My thoughts exactly. Constantly playing Nic out of position to try to cover the other team's PG caused all kinds of switching issues.
If their defense is the same, and Felton is superior in terms of staying in front of his man, doesn't it follow that Felton would be inferior at another aspect of his defense relative to Miller? I had thought of Felton as a superior defender to Miller, too. I hope Buchanan's wrong on that minor point rather than on the bigger picture. Ed O.
E Williams was one of the best athletes in last years draft,, excellent/elite defender potential, smart guy as well, IMO he will surprise a lot of people
Uh... That's some extreme overstatement, even by your lofty standards. Clearly better than Felton: Chris Paul Derron Williams Derrick Rose Steve Nash Tony Parker Russell Westbrook Rajon Rondo John Wall Tyreke Evans (?) Jameer Nelson Stephen Curry Andre Miller Chauncy Billups Devin Harris Darren Collison Mike Conley Jrue Holiday Rodney Stuckey Kirk Hinrich Brandon Jennings Jason Kidd Ty Lawson Probably better: George Hill Kyle Lowry Eric Maynor DJ Augistin Jeff Teague Leandro Barbosa JJ Barea Beno Udrih Gilbert Arenas Derek Fisher Jose Calderon Goran Dragic Aaron Brooks Jarrett Jack Jordan Farmar Mario Chalmers Felton isn't even a top-20 PG in this league and may well be outside the top-35. Stats may say he's an average starter, but with Felton as our starting PG, we'll never have a game where we clearly have an advantage at the position.
I totally agree, and while I haven't looked at any statistical comparisons, I'll assume that Andre was much better at stealing the ball, as I do think that was one of his strengths. And honestly, this may only be my untrained opinion, Andre was a really poor defensive player. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that that crappy zone the Blazers played a lot throughout the season was in large ways an attempt to hide his, and Roy's and Rudy's innability to defend man to man. Maybe I'm grasping at straws here, but Andre (To me) was a below average, even bad defensive player. Felton is younger, faster, lighter, and more athletic, I just can't comprehend that he isn't at least a step up in his defensive ability. If he isn't then the front office clearly has no idea what the hell they are doing!
felton was 18th last year in per, and isnt thought of as a plus defender, sooooo, yeah maybe top 20/25?
One of the things that really hit me was from the press conferences afterward. They kept talking about Felton becoming part of our young nucleas and they could grow together (like Dallas did). But then they went on several times to list the young nucleas and each time it was LaMarcus, Wesley, and Nicolas. They never once uttered the name Roy. It makes me think they really are seriously considering him for the amnesty clause (if that happens with the new CBA) and were starting to try and make him ride off into the sunset. It really made me kind of sad. It's just amazing to me how he can be a hero for several seasons and then just get erased like he never existed. I know he's being very generously compensated for his time but that had to have just stabbed him in the heart!
Ouch. But can you honestly disagree with that assessment? Think of him as like Bill Walton for the Celtics, when he used to be Bill Walton for the Blazers.
Never underestimate the loftiness of KingSpeed's standards of overstatement! No question. Certainly SHOULD be. But isn't yet. Not, in fact, a point guard. Define "better". I don't like Nelson at all. Is there a worse defender at PG in the league? Not the best of passers, either. Sigh. I'll give you that. But the three pointer is important. Imagine if Rajon Rondo could hit one - the Celtics would have at least one more championship. He's starting to break down. And if we count his numbers for the Knicks, then we've got to count Felton's. No, that's just wrong. Harris looked like he was going to be great once. Now he's barely average and always injured. You're seriously reaching. Both should be soon. But actually Conley is a lot like Felton: both taken too high at 5, both early disappointments, only later growing into their roles. Difference is, Felton won that NCAA championship game when he got there. No. Again, looked good once. They've given up on him at the point. Pfft. MAYbe. Remember when we were all hot to get him? Is he ever healthy for more than a few games in a row? SERIOUS sophomore slump. If you don't like Felton's FG%... Yeah, that's right: let's trade Dre for someone EVEN OLDER!!! Another player very similar. Both championship-winning Tarheels. I don't think him starting over Felton means that Felton was the worse guard so much as they were more comfortable with Lawson. So, BOTH of Indy's PGs are better? Or both of San Antonio's. Lowry is a good PG. I'd rank them about the same. So you think if he'd been on the Knicks he would've been borderline All-Star? Makes you wonder why he could never beat out...RAYMOND FELTON in Charlotte. (And why Larry Brown said he "died" when they didn't re-sign Felton. And Augustin was right there. Awkward. Let's see if he can do it for more than TEN GAMES. Try to retain some vestiges of your credibility.
No, I can't disagree at all. It was just shocking to me that they'd be so obvious... I'd say the handwriting is on the wall but it was actually more like a huge graffiti painting on the side of a high rise.
Put it this way, a team headed by a PG among the last 10-12 names on my list would be no worse than one led by Felton. Unless we have an arrangement for Miller to be released by Denver and brought back to Portland, we now have pretty much the worst starting PG in the league and possibly the worst back court. If not, very close.
I think there are many, many Blazer fans who either don't know this, or don't understand this. I am also unsure about his Bird rights. He only signed a two year contract, so only early Bird rights....I think
