Well, it depends on what month the question was asked in. In December, Nazr was considered a godsend - he was outplaying Emeka and helped the Bobcats to a 3 and 5 record at the end of the month (yes, 3-5 is not good - but it is better than the team has been playing this year overall, so worth noting). Since that early euphoria, things have begun to tail off. Personally, I had not noticed - really, what is the difference between 16 points, 13 rebounds and 13 with 11?
Those two pairs of numbers are what Nazr put up early on (per 40 minutes) in his Bobcats career and what he has been doing more lately. I would not have noticed, but for the "Breakout" articles I did recently (Part 1 and Part 2) - Nazr was the runaway leader of which starter caused his teammates' efficiency numbers to plummet. Which got me wondering - what has Nazr been doing lately?
| Month | Points/ 40 mins | Points/ Shot | Off Reb Rate | Def Reb Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December | 16.2 | 1.31 | 12.1% | 23.2% |
| January | 18.2 | 1.24 | 12.0% | 17.7% |
| February | 12.9 | 1.05 | 13.3% | 15.8% |
| March | 13.4 | 1.11 | 10.3% | 17.7% |
Those are some significant declines in his scoring efficiency and his effort/success on the boards has dropped dramatically after an early rush. More telling - how the team's success has changed with him - number pairs shown are with/without pairs:
| Month | Off Eff | Def Eff | Net Eff |
|---|---|---|---|
| December | 100.0/104.0 | 100.9/109.2 | -0.9/-5.2 |
| January | 101.2/107.8 | 101.3/107.2 | -0.1/+0.6 |
| February | 98.5/101.9 | 120.8/107.3 | -22.3/-5.4 |
| March | 100.3/111.1 | 113.1/102.4 | -12.8/+8.7 |
So, to answer the more recent question, what has Nazr been doing lately? Not much, helping the team lose, helping the NBA bring back high-scoring games (at least for the opposition), collecting a paycheck - a few possible answers. So, I guess to complete the title of the post - Nazr has been a ... disappointment.
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