Post by Rog on Oct 16, 2016 2:47:37 GMT
Rashard Lewis, the 52nd nominee for the NBN Hall of Fame, was one of the most consistently good to great players who you could always count on to give you a similar statline year in and year out. Was that yearly consistency of greatness and be recognized as such or was he just a good player but not an elite one? Lets take a look.
Career Stats
35.3 MPG, 22.2 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.4 BPG, 1.9 TOPG on 45.6% from the field, 84.6% from the line, and 42.8% from 3
Best Season
Bulls(2003) - 30.1 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 3.0 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.4 BPG, 2.2 TOPG on 46.9% from the field, 79% from the line, and 42.9% from three
Career Highs
Points: 56
Rebounds: 18
Assists: 8
Steals: 6
Blocks: 4
Achievements
Championships: 0
Player of the Game: 104
Player of the Week: 0
Player of the Month: 0
Double Doubles: 198
Triple Doubles: 0
Accolades
2001 - All-Star Game Participant
2002 - All-Star Game Participant
2002 - All-League Second Team
2003 - All-Star Game Participant
2007 - All-Star Game Participant
2008 - All-Star Game Participant
Reasons for Induction
- Was named to 5 all-star games and also was awarded with an All-League Second team despite playing one of the deeper positions in early league history.
- While only an elite scorer a couple seasons of his career, he was one of the most consistent scorers in league history. He averaged over 22.4 a game for 11 seasons, 20+ for 12 seasons, and 17+ 13 seasons in a row. In his 3 year peak he was good for 29 points a game, and for his 8 year prime he gave you 25 a game. Those are really good numbers, even if a step below elite for other than the three years.
- Also was really efficient shooting the ball, proving not to just be a volume scorer. His career 45.6/84.6/42.8 slashline is close to elite combined with his volume numbers. That 8 year prime he had you could guarantee a 46/87/43 slashline that could be categorize as elite.
- Lewis was also a pretty good rebounder, getting 7 a game. He never hurt you on the boards, even if he was never really great at rebounding. His rebounds prove he really didn't have a true flaw in his game.
- Very solid with the ball. While 2.3 career assists isn't amazing, his 2.5 to 3 a game in his prime to his generally right around 2 turnover rate is pretty solid and yet another thing that you could say you could count on Lewis to not hurt you in. He is obviously a guy you have on your roster to bring you points, and he did other things good enough that it didn't kill you.
- For the most of Shard's career, he carried a B or B+ defensive rating, and he didn't generate a ton of stocks meaning he was a good on ball defender, a pretty important part of a game of a small forward, especially in the earlier part of the league.
- Overall, Rashard Lewis screams Hall of Famer, he had a consistently good to great game, good for 8 years 25 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists with around 2 turnovers and good percentages. Sure his teams never were that great, but he did his job and thats all you can ask for from a guy like him.
Arguments Against Induction
- Not enough awards, period. Had 5 All-Star games and just one All-League teams, just not enough. Nothing more to say about his awards.
- Sure he was a good, at times great scorer, but wasn't elite at his best attribute for long enough. Elite scoring small forwards can carry teams and you'd never say that Rashard Lewis carried his team to the next level.
- Literally did nothing at a great level other than score. You'd expect a Hall of Famer to be multidimensional, but Lewis was not at all. Average rebounding, below average assists, average to good defending, even that is debatable without scouting his actual ratings, and good percentages. What did he do at a "great' level other than scoring? Is scoring alone enough to get him into the Hall of Fame? Maybe with lowered standards.
- What is there? Scoring? Seriously, what case is here. Better than any other player so far, but what case does he truly have? Just a tough case for someone who doesn't have a lot of awards, didn't really have top level stats, and was kind of injury prone missing an average of just over 10 games a year. Did he scare you in the playoffs? Hell how many years was he even in the playoffs. I know that is not his fault, but you can argue his stats were just blank numbers which didn't mean anything because of his team's lack of success. Just not a Hall of Famer, unless you stretch his scoring for a full argument which should be really, really tough to do.
Vote carefully, and remember to throw out arguments regardless of which side you're on. This should be a discussion that eventually gets the league to the proper decision on him. Your vote can also be retracted after it's been cast if you feel like switching to the other side based on the arguments that have been made. To be inducted, a player needs 70% and to be considered in a later class they need 50%. Vote carefully!
***BONUS - Don't forget that everyone who votes gets $25 and the person that makes the best argument or contributes to the discussion the best will be awarded an extra $25**
*
