We need bench scoring.... badly.

More turnovers than assists, Couldn't shoot...that's where I'd start. He might have needed 20 minutes to find his game but he didn't look good tonight. So far from summer league on he's been hot and cold. I hope he changes this, I really do. I did with Nolan too. We've seen CJ play very well but night in and night out, I'm holding my breath when he's in there

 

CJ is really a problem right now. He needs to find whatever is troubling him and get his head into the game.

He's definitely got the talent to excel but something is holding him back. It would be nice if he becomes scorer "B" off the bench consistently

 

Its WAY WAY WAY to early to be either lauding or dumping on our bench. it'll take 10 to 15 games for everyone to get accustomed to playing with each other in an actual NBA game. i'll give them that before I start really worrying or getting excited.

 

We need one more scorer off the bench. I don't care who it is, but either Wright, CJ, or Barton needs to step up. Blake isn't going to score a lot of points. He's going to get you a couple of buckets, a decent amount of assists, and a few boards. I'm fine with that. I don't expect Blake is score a lot. So the scoring needs to come from somewhere else.

 

I know people are really down on how CJ played but he showed me flashes where I think he has that ability to be the #1 scorer on the bench.

 

The problem I've seen with CJ is that he isn't very quick. He's quick by college standards, and he's quick by NBDL or summer league standards, but he isn't that quick by NBA standards. He has trouble getting by his man, and his ball handling isn't that great either. He's an okay shooter, but most of his skills seem to be reliant on getting into the paint. He hasn't really been able to do that consistently in the regular season.

 

Give him a full season. He hasn't played a full season since he was a junior.

 

I'm not sure if that's the problem. I watched him in the NBDL last year, and the summer league this year. He does just fine against lesser competition. He can pretty much score at will. When he gets to the big leagues, he has trouble doing the same things he can do in the NBDL. He's an okay three point shooter, but he isn't really big enough to rise up and get his shot off, and he isn't quick enough to create the separation he needs to get an open look. I like CJ, I think he could be a good player, but I'm getting skeptical.

 

If we are going to complain and call CJ a problem after 1 game, we should be done with Lillard as well, he's a terrible shooter with no defense.

 

I'm actually thinking this is mental. Once he stops overthinking and getting down so quickly after a bad play, he will be a big contributor. We need a few big blow out games to give him even more burn.

 

I don't know man... CJ doesn't strike me as especially athletic. I think he's hitting a ceiling. It will be up to him to adapt and adjust his game.

 

Nah look at those two possessions when he turned the ball over in a row. His decision to push it up and drive into defense was a bad decision. If he played under control, that wouldn't have happened.

He needs to relax... Maybe Dame and Stotts needs to have a heart to heart with him

 

Confidence is something that has to come from within. It's not something you can coach or teach. He's either going to overcome it, or he's going to be one of those guys that simply can't produce on the court.

 

I definitely agree with everything you just posted but it helps when the best guard and the coach can encourage you.

Sometimes the mental thing has more to do with letting you teammates down. If our leaders can encourage him more, it could jump start this "spirit from within" motivation

 

This

/end thread (but it won't)

 

It isn't one game though. He didn't really produce last season, which was fine because he was a rookie and he missed the first couple months, but he still looks extremely raw for someone who was supposed to be able to produce right away. You don't draft a college senior to develop them. You draft a college senior because you think they're going to be able to help immediately.

 

I would throw out CJ's game last night. He was fine in the first half as his unit played well. Granted he was bad in the second half.

Although slipping on the new court was embarrassing, I doubt it will happen very often. Dribbling in traffic is a learning experience and he has to learn not to. Wes can't do it either. (We used to cringe when Roy did it)

He just needs time to adjust to what he can and can't do at this level. I am confident that a quick mid range pull up jumper off of a screen will work well for him. And he will be just fine with the 3 ball. He does not need to take over the game, just play a solid all around game.

 

I loved our bench last night -- overall. I kept track in the first half and our bench players made up lost ground -- I think we went from 8 back to 4 back -- while they were in. It seemed the Blazers bench players also outscored/outplayed OKC in the second half.

I'm not ready to throw CJ under the bus. He's inexperienced/a work in progress. He shows flashes. Give him some time before abandonning him.

Dorrel Wright OTOH is garbage. He was a disappointment last season, and he was flat out terrible last night. From the moment he went into the game in the first half he was a disaster especially on defense. The one block he had was only because he got beat badly in the first place and was lucky to recover and get a finger on the ball. He's a vet. He doesn't get the leeway I'm giving near rookie CJ. OH, yeah, Unless I'm mistaken, coach yanked him from the game and didn't play him in the second half. I'm warming up the bus now.

There's nothing I can say about Kaman that everyone didn't see. Sixth man of the year candidate who saved our bacon last night.

 

CJ is fine, you guys need to chill out.

 

Just awful. At this point Robinson would be a better back-up SF than Wright. Our rebounding sucked last night, and that's one area where you'll get fairly consistent effort out of Robinson. Also, his offense is a fair bit better than Wright's. That's not saying much, but Robinson can make some nifty passes for easy lay-ups and I'd rather watch him shoot 15-footers than Wright do anything with the ball. And what the heck, I'll go all the way - Robinson is a better defender than Wright, too. Sure, he'll lose his man, but Wright lost his man on every possession!