obviously a huge fan of the kid. That said, I'm gonna have to disagree a bit with the OP.

He is a lefty which often makes him a tough cover, but absolutely did struggle in the 2 guard position last year. Not only did he have a hard time guarding 2s, but he was in a wretched shooting slump from November till around the all star break. For a guy that I had always considered a pure shooter that was disturbing to see. It wasn't even that he had trouble getting his shot off, so much as his confidence was down (not getting as many starts from Doc Rivers as the year before).

He has a decent handle, but certainly not among the top 25 at the point guard position in the NBA and while he will go strong to the hoop when given the chance, is not the most athletic finisher. Excellent free throw shooter. High basketball IQ. Willing to take the open shot when featured as the weak side shooter. Against point guards he used to have a beautiful pull up baseline 12 footer, but I have not seen it utilized much in the last year.

So where does that leave West? A scrappy, smart, slightly injury-prone guy (mainly because of his incredible hustle) that will stick in the NBA as a point guard on a bad team or possibly an excellent swing guard off the bench for a playoff team. He has some valuable skills including shooting and the above-mentioned shot blocking that are hard to find in a point. But he is not an ideal director on offense, has below-average handles for the position, and is not a great on the ball defender b/c he lacks some lateral quickness.

At 24 it is obvious that Danny Ainge believes no big breakthrough is coming. I would argue that West will probably have a better career than Derek Fisher, but fall short of his potential (which I still think might be as a Mike Bibby/Byron Scott type of hybrid). He absolutely was yanked around for no good reason by the Celtics coaching staff last year (Telfair was atrocious and did not earn his playing time) and I would expect West to have a bounce back year if Seattle utilizes him properly. Probably similar stats to last season, but at a higher efficiency.

For the record, here is that incredible block of Delonte West on 300 pound Eddy Curry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsWS9S4iZXs

[Mountain]

Thanks for the additional detail Ishmael.

[B Purist]

ishmael mentioned several key facts confidence earning minutes and reasonable treatment .. right on ishmael

a year ago when looking to address their need at point, the celtics traded for telfair and drafted rondo in the of-season .. not a ringing endorsement for delonte .. delonte is a combo guard and not a true point .. he is a good shooter with proven 3 point range ...

delonte was ready to compete in training camp .. he was given no opportunity .. the celts didnt show delonte any love .. telfair was handed the starting job at point which didnt work out .. the celtics had no set rotation all season .. later in the year doc had to take a long look at rondo ..

the celts messed with delonte's head and gave him good reason to be disgruntled ..

it is true that delonte doen't have a sweet handle but he plays under control and is not careless or turnover prone .. delonte led the team in assists despite not fitting

[John Hollinger]

Sorry ... I couldn't resist.

I always thought West blocked so many shots because sometimes he would let guys go past them up and then try to line them up for the block. Which is entertaining when it works, but probably not the percentage play.

that said, I think he's an asset and will help Seattle ... at worst he's good combo guard off the bench.

[Harold Almonte]

A little conspiracy theory: perhaps Telfair over West was step 1 for a successful season tanking.

[ChrisH]

It's also worth mentioning that Delonte gave one of the best performances on an nba commercial last year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WbZ8IXSb_w

Note to J Hollinger: Letting your man go by to set him up for the block is especially appealing in wire hanger/nerf hoop basketball... Because it allows you the chance to slam your opponent into the basket, thus mangling the rim badly, adding insult to injury.