Vonleh back in three weeks

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Reep

Reep

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I like what I see in Biggie and Collins. I don't like Aminu at the 4 as a starter. But, I still think Vonleh is the best RIGHT NOW to start at PF when he comes back. Vonleh defends better than everyone except Aminu, and he is a more versatile scorer than all of them--except Biggie if he is having a good game.

However, because of his contract situation, and needing to extend Nurk, I hope somebody young passes him up this year (Swanigan or Collins). But, from what I have seen in the pre-season, I think Vonleh is our best PF for now.

https://www.blazersedge.com/2017/10/11/16463460/noah-vonleh-injury-news-portland-trail-blazers
 
My only reservation with Vonleh is that he seems so passive on offense. It's fine that he's OK being the fifth wheel on the starting unit, but he needs to at least be a "wheel" when he's out there. It felt like they were playing 4 on 5 at times last year.
 
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Nikolokolus said:
My only reservation with Vonleh is that he seems so passive on offense. It's fine that he's OK being the fifth wheel on the starting unit, but he needs to at least be a "wheel" when he's out there. It felt like they were playing 4 on 5 at times.
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I didn't think he was that passive at the end of the season. In April he had games where he was 6-8, 6-9, 5-8.....
He seemed to be breaking out of his passiveness as a starter.
 
I think we’re making guesses based on Vonleh/Nurk Vonleh and preseason Collins/Biggie.

Neither situation provides an optimal view. I’ll be curious how the rooks look when things get real. Also how Vonleh does without having a training camp/preseason-does he immediately step up or does he struggle?

Gramps...
 
Stotts going have to make hard decision to make who going to be in his front court rotation. Due to Swanigan and Collins and Davis and Aminu all show enough to get minutes. With Vonleh coming back that another front court player the properly deserve minutes. I know Collins and Davis can get minutes at center but it will be hard decision for Stotts and his coaching staff.
 
Pinwheel1 said:
I didn't think he was that passive at the end of the season. In April he had games where he was 6-8, 6-9, 5-8.....
He seemed to be breaking out of his passiveness as a starter.
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That's a very small sample size.
 
Trackjack said:
Stotts going have to make hard decision to make who going to be in his front court rotation. Due to Swanigan and Collins and Davis and Aminu all show enough to get minutes. With Vonleh coming back that another front court player the properly deserve minutes. I know Collins and Davis can get minutes at center but it will be hard decision for Stotts and his coaching staff.
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Maybe this hard decision will lead to a blessing in disguise later on though.
 
Vonleh is a taller, more athletic, less aggressive version of Swanigan. I don't think anyone would doubt Vonleh covers the perimeter better than Biggie. Vonleh also is a bit better presence against taller post players. I saw Swanigan looking a bit short in some matchups the past few games. Vonleh is also second only to Harkless in those sweet Nurkic back door plays.

Honestly, I like Swanigan, but I don't think he will ever be the defender Vonleh is (or will be). Collins is probably already a better defender, and if he keeps taking proper shots is the most likely to displace Vonleh to me--but Collins still needs some seasoning and will probably get eaten alive a few games by experienced PFs.
 
Its going to be very logjammed at the 4 when he comes back. Especially if Biggie and Collins impress( not that they akready aren't) within the window of time he is gone. Its going yo be up to Stotts to go by either srnority or talent. I hope he chooses the latter.
 
Chris Craig said:
Its going to be very logjammed at the 4 when he comes back. Especially if Biggie and Collins impress( not that they akready aren't) within the window of time he is gone. Its going yo be up to Stotts to go by either srnority or talent. I hope he chooses the latter.
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What if he chooses "potential"?

(Or is that that same as "talent"?)
 
BBert said:
What if he chooses "potential"?

(Or is that that same as "talent"?)
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think I would include that on the talent side.
 
We always hope for the development to come right away and then get slapped with reality. It's just how life is. Vonleh for another year or so is a good thing. The rooks need to come off the bench and learn from experience. At the trade deadline they will reevaluate to see if we need to make a change. Vonleh's contract at that time will come into play. If the rooks aren't ready maybe they keep him. If not....
 
I read the Nuggets board a lot at the end of last season when we were fighting them for 8 seed. Many posters there said that they think Vonleh will become a legit DPOY candidate. What do you think?
 
Vonleh and Meyers would look really good in other uniforms.
 
Only Vonleh and Aminu can start at the PF position, so it's good that he's coming back.
 
KingSpeed said:
I read the Nuggets board a lot at the end of last season when we were fighting them for 8 seed. Many posters there said that they think Vonleh will become a legit DPOY candidate. What do you think?
Click to expand...

I think that's taking it too far... maybe 2nd or 3rd team All-Defense :-)
 
I don't think he should even play.
 
BonesJones said:
What're you talking about? We have 5 players that could start at PF..
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No we don't.
If you want to start both Dame and CJ, you will need the other 3 guys to do their job defensively.

How many bigs do we have who can switch on smaller guys? do we really need more scorers next to Nurkic,Dame and CJ??

I know it's fun seeing our rookies thru rose colored glasses, but there's no chance in hell either of them start this season if Vonleh/ Aminu/Harkless are healthy.
 
Blazers Roy said:
No we don't.
If you want to start both Dame and CJ, you will need the other 3 guys to do their job defensively.

How many bigs do we have who can switch on smaller guys? do we really need more scorers next to Nurkic,Dame and CJ??

