Good lord. [video=youtube;FrCTZBB67mI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrCTZBB67mI[/video] I think this is what they call "going HAM"
We have a great scoring guard. Kind of makes you wonder if we should have drafted Carter-Williams to play alongside him to handle the team-running and defense stuff.
I sort of see Lillard in the same way I saw Chauncey Billups (Minus Billups' defense). A point guard who is great from distance, and is "pretty good" at making plays for others, particularly in pick and roll, but isn't necessarily a natural play-maker. I don't know if Lillard is ever going to be a great defender, but he's probably got a better shot at making significant strides in that part of his game, more than he's going to be able to transform the way he anticipates plays and sees the court, because I think those traits are more inborn than learnt. So as to your question about an ideal pairing in the back-court, I think Wesley is a little too much of a catch-and-shoot player to be that guy and it's hard to say if McCollum can play next to him because I think he mostly wants to score with the ball in his hands. If Evan Turner could shoot a lick from distance he seems like a guy that might work and might be available at the deadline. Tough to say.
I like watching Lillard go off however it usually tends to happen when we are behind. Need more passing and more defense and look out world.
If CJ turns out to be good enough to move Wes to the bench (maybe next season), we are in good shape indeed. That would be great.
CJ strikes me as more of a classic sixth-man type. Too small to be a full time shooting guard and not nearly enough point guard chops to play next to Lillard except more than short stretches. It feels like there's a move to be made ... a prototypical 2 (offensively) would be Klay Thompson. Obviously you're not going to get Klay Thompson, but that's sort of what I have in mind.
Every time I think about Matthews I find myself vacillating between thinking he's a good fit and just an OK fit. The stuff I love has more to do with his intangibles than his talent; I like his hustle and his ability to catch and shoot is laudable, but Wesley definitely has his limitations, being merely an "adequate" defender rather than an effective one and very limited as a ball-handler and play-maker. I think what holds me back from endorsing Wesley as the long-term starting 2 is when it comes maximizing Lillard's talents - our best guard and second best player. It just feels like they need something a little more dynamic and a guy who can cover up for or compensate for some of Lillard's weaknesses as either a playmaker or his defense (and I don't see McCollum filling that need).
That's been my expectation since the draft: perfect sixth man. Now, if he exceeds that, I won't be disappointed.
Matthews is an ideal starter (because he doesn't need the ball, stretches the floor, but struggles to create for himself) but ideally needs to play alongside a purer PG. But Nic was playing the role of the distributor when we were playing well. Eh. The Lillard-Billups comparison is a good one (and one that Olshey was making from the very beginning) and the Pistons did pretty well with Billups playing next to another guy who couldn't create for himself. I was just griping because of our current slump. And Lillard has been in the negative in +/- for the past couple of games. But what we need most is to shore up our defense and get a better bench. No news there. But the shit will really hit the fan if we ever get a significant injury.
The difference is those Pistons teams could play defense. Billups, Sheed and Wallace are all clearly better defenders than Lillard, Aldridge and Lopez I'd argue Rip and Prince are also better than Wes and Batum, although that is closer The defense needs to stop being horrendous.
