The super Melo to Portland thread + The Big Blockbuster

This is the problem.... some fans are completely content with forever being stuck in the 8th seed.

 

So because Bowen was a great defender, Ginobili wasn't? Bowen was stronger and better suited to bigger guards like Kobe. Ginobili was better against smaller guards. You're absolutely the first person I've ever seen suggest Ginobili wasn't at least a good defender in his prime and the advanced stats also don't paint him as overrated on that end.

 

Before GS won their first title, it was repeated ad nauseum that your PG being your leading scorer was not a way to win a title. Nobody wins with your PG being your go to guy they'd say. And then it changed. I dunno if we win a title with them 2, but winning a title is so hard that it might not matter anyways, if CJ magically turned into a 6'5 stopper. But I don't agree with saying because this is what everyone has done in the past, it's the only way to do it. The league constantly changes.

 

I think you can win a lot of games with a back court like Portland's if the REST of the team makes up for their liabilities on defense. I love them both. But I think you need three other guys to cover their asses.

 

My goal now would be to make the WCF and go 7 games against the Warriors...

 

The point was Manu didn't draw the other teams best guard.
Manu was an overrated defender who understood positioning. But never was he a good defender, at best he's average.
Something I firmly believe CJ will become.

Oh right, I forgot you're one of those people who think advanced numbers are absolute.

 

So what's the CJ trade to get us to a title?

 

Curry is such a freak though.... he is significantly more efficient than Dame in terms of shooting. For everything that I love about Lillard, he's nowhere near the shooting percentages that Curry has put up. His numbers dipped a bit last season, but in 2015-2016 he shot over 50% from the floor and over 45% from three, while averaging 30 ppg. That's just insane. Dame is gonna have to really step up his efficiency if he hopes to match Curry.

 

Most of the guys that were favorites of mine have already been dealt.

Jimmy Butler
Paul George (admittedly I wouldn't have dealt CJ for George after all the rumors about LA)

I'd still move him for Porzingis (but I think that's dead since Phil was fired.)

The landscape of the NBA has changed significantly this summer, so I don't have any names right now, but I'm definitely not on the "Dame/CJ or bust!" bandwagon.

 

None of that disputes my point, however, that prior to him doing it, people said it wasn't the way to do it. Of course you need someone to play out of their mind in order to win a title.

 

How long ago did they say teams who lived by the 3 died by the 3...... and could never win a championship? I can still hear Charles Barley saying it way back in .....oh yeah it was only 2 1/2 years ago. My point is since the game has changed I don't believe using history as an example in how to build a team works anymore. The game has evolved.

The size of Dame and CJ are not the issue. Poor defense might be, but give us Pop for a year and there is no doubt in my mind that a defensive strategy with Dame and CJ will be quite different and more effective because of the "team" concept.

And for the few teams where size might be an issue....add the right 3rd guard to the team . Don't get rid of a quality player when you can just add a role player for certain situations.

How many opposing guards outscore our starting back court because of their poor D? 1? Shouldn't it be more if they are that bad?
Now we have a starting center who will also when his match up. Our PF battles in the future with Zack and/or Swanigan should also be in our favor. So just find a SF who can slow down the other team's SF and we should be fine. (Assuming we have a solid bench)

 

I didn't say they were a copy, I said it was a similar situation.

You can't admit that they are a suboptimal pairing, because of their defensive deficiencies and need to dominate the ball to be at peak effectiveness?

 

He often drew the other team's best guard. As I said, Ginobili was a better defender than Bowen for smaller guards.

I said that advanced stats backed up what everyone except you, including analysts, could see. Not that advanced stats proved it.

 

Post of the thread!!!

 

But apparently the rebuttal to this is, "anything can happen!"

 

The offensive duplication of Lillard and McCollum isn't perfect, but it isn't a problem either. Having two elite shooters is a force multiplier and that's a bigger deal than both being at their best with the ball in their hands.

My pessimism for the duo lies entirely on the defensive end, where I think they'll both be significant defensive minuses their entire careers. It's not impossible for one or both to improve on defense--Curry improved from atrocious defender to roughly average. But that's the exception, not something I'd bank on. In a guard-dominated league, having both your star guards be bad on defense threatens to fatally flaw any team you build.

The Blazers are obviously much, much better off having both of them than not having either one, but if a trade comes along where the team can largely keep talent constant but move it into the form of a player who offers better defense on guards/wings, I think that would help the cause of building a title contender considerably.

 

This is my main thought when trading CJ comes up. If we had money to sign another SG, a CJ + pick(s) for Anthony Davis would be ideal. But again, the hole left at SG would just create another weakness. Once a trade becomes available that would give us a shot at a championship I'd be all for trading CJ, at this point I don't see one.

 

No. Beetlejuice was based on saying Nurkic 3 times. No one has ever survived.

 

More CJ bullshit.... Jesus....