I know it's fun seeing our rookies thru rose colored glasses, but there's no chance in hell either of them start this season if Vonleh/ Aminu/Harkless are healthy.
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Dude, switching isn't the solution to us playing better defense. Getting through screens and not switching is the solution. Every switch creates two mismatches, unless the players are compatible in terms of switchability (ex. Harkless + Aminu). So even though Vonleh might be able to do an okay job when switched onto an opposing PG, you'll still have Lillard stuck on somebody like Anthony Davis. If you end up with Lillard on Anthony Davis, it's bad defense.

So we need a PF that can defend his position as well as play team defense. In that case, we have 4 guys that could start there and do that: Vonleh, Aminu, Davis, Collins. It's still up in the air whether Swanigan can bring that, but even though he's as good as the other 4 in that area, he makes up for it with rebounding and offensive talent.

But there's no chance in hell because... why? You are secretly Terry Stotts? Or is it that the number 1 requirement for our starting PF is that they can guard PGs, SGs, and SFs...?
 
Blazers Roy said:
No we don't.
If you want to start both Dame and CJ, you will need the other 3 guys to do their job defensively.

How many bigs do we have who can switch on smaller guys? do we really need more scorers next to Nurkic,Dame and CJ??

I know it's fun seeing our rookies thru rose colored glasses, but there's no chance in hell either of them start this season if Vonleh/ Aminu/Harkless are healthy.
Click to expand...
Agree. I love the potential of the rookies and I expect both to eventually be big contributors. But Vonleh's defense is needed in that starting unit right now. Depending on his growth curve, I fully expect Collins to take over that role in the near future though.
 
BonesJones said:
Dude, switching isn't the solution to us playing better defense. Getting through screens and not switching is the solution. Every switch creates two mismatches, unless the players are compatible in terms of switchability (ex. Harkless + Aminu). So even though Vonleh might be able to do an okay job when switched onto an opposing PG, you'll still have Lillard stuck on somebody like Anthony Davis. If you end up with Lillard on Anthony Davis, it's bad defense.

So we need a PF that can defend his position as well as play team defense. In that case, we have 4 guys that could start there and do that: Vonleh, Aminu, Davis, Collins. It's still up in the air whether Swanigan can bring that, but even though he's as good as the other 4 in that area, he makes up for it with rebounding and offensive talent.

But there's no chance in hell because... why? You are secretly Terry Stotts? Or is it that the number 1 requirement for our starting PF is that they can guard PGs, SGs, and SFs...?
Click to expand...

I think That "Getting through screens and not switching" is nice in theory, but you know that's not Stotts basketball and you know that half the league use illegal screens nowadays. Are you really going to get through a Draymond Green screen while he has his knee or elbow in your gut?
-Davis is a liability, you can leave him open because he can't shoot and he's too slow to defend anyone quicker than him.
-Collins and Swanigan are making too many mistakes out there and they lack experience against Pro players.
I'm not "secretly Terry Stotts", but i know that Terry Stotts don't like to gamble on his record using inexperienced,young players.

Would you put your job on the line and give key roles to fresh young employees?


I wonder why you mock my opinion...
Or is it that the number 1 requirement for our starting PF is that they can guard PGs, SGs, and SFs..."
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I mean, this is where the league is going right?... Look at the Warriors,Milwaukee and how they're built ,The Cavs with Lebron and Tristan at the Center,OKC's success 2 years ago with Adams being able to switch on guards, Spurs with Kwai at PF vs Spurs with LMA playing with Gasol, Mavs winning a championship with Shawn Marion at PF, Heat defense was basically non stop switching on defense + why they had to move Bosh to Center and Lebron to PF.

I think my opinion on this aspect is valid.
 
Blazers Roy said:
I think That "Getting through screens and not switching" is nice in theory, but you know that's not Stotts basketball and you know that half the league use illegal screens nowadays. Are you really going to get through a Draymond Green screen while he has his knee or elbow in your gut?
-Davis is a liability, you can leave him open because he can't shoot and he's too slow to defend anyone quicker than him.
-Collins and Swanigan are making too many mistakes out there and they lack experience against Pro players.
I'm not "secretly Terry Stotts", but i know that Terry Stotts don't like to gamble on his record using inexperienced,young players.

Would you put your job on the line and give key roles to fresh young employees?


I wonder why you mock my opinion...
I mean, this is where the league is going right?... Look at the Warriors,Milwaukee and how they're built ,The Cavs with Lebron and Tristan at the Center,OKC's success 2 years ago with Adams being able to switch on guards, Spurs with Kwai at PF vs Spurs with LMA playing with Gasol, Mavs winning a championship with Shawn Marion at PF, Heat defense was basically non stop switching on defense + why they had to move Bosh to Center and Lebron to PF.

I think my opinion on this aspect is valid.
Click to expand...
Which is why I've always said Stotts needs to fix his defensive schemes and develop a better defensive mentality. Half the league uses illegal screens, yet good defensive teams still find a way to get through screens.

I'm not mocking your opinion. I do disagree. Sorry if it came across as mocking it.

Any PF is going to make mistakes. None of them are good enough to not make a bunch of mistakes. All of them come with their flaws, which is why all of them could start. No one PF is above the rest.
 
rotary111 said:
We always hope for the development to come right away and then get slapped with reality. It's just how life is. Vonleh for another year or so is a good thing. The rooks need to come off the bench and learn from experience. At the trade deadline they will reevaluate to see if we need to make a change. Vonleh's contract at that time will come into play. If the rooks aren't ready maybe they keep him. If not....
Click to expand...

Meh, somebody's gonna offer him Somme Crabbe type deal and NO will have learned from his mistake.
 
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