Who would you trade CJ McCollum for?

Yeah, but people see those spectacular reverse layups and they forget about the 5-10 times that he drives into a pack of guys and throws it up.

 

Listen to this man!!

 

It's almost like, because he's not getting whistles like every other guard who drives the lane and tosses up a shot, his FG% is suffering for it. Huh. Weird. Almost like the refs determine your shooting percentage by how they call the game.

 

I agree about CJ and his problems finishing in the paint...it looks as though he uses moves that dazzled on the college level but will not be successful in the pros.
I will say that last night he finished a few driving reverse layups with pure speed. If he continues...then he's already improving as the season unfolds

 

I would but there's no audio feed...I'm stuck just reading the man

 

Just say it out loud.

 

Now I'll have that James Brown song in my head all day!

 

Great point!

There, is everyone happy now?

 

Shirley you're not suggesting that the refs officiate different players differently?
I need to go back to Kansas.

 

So you're saying that CJ's inability to get to the free throw line, on a historically low level is being dictated by the officials? Among all the players in NBA history the refs hate CJ the most? C'mon now.... that's got to be one of the most disingenuous arguments I've ever heard.

You think all the refs are conspiring against him or just some? Is there an elite illuminati group of refs who are out there saying CJ is to be the barer of the Apocalypse and he must be stopped from being efficient!!

I get conspiracy theories. I take part in them sometimes because they're fun. But willingly believing that CJ is the only one in the NBA not getting whistles is not a road I'm going to go down. CJ doesn't get whistles b/c he shies away from contact. That's what it comes down to. I'll have some links to show exactly what I mean, but after everything I've dug into, that seems to be the crux of it. Now, does that play into CJ not getting whistles when he does get contact? Probably. But are refs actively engaging in CJ sabotage? No.

 

Ill try to dig it up, but someone posted the stats on this and its glaringly biased. Not saying its intentional, but of all the SG's driving to the hoop, and the fouls called, CJ was trailing the whole pack by light years. It was an ugly stat for sure and absolutely has an impact on his FG%.
I recall a few calls last night where he drove to the hoop, got smacked and no whistle blew.

 

Maybe everyone CJ drives against is first team all-NBA and just doesn't foul. Maybe in the 15 years CJ has been playing basketball, he never learned to draw a foul from anyone. Or maybe he has a reputation among lazy refs for not getting to the line, so he doesn't get whistles. Nothing succeeds like success, and nothing fails like failure.

 

Nearly all refs at the NBA level are lazy and call the reputation rather than the play. They see he doesn't get to the line a lot and thus he doesn't get to the line a lot.

But maybe you're right and everyone else in the NBA is vastly superior to one player at driving to the hoop. Like he just was absent the day they taught everyone else in the NBA that skill.

 

Probably linking the NBA.com Drives statistic to fouls generated. But that doesn't give context- I'll dig into the videos tonight to see if there's a deeper correlation and see if CJ is legitimately being screwed. My overall feeling is there's a little screwing going on, but it's of his own doing.

 

It's no secret that I think maybe 5-7 refs in the NBA are actually good-great at their job, so I'm with you there. The sight of Zach Zarba or Scott Foster at a Blazers game instantly makes my skin crawl. It's a kind of anger-sadness that I can't fully describe....

Think about this for a second, name a move that CJ has that he uses to get to and finish at the rim outside of his hesitation/crossover? Seen many CJ euro-steps? How about a hop step? A power dribble? Pass fake? While his repertoire on the perimeter is huge, his bag of trick inside is pretty limited as of yet. I see that as a bigger problem than the officials.

 

My initial thought is that CJ is the Anti-Harden. Where Harden wants to draw contact and doesn't even care about a legitimate shot attempt, CJ avoids contact to better improve his shot attempt. They represent the extreme ends of the spectrum.

 

I feel that's mostly right- but I think there's something else at play here. I think, this is just me no insider info or anything, that CJ shies away from contact b/c of the numerous foot injuries he's had and he's looking to stay out of the trees. By being really efficient/effective from midrange he can open things up- and allow him to score inside with less pressure. That's my hot take anyways.

 

I do not think CJ will ever achieve his ceiling in Portland because I think CJ should be playing point guard.

 

I not saying this isn't true (although I don't feel the same way as you) but you would have said the exact opposite thing 6 months ago.

 

After watching CJ shoot freethrows, I'm kind of glad he doesn't get to the line much