Defensive rebounding is the more glaring issue, and I think our new pseudo switching thing on D is causing most of those problems. That, and just flat out poor effort and 0 toughness.
Last season we were 3rd in ORB/G and 8th in TRB/G with essentially the same roster and the same offense. It's not the system. It's the lack of focus and effort. BNM
So my summation: 1. Top free agents don't come to Portland, and will only do so in the future if we've already shown that we're a contender. 2. The FA crop was weak. Combine that with the cap increasing by about 34% and you're going to get overpaid players. 3. But to put that 34% in perspective: Before the cap increase, Crabbe's salary would be comparable to 14m per, Turner a little over 12m, Leonard close to 7m, Harkless less than 7m and Ezeli about 5.5m. Then when you start looking at some of our other contracts like Aminu, Davis, Plumlee and Vonleh you start to realize that it wouldn't be that hard to make an attractive package for a good big. 4. This was the last off season in some time in which Portland would be under the cap. So use it or lose it. 5. Once Olshey struck out on the top tier free agents I have to believe his strategy changed. It became about acquiring assets in order to make a trade, which is his strength anyways. 6. It's essentially the same team, except they all have another year of experience. We were 5th in rebounding last year and we're 25th this year. We were 20th in defense last year and we're 29th this year. For that to happen to a young team from one year to the next is perplexing, but the fault is with the players and coach, not the GM. 7. This thread is stupid.
You won't explain what "long term" is because you have no idea. Are Leonard, Turner, and Crabbe going to start playing 5x better? Those 3 are playing right now at about the same level they have their entire careers. Why should I not call them busts when all the evidence we have so far shows that they are, and nothing but unfounded and perhaps foolish optimism says that somehow they'll start playing up to their contracts. That's like trying to sell someone your used Toyota Corolla for $80,000 claiming it will one day become a collectors item. An utter moron might buy that, but not anyone with a shred of sense.
That's 90% of why I don't think they can play together. Neither guy can carry enough water defensively. But I do think that having two guys that mostly just take turns shooting does kind of kill offensive flow and makes it too easy for good defensive teams to scheme around them.
Lets look at this Crabbe http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/crabbal01.html : He is shooting .364% from 3 and last year he shot .393%, thats a pretty big drop off. His other stats are pretty similiar but you go to his WS and last year OSW 3.1 DWS 1.2, this year OSW .4 and DWS 0.0. Thats a pretty glaring difference this year and at Crabbes age of 24 its pretty ridiculous to think he has no room to improve. Turner http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/t/turneev01.html : Career .304 3%, .450 2% .456 FG% 2.2 FTA 5.1 RB 3.7 assits .8 stl, 2016 .250 3% .389 2% .364 FG% 1.3 FTA 4.4 RB 2.5 assists .4 stl So in now way is turner playing near his regular stats. Meyers http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/leoname01.html Career FG%: .481 3% .372 2% .538 RB 4.1 2016 FG% . 327 3% .207 2% 4.62 RB 3 So even Meyers is playing significantly worse then he has in the past. This is more like someone trying to sell you a new Yukon Denali with all the features for 20k less then asking price but its gotta be in the shop for a few months for an engine repair and your refusing to believe them unless they drive it around the lot 100x that instant.
I mean Ive been watching the zers as long as I can remember and I got nothing against the moves we made or Neil just to be clear outside of the Crabbe/Meyers contracts (turner will be worth his money by the end of the year). We aren't a destination and that is exactly why it's important to be shrewd and business like about the process not spending resources on players you're attached to who's production could be found cheaper elsewhere.
