I'm not disputing you but I just wanted to say I think that's the trap Portland has fallen into they only have one player who has handles AND can consistently run the offense. That's Dame of course and when teams in the playoffs have sold out their defense to take Dame out of the equation, Portland's offense falls apart. The Warriors are 12-1 against Portland in the playoffs and that's what they have done on defense...and it's what the Pelicans did. The Blazers have no answers and an answer won't be found in schemes...it has to be in personnel, IMO Dame isn't a great PG, but he's a real good one. That's because he has two things: he has PG handles, AND he has PG vision. CJ has great handles but no PG vision. Turner had handles but he had the Jarret-jack-eyes-down-syndrome when he was using those handles. Batum had PG vision but he didn't have the handles; the good thing is he didn't stop the ball. Napier and Curry didn't have the vision. I seriously doubt Simons has the vision at this stage, and the notion that somehow, this season, Hezonja will be the solution to this 4 year problem seems a farce A good defensive team looks at Portland and sees a double-bonus for their defense: if they cancel Dame from the equation they've taken out Portland's best scorer AND the only guy who can consistently run the offense. Portland's 4 year answer has been a hope: load up on role-players, add a couple of 2-dimensional ball-handlers, and then hope that somehow the offense will become so optimal it will run itself. It's sure looking like Olshey is making the same bet for a 5th straight year
Not disputing your overall premise, but Dame isn't a great PG? dafuq? 4x all NBA player at that position doesn't qualify one as "great?"
Greg Monroe would probably be a good pickup for #3. Career 17+ TRB%, good for 14th among active players, 51st all-time in NBA history. Plus he's a good passer from the post as well. And he's still not even 30 yet. And of course, there's always Dwight Howard.
Yet another Olshey retread. Monroe it is. Seeing how well Kanter coped in the playoffs in P&R defense after all his misgivings prior, I'm sure Monroe will be fine for 15 mpg on that end of the floor.
I'd add "MindSet" to "Handles" and "Vision". I'd argue that Ant has both of the latter, but not the former. John Stockton looked to pass 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, and only shoot if they're not guarding him. He would "get to his spots" where he could make a great pass. Ant is just the opposite of this.... and it makes sense. Shaq never became a decent FT shooter. Why? Because when he was in 6th grade, it was ALWAYS better to overpower his defender than shoot from the outside. This never changed. Similarly, for Ant. Why pass? No one has been able to guard him since he was 10! p.s. quibble: Napier has it all.
Has Faried signed yet? He's got a career 18.3% TRB%. Noah is still out there too and he has a career 18.2% TRB% and he's a good passer too so we could run our "Nurk" offense through him in the high post. I agree that rebounding will probably be an issue but I think if Collins starts at the PF it won't be too big of an issue for our main lineup.
So if RipOlsheyTwo had their way, we'd end up with a roster of: Dame/Simons/Burke CJ/Bazemore/Trent Hood/Hezonja/Little Collins/Tolliver/Skal Whiteside/Monroe/Nurk I could deal with that.
Hmm...I've always irrationally loved Faried, but I can't imagine he'd have to settle for the minimum. I'd think that he'll be a target of the Spurs once Morris officially frees up their MLE. I wouldn't mind Noah either. Of course, he is 5 years older than Monroe, but I'm sure he could still handle 10-15 mpg off the bench.
These guys are still available as FA according to NBA.com: PG Trey Burke PF Kenneth Faried C Joakim Noah C Greg Monroe
The only issues I still have with Zach starting full time is his (in)ability to stay out of foul trouble. Half of it is the refs picking on him, which will hopefully stop this year, but the other half is his overzealous hacking. If we have him on the floor for 30 mpg, none of this would be an issue.
From the guys mentioned in this thread my preferences are: Trey Burk - best passing PG available as a FA who can shoot from deep Joakim Noah - best defensive center (Rebound & Block with passing skills) - hopefully he stays healthy the entire season
Noah's complaint in NY was not enough minutes. Don't think he'll sign here to be out of the rotation once Nurk returns. I'm more interested in Lin and Faried.
The interesting thing about Faried is his three point shot. He started shooting it in Houston and did decent. If it wasn’t a fluke he’d be a fit.
