Game Thread GAME# 9: BLAZERS @ KINGS - JANUARY 9, 2021 - SATURDAY, 7:00, NBCSNW

It's alright going to him but going to the well to much counter productive and the 2nd unit had productive shift. But I like see Melo instead his first thought is to score try to get others involved I think he he is in that spot in his career where he goes cold a lot due he is not as quick in that low post position as he was younger.

 

Simple answer is "Trust".
Long answer is nobody trusts him anymore and they have good reason because he will exploit anything there is out there to get ahead. It's why he is no longer with the Oregonian, It's why he is not allowed within the Blazers circle. It's pretty much why Brandon Roy went away. There are so many issue with Quick i could no way post them all. He will not last at the Athletic either. I'll give him 1-2 years at best.

 

I was wrong. It was easy.

 

Accept our splash brothers unlike the other two don't have a Klay Thompson type of defender unfortunately.

 

I don't agree with you. I think Quick is the only person covering this team with the balls not to be a sycophant.

He asks hard questions a lot of us want answers to and yeah he asks them over and over which is annoying sometimes. He also does try to stir the pot but he's not doing that to sabotage the team, he's doing that to try and fish out answers he doesn't even think he knows the answer to, which is very annoying but from a journalistic standpoint may be necessary.

 

Yeah I don't think he belongs as the Blazers insider anymore because of those reasons but as a beat reporter he's the only person asking the hard hitting meaningful questions. The players are free not to answer them and give cookie cutter answers but at least Quick is putting those questions out there so the world knows the team is being asked them.

 

CJ is currently playing at a level near Dame's best season (last year). That's a huge jump. I expect some (like half maybe) of that is sustainable, which is still a big jump.

1. He's increased his assist rate by 20% from last year and by 70% from 2 years ago. That's largely sustainable as it's just a decision to pass the ball.

2. He's changed his shot distribution. 50% more 3's than last year and correspondingly fewer mid-range & at the rim shots. Again, that's a decision and should be sustainable.

3. He's shooting 0.444 from 3 and better than usual from the FT line. That's unlikely to be sustainable. But even if you assume that his shooting drops back to career percentages, his TS% still works out to be up 20 to 30 points just from his change in shot distribution (like from 0.541 last year to 0.571) .

4. His TOV rate is down 30% from already low levels. I don't know if he can sustain that. It's a surprising number giving that his assists are way up. But at least part of that improvement could be due to taking fewer at the rim shots and fewer hurky-jurky mid-range shots where he sometimes gets stripped.

 

The only thing I really care about CJ's game is his efficiency. This season he has been efficient.

OK, I also want him to suck less as a defender....

 

Um.... No.

 

To be fair, we even have people on this message board who take credit for making our players/coaches aware of things after they change for the positive.

 

You have a point. Funny part is some of them think their opinion is worth charging for. I have no problem with the Athletic but i ain't gonna spend money to read it.

 

I think Quick has massively improved from when I covered the team.

Back in 2003 he was arrogant, he was jaded about basketball in general, and he was out to get the team. I don't really get that impression from him anymore. With that said, I wouldn't pay money to read his work.

 

I have to admit the guy is a really good writer. He always has been. "Behind the locker room door" was absolutely something special. I hope you are correct about his overall attitude for the game and the team in general.

 

Will completely own that I've been a big detractor of the way CJ plays and how inefficient he has been. But if he is going to play like this, that seems about all many of us detractors can ask for. Much better at finding teammates, much better at taking good shots. It was never about being a 'hater' and most people saying that should have known better. It was about wanting to see better basketball being played.

Well done, and hope the growth continues. Now it would be nice to see it translate to the defensive side.

 

I haven't been around the guy in a long time so I can't really speak from experience, but just the way that he has changed his writing makes me think his attitude has changed.

 

Yeah I hope so. CJ does have 2x his normal steals. Kind of a small sample but he "should" have 7 or 8 by now and he has 15. Probably Roco and DJJ deserve some credit there for being disruptive so CJ can intercept some passes.

 

Warning: This is mesmerizing!

 

Could you rephrase your first sentence? I'm not sure what you were trying to say.

 

This has been a weird start.
I’m crossing my fingers also.

 

Yeah, that's true. I can't think of many more Jeckyll and Hyde teams than this one. When it works, it's a lot of fun to watch. When it doesn't, I want to gouge my eyes out.