And Terry. The whole respect bullshit about a HOFer coming off the bench, etc. And Melo's own disdain for it. Plenty of reasons why it's a bit shocking for Neil to be so candid about it.
I think he sees them as the two guys on the sides of the court. Call em whatever position you want lol
Just a slightly better version of that team: Older Dame > Younger Dame CJ = CJ DJJ = Mo (Maybe slightly better DJ or Mo? Not sure) Roco > Aminu Nurk = Nurk Enes = Enes Zach = Zach Hurt Hood < Hood (Maybe) GT > Seth (for defense) Melo > ET We'll see how it turns out. The WC is much different, but I'd argue these Lakers are not as good as the 4 superstar Warriors (what a stretch), so there is a chance if everything breaks right.
^^THIS^^ I think it's safe to say if we need a bucket at the end of the game you will see Melo on the court.
I think 17 minutes is perfect for him, but Kanter brings something that Zach doesn't. He can play the pick and roll with Dame/CJ at a comparable or maybe even slightly better than Nurk. That PNR was unstoppable against OKC in the playoffs two years ago. His defense sucks obviously, but we don't miss a beat with Kanter on the PNR with Dame or CJ.
Zack has not earned squat IMO, yes he's been hurt a good bit and that has "perhaps" hindered his development, but frankly when healthy he hasn't shown as much as I had hoped, big yr for him and his future as a Blazer and getting paid
It's going to be a matchup thing in the playoffs. Kanter was unplayable in the Warriors series, to the point where we started Meyers over him.
There are certain matchups where Kanter can really contribute - but the Blazers will be a better team if Collins is the one who earns those minutes.
I think Melo starts for that reason. I think they start him to see if it's a game where he has it going, and if he doesn't they just rotate him out and he plays 20ish minutes or whatever.
I like him in the second unit, and with this new roster we have a helluva lot more matchup versatility
dude, Olshey just explicitly talked about Melo off the bench and said he talked about it with Anthony before signing, and just spent a good 5 minutes answering questions about the rotation with Melo specifically coming off the bench. You STILL think he's starting?
IF he can stay healthy enough I think Giles can move ahead of Collins, he a good rebounder and passer and I think his offense will be solid enough without a 3 pt shot however (Collins 3 pt shooting lacked as well)
That means trying to get him a bunch of shots at the beginning of the game over Dame/CJ. Doesn't make sense to me since you want to maximize Dame and CJ's offensive production whenever both are in the game. Getting Melo shots off the bench makes more sense to me. In the same vein that we gave ET a ton of freedom playing backup point guard in 18/19 - Melo will be able to take some of those possessions since our bench is lacking creators.