You yourself said you don't care about wins and losses, so why do you keep mentioning that we haven't won a game? CJ has looked good. He's not as polished as Lillard, but he's not Bayless either. He will be able to contribute next season. Robinson has looked good as well. His offensive game needs work, to be sure, but his rebounding is nice. He has a nose for the ball and he goes and gets it. I think he will contribute next season. Claver has looked sharp. He can shoot, he plays D, he rebounds, and he plays smart. I'm not sure where the team sees him fitting in, but I think he could easily provide a few minutes off the bench next season. Leonard is a project. Period. He looked much better last summer because we had a point guard last summer. I haven't seen one lob for Leonard in the three games I've watched. Lillard actually used him in the pick and roll. I think Leonard would look a lot better if he had a point guard who understood the pick and roll. Freeland is not good. Barton is also extremely raw. I love that he plays the passing lanes and pesters people on defense, but he never passes and he makes horrible decisions. The guy has a long way to go. Outside of Robinson, CJ, and Claver (who didn't play in game 2), who else on our team is supposed to be some dominating player that will win games? The Bulls had three guys who were built for summer league. Snell, Teague, and that guy with the name I can't pronounce. SL was built for chucker guards who launch threes all game. It's perfect for CJ, but guys like Robinson, Leonard, Freeland, and even Claver are not "summer league guys". They're not going to put up huge points, and that's why we're losing. It's ratball. There is no offense, there is no set plays, there's just bring the ball up the floor and shoot. It's pickup basketball in essence.
Check out this MIXALITO dude stirin' shit up. These games good or bad mean nothing! Guess who lead the whole summer league in '08 in PER.......... Bayless! The following summer......Anthony Randolph! Sent from my baller ass iPad FAMS!
They don't "mean nothing." They are a way of assessing players and working on strengths and weaknesses. Just because one player does well in SL and goes on to do nothing, doesn't mean you can't completely discount someone like Lillard doing well and going on to win ROY. They are real games against NBA level talent or fringe talent.
I am also one who is concerned watching these summer league games. I don't get the good feeling or reassurances that some here have that Olshey's bench will take this team to the next level this coming season. To me summer league reinforces some of the thoughts I had after the flurry of movements, that Olshey is more rebuilding for the future than trying to add pieces for immediate success this coming season. Olshey could have gone the route of getting more proven vets on the bench so you know what you are going to get, instead he went for value plays with potential. I hope the potential works out, but that bench is almost as big of a wild card as it was last season. To try and be positive (because the negative post will no doubt lead to bashing my basketball intelligence), a wild card is just that, it can be good, really good . . . or the other way.
Questions.... Do you think T. Rob will be a better back up PF than Freeland? Do you think Wright will be a better back up than Claver? Do you think CJ will be a better back up than Rice? Do you think Lopez will be a better center than Hickson? Those are really the key pieces here. Leonard will probably be the same Leonard as last year, so there is no real change in that department; but those pieces I just mentioned could be a big deal. I still think if we had maynor at the beginning of the season; we would have probably made the playoffs.
ToB, this bench will get us to the next level. Unfortunately, that level is probably only 37-42 wins. We need to move up several levels before we're serious competitors.
Of course we don't know for sure. He has an entirely different attitude though so it is safe to say imo.
Okay last year our rotations looked like this. PG: Lillard/Rice/Smith SG: Matthews/Claver/Smith SF: Batum/Claver PF: Aldridge/Freeland Center: Hickson/Leonard/Freeland Now our rotations look more like this PG: Lillard/CJ/Watson SG: Matthews/CJ/Claver/Crabbe SF: Batum/Wright/Matthews/Claver PF: Aldridge/T. Rob/Claver/Freeland Center: Lopez/Leonard/Aldridge/Freeland Our bench has a considerable overhaul. We don't need to worry as much as you believe.
The bench being better than last year does not mean it's a good bench, though. It's my opinion that the bench will still be a weak spot for the Blazers.
I answer yes to all that. To me the question is more, will this bench help elevate this team into the playoffs (because the starters, IMO, are a good enough group that with a reliable bench they are a playoff team). Watching summer league, I'm not expecting any of them to come in and compete for 6th man of the year and think the odds of having a good bench are slightly higher than last year. I do understand that it is a young bench and has the potential to surprise the league. These youngsters will get their opportunity to prove themselves, like last year. But if I remember right, posters were excited about the bench last summer with Freeland, Leonard, Williams and Smith.
Well considering that we were a +.500 team for most the season last year with historically the worst bench to ever step foot on court; I'd say any drastic improvement is a huge improvement to the bottom line. I"M not saying contention, but at least the 5-8 playoff seeds.
They have some similarities, but they are different players. Bayless is more athletic and physical. He drives to the hoop much more. McCollum is a much more finesse-type player. He has much longer arms, so plays longer. He has a much quicker release on his jumper and a much more developed offensive game. But if you want to argue that both are SGs in PG bodies, we can go with that surface-level of analysis.
