Those offensive rebound put-backs were huge. When he came to the sidelines I saw Stotts give him hugs and hand pounds. I thought what a breathe of fresh air than what we saw from Sarge.
Obviously McDyess was crazy athletic though. Hickson is an athlete, but nowhere near what McDyess was.
Hope Hickson plays his way into a longer contract with us. Had a good game against Howard last night, bought some energy, hustle and poise. He's only young still and a guy I'd like to see a long term Blazer.
I just don't like that fact that he was lazy when he played for the Kings and the Cavs. Now he goes to the Blazers and he puts up good numbers with energy but the guy is playing for a contract. I have not fully bought into Hickson yet. I would not mind shopping him around at trade deadline to see what kind of value he will have.
Although I feel he's certainly pulled his own weight since being here, you make a good point. Maybe the Blazers Brass only gave him a one year contract as a motivational move for that very reason. The one year contract may not be an asset flexibility move by Olshey and crew, as is widely assumed.
But, he wasn't lazy in Cleveland. He was a 21-year old starter with a PER > 15 during Lebron's final year in Cleveland and the year after Lebron left he also had a PER > 15 and averaged 13.8 ppg and 8.7 rpg at the age of 22. The only time he really didn't produce was that half season in Sacramento. Given that that was also a contract year, I tend to think it was more of a bad fit than him being lazy. Sacramento had multiple big men they'd taken in the lottery that they wanted to develop and that made Hickson the odd man out. When he came to Portland, he got a chance to play and showed what he is capable of. BNM
