Speaking of Vonleh joe freeman tossed his name out in his podcast with holdahl as a possible guy other teams would be interested in in a trade this offseason.
I think, of the guys we'd be willing to trade, Vonleh and Harkless have the highest value (not that that's saying a lot). I'd like to see Collins play before trading Vonleh, because Vonleh proved to be our best defensive player and started becoming a capable offensive player when paired with Nurkic. And I think trading Harkless would be a big mistake unless we're getting an equally good, or better, SF in return. So personally, I think it's probably best to not trade these guys (unless it's a no-brainer) or to trade them in-season once we know a bit more about how the roster is working. The guys I'd look to trade during the summer are Davis, Aminu, and Crabbe/Turner.
To me, whether or not Collins works his way into the starting line up by season's end isn't all that critical. To me, it's all about his minutes. If he earns the minutes, I don't care if he is backing up both the 4 and 5 spots, or is starting at the 4 and backing up the 5 - as long as he's getting as many minutes as his play warrants. I'd be fine with Vonleh continuing to star and get his usual 17 MPG. We don't really need scoring from the PF spot in our starting line up, just defense and rebounding. Vonleh did well in both of those areas when playing next to Nurk. We do, however, need more scoring from the 2nd unit. Last year, our second unit scoring was WAY too dependent on C.J. He needs some help out there, and if Collins proves to be a decent offensive threat off the bench, that would be a big boost to the second unit. Ultimately, it's more about who finishes the games than who starts. Let Vonleh start to, hopefully, keep Collins out of foul trouble, and then let Collins finish (assuming his play justifies it). BNM
With Stotts is all about matchups with bigs...he'll play Vonleh against the Grizz and maybe Collins against the Warriors...
Dude! Thanks for that! Amazing highlights! Easy to see why everyone is so high on him. I would love to know who taught him basketball; who mentored him and taught him his techniques. The guy must be a God.
Last year, I thought he took some whack shots and got lucky. After watching that video, I feel like he still has both going for him, but his touch and feel for how to get the ball in the hoop is legit.
That one play at 5:20 gives me hope that a healthy, in shape, motivated Nurk can do some great things!
I think he started to play basketball at age of 15, and by 19 he was in the NBA theres a story that says before he even started to play basketball, he didnt know how to run
Cause the NBA has changed, and has gone away from it. It's now the Blazers job to make teams pay for not having one. The only way to do that is staunch perimeter defense and pounding the ball inside on offense
What gives me hope is that it hasn't been just about pool nosing the ball inside. Nurk, and hopelully Collins, has the ability to post and pound inside or make the quick pass to a cutter or a spot up 3pt shooter. Gives us the best of both worlds. I'm so glad Collins will be able to learn things from watching Nurk.
I really hope the future of the NBA revolves around Nurkic and Embiid battling each other for championships! I think PHI is going to be the next (not this season, but soon) great team in the East. Once LBJ leaves CLE it's going to be PHI/BOS and everyone else is still going to suck. Hopefully by that time GSW have disbanded and there's nobody out West that can deal with Dame/CJ/Nurk/Collins. Even though I think MIN always finds a way to fail, it seems like it could be POR/MIN in the West with Nurkic/Towns going at it. I'm excited about this hypothetical renaissance of true big men!
Agreed. I saw a game (Houston or Philly?) where he made a fall away shot to the right of the hoop while tossing it underhand from his hip and getting fouled at the same time. Fucking unreal. Totally agree! I absolutely cannot wait to see what he does next season! He started playing at 14, IIRC from an article I read yesterday. He had never even visited the US until the Draft. Apparently, from what I've heard, a sports agent saw his father out and about one day, and asked him if he had a son. He showed up to his house the next day, and the rest is history. His brother is 9 years old.....and wears a size 14 shoe. No joke.
This is a myth. There are more good centers today than there were 5 years ago. Off the top Nurkic Marc Gasol KAT Embiid Gobert Cousins Whiteside Jokic Jordan Lopez Myles Turner Valanciunas Vucevic Drummond Adams And I'm sure I missed some. The only reason theres a narrative about the league going small is because neither of the two best teams have a featured player in the post.
You're right about the good centers. But you're also right about how the best teams play. Even good teams with good post players hoist 3s
Me too, but if i'd have to put money on it then i would bet those 2 would spend most of their time wearing suits.
