We are winning games and our two best players are not shooting well at all. What happens when Dame and LMA find their stroke? Dame was 6-20. Aldridge was 7-21.
I have a feeling Stotts will rethink how he uses Aldridge. I can see a laMonster type performance in December
Let's not forget Wessy Wes is on another level at the moment. Not being a downer, just think we're on our level at the moment.
Adding to that point, of the 14 games played so far, Blazers have shot below 45% in 10 of those games, 8 of which we still found a way to win. Considering how well our guys can score, I think there is a lot of room for the Blazers to improve their FG%. Also interesting, the Blazers have shot better from 3 than their FG % in 5 of their games to date, all victories.
Not to be a wet blanket because I'm stoked about the team, we are seeing Dame chuck some good shots that just aren't going in. Tiredness, probably, like he hit the rookie wall two weeks into his second year maybe? But regardless, I feel like he can pull out of it and he's still showing up on the stat sheet when we need it most. Thank God for Matthews right now, though.
There are some reasons to doubt that we're as good as our record: we've had a fairly soft schedule and good teams we've faced have been without important players (Iguodala last night, for example, and Jimmy Butler for Chicago). ALSO: Stotts is again not trusting the bench beyond Mo Williams much at all (Wright and Freeland could both complain of being underused) which means our starters are playing against their bench quite a bit. BUT: I think what this team is showing is that it is a team. It's really gelling and showing an admirable ability to turn it up when necessary. No doubt we'll hit a rough patch but this team is once again easy to love.
I am not concerned with his percentage either. I know he is going to be forced to take a lot of bad shots throughout the course of a game. He and LMA are our bail out guys when the shot clock is winding down. If their % is down, it is because the offense was not flowing well on the possession. This will happen when the opponents play great D on a possession.
I am worried a tad about the minutes. But, if 30-35 games into the season we have some guys in the top 15 in minutes, then I can see it starting to be a bit more worrisome.
Dame gets into the key easily but defenders know his game and wait for him to get to the rim and send the shot and Dame out of bounds. For his health and games sake he should get with Mo and develop the stop and pop from 12 ft , the kid can stop on a dime and would be unstoppable with PIP and raining 3s IMO.
