I endorse this. It's fun watching Smith work his stuff in the post, but he misses bunnies, and he has very bad +/-, which leads me to think that it's not good for our offense when that happens. Anything that gets Batum on the floor more works for me.
To me, Smith has been the banger off the bench this team has needed for ages. He came cheap and he never gives up on a play. Cut Crawford's time to get Batum more minutes IMHO.
Smith has been way more valuable to this team than Felton, Crawford, or Nate. Just let Batum take some of Felton or Crawfords minutes and be done with it
I'm coflicted. I like BOTH Smith and Batum and what they bring to the team. I hate to see either one get less minutes. It sucks that we don't have a legitimate back-up PG. Felton gets too many minutes. Frankly, he sucks much worse than I thought he would. I thought he'd be at least average starter quality. He's not. Moving Crawford to back-up PG would get more minutes, but likely fewer shots for Batum. I like the way Craig Smith's play has meant reduced PT for LaMarcus Aldridge. I have a feeling all this really means is more of Aldridge at the 5 with Wallce at the 4 and Batum at the 3. While that line-up looks good on paper, the downside is too many minutes for Aldridge if he's playing both the stating 4 and the back-up 5. I want him to have some gas left in the tank come playoff time. Ideally, I'd like to see Craig Smith continue to get his 12 - 15 MPG at the back-up 4 and Batum get more minutes at the back-up 2 at the expense of Felton and Crawford. BNM
^Problem is, we need Felton and Crawford to work through their slump. Don't think playing them less is gonna help them flow better with the Team. The regular season is practice for the playoff's IMO and we need those two to be sharp as can be come playoff time.
I agree I shouldn't really complain since this will only help us achieve missing the playoffs, which is how to get better if you are the Blazers
I'm a huge Rhino fan; but if it's going to give Batum more minutes, then I'm fine with it. Batum, IMO is more valuable to our team than Rhino. I expect Rhino getting burn; do to foul trouble or resting players. His time will come eventually. I think he's fine with it too.
Just take minutes away from our guards and let Batum play there? He is quick enough to keep up with most, better than Felton or Crawford on defense regardless of weho the player is, and his length will give them trouble. Seems to make almost too much sense.
Think about the units he's out there with....Of course his +/- isn't going to be good. What a horrible stat.
I agree with this. But unfortunately, I doubt its going to happen. It's easier to say "Sorry Rhino we gotta give minutes to Batum", instead of saying "Sorry Crawford, Felton and Matthews, we gotta give minutes to Batum"
I can't help but wonder how much Nate feels obligated to play Crawford? He made a lot of noise about getting Jamal's jersey hung from the rafters (pure hyperbole) he clearly sees him filling the role that Roy played and there's a lot of history there.
Yep. Batum is really the best shooting guard on this team, even though it's not his natural position. Seriously. What does Matthews do that Batum doesn't do better? Batum is the better position defender, better team defender, has the better handle, better shot, better long range shot, better finisher at the rim, better in the open court, better passer.... The best argument you can really make about not starting Batum over Matthews at SG is that: 1. Matthews' game went into a death spiral last year when we tried bringing him off the bench. 2. It makes Matthews a backup 3, where he's undersized. And those are pretty good arguments. But note that this forces Batum to the bench not because of Batum's limitations, but rather Matthews'. Crawford is a very, very distant third when it comes to the "who is the best SG on this team?" competition. He's like Damon Stoudamire, in that he's very skilled in creating a mediocre shot for himself in bailout situations, but he's so good at it precisely because he's got lots of practice from creating bailout situations. It's like calling the Clippers "veterans of the lottery process." It sounds good, but.... At this point I think you look at the PG position as the "Feltford" position. You lose at that position every goddamned night, but try to make up for it everywhere else. You DON'T let the disaster spread by allowing either guy creep into the SG position anymore. It fucking sucks, but it's where we are.
Agree, and in WS/48, which is a more accurate statistic, IMO, Smith is second on the team behind LMA (.213 and .212, with Nic 3rd at .185). LMA's number puts him at 10th in the NBA right now. A puzzling decision. The is no need to alter anything that Smith is doing at this point. He's producing, and seems to be perfect for his role right now.
You're right of course - if we're going anywhere with this team, it will be dependent on improved play from Felton and Crawford.
I'm okay with the move.... But I'd rather see Nate cut down on Matthews and Crawford's minutes in favor of Batum. Would love to see Felton drop in the minutes department too, but Nic won't replace him at the point.
