Portland Trail Blazers: D– First-Half Record: 18-23 | Current Record: 20-27 Off. Rating: 13 | Def. Rating: 27 | Net: 21 A good number of analysts expected the Blazers to struggle a bit under the weight of inflated expectations following a fluky first-round series victory over the Clippers and a summer spending spree. But not many predicted this season’s flat start to be so embarrassing and identity-shaking. The top culprit is obviously a defense that has regressed badly, one that lacks sufficient size on the perimeter and ranks at or near the bottom in opponent FG% from mid-range and beyond the arc. A short-term injury to stopper Al-Farouq Aminu helped reveal Portland’s shallow defensive talent pool and further expose its many redundant wing pieces. GM Neil Olshey managed to hand out well over $300 million to five players this summer, including an extension for CJ McCollum, and yet somehow failed to address his team’s glaring needs defensively. Other minor regressions have added up. Damian Lillard’s three-point shooting and clutch play have both left something to be desired. Mason Plumlee hasn’t performed like a quality starting center on either end. Aminu’s ugly perimeter shooting has returned after a career year. Evan Turner has been a predictably awkward fit. Festus Ezeli turned out to be completely damaged goods. More teams around the league are playing smaller lineups and therefore have better match-up answers for Portland’s go-to spread look. Taken together, these developments have forced well-respected coach Terry Stotts to juggle his lineups in search of solutions that probably aren’t there. Olshey should search high and wide at the deadline, but that may prove fruitless too. While the Blazers are still alive in the West’s weak race for the No. 8 seed, the ceiling has seemingly collapsed on one of the league’s most expensive rosters. Barring a dramatic second-half turnaround, major player personnel changes—and perhaps more—should be in order. http://www.si.com/nba/2017/01/26/nb...rs-thunder-clippers?xid=socialflow_twitter_si
Yep, total bullshit. Plumlee is having a career year and one of the few players on the team that does NOT deserve to be called out for the way he's playing. "Mason Plumlee hasn’t performed like a quality starting center on either end." Wrong! Of the 27 centers that have started at least 20 games, Plumlee is: 12th in PER 12th in TRB 1st in AST 11th in BLKs 5th in STL 15th in PTS 9th in OBPM 8th in DBPM 7th in VORP 11th in WS etc. He's nowhere near the bottom of the list of starting centers in any statistical category, in the top half in most cases, and in the top 10 in many advanced metrics. He is not an elite center, but he is definitely performing like a quality (above average) starting center at both ends of the court. BNM
I get where he's coming from though, dude cant make a contested layup to save his life and dont lie you cringe every time he tries to do that running sky hook through the lane
I don't even have to look at stats to appreciate the heart, hustle and determination he brings every night. He's not the problem.
He knows shooting isn't one of his strengths, that's why his assist numbers are so high. What's the more realistic task, teaching Plums to shoot better or teaching Meyers to play as hard as Plums does every god damn game?
If we could just put Plumlee's brain in Leonard's body, we'd have the mythical, much-discussed "White Jordan."
My point wasnt that I would make this argument but if you dont watch all the games like we do I could see why someone might get that impression. If this is the scenario we're stuck with I would just have Meyers smoke some meth before the game he'll be out there blocking shots and dunking on people in no time so ill go with that option
But, at least he knows his limits. He's 17th in TS% of the 27 centers that have started at least 20 games. So, slightly below average, but not anywhere near the bottom of the barrel. As I mentioned, he's also 15th among those same 27 starting centers in points scored. He's not a great offensive player, by any means, but he knows how and where to get his points. BNM
Also, calling Aminu a "stopper" is laughable. Unless he meant "fast-break stopper" with regards to his own team rather than the opposing team.
Did he even play during that year? I don't know why, but I felt like he was out for a lot of that year. Or, no playing time.
A lot of harsh truth, but a lot of BS as well. Mediocre article by Ben Golliver. Harsh Truth: D- is probably about right. Several Players have regressed. We suck. BS: Last Year: 20th in Drtg, 6th on Ortg. This Year: 26th (tied) in Drtg, 12th in Ortg. 1) Personnel is basically the same. So, we haven't gotten worse because "lack of size on the perimeter". As pointed out, we have "regressed" from 20th to 26th. We didn't suddenly get shorter on the perimeter. 2) The "$300 Mill" was mostly used on matching our guys. What should we have done? We tried going after Whiteside (who admitted we were his 2nd choice), but it didn't work. Who should we have gotten? We were a team on the rise. This year we flopped. Not the GMs fault. 3) Plumlee's been fine. His stats are very similar to Noel's and Jurkic's, I checked. 4) Turner sucked legendarily at the beginning, but has turned it around and seems to be playing fine now. 5) Forgets our youth - it's relevant because you don't panic when you have ZERO vets. Our 2 oldest are 27 and 28. Everyone else is 26 or younger. -------------------- The bad news: We're a losing team who'll be in the luxury tax next year - not where you want to be. The good news: We're young, we have 2 1st rounders in what is supposedly the best drafts in years. I can easily see a future where we head back to HCA territory, but I can also see one where we keep missing the playoffs. It'll be interesting.
