The Official CJ McCollum Thread

He has struggled a bit at times, but without him we would likely be under .500 as he is one of two players we have that can consistently score and break down a defense and get a shot. I also feel he is being unfairly singled out this year and blamed for the teams struggles at times. I also find it strange how negative so many people are about him and even the teams performance this year as we are neck and neck with the best teams in the west right now and have played the second toughest schedule to date.

 

The Thing is, he can not do anything except scoring, and that's bad for a Max Player. If his shot is off, which happens very often this year, he is a too negative fit for the Team. He just isn't a Max Player and his shot is far too inconsistent

 

Who do you think should be the focus of our ire for the team's struggles?

Personally speaking, I wouldn't mind seeing this team under a new coach. I don't think Stotts is good at all. If it wasn't for Dame, we'd probably be picking in the top 5 of the draft.

Make changes at the coaching position and GM position, and then see what the team has under that new regime. Then we would have a better idea of what our players are like, with a better idea of what changes to make to our roster.

I think CJ has reached his peak with Stotts. Could be perform better with a new coach? Don't know. And we won't know until we either get a new coach, or he goes to another team.

And this is why. He, in my opinion, doesn't play like someone his salary should.

But then, neither does Evan Turner.

 

Thing is, we don't know if he can't do more, won't, or simply is not being coached properly.

 

This. We just don't know.

 

Well we do know he’s not a good defender, or a good rebounder, yes coaching and scheme play a part, but IF he was good at those things I think we would have figured it out by now.

 

Man, you guys make CJ sound like he is a really poor basketball player and I'm not seeing it as he has been instrumental in a lot of our successes. Maybe it's me, but it seems all forums ever do (at least the Blazers ones I have been in) constantly complain about the team and the players pretty much non stop. It's as if people don't like the team. If I didn't know this is a Blazer forum I would think it was either the Suns or Hawks forum. I don;t think they complain near as much as this forum. No the team isn't perfect, but they are very competitive and have been successful against some of the top teams this year. Why can';t we just enjoy the team?

 

Never said he’s a poor basketball player. Just pointing out that we do know he has weaknesses.
Not even really a complaint about CJ. Its just who he is. I still think he’s a pretty good player actually. Though I wouldnt be upset if he was traded.

 

First question, I don't see as this team struggling that bad as we are withing 3.5 games of first place and teams have been very much up and down this year due to more parity. I recall many people predicting we would miss the playoffs or best case scenario squeak in.

As for a coaching change, I also think it is foolish to be looking at a coaching change in this part of the season as majority of the time it results in a worse team. We aren't in a position to just throw this season away. At the end of the season an evaluation should be done and a decision as to if a change is needed should be addressed.

My opinion is McCollum is a very good second option for a team. I would rather see if we can upgrade the small forward starting position and move Harkless to the second unit or put him in a trade and elevate Layman to second unit small forward. By trading CJ we would need to find another SG that can produce as well as a small forward.

 

That was said in general and not suggesting you in particular. McCollum has taken more heat than any player this year and in my opinion talent wins NBA games and exchanging talent doesn't really improve the team. We would need to improve the SG and SF position instead of just the small forward position.

 

I dont see them as struggling persay as I see them as the same ol team weve been watching for a few years. A team that will be in the playoff race, may or may not get in. Will probably get beat in the 1st round.

Do I think they’re bad? No.
Do I think CJ is bad? Nope.
Do I think they’re going anywhere new? Also no.

Maybe moving on from Stotts is right now is a bad move, wait til the end of the season. Thats fine.

Just feel like watching the Blazers this year is like watching reruns of the last 2-3 years and I dont really see much to make me think anything internally is going to make up the ground to get better.

 

Most of my ‘ire’ is aimed towards ET and Stotts, with the lack of guys who can create their own shot, at least CJ provides that.

 

We are a season and a half away from Harkless, Turner and Leonard expiring and next year it might be easier to move one or all and if not they then come off the books. The contracts were definitely a mistake, but I don't want it to be magnified by having to lose other assets just to move a contract. We need all the assets we can accumulate for when we are in position to do something. I am 64 and still have patience while it appears we have a lot of trigger happy fans that just want change for changes sake. Too many grass is always greener on the other side fans for my taste. I would much rather be a fan of the Blazers than the majority of the teams in the NBA.

 

I agree with this.

I don't want change for changes sake. But like Tortured said above: we haven't really gone anywhere better the past few years. We had an ugly losing streak a few weeks ago. If we go on another one, then it may be time to look for a new coach.

That, to me, is not change for changes sake. That's change for a new direction. I don't think, with Stotts at the helm, we are ever going to be better than a 6th-ish seed team. Yes, we statistically were a 3rd seed team last year......and look what happened in the playoffs. We played like a 6th seed team, if that.

I don't want that anymore. Some of that is down to a lack of talent. But most of that is down to poor coaching.

I would also prefer not to just fire him mid-season. Wait until the off-season to move on from him as necessary.

But again: if the team goes on another losing streak, and it looks like he's lost the team (or some other glaringly obvious problem with the coaching staff), then I don't think we really have much of a choice in the matter than to fire him.

 

I think you are 64 means you actually have seen the Blazers win a championship too though. The “younger guys” have never gotten to experience that.

 

This. I wasn't alive in 1977, and I didn't watch basketball in the late 90s/early 2000s when they were good. All I have is from Roy's era to now.

My father has seen all 5 superbowls that the 49ers have won, and he even went to one. It's not as big of a deal to him, since he lived through the great 80s/90s.

Me, I've never experienced that. Instead, we choked away a potential Superbowl win in my lifetime in 2012, and it's been all downhill ever since.

So my father is patient as can be when it comes to the 9ers getting back to greatness. Lucky him.

Me, not so much. Same with the Blazers.

Such is life at 35, I suppose.

 

For the record I just dont think Stotts is a good coach, he’s an average coach who hasnt shown much “new” in a while. I said last year I was ready to see a new coach and I still believe Id like to see a new coach before a ton of roster moves. I have also awknowledged waiting til this summer is fine.

 

As an offensive spark off the bench, he would be a 6th man of the year candidate. As a starter making $20+mil a year, he needs to bring more to the table than the occasional big scorering game. If he was a good playmaker (like Dame) it would be less of an issue. If he was even a grade "B" defender, it would help a lot. This is one case where I can't blame Stotts. Given the rest of the roster, he has been forced into trying to shoehorn CJ into a bigger role than he should ideally have.

Zach Randolph brought 2 things to the table (scoring and rebounding) and yet Blazer fans dismissed him as lazy and selfish because of his shortcomings. If anything, Blazer fans have been far more forgiving to CJ than they ever were to Zebo, Bonzi, Sheed, etc. I refuse to feel guilty over honest criticism!

 

Yes I have, but it wouldn't change how I feel. I look at the Blazers as entertainment and they have entertained me for the most part. Some years better than others, but I definitely prefer rooting for a team that makes the playoffs with a winning record than one that doesn't.

 

Great, so who do we start at shooting guard if McCollum comes off the bench? Stauskas? Simons? Trent? Curry? McCollum is arguably our second best player and we don't have the luxury of having another starting caliber shooting guard. Also, like most 6th man of the year candidates that player will likely play 35 minutes a game so how does that change any dynamics? Comparing McCollum to head cases like Bonzi, Shhed and ZBO is also a foolish notion. They weren't mostly scrutinized for their game, they were mostly scrutinized for their many off court indiscretions and attitudes. Apples and oranges.