Game Thread GAME# 2: SPURS @ BLAZERS - OCTOBER 20, 2018 - SATURDAY, 7:00 PM (PDT), NBCSNW

Not true at all, I do want him to be good, I just dont want to get my hopes up after 2 games. I want it to be consistant, and a larger sample size than what weve seen. If he ends up being good consistantly the Blazers will be really good this year. In fact the way he’s played so far, if he plays that way then I think your 54 wins is within reach.

 

Enter Swannigan . I think your forgetting about him. not that he is likely to have a major impact, but when you are talking about in the paint and rebounding presence, I would hope that Stotts goes to Biggie and keeps laymen slashing on the wing.

 

I wish I could forget about him..

 

Not to belabor this, but I still don't think I'm making myself clear - it's about the direction the team is moving in. Ed Davis is a very good player, but his skillset does not match up with the type of game the Blazers are trying to play. Zach's does.

 

HCP you have tommorows game thread ready yet?

 

How? Moe will just absorb Jake's minutes, with Stauskas playing a little more SF and Curry playing a little more. They'll be absorbed by committee.

Lillard (36) / Curry (12)
McCollum (35) / Curry (6) / Stauskas (7)
Harkless (12) / Turner (25) / Stauskas (11)
Aminu (32) / Harkless (16)
Nurkic (28) / Collins (20)

Something like that.

 

My point is until Zach does it consistantly its hard to say that his skillset actually does fit the teams direction better than Ed’s. What if on the year he ends up back at 30% from 3 and teams are giving him the aminu treatment because they dont believe he can beat them out there? I think we should stop talking about Ed lets just forget that part of this conversation. To me its about Zach, if Zach is capable of being an efficient scorer, and maintain his already good defense than yes the Blazers will be a much better team this year. Bringing up Ed was a mistake, because my point is just that we havent seen Zach be effective on offense enough times to know what his skillset really is, again its 2 games. In a month, we’ll know a little more and maybe the answer yup Zach is exactly what they needed.

 

How is Swanigan, in any way, a paint presence?

And I'm not sure he can even rebound at as high of a level as some people think he can.

Biggie shouldn't play though, that I'm sure of.

 

The point in trying to make is that what we lose in offensive rebounding is made up by Collins defense and offensive ability.

Meyers and Layman don't have to play. With Stauskas looking solid and having the ability to play SF, Harkless can start at the 3 and be the 2nd string PF behind Aminu, with Collins and Nurk holding down the 5 spot. So viewing it as "Were worse because those guys are playing" isn't fully valid, as they're playing due to Harkless still recovering, IMO. Even then, I think we're better off with Collins playing Eds minutes... his defense is really that good.

 

My point is Zach was pretty much awful on offense most of last year his percentages were all bad. This year he scores 6 points and 11 points and all of a sudden people are talking about him like hes an offensive savant, and I just think we should slow down and let things play out to see if his offense is coming around or not. I know his defense is good, and to some extent I understand the thought process behind the Ed Davis stuff. Just all this talk of his “offensive skillset” to me is like well lets play some more games before we determine what his skillset is, they havent even played a roadgame...

 

He was a rookie... A 2nd year jump is expected... you can't base this season off of last years.

 

Well some guys dont make it. Some guys make smaller jumps than others. Again its been two games, you cant base how he’ll play for the next 80 based on how he did in two games...

 

But when people mention offensive skillset they aren't talking about percentages. Much like the Aminu discussion the percentages don't always tell the whole story. What can't Zach do on offense potentially? His form is good and his motion is such that it can be duplicated time and time again even when tired.

He's also showed some flashes of post moves, including a Dirk style one footer, and even the ability to put the ball on the floor and create. He's also able to hit mid range shots. Then add in his passing ability too.

The best part of all of that? Whatever he develops into on offense is all just a bonus anyway if he becomes a dominant defender.

 

Well heres some food for thought, Do you think anyone has game planned for him yet? My guess would be no, on either end of the court he’s not even close to on the other teams radar.
Lots of guys have good shooting form, it really only matters if it goes in the basket.
We havent seen him dribble much or be forced too. I just think its premature to act like Zachs good or BAD. To me we know he’s got potential to be good and that on defense he’s been consistantly pretty good.

 

I dont really understand why its viewed as Im like anti Zach, because I want to see more games of him being consistantly good before I really judge how good he is or isnt.

I realize I hated the pick and was vocal about it, but its not like Im saying he sucks, and will be out of the league once his rookie contract is up. Im just saying I want to see the type of play he’s had for a longer stretch of time than the last two games.

 

It's hard to gameplan for a bench player.
Unless that bench player is Williams, Gordon, Terry, Harden, Manu, etc.
Zach plays within himself and while he might not ever become a 20ppg scorer. He's easily Portland's third best big.(2nd if you don't consider Aminu a big)
I'd take him over a hustle player like Ed Davis all day.

 

Bones, I never said he was a paint presence as in a factor. I'm simply saying if you are looking for someone to bang in the paint, I think Swanigan is the lesser of two evils over Jake. You are saying you would rather have Jake down low battling other C's in the paint over Swanigan? If Collins, Nurk and Meyers are all out of the game, who are you playing at C. Swanigan, or Layman?

 

I think he might be their best big if he continues the pace and keeps getting better. Its not like I think its impossible for him to get there, I just want to see it consistantly for a while.
I said earlier this summer I wouldnt mind him starting at PF next to Nurk, but with the small ball going on that may not work very well.

 

All I care about with a guy like that is if he's making an impact on the game. So far that has been the case. Nothing he is doing is a fluke in my opinion because his skillset is the type that translates into being consistent every night. You can't really gameplan for a defensive big because the real impact is when players are afraid to attack the basket inside.

 

Well you can game plan for a defensive big, it’s why you see teams run several players up for screens until they get match ups they want. Houston does it a lot, where they try to get guys like Gobert out on the perimeter to free up the paint. The game plan is literally how can we get them out of the paint so we can attack the basket. Also with Zach, I could see teams attacking him in certain ways because he’s been foul prone.

I dont know, I said even last year I saw flashes of potential with him, and I still see it. I think with continual improvement he’ll eventually be better than Nurkic (especially because Nurkic apparently is just not going to go up strong...).