In today's LA times, Jason Reid reports that Corey Maggette has given up on the 'brave face' approach and now everyone knows a trade is inevitable.
A few weeks ago, after citizen ZhivClip pointed out that Corey wasn't really the Clippers sixth man, but more like the 7th or 8th man, I started tracking a few things about MDSr's use of the talented wing.
The table below tracks Corey's minutes, where those minutes rank him for that game, his first appearance in the game, the overall order for that appearance, and his total first half minutes, along with his points and rebounds.
A great sixth man, a real Sixth man of the year candidate, can be a terrific asset. He may not start, but he plays significant minutes. Mike Miller of the Grizzlies was 4th on the team in minutes per game when he won the award last year. Maggette is currently tied for 7th with Tim Thomas, and will undoubtedly be 8th very soon.
As you can see in the table below, in 8 games this season, Corey has not been among the top 6 Clippers in minutes played for that game. He has only been the first Clipper off the bench in 9 out of 19 games he did not start. Even his lone start was a backhanded compliment - MDSr wanted Ross on the bench to match up with Ginobili.
The minutes scenario is actually worse than it looks when you consider that Corey is getting a lot of garbage minutes. He's led the team in minutes played twice - in blowout losses to the Nuggets and Spurs.
This goes beyond a coach who wants an explosive scorer coming off the bench, which is certainly a reasonable and viable strategy. Corey leads the Clippers in points per minute and is also a terrific per minute rebounder (ahead of Aaron Williams and Tim Thomas, for instance). But where are the minutes?
At any rate, I figured I needed to post this data soon, or there would no longer be a reason to have it at ClipsNation.
| Date | Opp | Min | Pts | Reb | Enter | Exit | 1H Min |
| 1-Nov | @PHO | 7 (8) | 0 | 1 | 5:22 1Q (6) | 10:30 2Q | 6:52 |
| 2-Nov | DEN | 29 (5) | 13 | 7 | 2:28 1Q (8) | 0:10 2Q | 2:18 |
| 4-Nov | PHO | 31 (4) | 23 | 12 | 1:31 1Q (7) | 0:04 2Q | 13:27 |
| 6-Nov | POR | 28 (7) | 20 | 9 | 4:50 1Q (6) | Half | 16:50 |
| 8-Nov | DAL | 31 (5) | 12 | 12 | 3:45 1Q (6) | 1:00 2Q | 14:45 |
| 12-Nov | NOR | 21 (7) | 14 | 5 | 0:00 2Q (8) | 1:16 2Q | 10:44 |
| 14-Nov | @UTH | 23 (6) | 17 | 5 | 1:59 1Q (6) | 3:13 2Q | 10:46 |
| 18-Nov | PHI | 32 (4) | 21 | 8 | 2:47 1Q (8) | Half | 14:47 |
| 21-Nov | @LAL | 30 (5) | 20 | 6 | 3:50 1Q (7) | Half | 15:50 |
| 22-Nov | SEA | 19 (7) | 10 | 2 | 5:37 1Q (6) | 3:29 2Q | 14:08 |
| 25-Nov | @MIN | 27 (5) | 18 | 5 | 1:13 1Q (8) | Half | 13:13 |
| 26-Nov | @DEN | 37 (1) | 22 | 12 | 4:54 1Q (6) | Half | 16:54 |
| 28-Nov | @SAC | 20 (6) | 6 | 3 | 0:43 1Q (8) | Half | 12:43 |
| 29-Nov | MEM | 22 (7) | 12 | 3 | 2:54 1Q (6) | 5:13 2Q | 9:53 |
| 2-Dec | LAL | 25 (7) | 15 | 8 | 3:38 1Q (8) | Half | 15:38 |
| 3-Dec | ORL | 29 (3) | 17 | 4 | 1:40 1Q (7) | Half | 13:40 |
| 4-Dec | MIA | 13 (8) | 7 | 6 | 2:34 1Q (6) | 7:48 2Q | 6:46 |
| 8-Dec | @SAS | 36 (1) | 12 | 8 | Starter | 4:13 2Q | 19:47 |
| 9-Dec | @MEM | 25 (7) | 9 | 7 | 2:21 1Q (9) | 2:16 2Q | 12:05 |
| 15-Dec | @POR | 28 (6) | 18 | 1 | 7:47 1Q (6) | 3:14 2Q | 16:33 |