I love that the emphasis on our bigs has been defense first. I compare Ed to Joel Freeland and take Ed everytime
I think the thumb is fine by now, he had a good 3 point shooting night against the clips.. Hes too streaky
Not saying this is the case, because I think he is a bit streaky as well, but when you have an injury, just because its healed, doesn't mean your back in your comfort zone. Just ask Hendo....
If you want to say he's streaky, fine, whatever. I'm sure some people would agree with you. If you say he's TOO streaky, that infers that he's so streaky that it's a problem. You're essentially saying that him being streaky outweighs the positives. If I say you're driving TOO fast, it means I want you to slow down. If I say this cake is TOO rich, it means I don't care for it. So while some might agree that Dame could be streaky, by adding the adverb "too" to the statement, you are in essence saying that he's streaky "to an excessive extent or degree;beyond what is desirable, fitting, or right." That is something that I disagree with.
I think another selling point the Blazers might have going into next year ... in addition to a lot of money ... is that Dame and CJ are showing more and more they will give up the ball and they can create scoring opportunities for other players because they are threats to shoot from very deep, drive and distribute. I think having Batum here the last few years and our reliance on him as an entry passer ... something he was great at, take nothing away from him ... actually held back Lillard's development in that part of the game. Being on this team with little pressure has really helped Dame mature in ways he might not have been able to do whenever any miscue could cost you a seeding slot in the playoffs. Dame and CJ are far from finished products as passers, but they've done some things in recent games that give me a lot of optimism for how their skillsets are evolving. And that could get the attention of a young big with a smart agent and some forward thinking.
honestly, i think we need that energy/hustle/muscle in the starting lineup. as far as spacing, i think he has more ability to do that than myers has ability to be able to bang and be a force of anything on the inside. I get the point about zero ego, but people notice things and eventually he'll get the feeling (if he keeps playing like he is) that he should be a starter, when what? adios ed? fuckin hope not.... on the flip side, we've started myers and vonleh and had a mix of ugh and quick benching and lotsa minutes ending up with Ed, at what point does he get the chance? or are we piling all the chips on a non re-signed myers and a raw 20yr old PF at this point? All im saying, is reward the performers - there is ZERO wrong with competition for spots.... there is LOTS wrong with not getting the fruits of the labor.
Bump. Starting but still playing maybe 10 mpg. Extremely raw but has shown flashes. However I think he's showing flaws... He is very slow laterally. I know he bulked up a lot since his days at Indiana and that's likely the problem. He's not Kendrick Perkins-slow (laterally) but he's not too far off.
I haven't even noticed any flashes. He's one of the least productive players in the league right now. For a player that does so little, it might look like a flash everytime they make a basket. But he's shooting 44% from 2pt range, 7 points per 36 minutes, a paltry 8 rebounds with a very low rebounding %. He looks really slow and lumbering, and plays with the fire and energy of Nic Batum.
He's trash plain and simple. He has no confidence and plays with absolutely no passion. He doesn't even look like he wants to impress himself let alone prove to others he will be a future star one day. People love to say "oh he's so young" look at Julius Randall their nearly the same age AND Randall even missed the whole season last year yet hes averaging 13-10 over the last 10 games, if we count randle as a rookie and let's be honest he pretty much is hes: t4th in ppg 9th in fg% t1st in rpg 7th in apg 6th in spg 7th in bpg randle is in the top 10 in every major stat for rookies. Vonleh sucks
Vonleh is in school right now and I think it's great Stotts has him thrown in the fire against veteran PFs. I love that our bench can come in and build a lead and even outscore the starting unit.
Yeah, those youth arguments don't impress me much. If he sucks now, he might one day be a decent backup, but his ceiling is obviously nothing like what we were hoping. Even Thomas Robinson showed more, at least he's a great rebounder and makes plays with his extreme athleticism. Joel Freeland was a much better player than Vonleh.
What else do we have to hang our hat on? I mean, everyone wanted Meyers out of here the first couple years, now we have a freaking post from someone thinking he could be a potential superstar. If that's the case, we can trade CJ and Meyers for a superstar. Right?
Yeah but even Meyers as a clueless rookie was more productive in terms of numbers than Vonleh. I don't think Von is a lost cause, but people should temper their expectations. He's not a guaranteed star like some people act like....
