Exclusive Hezonja to the Blazers

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by Blazer509, Jun 30, 2019.

  1. TorturedBlazerFan

    TorturedBlazerFan Well-Known Member

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    Fair enough, Im not predicting he’ll leave because of it. Just think its also not out of the realm of believability either. My guess is, he starts this year at PF gets to play some small ball Center gets like 12-14ppg 6rpgs and 1.5bpg and makes quite a frontcourt tandem with Nurkic / Whiteside and is happy, but heck I have no idea what makes some of these guys tick. Some of them seem to never quite find what makes them happy.
     
  2. James lamphear

    James lamphear Well-Known Member

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    He also said wants to start too. He also have what ever he has to do to help the team to win.
     
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  3. Reep

    Reep Well-Known Member

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    Zach certainly wants to start, but is also realistic about where he is in his skill set. You can't demand a bigger role or leave when you can't stay in games because of foul trouble, and are only averaging 4 Reb/game as a 4/5.
     
  4. wizenheimer

    wizenheimer Well-Known Member

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    you're doing an analysis on incomplete context. Turner was signed as a ball-handler/play-maker. Nurkic wasn't. One of Nurkic's primary jobs is to set screens. That's not a primary job of Turner

    but diving a little deeper into the numbers:

    * Turner had 283 assists and 114 turnovers. A 2.48 assist/turnover ratio

    * Nurkic had 233 assists and 168 turnovers. A 1.39 assist/turnover ratio

    * Turner had 108 turnovers from ball-handling and bad passes (6 from offensive fouls). That left an adjusted assist/turnover ratio of 2.62

    * Meanwhile Nurkic had 51 turnovers from offensive fouls and other (4). That left him an adjusted assist/turnover ratio of 1.99

    yes, Turner was still better but the differential wasn't as big as the numbers would indicate

    More then that, Nurkic operates a lot more in the paint than Turner did. He was making passes from there and he was making moves and pivots from there. When he has the ball he's in a part of the floor that's naturally higher in turnover rate. Meanwhile, in the Stotts offense, Turner is moving the ball around the perimeter a lot more than Nurkic and that's a lower turnover area that results in easier assists. Often, when Nurkic is on the perimeter he's attempting screens. That's why he had 6 times the offensive fouls as ET

    http://www.82games.com/1819/1819POR.HTM
     
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  5. blazerfan11

    blazerfan11 Well-Known Member

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    This is the Mario Hezonja thread. My point was that it will be difficult to match the assist production of Evan Turner and that there are many people who put very little value on his passing ability.
     
  6. wizenheimer

    wizenheimer Well-Known Member

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    Thinking about the Hezonja signing with a little distance for perspective:

    I wasn't impressed with the signing at first starting with the fact that so far, he's shown to be a poor perimeter shooter....turner flahback kicked in.

    but since then: I saw his interviews and he was articulate, poised, and displaying a good sense of humor. And one thing Olshey has been very good at is adding intelligent, high character players. At first glance, Hezonja seems to fit that template

    then there's the swing-for-the-fences dynamic. That's what happened when Nassir Little fell to 25th; the Blazers had an opportunity for a home run swing. Odds are it will be a foul ball but you never know and it's a case of nothing ventured nothing gained.

    I think that's similar to the Hezonja signing. It's obvious Hezonja thinks he can provide some PG skills. I think Olshey is rolling the dice that Hezonja can be Portland's Draymond Green. And if that's too lofty, maybe he can be Portland's Boris Diaw. The really encouraging thing is if he does hint at either of those upsides, Portland will actually have enough cap-space next summer to re-sign him

    I'd also say we need to come up with a shorter version of Hezonja...that takes too long to type...kind of like Przybilla. Hez?
     
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  7. andalusian

    andalusian Season - Restarted

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    May I suggest vanilla lemur?
     
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  8. BBert

    BBert Weasels Ripped My Flesh

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  9. mook

    mook The 2018-19 season was the best I've seen

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    Most of his career Hezonja wasn't used as a ball handler. Guys playing off the ball generally have higher turnover ratios because they're back is turned more often to the opponent and they are the recipient of sometimes bad passes, etc.

    I don't know if he can be a better ball handler than Turner. But I watched highlights of all 3 of those last 3 games he had with the Knicks, and I have a damned hard time imagining Turner doing as well in the same role.

    In 200+ games with Portland, I don't think you can point to 3 games where Turner did as well as Hezonja did in those 3 games.
     
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  10. BigGameDamian

    BigGameDamian Well-Known Member

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  11. SheedSoNasty

    SheedSoNasty Well-Known Member

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    I have a bad back. That exercise looks like I’d be ruined for life after trying it out.
     
  12. Reep

    Reep Well-Known Member

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  13. Scalma

    Scalma Well-Known Member

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    Last edited: Sep 3, 2019
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  14. Labinot41

    Labinot41 Well-Known Member

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    I stil don't know what to think about Hezonja
     
  15. TorturedBlazerFan

    TorturedBlazerFan Well-Known Member

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  16. Reep

    Reep Well-Known Member

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    None of can really know what to think until we seem him playing in Stotts' offense with his new teammates. He could just as easily be a bust as a great get. I like his skill set though and I think he could be amazing.

    I was recently watching highlights of Bird passing to McHale and Parish. It was amazing and fun. Not saying Hezonja is anything near Bird, but if he can get minutes at the SF spot with Collins and Whiteside/Nurkic with Dame/CJ/Hood/Simons spotting up that could really be fun to watch. He does have some of those instincts in passing, just needs to clean up the errors a bit.
     
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  17. Scalma

    Scalma Well-Known Member

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    The way I view it is either Hezonja breaks out in Portland or he’s in Europe in two years (he’s got a player option for next year that’s almost $2M, don’t see him turning it down unless he earns a bigger payday. That’d be a significant salary in Europe)

    This is his best opportunity. He has a franchise with structure and stability with a coach who empowers his players. The opportunity for playing time is there, and if I had to guess, he’s probably getting first crack at a rotation spot. There’s really no excuse.
     
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  18. kjironman1

    kjironman1 Well-Known Member

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    Pretty sure you are correct. He will get his shot. Might even be that "Stotts 20 game" thing that he does with players. It's all up to him if he makes it here.
     
  19. Labinot41

    Labinot41 Well-Known Member

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    Let's hope he isn't the new Stauskas or Connaughton
     
  20. hoopsjock

    hoopsjock Well-Known Member

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    If he is does it really matter? Not everyone is going to get minutes and he can be a throw in on a trade like Stauskas was last year.
     
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