Dame does a great job of rebounding I think. But small yeah also hard to rebound well when your a small shooting guard and small forward. I thought Hark would be a bit better at this. @BLAZINGGIANTS was right First. You didn't call Leonard, Crabbe, or Turner busts in your OP. OR title. Short memory? YOU said GM... remember?????No? Takes a shred of sense? Long term is NOT freaking the fuck out after 12 games with a 7-5 record. Obviously there are issues, but your ready to start the "Off with NO's Head" chant. Hell the OP basically is. Chill out and think about the long term possibilities and options and see if you can't see what most of us see. An imminent trade. Trade is long term . Acquiring assets. Read the post right before yours that I quoted...Line #5. Someone else apparently had more patience than I did originally,to spell it out for you. But, I'm thinking a guy that likes to call people racist slurs, would be the one who hasn't a clue about long term, so I didn't put much depth into a definition.... but hey.... that's just me man.
Don't know why we are saying fuck Neil here. Yeah we overpaid people but like others have said, pretty sure a trade of some sort is imminent especially after how Portland has played so far and signing all these guys makes it possible to make a pretty decent trade without losing a whole bunch. I think that is Neils plan now. I think the biggest thing here is guys got paid. A lot of them. They aren't as hungry anymore. It happens. I blame the players more so I do Neil. Neil isn't on the court, these guys are getting blown out by teams they would of beat last season and struggling with teams they would of blown out last season. Trade is imminent
Everybody hush or Sly won't get any more free bobble-heads! In previous Olshey threads, critics said he failed to get Whiteside, and defenders said, he never pursued Whiteside, that was just wishful speculation on your part. Olshey fans go both ways on Whiteside, depending on which helps them win the argument. That goes against your point. In 2015-16 season dollars, Crabbe & Turner are now worth about 1/6 or 1/7 of what they're now paid. Can you explain that monstrosity? What other categories of 3-point attempts are not included in the chart (like last-second heaves, or contested non-catch and shoots)? How is the last column calculated? How did you draw conclusions about contested 3PAs from open 3PAs?
Trades are needed but as poorly as some of these players are performing, their trade value is going to be crap. They can score like crazy but they are the first point of defense and they give up as much as they score. That 3rd string rookie-type Grant was making straight line attacks over and over again. If Dame/CJ score the aforementioned 1.14 but give up 1.10 and Dame/Player X score 1.08 but give up 1.01, I'll take that. It's a two-sided game and Dame/CJ's offensive brilliance to me doesn't overcome the defensive issues, ball dominant style of play and lack of playmaking. Adrian Dantley was a scoring machine but the Pistons traded him for Mark Aguirre who was a low post bully but didn't need the ball as much. It fit better. Dantley was a ball dominant scorer while Aguirre fit in better with what Detroit had. Result - 2 NBA Titles. Few out there are as good as CJ as scoring but since we already have a ball dominant scorer, it become a bit of duplication (which is all over this roster) and there are too many weaknesses left over. Just my opinion.
You guys are delusional if you think we're going to trade anyone other than McCollum for a good big man. You're acting like Knicks fans. Garbage isn't worth more in bulk, especially when it comes with a 17 million dollar price tag.
Well, already addressed those other points in other points, but as far as using racist slurs, I don't generally "like to call people racist slurs". I just called the refs that because they pissed me off, and that was the worst thing I could thing of to say at the time. I filmed an apology video for you guys
Actually, the Pistons were about to win titles with Dantley, and replacing him temporarily slowed their progress the first year they had Aguirre. To make your point better, you should answer the following questions. That's for the 2-man lineup, right? What's the ppp for 5-man lineups with those 2 players? What's the point difference for the same 5-man lineups?
A couple things on this. If Allen Crabbe was valuable enough for Olshey to match the contract that was given to him by NJ. He's valuable enough to make CJ expendable in a trade that would bring in a better player. Surely with the amount of money spent on the free agents we should been able to expect a legit third scorer out one of them. We didn't even get that. You can take Allan Crabbes, Meyers Leonard and Evan Turners contracts and come up enough salary to bring in a DMC. There isn't one sane GM that is going to justify adding over 35 million to cap for those players. Unless he has a wish to commit career suicide.
This is what I have been saying as well. CJ is the most tradable, and Crabbe can slide into his spot and we don't lose much. I would go so far as to sat that that is why we matched Crabbe; that's the plan.
