Dante can do a lot of what we want from a stretch PF - but one of the things he was not very good at, last year, was putting the ball on the floor and attacking from the dribble. Travis, for example, for all his faults - was pretty good at doing that in order to create the separation that allowed him to elevate and get his shot. Dante could not do it by himself last year - and since he does not have Travis's ridiculous elevation he would have to get better at creating for himself off the dribble to give you some of what Travis did. That, imho, is the reason they want him to develop this. If it also allows him to see some minutes at the 3 when the team goes real-big, that's a bonus.
I see my confusion. They really aren't grooming DC to be a SF . . . they are working on these skills (dibbling and outside shooting) so he can be more effective as a Nate style PF. I think that is where I am getting lost wondering why they are trying to make him a SF when the Blazers have 3 or 4 good players who can play that position but have a big hole (for now) in the PF position. I suspect DC will playing mostly backup PF for a good part of the season . . . I personally am not crazy with the idea, but who else can play it right now?
He played power forward all of last year and Dante is/was more effective than Jeff at the 4 spot (same rebounding proficiency, better defense). Cunningham is really pretty good at fronting the post which makes it difficult for guards to complete entry passes to whomever he guards and he knows enough about weakside help and boxing out that we shouldn't be at too much of a liability when he's out there.
Stat is like that, he was lookin to put his balls in someone's mouth. BTW, Stat is a stupid nickname for him, he can score thats about it. Should give it to someone who can actually fill up a stat sheet.
I'm pretty sure he uses it as an acronym for Standing Tall and Talented, not his ability to fill a scorer's sheet.
I don't know where a link is, but during DC's media day interview, he said (and Nate said) he would be playing SF a fair amount, especially against the bigger, stronger SFs.
Like I said, I can see it if he can learn to put the ball on the floor and further his range a lil bit. Last year he was used primarily as a backup 4. I think he's better suited as a 4, than as a 3.
I think it depends on the matchup. There are quite a few 3's that I wouldn't mind having DC guard, and there are quite a few 4's that I wouldn't want to rely on DC trying to defend. On offense, he won't be relied on much whether he plays the 3 or 4, so that is less important to me.
