There has been a lot of discussion about our PG's and to what degree they are true PG's. But really doesn't it kind of depend on the offense we run? I mean some players are better suited for a certain type of offense. We all know that the PG's from the Bulls and Lakers under Phil were not always "true" PG's. Certainly not like Parker or Kidd. Billups was somewhere in between. So if different types of PG can be successful depending on the offense they are in, which is best for us. Other than Watson all our players who will see time at the "point" would be better described as a good shooter vs a good distributor. I see similarities with Damian, CJ, and Mo. So what type of offense does Stotts see us playing? There are several variations of the motion offense. If that is the answer than which one? I was not impressed with what we ran last year. I know our D sucked and that is a bigger concern with everyone, but we still need a better offensive game plan this year as well. Just shooting 3's won't cut it. We need a system.
Good to see you back, MM! As to the question, I've been thinking that the triangle would suit our non-traditional PGs, but nobody other than Phil Jackson seems ever to have got it to work. It was a disaster in Minny and Dallas when his acolytes tried it.
What was wrong with our offense last year? I thought it worked quite well until teams threw everything at Lillard, knowing no one else would get themselves open and/or make a shot. With much improved personnel this year, plus Lillard being a non-rook indicating quicker decision making is likely, that shouldn't be much of an issue.
To me this was the issue. There did not seem to be anyone moving when Lillard was doubled 25 feet from the basket. The starting personnel could be actually worse from an offensive standpoint. (Lopez is not a better scorer than JJ) But hopefully Lopez will set better picks in order to free Damian up.
We have Damian, Wes, Batum, Mo, CJ, Wright, MyLe and Crabbe all as great 3 point threats; I bet we have more skilled 3 point shooters than probably any team in the league. We need to build something that gets them open looks. With our depth we could play at a fast pace, play starters less minutes, make quick substitutions, and take shots early in the shot clock. Aldridge posting up inside or Damian driving to the hoop should collapse defenses. Batum and CJ may be able to create as well. Aldridge is our only inside offensive presence. But I don’t expect offense to be an issue with this team. The starters do not have one good rebounder; Batum is an average rebounder at SF, Aldrdge is slightly below average and Lopez is terrible. TRob is the only good rebounder but we don’t know how many minutes he can effectively play. The team does not have good defenders outside of Wes and Lopez. I question if the team would’ve added Wright if they knew they would get Mo. It would be better to have a defender or slasher instead of an 8th 3 point shooter. Crabbe seems to be even more of a waste now, you want second round picks who can fill a role with your team, we could use a defensive player at any position for spot minutes but have no reason to put a specialist rookie shooter out there. It should be a much more enjoyable offense to watch this season, and when our shooters are hot we’ll be able to beat any team in the league. I’m excited to see how it works out. Will the additional long ball shooters help spread the floor and get the team great high percentage opportunities? Or will all the shooting be a redundant waste of overlapping talents?
I agree with MM. The inside out game will be the dominant strategy. This will only work if Aldridge plays inside the majority of the time.
I'm not worried a bit about our offense. Stotts will have plenty of PnR and PnP plays, Lillard can penetrate and dish to shooters on the perimeter or finish the play himself. Defense is the area where this team needs to make massive strides if it wants to be a serious playoff contender.
One point about rebounding: Lopez isn't a great rebounder, but apparently (I read somewhere) the team tends to rebound better as a whole when he's on the court, so probably his value is in boxing out the other team's best rebounder.
Reminds me a lot of Brian Grant. Although Grant rebounded well; his best asset was boxing out and allowing his teammates to get the board. If Brain Grant pulled a Hickson; he would have been Rodman-like on the boards. Instead, he was a team player that sacrificed his own stats for the betterment of the team. Hopefully Lopez is like this. I doubt he's a rebounder like Brian Grant was; but maybe the team oriented type player will benefit the entire team?
I think I posted this before, but the one game I watched N.O play late last year, I could not help but notice Lopez. He was very active. The announcers were raving about him too. So I checked the box score and was really surprised at how few rebounds and blocks he had in that game. He made his presence felt, but his numbers sucked. He played good D,altered some shots, and set some hard screens. None of which showed in the box score. He did get into foul trouble though which is a concern with our lack of depth. I doubt he can play that way and average 30 minutes.
Ideally, our offense would be an Inside/Out centered around Nic in the post. That would put our best passer in the middle of the floor so that he'd have 360 degrees of passing options. We'd then have two good outside shooters (Wes & Lillard) on the outside, an okay shooter (LMA) at the top of the key weak-side, and Lopez roaming the floor setting picks. However, Nic doesn't have a post game. An Inside/Out with LMA in the post will only result in everyone standing around and taking long jumpers when he passes back out.
If Nic Developed a post game; I would put him as a top 3 SF in the game. He has the court awareness to really facilitate from the post. Would be soooooo fucking nice!
I think Nic can still be effective in that roll without a post game. Similar to what Nate did with Camby.(Who had no post game) Get him the ball at the high post around the free throw line and have Nic feed LMA while Lillard and Wes spread the floor. It could work with Leonard in the game as well as he can keep the defense honest with his short jump shot. But I agree they need to utilize Nic more as the facilitator, and not from 20 feet out.
Miami? Knicks? San Antonio? I do agree though, that we could be up there this season. We certainly have the potential. Last season our starters were solid from the 3: Lillard, Wes and Batum - all at high volumes too. Leonard could stick it. Then our bench would come in. They took plenty of 3 pointers. And missed a ton. Drove our entire team percentage down. Now, the bench will trot out Mo, and Wright who are proven 3-ballers. Leonard will be coming off the bench. CJ is expected to be a good long-distance shooter. We will see how he does. But, certainly, the bench looks solid from outside.
I haven't seen any of the games or the highlights. The post up plays looked sick! I hope we see more of that this season.
