Either or we are still good. If we suck this year fine we’ll have a great pick to package or use for ourselves. Then when Nurk and Zach are back healthy next year we’ll have more weapons. So I don’t see the big deal about this year
I think your list is a fair assessment of how things have gone so far. With poor defense being the number one most obvious problem. Hero ball being second. Who on this roster is known as a defensive stopper besides kent Bazemore? Collins has looked solid in stretches if he can remain out of foul trouble and whiteside will get a couple blocks here and there but otherwise we are weak on the defensive end. The hero ball comes from the top two guys. Dame and CJ with CJ being the worst offender. What are CJ's assist numbers anyways? Because to me it seems like whenever he catches the ball with less than 10 seconds on the clock he does some fancy dribbling and shoots it. Sometimes he makes it and sometimes he doesn't but from a casual observers perspective i know what to expect from him in that situation.
Through 7 games, CJ has a PER of 12.2 and Lillard has a PER of 30.7. CJ has a WS/48 of -0.006 and Lillard has a WS/48 of .284. Please don't lump CJ and Dame together as if they're the same entity. Dame has been absolutely carrying our team and CJ has been actively hurting us.
I was saying they both play hero ball. Which they both without a doubt do. Dame is just better at it and is more of a willing passer than CJ is. The PER numbers you've quoted speak to that.
When it comes right down to it I think a lot of us underestimated the positive impact of the players we lost. None of them were world beaters but they had learned to fill in the gaps around Dame and CJ and as a team they were able to deliver more than the sum of their parts. None of the new guys are there yet. I don't think they are going to get there this year. I know it's a bit early to throw in the towel but I feel like we are already at the point where we should just let the kids play and not worry about wins and losses. I wanna see if we have anything in Nassir Little and Gary Trent Jr. We are losing anyway, we might as well try to develop the youth we have. If we don't make the playoffs as a result, so be it.
In a lot of ways i think you are right. Last years bench was the deepest bench we've had in recent memory. This year it's hard to say what we have. There isn't the same level of proven talent. This team played its best basketball when Nurk was healthy. Dame running pick and rolls with Nurk while everyone else spread the floor won us a lot basketball games last year. So until Nurk is 100% healthy i say limit Dames minutes and give the young guys some run.
It's really hard to be as excited about this season as I was two weeks ago. Collins going out for (likely) the season is such a gut punch. I don't understand how the OP can complain about anything related to Dame. He's basically the only thing worth watching right now, and it's not like if he passes it more we're likely to score more. Other people sucking and our lack of decent/healthy forwards simply can't be pinned on Dame. I'd like them to look at offers for CJ (as I've wanted them to for the past 3 years) but he's playing so badly and on such a huge contract I don't see us getting offered much. The West is so tough right now. I feel like Gasol could plug some of our holes if he ever plays, but by the time he's healthy we could be out of the playoff run. It really feels like this is going to be a wasted season, right in the middle of Dame's prime. Such a shame.
I can see that, the injury to Zach and waiting for Nurk to recover is a bummer. We still get to see Dame and Simons though. Its also super early still we all knew their schedule was rough to start the year, plenty of time to correct some the early problems.
That's true. Simons is definitely a bright spot too. I feel about the team now like I did after Nurkic broke his leg. I was wrong then to be so glum, so maybe I'm wrong now too.
This is best case scenario and they'll have to survive awhile under tough circumstances but... Simons and Skal benefit and develop faster because they get more playing time with lower expectations. CJ gets out of his funk and learns to distribute the ball better (he had 6 assists and no turnovers last game, which is positive if he shoots better). He can't be traded until Jan 30th anyway so we might as well accept he's not going anywhere. Zach and Nurk come back at the end of the year and provide some front court help just before the playoffs. A couple of nice additions are made either via trades or the buyout market like what Hood and Kanter did for this them last year. None of those are that crazy. If they make the playoffs they could be peaking at the right time with a fully healthy and stacked lineup.
This is the problem, now I see it, CJ is 006! Much like in the Golden Eye movie where James Bond has to force his once duo 006 Trevelyan, he turns against him and becomes his nemesis. Damn why didn't I see this before?
