by three guys who probably consider themselves experts but are not particularly astute. The thing is, I think their opinions would be pretty representative of the average fan around the league. They don't offer any alternative course that the Blazers could have taken, probably because I don't think there was any. Again some more people who don't think Turner fits; this will be one of the most interesting things for me to watch this season; see if the team and Stotts can make it work well with Turner. http://www.todaysfastbreak.com/nba-...rs/roundtable-trail-blazers-offseason-review/
I don't understand why guys who call themselves basketball experts don't get the reason for the Blazers going after Turner. Last season, whenever Dame went to the bench the Blazers only had one playmaker, CJ, in the game. That made the offense a lot easier to contain than when there are two guys on the court capable of running the offense. The Blazers got Turner for his playmaking abilities in order to resolve that problem.
Bill Simmons had Brad Stevens on his podcast today and they raved about Turner's ball handling and ability to create for others. And Simmons noted repeatedly how great of a fit he'll be in POR, in a system where both our guards LIKE and excel while playing off the ball. Common misconception by some of these pundits like the ones above is that they think Dame and CJ pound the air out of the ball and can only be effective by doing so. They forget the fact that all of that was driven by necessity, not preference. These guys look at usg% and freak out by the idea that they won't have the ball in their hands if Turner is in the lineup. Just keep looking a bit deeper into those numbers and find how effective our guys are in catch and shoot situations.
I'd be more re-assured if it was Stevens rather than Simmons that thinks he will be a great fit with Portland.
I posted this in one of the other many preseason threads, but it seems to fit here as well (especially the part in bold). Last year when one of Dame or C.J. went to the bench the other was left alone on an island as both the ONLY ball handler/distributor AND primary scorer. A very difficult role for one player and very easy to defend. In hindsight, it's actually a miracle it worked out as well as it did. Turner will make them both better and their lives easier. BNM
Stotts said Turner is gonna shoot the 3 better in his system. I bet Turner shoots 33-36%. You heard it here first.
They agreed on every question. They need to manufacture disagreement to make the article interesting. The panel would answer, there were many PGs (like Napier) available for far less than we overpaid Turner. No, the biggest reason that Olshey got Turner was for his ability to create baskets by himself, due to his clutch dribbling. We didn't have a forward who can do that. Turner's assists are just dessert, and are you sure that he "runs the offense?" Dribbling maniacally through traffic under the basket, looking for shoot vs. pass opportunities, is not the same as setting up plays.
