Are people actually asking him wacky questions like that, or is he just responding to the voices in his head (Snapper, much love)?
Man. That lockout totally fucked Kemp up. He blew up liks a balloon after that. I don't think I've ever heard of a work stoppage fucking with a player's career harder. Maybe Matt Williams who could have broken the home run record and legitimately lost a HOF bid because of the 94 strike. But Kemp fell off the coke wagon.
To me, it's a serious question that needs to be answered, the sooner the better. If Portland can't afford to keep two centers, then do they need to trade one soon? Can Zach be a center in the modern NBA; can't see any reason why not.
What two centers? Zach is a power forward. Not only that but he’s locked in contractually for the next five seasons.
Leg power. It'll be hard to thicken those stilts. But Stotts' system might let him rove outside more, so maybe a center can get away with those toothpicks.
We've seen nothing yet to indicate that Nurk and Collins are not a perfect long-term pairing. Fix other roster problems before breaking them up for financial reasons. I've never bought into the company line that Collins is a center.
dear Mike, Nurk is playing his 4th year in the NBA and he is what he is, with big upside Collins is playing his 1st year in the NBA and has played couple of games, talented player with big upside too the thing is, as of now, Nurk is a sure thing, the worst thing that can happen is that hell stay the same player he is now, with Collins, hes not a sure thing as of now and nobody knows if and how much both of them are going to improve in the future so lets wait three years, see how good both Nurk and Collins are going to be and then you make a decision if you must
When we had Aldridge and Oden, everybody naturally assumed LMA was our PF of the future. Nobody really talked about him at center. Collins is maybe 2 inches taller than Aldridge, but he's got the same build LMA had when drafted, and he's got a lot of perimeter skills early on like LMA. It's odd to me that people would talk about Collins and Nurk as an either/or deal. One is a bruising center, and the other is an NBA PF. I know the game is getting smaller and faster, but I think we can run both of them. Especially if Collins continues to develop his three point shot (and Nurk focuses more on pick-and-rolls).
On a related note, if anybody in the media could please ask Stotts about Aminu I would really appreciate it. As in, "Do you see Chief as only being worth using as a Power Forward? You've never tried a lineup with Chief/Collins/Nurk, when that seems like an obvious way to put your best defenders out there. This despite running a myriad of starting lineups this season. Do you foresee a way for this trio to co-exist as starters? If not, why not?" This one questions just kills me. Especially now that Collins is starting to hit his threes.
Starting to hit his threes? Last 10 games for Collins 3pt shooting 1-1 1-2 0-0 0-3 0-3 0-0 1-3 1-4 1-3 1-1 What games are some of you watching? What channel is it on? Maybe Texas doesn't get that channel?
30% is pretty poor--at that rate, it's definitely not worth him shooting three-pointers, long-term. On the other hand, it's only one make away from a league average 35%. He's at least showing the potential to be an average three-point shooter and maybe even a plus one. Prior to those 10 games, he took many fewer per game and was under 30%. Raising his percentage a bit on significantly more shots I'd say is starting to hit his threes. But he's not yet where he needs to be as a real threat, of course.