I'm being serious. If the Blazers aren't making the playoffs, anyway, what I want to see are some hard-fought losses so the Blazers can maximize their draft position, while also getting better insights into the current crop of Blazers. Hickson? Looking more and more like the PF who can spell Aldridge for 10-15 minutes a game. Babbitt? Still pretty crappy, but if he keeps hitting three's at a 50% clip, like last night, the Blazers might be able to convince someone he's another Korver, and include him for a trade to replace... Felton? 8 assists to 4 turnovers and 3-9 shooting is definitely mediocre. But it's better than some of his games. If he can improve his trade stock just a little bit more, it'd help the Blazers actually find a team willing to take him. Batum? 18 points and 6 boards is a solid performance for a #2 scoring option. Hopefully that means no team is going to offer him #1 option money that the Blazers might have to worry about. Flynn? Only 15 minutes of PT, but managed a handful of assists, only one turnover, and five points. Looking like a keeper as a backup. Go Blazers!
Hickson? Rather have him show he can start alongside Aldridge than just backing him up. Babbitt? Agreed. Felton? Expiring contract--can't be traded. Batum? Nobody thinks he'll be offered #1 money. But the question is, is he really worth the #2 money (~$9M/yr) that he'll be offered? Flynn? He's a UFA, so it won't really matter if he's a "keeper" unless he actually wants to stay here.
End of the game seemed like deja vu. Ignore that Hickson is having his way with them and Crawford tries 2 iso's in a row against double-teams, then a broken play to lose a game we had in the bank. Embarrassing.
It was the PERFECT game. Lots of burn for young players. Competitive and fun. Sick new Blazers poster (JJ over Deandre). We lose. Happy smiles.
I'll say this about Babbitt. For not getting many consistent minutes this season, he's shooting 51.4% from 3pt, and is 10-15 the past four games getting some minutes that aren't just garbage time. He's still only 22, and has at least one elite NBA skill (his outside shooting). I haven't criticized him in the past because he barely played, but I have to say I could see a role for him on even a contending team, even if it's just as a shooting specialist.
That floater Babbitt had in the first corner was sick! The Babbitt hatred around here is just Bizarre.
Opinions about him have already been entrenched, so his flaws will become the focus as he gets more playing time the next few seasons. There were a few better players picked after him, and on this board, that means he was the wrong pick. Nevermind the crappy players picked ahead of him, and that the Blazers got rid of worthless Martell Webster in the deal.
My biggest gripe with Babbitt to date has been his "deer in the headlights" demeanor whenever he'd gotten on the court in the past and just didn't look like he either A) belonged or B) thought he belonged on the court with these players. And a guy who plays scared or can't adjust to the big stage is a pretty big problem. If he's actually calming down and can play with some confidence then I can see him as being a fairly competent stretch 4 off the bench who can maybe play a little bit of 3. Last night the most impressive thing I saw him do was one sequence where he defended Blake Griffin well enough to make him take a crappy fade-away jumper -- That was something new and unexpected.
I think there's a legitimate complaint about Nate McMillan's unwillingness to play the young guys much and, what little he did play them, there's a sense that he contributed to the "deer in the headlights" demeanor by yanking them whenever they made a mistake. I think Canales has been good for the young guys. It helps, of course, that he isn't operating under the expectations of winning that Nate was, but still, I think one of the benefits of Nate being let go is that we're getting to see the younger players playing in more meaningful situations. Babbitt seems to be blossoming in this situation. I don't know how much upside he has, but it's sure nice to see him hitting the open shots consistently.
Babbit has been rebounding and hitting his 3s. He's played well enough that I'll stop calling him the worst player in the NBA. He may actually be a decent backup for us next year. Of all of our free agents next year, the only ones I want back are Hickson and Flynn. Some people will be wanting Felton back, since he's been playing well since Nate left, but why go after a play that is capable of such crappy play over such an extended period of time? If you look at his career stats, he's shooting % have varied wildly from year to year.
