That's a catch-22 if I've ever seen one. The only way during the season Felton can get his weight under control is to play and shed the pounds. Choices, choices.
Jamal's USG rate is 29%, higher than Aldridge and by far the highest of his career. I know Nate is giving him free reign but this is ridiculous. Nik, you said you're less concerned with Felton missing chippies at the rim, but many of those shots are just him running out of control into traffic and throwing up prayers. His 3PT% is also AWFUL, and significantly worse than ANYONE else on the team that takes a good amount of threes.
Not too many players are like Wallace. If they use a lot of energy on the defensive end; it carries over on the offensive end. I think the lack-luster 3 point % is from tired legs. The shots looked pushed. Those layups should be makes if they had the legs to support it. Personally I love defense. I would rather our guards concentrate on this more than shooting a higher %.
Wallace has enough energy and conditioning to be able to defend very well and still be able to be productive on the offensive end.
Yeah "less concerned" as in "hide your women and children" when Crawford is shooting and just "cover your eyes" when Felton is guessing on his layups (the three point % I've got no defense for, he shouldn't be this bad). I'm certainly not "happy" with Felton's regression when it comes to finishing, I just think it's something that should (could?) improve as his conditioning gets better and as he settles in. At least he's got the right idea, even if the execution is mostly crap right now.
I know that. I was referring to Felton and Crawford; not having the same conditioning and energy as Wallace.
No worries, I'm not the one upset to no end on their performance. I like knowing that these guards, that were notorious for lackluster D, are now playing some of the best D in PDX. I will trade guard D for higher % shots any day of the week. We went from being one of the worst perimeter defending teams last season to one of the best this season. I like where we are heading.
Has 100% of my original response. Saying Felton and Crawford use a lot of their energy on the defensive end; which effects their game. Saying they aren't like Wallace; who can spend considerable amount of energy defensively; yet still give you good offensive production. Basically, that type of player is a very rare breed.
Well, Crawford is drawing more free throws than Felton, and his PER is 15, whereas Felton's PER is south of 10.
B-Roy and Nik's concerns don't appear to be Felton/Crawford's FG% itself so much as the quantity and quality of the shots that they're taking. If they don't have the legs for great outside shooting because they're expending so much energy on the defensive end, that's fine, and that could be a valid and legitimate explanation for the poor percentage, but that doesn't explain or excuse their poor shot selection or their propensity to call their own number so often. If they don't have the energy to take/make good shots, then they need to be looking to create shots for others rather than for themselves.
Yes. Gerald Wallace is a great two-way player which has absolutely nothing to do with Felton and Jamal's struggles. Here's why I don't buy this. Felton has always been an "active" player on defense (if not a good one) and still managed to shoot around 42% and play a much more efficient brand of basketball on offense, why he looks so out of control on drives and is struggling to finish is anybody's guess, but I'm wagering that it has something to do with still not being in shape. Crawford has never been much of a defensive player, but he's not exactly wearing himself out guarding people this year either. He's shooting more poorly this year than at any point in his career and the only thing that appears to have changed is that his usage rate is almost 50% above his career average; he's calling his own number at a ridiculously high rate and the volume is coming mostly outside the flow of the offense -- basically he needs to reign it in a little bit and be more judicious, taking higher percentage shots and cut out the "hero" bullshit, unless it's to break a stagnant stretch of offense or at the end of the quarter.
Ahhhh I see. Okay I was going on the OP topic. If that is truly what they were saying, then I would agree 100%. If you can't make a shot, then find someone who can.
Crawford currently has the 4th highest AST% of his career KTHX Once the shots starts falling he'll once again be one of the top 3 bench players in the NBA
Yes, this is mostly what we're saying. I (and I suspect B-Roy) want Felton and Crawford to take "better" shots instead of forcing the issue.
