With Steve's very good play of late, I know there is some debate about whether or not he can sustain this kind of effort and a lot of talk about upgrading the point through a trade. But hypothetically speaking, what is your baseline, in terms of stats, for Blake to lock up the starting role, long term. For me it would probably be a season where he sustains the following kinds of numbers: (Per 40 minutes) Pts: 16 Assists: 7 Turnovers: 2 Rebounds: 4 FG% 45 3 pt% 40 PER: 17+ For reference: http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/play...pn.go.com/nba/players/hollinger?playerId=1994 for what it's worth Steve is having a career year.
It's hard to come up with a threshold for the Blazers PG, because I believe the way our PG impacts Roy is also very important. In other words, we could bring in a PG that could put up better stats than Blake, but if he dominates the ball and hurts Roy's game, the overall effect is negative. I think what Blake brings us on offense is nearly as good as we can hope for. Blake's defense, however, does leave room for improvement. So I guess my threshold would be Blake's offense with a little better D.
Blake actually reminds me of.... Danny Young. Why? For years the blazers were trying to bring in young players to take Danny's spot at backup PG, but Young always prevailed. We want to replace Blake as the starter. So far, he's prevailing.
It's about who complements whom as it is becoming more about having a genuine "team" game on the floor at all times. Steve works better with the slow, 1/2 court guys and Roy, who likes to have the ball most of the time and be the first option. Sergio works best with the guys who move fast, move without the ball, and are chomping at the bit for an alley-oop or a flashy pass at the perfect time to get them an easy, but highlight-worthy score. Some guys, like Joel and Travis, work well with most any combination/style. If I was KP I would seriously not want to mess with this roster anymore this year. I'd just trade Raef for future considerations in 2010,11 or 12. This is the very young team we wanted to have for 10 years or so, so I'd give them a year to jell as is, then we have Koponnen and next year's picks/draft deals to add to the keepers, which right now only Ike and Channing haven't shown me enough to keep them for another year. And they have time to improve and surprise yet.
Not sure about Steve's wife though, here's what wiki says about her: Kristen Blake is a fictional villainess on the soap opera Days of our Lives. Although raised by villain Stefano DiMera after the death of her parents (her mother was later discovered to be alive and well), Kristen and Peter were never legally adopted by him. Sounds like a JailBlazeress to me.
I don't think it's a coincidence that both Blake and Przybilla are both having career years. The are both surrounded by more talent than they've ever had (although Blake was on a pretty talented Denver team for 49 games - and averaged nearly 8 AST/40), but just as important - they are both, right now, in the primes of their careers. Joel recently turned 29 and Blake will in February. This is typically the age when most athletes peak. They are experienced enough to understand the game and their roles, but still young enough that they haven't started the steep downward slope of physical decline. BNM
I'd note that usually players peak in their contract year. That Joel and Steve are doing well when they are NOT in a contract years says a lot about their very high level of professionalism. I also think that in their heart of hearts, both players know they are extremely fortunate to be in the NBA at all. That gives them perspective, and fire. iWatas
Kirk Hinrich is a career 41% shooter and a career 38% 3 pt shooter. Blake is almost exactly at those career numbers, plus his FT shooting is only 2% lower than Hinrich. The biggest difference offensively between Blake and Hinrich in career numbers? Hinrich averages 35 minutes; Blake 24.5 minutes, plus Hinrich gets to shoot a bit more often.
One thing to remember is that Blake is a better 3P shooter when he plays in Portland than he is for his career. I do not know if it is something with Nate's system, the pace of the game or playing next to Brandon Roy - but Blake's 3P% in Portland is over 40%.
what if while dominating the ball and freezing Roy out of part of his game, this hypothetical PG is effective at attacking the D creating scoring opportunities for himself and others? A lessor role for Roy does not necessarily mean less success for the team and team success is what I'm rooting for. STOMP
Notice I said "biggest difference offensively", since I was posting about the offensive numbers presented.
