John Hollinger, however, was correct last year regarding his belief that the European Marco Belinelli would be a bust in the NBA. That’s ‘cause Belinelli was flat-out inefficient offensively — which, for the most part, Hollinger properly measured with PER — yet, that notwithstanding, the “Italian Stallion” was also an epic failure due to his downright porous defense. Hollinger, however, didn’t take that into account during his original evaluation of Belinelli. PER doesn’t rightfully account for defense, though.

Conversely, Nicolas Batum will get a pass on offense — no matter his sample size output so far this pre-season — at this juncture of his career. That, of course, is due to the Frenchman’s undoubtedly outstanding defense. On the wing, Batum is a lockdown one-on-one perimeter defender — as well as a potent weapon defending the passing lanes due to his long wingspan — thus, that compensates for any adjustments that he might have to ultimately offensively as a rookie this season.

Stats are useful tools, but that’s only if someone understands how to analyze and apply said stats.