Olshey seemed pretty high on Nas at his presser. Of course things can change but with a new coach hopefully he cements himself in the rotation. Stotts treatment of young players was a joke and it felt like Olshey agreed.
Nas is still learing and a bit raw, but there are things he can do that few others on the roster have the ability to do. Any minutes going to Melo last year were a waste of time and as waste of Dame's prime.
I think Little is getting a little too much hype, but sure...give him some burn the problem is Olshey is still in charge so there's probably a decent chance Melo is back. Have to hope Melo either signs with the lakers, or the like, or the new coach dramatically reduces his minutes
Since Dame actively recruited Melo for at least 2 years, your last two statements are a stretch to say the least. Dame wanted him here. And it never ceases to amaze me how so many posters here willfully deny the positives Melo DID bring to the team and the organization. It’s like an addiction to the negative……
I watching past games for the season so I still got no opinion on him. I know his shot as improve but I just watch still get lost out there on both side. Summer league will do him good. This his third year so I like see a big chunk improvement by him.
yeah Melo was kinda scapegoated. I think he still has a spot in the league, but it’s not with one of the leagues worst defenses lol. Same goes for Kanter.
Sorry, but I’ve never been a fan of (what I consider to be) obscure analytics and I don’t place a whole lot of value on them. Or at least as much as the stat geeks do. I was talking about the intangibles, like respect for his body of work, along with the credibility that that (and he) gives the organization amongst the players on his team and throughout the league. Not to mention he was willing to humble himself to play in “Podunk Portland” for relative pennies AND come off the bench willingly. I believe his positive influence was a boon to the younger players who were in diapers when he came to the league. Hopefully they took a lot of positives away from playing with him that will translate into future improvement/success for them and the team. I personally place an extremely high value on mentorship and Melo fit that bill in spades. There’s more to basketball that keeps me interested than just stats. Or maybe that’s just me…….the entire team sucked on defense so the pile on with Melo is ironic at best…..and extremely unfair at worst.
people love stats that support their opinion...and will dismiss stats that don't. That's been going on for a long time and most of those stats were not "analytics"....and they sure weren't obscure. Those were mostly box score tabulations of what happened when Melo was on the floor...and off the floor. Melo had just about the worst marks on the team for rotational players. TS% isn't some obscure stat either. It calculates the overall efficiency of the team possessions a player uses for his own offense and that was the big problem with Melo. Portland as a team had a TS% of .577. Melo's TS% was .30 worse. If TS% is just too....analytic for you...then simplifying: Portland averaged 1.28 points/shot as a team. Melo averaged 1.19. That doesn't seem like much, but factoring in his average FGA's, Portland averaged 1.02 points a game LESS than they would have averaged in order to get Melo his shots. Considering Portland's net differential was +1.8 points, That 1 point is a little more significant and there is more context than that. Take melo's 11 shots a game and split them between Dame (1.45 points/shot), Kanter (1.44), & Powell (1.31), and Portland's net goes from +1.8 to +4.1 points. That would have roughly translated to a top 4 seed & HCA in the playoffs (Portland lost 9 games by 3 points or less and 5 by 2 points or 1 point as for the intangibles, I don't believe there were as many as you do and I certainly don't think they had a big impact. I'm not even sure how you'd know how good of a mentor Melo really was.
There's a maddening stat for you. Even a passable defense probably would have resulted half of those losses being wins. That's be 46 wins easily. And I'm probably being conservative too.
Nas needs to be in the rotation next year. I think he's poised to potentially even be a starting-level forward as soon as next year.
What about the ones we won by 1 or two points? I can think of at least two games (Chicago and NO) that we absolutely should have lost but Dame did not let us.
As you stated, whatever supports your opinion. And BTW, I know the meaning behind the stats. And as far as how good a mentor Melo might be…..I pay attention to the buzz around the league. I listen to what the players say, I look at what he does away from the court, I look at how he carries himself, I look at his self confidence and the overall example he sets. If you don’t think those are obvious and almost as important as stats, that’s on you. Obviously we have different values when it comes to sports and we’re both entitled to our opinions. It seems a lot of folks here are nostalgic for the Jailblazer teams. I’m not one of them and I pretty much took a hiatus during that time. It was NOT a team I was proud to call mine and I can honestly say that, had they won a ring, it would have been tarnished, at least in my eyes. I don’t believe in winning just for winning’s sake. Call me a shitty fan. I’ll wear that badge proudly……..there’s more to life than win, win, win in what is still just a sport at the end of the day and I don’t get too bent out of shape at “maybe next year”.
Nas really showed me a lot this year. I think he can be a really solid contributor. I’m not sold yet that he can become a star yet because for all the amazing hops and smooth jumper he doesn’t really have a handle. Unless you’re becoming a star with your defensive prowess, you can’t become one these days in the NBA unless you can create for yourself.
So……is that on Melo or Stotts? Hard to blame Melo if the coach is playing him. I just gotta wonder who’s going to be next season’s dedicated goat……..
There is the reality of Melo and all the net negatives that are associated with him.....and then there is fandom. No worries, everyone can have an opinion, but there is a reality that is undeniable. And just because Dame wanted him here, doesn't mean it was a good thing. Dame wanted Stotts here after being swept by the Pelicans....and that wasted how many more years?
Good point. Better defense for 48 mins might have lead to 7-8 more wins or at least wins that werent bailout wins