We have only 2 consistent offensive talents on our bench, Kaman and Leonard. Of the 2, only Leonard has 3pt range and he never plays. The rest could be swapped out for anyone else's bench without harming our production at all.
Blake fed Kaman pretty well with the second unit coming off an upper resperatory infection which Meyers now has. Blake is a solid pt guard. He's new to the system Stotts has implemented and as a pt guard has one of the hardest adjustments to make playing on the ball this early. I liked Mo. Mo was a vocal leader and a locker room asset. That's Dame's job now. Mo is a scorer, Blake is better at limiting turnovers and setting up the offense.
I knew we would miss Mo (so did Dame). We cold have offered him the biggest contract even after signing Kaman but choose to go a different direction.
I think the game planning aspect is key. Teams now have two years of film on Lillard. Teams adjust, coaches are smart. Lillard was bound for some regression to the mean eventually.
We couldn't have matched what MIN did after signing Kaman. We could have done it instead of Kaman. OR...he could've just not exercised his option and become a free agent.
Or we could have offered him a 2 year contract for more money than Minny's 1 yr deal. Also think Mo would have taken 3.2 to stay with Blazers instead of 3.75 to play in Minny . . . but Blazers had no interst in Mo.
This is not the Blake who led us to 54 wins in 2009. That Blake was pretty great at threes and getting easy looks for his teammates. The current Blake is a below average player who did nothing for the Warriors and is doing little for us. Remember, Mo led all bench players in assists last year.
Blake is the assist leader for the team, current tied with Batum for the honor. Not bad for a backup PG. It seems to me we ought see considerable more assists coming from the starting PG instead of his bringing up the rear in shooting percentage.
I find it hard to believe that there are too many people averaging more that 5 apg off the bench that Blanky is right now, including Mo (who;'s at 3.3). 33% from 3 (better than Mo's 25%) and respectable (for a 34 y/o guy coming off the bench) D. A/TO of 3.75:1, better than Mo's 2.15:1 last year or his 2.5:1 this year.
There hasn't been many pleasurable moments in this 1-2 start. Glad you Blake gives you that pleasure.
It is a compared to thing. No way can I bitch about Blake compared to Mo. Mo down the road is a good thing. But Damian better get his shit together dang fast or I will be appreciating Blake even more.
