I don't need no stinkin' like. Just a laugh! Your lack of comment made me feel like you thought it was dry, but man that was a good one in my book. I don't get many good ones, so I want a laugh!
No way. He has to suffer multiple knee injuries first. Then we offer him the $94 million contract. BNM
I think anyone in the NBA is going to be pretty confident, but even for guys who get regular playing time, confidence doesn't make you immune to cold shooting. Now imagine you're a rookie who hardly ever gets to play. You haven't hit a FG in a month, and you've only even attempted a shot in one game during that time. You're thrown out onto the court for the last two minutes of a blowout with a bunch of other bench guys. You want to show your stuff but your adrenaline is pumping, it's pickup basketball and you miss a few shots. Not really something you can judge a guys talent by, at least fairly. I think Layman has shown some glimpses of NBA ability but it's hard to determine either way when his minutes are so limited and sporadic.
Given that Turner has only had a few good weeks as a Blazer, I don't think it's that crazy of an idea that Jake - if given consistent minutes next season - could reproduce what Turner has given us this season. And at a savings of about $16M!
So how does that explain his abysmal shooting in the D-League? He jacked up 125 shots in 8 games and 53 3-pointers. That's 15.6 FGA/G and 6.6 3FGA/G. How long does it get to be called a cold streak before we just say he's not a good shooter - at least not from NBA 3-point distance. I'm not saying he can't develop that range, but right now, other than that one game way back on November 1, Jake Layman's 3-point shooting makes Al-Farouq Aminu look like Kyle Korver. BNM
Well, I suppose calling him the next Evan Turner is more reasonable than calling him the next Larry Bird. Still, I don't even see him as a viable Evan Turner replacement at this point. Until he develops an NBA 3-point shot, he does nothing better, or even nearly as good, as Evan Turner. He's actually the only 3-point shooter we currently have that's worse from downtown than Turner. Let me know when Jake Layman starts guarding LeBron James as well as Turner does, too. Sometimes a guy who goes 47th in the draft, deserves to be a late second round pick. Layman, as a 4 year starter at Maryland, looks more poised than most rookies, but I think that poise is fooling some into thinking he has more talent than he actually possesses. I'd love to be wrong, and will gladly eat a plate of proverbial crow if I am, but right now, I just don't get all the Jake Layman love around here. Sure he looks infinitely more poised, but his actual production is worse than Meyers Leonard - and he's almost as old. Let that sink in for a minute... BNM
As I mentioned earlier...he's just a rookie under pressure, but I liked Victor Claver so there's that.
What pressure? When has he ever played with the game on the line? His minutes come in garbage time, which is like a glorified pick up game for the guys on the end of the bench. Was he also under pressure in the D-League? BNM
I like him...see an NBA player who has what it'll take to stick...you don't...I get that...I watched him in D league and the commentators said he was one of the only guys rebounding well, blocking shots and playing defense....I watched him play garbage minutes albeit seldom with the Blazers and he moves well without the ball...seems to have good timing..like I said....he's a rookie with very, very little court time...I'm not lobbying for him to start or be a 6 man anytime soon. All rookies look lost first year from Will Barton to CJ....I give the kid some time
That may be true, but from what I've seen his "poise", as you want to call it, actually gives the appearance of a solid understanding of the game of basketball. You're totally right that he hasn't actually produced (other than that one fluke game). But he's played a total of 169 minutes - you certainly can't base an opinion off of production when the minutes played are so limited. All we have to go off of at this point is his "poise" - his willingness and ability to make the right pass in the rhythm of the game, his form-correct jump shot, his ability to dribble the ball with his head up. He might not ever be the defender that Turner is - or even the player that Turner is - but he already has better fundamentals in some regards. If you want to use his production as the base for an opinion, you open up the per36 argument as the only way to normalize Jake's paltry minutes. According to that comparison, Jake would score the same as Turner (on one more shot), with 2 fewer rebounds and 3 fewer assists. I have to think that with regular minutes Jake would improve his FG% - it's hard to believe that it could get any worse. On the flip-side, maybe Turner comes into his own next season, and what he's given the team this season isn't indicative of what he can provide the team in the future. But I still think either Turner or Crabbe needs to go, and Crabbe has actually proved to be a useful player for us.
He has? When? He's the worst defender on a bad defensive team. Sure, he can knock down an open 3-pointer, but that's ALL he can do. He can't create for himself or others. I hope Crabbe is the one that's traded, not Turner. I hope some GM sees his 3-point percentage, ignores everything else, including his contract, and says, that's JUST the guy we need. And, if we're going to play the per36 game: Turner scores almost as much as Crabbe 13.0 pts/36 vs. 13.2) but gets over twice as many rebounds and 3x as many assists. To me, the choice is clear which player we need to move. BNM
That's the thing, Layman doesn't look lost. He looks totally comfortable out there. It's his production that sucks. He's cheap and locked up. So, there is no reason to let him go (unless he's part of a trade package). Give him some more garbage time and more D-League PT and see what happens. I'm not saying we need to get rid of the guy, I just don't see as much upside as all the Layman fans in this forum. BNM
