Official 2018-2019 training camp thread

Well, for sure he's not 100% pure slasher, but he does look for and can get to the hoop for easy lay-ins or dunks.
I know he's mainly known for his shooting, but he moves very well without the ball and seems comfortable looking for seams and off the dribble.
We can call him Slashkus!

 

Thought experiment:

Whatever role and minutes Stotts has planned for Evan Turner this coming season: take that, and replace Evan Turner entirely with Wade Baldwin. Would we be worse off?
Yes, I realize this means Baldwin guarding SFs some of the time. So?

 

YouTube videos don't tell the true story. He's in no way a slasher.

 

Since you are a round ball junkie and official, I'll consider you may be right on this one.

 

Slasher is kind of an awkward term in my opinion. Like are you good at coming off of screens and diving to the basket? Can you dunk?
Sure Stauskus has at least a limited ability to do those things, but is that really his game? I’d say no. His game at least offensively is shooter with the ability to put the ball on the floor and has two to three dribbles of either going to the paint or take a step in and hit a shot.
Overall though he hasn’t proved to be very good at any of it.

 

Stauskas got to the line about 6 times a game his last year in college, which to me is a staple when talking about “slashers.”

Even if you look at his NBA stats, he gets to the line more (per/36) than all the other wings on the roster (Harkless, Turner, Aminu, and Layman.)

And he did that without the freedom he’s about to receive in Portland.

 

He definitely need to improve and be more consistent.
I read an article where he was compared growth wise to JJ Reddick as it took him 6 years to become consistent and effective.

 

You're really gonna hang your hat on a career average of 1.4 attempts per game?

 

What kind of freedom do you think he'll get here?
I don't really think of the Blazers offense as giving guys freedom. Except the few like 'ball' handlers, like Dame, ET, CJ, (bazz last year). I expect Stauskus to be kind of set up in a corner and maybe go to the basket once in a while...

 

His career average is 2.3 attempts a game per/36. That’s identical to Moe’s career average.

Stauskas also came into the league with a reputation of being able to get to the line.

Now in Portland he’s probably going to get a chance to create more, something Neil has already hinted at.

 

There’s a reason why guys like Connaughton, Moe, and Aminu didnt have the ball in their hands. It’s because they’re not ballhandlers. Stauskas can handle the ball. He can operate a pick and roll. He can pass. He doesn’t really turn the ball over. I think there’s an assumption here that he’s just going to stand in the corner and wait for the ball to come to him, but that’s not his game, that’s never been his game. It’s the box he was put into earlier in his career.

Now is he going to break out in Portland? I don’t know, but for the first time in his career, I think he’ll get the opportunity to fail at his own game.

 

I think he was put into that box because he wasn't very good though... Moe can take the ball to the hole, in fact good moe at the end of the year became much better at using his dribble to attack.
Maybe Stauskus comes to Portland and looks like a good player, we'll see.

 

He can take it to the hole yet gets to the line at the same rate as Stauskas? So either he’s not very good at attacking the basket, or Stauskas’ abilities are being overlooked.

 

I get there may be some correlation of going to the hole and amount of foul shots taken, but it's hard to say what the cause is. It could be a lot of different things.

 

Yeah I’m not even saying Stauskas is a James Harden, I just didn’t agree with him not being able to slash.

 

Major shrinkage. CJ does understand this is NOT how Gervin got his nickname?

I have done my share of ice baths (marathoning). Not a lot of fun, but very effective.

 

I love em! Especially when I was working out all the time ice baths, or like freezing cold showers so amazing...

 

Don't really want to start a new thread.

https://www.blazersedge.com/2018/8/...oenix-suns-cj-mccollum-portland-trail-blazers

Can't see any package that works. Clearly they aren't trading Ayton. Bridges isn't enough without more. They do have Chandler's expiring contract.

I would almost like to see this as it would likely be the worst defensive backcourt in the NBA.

 

Olshey would never but I’d do it for Chandler, Jackson, Okobo, and a pick.