Kinda stupid take, and a bit lazy. Not surprising from ESPN. 2015 Warriors are the model for us. - Dame essentially replicated Steph's numbers from his MVP season last year. No reason why he shouldn't this year as well. - Nurk is better than Bogut was on both ends. And he was great at finding open guys on 4 on 3 situations like Green was. - Roco/Zach together should add up to what Draymond was to some extent. - CJ/Gary/DJ together might combine together to add up to what Klay and Iggy were on offense/defense. - On top of that we have Kanter and Giles, who are better than any of their bench bigs (Ezeli/Speights). - Melo/Ant/ Hood should make up what Livingston/Barbosa/Barnes were that year. I think we have very similar players when you kinda combine pieces and look at guys' roles and squint hard enough. Just need good health, chemistry, and a much improved defensive style. Keeping guys engaged when not playing is gonna be a huge task for Terry this year. Need guys to buy in.
We are going to have 0 problems scoring this year (if healthy) against any defense because of our versatility. We have post threats in Nurk and Enes who can score down low. CJ is probably our best scorer against single coverage even in the playoffs. Dame can get whatever he wants until he gets trapped. DJ is crazy active moving off the ball who is gonna always be a rim running threat. Melo/Hood/Gary/Roco are LEGIT three point threats if left open. This isn't Aminu/Hood/Turner. Everything this year will come down to defense. I saw more zone last night than I have in a long time here, and it wasn't just situational like last year. We finally have pieces to clog the lanes and also be able to get out and run when turnovers are created. The versatility on both ends is ridiculous.
Here's the video btw. We wouldn't have been fighting for the 8th seed if we had Nurk for more than 8 bubble games, you dumbass. We would have been fighting for HCA last year if we were healthy.
good or bad? I heard nothing but good. But it was all bubble talk. Not about what he might or will do this season
So then you are saying Luka isn't a wing either obviously because look at his stats and where his shots come from? Do you want to go this route with Leonard? Harden? Really? When you have a star player you put the ball in his hands. When he is actually a star he does the things star players do. They get their own shot or get a pass to an open man for a better shot. LeBron James is 6-9. However he is talented enough that they actually list him as PF, SF, SG, PG. However his All-Star appearances have all been as a Forward ie: Wing. I rest my case.
ok, the problem I have with that argument is the definition of "playmaker". Those 3 guys are scorers in my view but they are not playmakers. A playmaker needs to be able to consistently run the offense without forcing lots of turnovers. Last year, those 3 guys combined for 4 assists & 3 turnovers in 84 minutes. That's 1.7 assists per 36. Their assist rate was around 6.5% while their turnover rate was around 8%. That's a ratio under 1.0 and that's not good at all a playmaker needs to be able to break down defenses and force defensive adjustments that his passing can capitalize on. Just taking the ball, going one-on-one and jacking up shots is being a scorer, not a playmaker. 5 years of CJ has proven that Portland has wing depth. They don't have any star wings. But mainly what they lack is balanced 2-way wings. Melo is a scorer, but a lousy defender. Same is mostly true of Hood, although he's a little better defender. RoCo and Jones are good-to-great defenders but their offense is not dynamic or consistent. Trent might be closest to a 2-way player, but he's never shown he can consistently create any of his own offense none of Portland's wings can run the offense; none are playmakers in my view. All have flaws and weaknesses in their games. They all bring good things to the floor, but it becomes bop-a-mole when you have to rely on 5 different wings to each bring something the team needs. Can't play them all at the same time as for wings, I think there's a broader effective definition than some are giving it. Lebron plays like a wing. Lebron's teammate, AD, spends most of the time playing like a wing. Giannis plays like a wing. Doncic is a wing we know what Portland's Achilles heel is: the offense stalls against good focused defenses when Dame is blanketed. Nobody else on the roster can effectively run the offense and break down opposing defenses. Portland has had no answer to that for 6 years and I don't really see an answer on this roster right now
Damian Lillard 23.3K Tweets See new Tweets Following Damian Lillard @Dame_Lillard They say the truth shall come to the light...so everybody grab ya shades cuz ya boy that bright. (Instagram: DamianLillard) linktr.ee/DamianLillardJoined March 2011 2,409 Following 2.3M Followers Followed by Reece (#1 Nassir Little fan), Eric Brandt, and 186 others you follow
i deleted fb from my phone for a reason. Im really trying to make this place really my only social media outlet. Ill leave it for someone else to forward. But if i read that right, you are following him? if so, tweet that shit to him(if thats how it works?) and tell him his loyals at S2 got his back!!!
We definitely need players capable of adequate defense against superstar wings, which hopefully we now have. It’s much less important that our offense comes from a superstar wing as long as we have the high- powered offense coming from somewhere. And the Blazers certainly have that! I remember a few years back when Damon Stoudamire talked shit saying Spurs would lose to us in a series because they only had Avery Bradley at PG, not a star. Well just like Damon overvalued his position and his abilities- so does PP
We just have to come to terms with the fact that we are going to be in the bottom three in assists every year. I don't really care about the iso heavy play as long as we're top 5 in offense. The playoff issues were a problem but we have addressed them with better shooting. The best shooting team we have had in recent history was 2018-19. Think this year is better. The best offensive lineups in the playoffs that year featured Curry/Hood/Collins/Leonard. We still have Hood and Collins, and have Trent and Melo instead of Curry/Leonard. And the other point I think we all have missed is Dame getting up to 40% on high volume from three. He was always in the 36-38 range earlier. That's a significant step up.
Two biggest questions for me this year: 1. Can we stay healthy? Nothing else matters. Can we stay healthy? When this team is healthy I think we can hang with anyone in the league. 2. Can CJ run the second unit? We have a ton of talent on the second unit now and we need someone that can distribute the ball. I am extremely skeptical of CJ as a point guard. GTJ can spot up. Melo can spot up. Hood can spot up. All CJ needs to do is fucking look around for the open man. It's not rocket science.
I would bet Simons hardly ever sees the floor. There are far more deserving players who need the minutes.