FanPost

Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry: Who Will Help Most?

Seems the least talked about free-agency acquisition this offseason will have the biggest impact. With both players coming from New Orleans, look for Jarrett Jack to play a larger role in the Warriors run to the playoffs.

Andrew Bogut? Injuries. Klay Thompson? Sophomore Jump. Stephen Curry? Ankles. Harrison Barnes? Starter or not starter. David Lee? Defense a case so lost, Warrior fans don't even care to care.

It seems every player has been discussed to a certain degree but especially that of the starters and even Brandon Rush, Draymond Green and Festus Ezeli have gotten a relatively high type of buzz despite being likely to play a bench role this year.

So who hasn't been talked about? Surprisingly not much has been said about GM Bob Myers' low-key acquisitions of Jarrett Jack (via trade) and Carl Landry (a relatively small deal of eight million dollars over two years despite the market drying up in the later stages).

Here is a team preview of John Hollinger from ESPN previewing the Warriors team:

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/2012-13-gsw-preview/golden-state-warriors-player-profiles

Despite the buzz around Green, Ezeli and Rush, it should be argued that Jack and Landry will play the most integral part of the bench this year. With Jack probably spelling Curry (ankles) and Thompson (to shift Curry to SG to save wear and tear) and Landry playing a lot of minutes at both PF (Lee) and C (Bogut's injuries) they will need to provide above-average production as the first players off the bench.

Let's take a more in-depth look at each player and how they fared on their old teams last year. For the purposes of this study, I will only look at their most recent year in analyzing whether they are good fits for the Warriors. Coincidentally, Jack and Landry played together on the same team in 2011-12.

Jarrett Jack:

Jack only played 45 games out of the 66 total last season but when he did, he played 34 minutes a game compared to his career average of around 27 minutes a game.

He also averaged a career high in points, assists and turnovers with 15.6, 6.3 and 2.4, respectively. However, this was probably attributed to the fact that he just played more minutes because his shooting percentages relatively stayed the same.

By looking at more in-depth stats we can garner a better understanding of his productivity. According to 82games.com, Jack has a passing rating of 10.2 and an assist to bad pass ratio of 5.8. He also doesn't draw many fouls (7.9%) and shoots jumpers 87% of the time. However, he should only be viewed as a guard that handles the ball and runs the offense smoothly while shooting the occasional jumper.

Compare those numbers to Chris Paul and Jack looks about as bad as me trying to play point guard, or Acie Law IV. But let's compare his stats to Mike Conley, who signed an extension last year and is the considered a decent point guard on a top playoff team. Conley has a passing rating of 10.8 and an assist to bad pass ratio of 6.1. Conley also has 54 ball-handling turnovers compared to Jack's 48.

Pretty similar numbers between a point guard considered to be one of the top young up-and-comers and an old veteran who nobody really talks about. It's also hard to compare +/- overall statistics because the Hornets were so bad. However, it is fair to point out that according to basketballvalue.com, Jack's unadjusted simple on-court rating was a negative 9.48 and when he was off the court the team was a positive 0.86.

It also showed that Jack's five when he was on the court gave up 3.2 more points per every 48 minutes. Defense should be something that is a concern but honestly how much better is Stephen Curry with his constant ankle issues?

While Jack isn't a highly talked about pickup he should be able to provide a much-needed veteran presence that can pass and shoot and fill in 20 minutes a night for the Warriors.

Fans might clamor for Charles Jenkins but Jack is a much better shot delegator and Coach Jackson may rather have Jack runs the 1 and the 2 alternately every night. He should provide a nice spark unless he has to play 34 minutes a night again.

If so, that would mean Curry is injured yet again and Warrior fans will be clamoring for the Cody Zellers and Shabazz Muhammads of the world.

Carl Landry:

You know that one guy at the neighborhood basketball gym that never passes or plays defense but calls for the ball every trip down? What makes it all the more frustrating is that he can score any which way possible but he tends to drift farther away from the basket as the game moves along.

Now turn that guy into a 6'8 250 power forward and you have yourself Carl Landry.

A much better player when looking at the standard statistics than he is as an actual player. There was a reason why he lasted so long in the free-agent market and ultimately signing a small contract with the Warriors.

Last year, Landry only played 41 games battling during injuries and ultimately shooting 50 percent and scoring 12.5 points and 5.2 boards. We can easily extrapolate that over a full game and he'd be averaging Kevin Love numbers based on points and boards.

Take a little closer look and there was a reason why he played so little. His defense and shot selection are below-average.

Landry shoots 62.9% from inside the paint, showing his variety of post moves and finishes but only 38.8% from the outside.

Naturally, Landry shoots 63% of his shots from outside the paint (jumpers), 27% of his shots in the paint (close) and the other ten percent coming from dunks and tips. Not very smart.

So why does he shoot from so far away when he is much more efficient down low? I don't know but it probably has to do with his low usage by Coach Monty Williams at New Orleans (one of the better coaches in the NBA).

It also isn't good he had 38 assists in 41 games, less than one a game but with Lee and Bogut that won't matter as much.

However, his defense is also very questionable with his team giving up 2.3 points less, according to 82games.com, when he isn't on the floor. But this can attributed to him playing out of position guarding small forwards where he gives up a 31.3 PER but only a 12.5 PER to power forwards.

Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry are two distinctively different but holding very important roles on the team backing up perennially injured players. So far, the fan opinion is rather subdued and unexcited but when the season comes around we should know a lot more about them.

Let's hope we don't get to know them too well.

This FanPost is a submission from a member of the mighty Golden State of Mind community. While we're all here to throw up that W, these words do not necessarily reflect the views of the GSoM Crew. Still, chances are the preceding post is Unstoppable Baby!