Marion Feels Unappreciated

It seems that from the minute Marion signed his contract, there has been a target on his back. He has been subject to constant criticism. It was a mistake to pay that much for a guy with his kind of skills, but he gets blamed for the contract, rather than the Colangelos.

Marion's main issue is that he's not a good "one-on-one" offensive player. Offensively, he is best used on breaks and as a cutter. His outside shooting is erratic and is not much of a ball handler. But he does the "alley oop" play better than anybody and is amazing at how quickly he can put offensive rebounds back in.

The problem is his half court one-on-one skills. Curiously enough, other than a decline in his three point shooting from early in his career, he's the same guy he was back when he signed the contract. Indeed, in orther areas of the game such as man defense he is far improved (smoother and less gambling). But offensively, his improved offense is mostly a function of the Suns scheme rather than his ono-on-one skills.

In a age when a one dimensional shooter like Lewis can get a $117 million contract, while a more talented Josh Howard gets only a four year $40 million deal and Bruce Bowen gets $4.1 million; the market is clear that one-on-one scoring is the primary basis for monster contracts. From a market standpoint, Marion is overpaid and will never live up to what people expect from a guy that expensive.

It is all about expectations. People accuse Marion of "disappearing" in the playoffs, but the stats don't support that claim. Last season Marion averaged 17.5 ppg during the regular season and averaged 15.7 ppg against the Spurs. Since the Suns averaged 10 ppg fewer points in the series, that was not a big drop in scoring. Also He shot 52.1% and 47.1% for three.

Marion averaged 9.8 rpg during the season and 10.5 ppg against the Spurs. His steals were down from 2.0 to 1.2, but his blocks were up from 1.5 to 2.3. He was given one of the most difficult defensive assignments in the NBA and still averaged 10.5 rpg.

In short, the claim Marion disappeared is a myth. All that happened is that the situation changed and the Suns needed more offense from the SF position. It's a variation on the old joke, "If you're so rich, why aren't you a better scorer?"

But he isn't a great one-on-one scorer and that's what is most valued. As long as that is how he is evaluated, it is why he feels he is not appreciated. Now for me, I'd happily give up the appreciation for $16 million, but NBA players can find all kinds of things to gripe about.