Fansided

The Lance Stephenson 10-day contract: Day 4

By Ian Levy

Apr 9, 2016; Memphis, TN, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard Lance Stephenson (1) looks for a foul during the final seconds of the game against the Golden State Warriors at FedExForum. The Warriors won 100-99. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 9, 2016; Memphis, TN, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard Lance Stephenson (1) looks for a foul during the final seconds of the game against the Golden State Warriors at FedExForum. The Warriors won 100-99. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports /
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Lance Stephenson is back in the NBA, proud owner of a 10-day contract from the Minnesota Timberwolves. However, this is a tenuous toehold. In two weeks, he could be on the road to redemption or he could be on a plane to China. Since we don’t know how many more days of NBA Lance Stephenson we have, each must be treated as a precious snowflake. Catch up on Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 here.

Day 4: Another off day for the Minnesota Timberwolves, a down day as they prefer for the arrival of the Chicago Bulls (for a game on Sunday, day 5 for Lance in Minnesota). One would assume the “off day” included a practice where Thibodeau seethed and shouted over the team’s atrocious defensive performance against the New Orleans Pelicans the night before.

With no new reported details to add to our daily journal, Day 4 is a chance to visit Lance’s numbers. As of now, we have a 2-game, 32-minute sample, not much to go on. Still, there are a few obvious points to pick out.

In these two games, Lance already has grabbed seven rebounds (all defensive), a healthy average for a wing player. Minnesota has a defensive rebound percentage below the league average and none of their wings are particularly good on the glass. The defensive rebound percentages of Andrew Wiggins (9.3 percent) and Shabazz Muhammad (11.3 percent) would rank somewhere between the 10th and 20th percentile among small forwards. Zach LaVine’s defensive rebound percentage would be around the 40th percentile among shooting guards.

However, just one of Lance’s seven defensive rebounds has been contested (an opposing player within 3.5 feet) which means those rebounds likely would have gone to his teammates anyway. He has shown a tendency in the past to battle his teammates for rebounds in an effort to get the ball up the court quickly, something which has seemed to be going on here, with little positive effect for Minnesota.

The other quick of this small Stephenson sample is that nine of the 10 shots he’s attempted so far have been pull-up 2-point jumpers. He’s made just three of those, and has missed his one catch-and-shoot 3-point attempt.

Next: Why is T.J. McConnell so darn clutch?

Energy and intensity are nice but the statistics imply that Lance still isn’t offering much yet. The Timberwolves have been horrible at both ends of the floor in his 32 minutes. His rebound numbers aren’t helping the team and his worst offensive tendencies have already manifested. Keep that chin up, Lance, tomorrow is another day. (For at least six more days).

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