Nurkic and Kanter 48 Minutes at Center

They should be getting at least 60 combined minutes at center.

 

Yes, I think it's as obvious as assertions that Nurk and Whiteside could never play together and the assertion that Whiteside would never be re-signing here. Yet GM and coach were saying it would happen.

 

How long can Melo stay in the rotation unless he starts playing better? At some point every player knows if they are helping or hurting the team, and he’s hurting the team now and it’s sad to see. Hoping he turns it around quick because he can put up buckets.

 

See, I disagree with this. Even if it’s Melo, the coach and players know if a player is helping or hurting the team. It won’t be for 15 games or so but Melo won’t be in the rotation if he continues to play as poorly as he did the first two games. I don’t see Stotts as being beholden to playing Melo undeserved minutes unless I’ve missed something?

 

There is a point where his feelings are just that. "Feelings". If he truly wants to win he needs to play the role he is given. That will be to come off the bench when needed and do what the team needs him to do. Score and be the wily veteran that helps players improve. That is his role now.

 

He doesn't care about winning. Nothing he has ever said has ever eluded to him putting winning first. He's only ever talked about his "legacy" and how he's still skilled enough to be starting. It's very clear that his priority is scoring, and leaving his footprint on the game. Winning comes secondary and only matters if he's playing a big role in the winning aspect. Ever since the OKC days he's been an over the hill star who is out of touch with reality. The game has passed him by, and even if he was still in his prime I don't think he would be an all-NBA player in today's league.

The Blazers don't need him this year, they never did, which is why the signing was so baffling. He was a great story last year because his offense looked amazing compared to Anthony Tolliver, Kent Bazemore and Mario Hezonja. His defense didn't look any worse than those guys or Hassan Whiteside either, and he can get hot if you give him 30 minutes a night. We don't need any of that this year. We brought him back as a sign of good faith and gave him a charity role hoping he would somehow play good team basketball for the first time in his career.

What sucks is we're probably going to lose a few more games forcing this experiment to try to work because they aren't going to cut bait on Melo. Things were most likely promised or assumed behind closed doors because of Melo's stature, and they want to continue using Melo to show the rest of the league that we take care of our players.

 

I disagree. I think Melo wants a ring.

 

Well if he wants one he needs to be the best towel waiver ever

 

What hyperbole. I don't think they need more than 52, combined.

 

Can he put up buckets at an efficient rate though? As bad as his defense is, he needs to be far above average on efficiency, but his efg% last year was 48.5% compared to a league average of 49.66%.

 

Merge this thread with the other Melo one! Wrong thread title!

 

Finally have some depth how long has it been since we saw better talent forcing good talent to the bench. Last year Melo was what we had now good chance he’s being pushed to end of rotation or spot rotation. Obviously downside is talented people tend to get upset

 

In 48 min Giles would have 23 points and 27 rebounds.