Extrapolating irresponsibly from a tiny sample, I notice that the following players are producing surprisingly: Kyle Lowry (I think this one will stick - he's been steadily improving. But right now he's playing like an MVP candidate!) Marvin Williams (FINALLY!) Ramon Sessions (he's hitting threes, which he never did before. But has he learned defense? At least ONE Nevada player can play.) Jarrett Jack (ONE game. I don't see him making a big leap) Boris Diaw (inconsistent has always been his middle name, and he already had one great season playing C) Robin Lopez (SOMEBODY has to be a bright spot for the miserable Suns) Surprising rookies: John Leuer (Bucks) Markieff Morris (okay, another bright spot, and another "lesser" brother) Brandon Knight (the Pistons are another benighted franchise that could use good news) MarShon Brooks (scoring machine!) Tristan Thompson (good for the Cavs! But Valanciunis (sp.?) was probably still a better pick) Any others?
I'm interested to see how much Harden makes the leap for OKC. Not that I don't think he can do it, but I don't know what people are expecting his ceiling to be. Ray Allen? Roy? I haven't been impressed with Irving, but like you pointed out, small sample size extrapolation is dangerous. I personally don't think that a 10/7 guy (which he's fully capable of on CLE) is #1 pick production. I think Jimmer is going to surprise a lot of people, b/c a) Westphal will let him play big minutes without conscience and without defense. Nate or Popovich wouldn't let him off the bench; b) he has a quick release and enough athleticism to not get constantly blocked. I don't think he could ever be a lead guard, or even a primary scorer, but he's probably a really good 2nd/3rd option. How is Norris "4th Heatle" Cole not on your surprising rookie list? Not very often do late 1st-rounders from Cleveland State get picked up as the ESPN Breathless Story of the New Cycle.
Some people laughed at me when I suggested trading Outlaw for Lowry a few years back when he was still on the Grizzlies. How I wish we could have got him...
I take pleasure in knowing I was not one of those people. Chucklaw, or Travis for those who are overly sensitive was a complete waste. What little offensive flow this team had was stopped in it's tracks when he was on the floor
He had value if he could've been smarter about it. As a 3pt shooter he definitely improved over his time here, but he felt the need to constantly take 22-ft 2's.
"...but he's the only player on the team other than Roy who can get his own shot! We need him in the second unit..."
No doubt Lowry and Ty Lawson are both two guys we should have been more aggressive targeting. But on the flip side we didn't waste anyone trading for Vince Carter or Calderon!
Offensive flow is a bogus term. That 2008-2009 team was the 2nd best (efficiently) offense in the league that year. Travis has his uses. He just needed to be playing the Jamal Crawford role from the stretch-4 position. Fire at will when nothing else works. Trying to make anything else out of him is a fool's errand - as was proved in his stints in LA, NJ and I suspect, this year, with the Kings.
We will agree to disagree on this. We had one of the top 2-3 clutch players in the league on those teams. Having Brandon enabled this team to overcome a lot of shortcomings in our offense. IMO anyway?
There is no doubt that Roy's superpowers were the engine behind this offense. But Travis was a part of this offense - and shot very well that year (percentage wise). He was just put in places where his abilities made sense. There are things that Travis can do - and there are those he can not do. He was very valuable in that year when used correctly - he is not worthless. I can understand that you do not like people that shoot unconsciously when they are not reliable producers like, for example, Roy or to a lesser degree Aldridge - but these people have a place in the NBA - because they have a skill - produce points when the defense is very good and contains your offense. There are tons of players like that in the league - and in the right place - they offer value. Crawford is a prime example, he took lots of shots last night - but when they finally went in - it basically allowed the Blazers to keep up with Denver so the win was possible. Travis, when used correctly, has that value (not as good as Crawford, but it's the same role). It's trying to make anything else out of him that is a mistake. He needs to be on a good team, with good ball handlers that can create for him for open 3s - and throw the ball to him when all else fails. Other than that - you need to get on his back to rebound and play defense - and let him throw the ball through the bad stretches. You do not create plays for him, you do not base the offense on him, you do not expect him to create for others. He is what he is - just as Pryzbilla was good for certain things - rebounding, hard fouls, hard screens, defense on physical bigs. It's a role.
Can we not turn EVERY thread into a Mediocre Man "I was always right and nobody listened" thread? Back to the topic: obviously I forgot Ty Lawson. Check out the rankings in Engineer Doug's Tendex (PER/Eff - type stat) so far. What's nice about this is that he ranks players by position. Also scroll down and see that the Blazers are looking good in the Team Tendex difference.
Good choices, particularly Henderson. I think Charlotte will stumble, but right now they're a lot better than everyone thought because Walker, Diaw and Henderson are all playing out of their minds.
I wanted Lowry when he was still with the Grizzlies ... I'll bet the Grizzlies wish he was still with them too.
I think this is a bit unfair. B-Roy said some people laughed at him for suggesting it. All I said was I wasn't one of them. Then people took it from there. I never said I was right and no one listened. That was you who said that. I guess subconsciously you think that? Cool.
Add Jonas Jerebko for the Pistons and Paul George for the Pacers. Jerebko in particular - misses a year with an injury, and they're starting him at PF when he was at SF - and tonight he outrebounded Dwight Howard!
I got into an extended debate on that, too. I think that my position was that the Blazers would not be laughed at if they traded Outlaw for Lowry. I didn't anticipate the two players having such opposite trajectories from that point, but it's not shocking that he's emerged as a starting-level PG nor that Outlaw has faded into irrelevance, although both of those things happening is a bit surprising to me. Ed O.
