Well, I said at the time that the two 1st round picks were too much to include since I did not see much of a difference between Covington and Little. But at least Covington is playing. (Is Ariza?) And I do think he is a good defender.
How isn't Elleby a waste of a roster spot ... and an asset in the second-round draft pick? Could Elleby make a positive difference for the Blazers if we had to play him? Does he have any upside? I don't see any. Hoard was a better positional and situational fit for the Blazers as a combo forward and he knew the system. I'm not saying he's great or even good, but being adequate makes him better than what we replaced him with.
Well, I guess if you mean Covington's on a roster and he's getting run as "Covington is playing," I guess I can't argue that. Producing? That's another matter entirely. And I wasn't making the direct comparison between Covington and Ariza. I was making the point that we wasted a lot of assets this offseason.
Funny that you’ve come to that conclusion already, even though his numbers in limited time have been good. 14.1 PER 54% FG 38% 3PT 16 ppg/36 So once again, how is he a waste of a spot?
For the same reasons I said above. I don't care what his stats have looked like in small-sample garbage time. Meaningless.
"How isn't Elleby a waste of a roster spot ... and an asset in the second-round draft pick? Could Elleby make a positive difference for the Blazers if we had to play him? Does he have any upside? I don't see any. Hoard was a better positional and situational fit for the Blazers as a combo forward and he knew the system. I'm not saying he's great or even good, but being adequate makes him better than what we replaced him with." I think that's more than zero. Maybe you learned common core counting, though.
I still see zero reasons why you don’t think he has any upside besides because I said so. As for Hoard, he plays like a five and is built like a three. Not a good combo. Almost all his buckets in the g league games I watched came around the rim on pure effort. That’s not really gonna work in the nba with his frame. There’s a reason why he’s not even on a two way contract. Could the entire league be missing something you’ve identified? Possibly, but not likely.
Your seeing zero reasons because you don't want to see them is your problem, Scalma, not mine. Same as me caring what you think of my opinion or my qualifications to evaluate his chances. Same as you intentionally misrepresenting my mentioning Hoard when I explained it twice. Elleby's slow. His size to play the 3 is average at best. He was not a good pick-and-roll guy at Washington State, so he either needs to develop that with his athletic deficiencies or he needs someone to set him up for his shot. If it's the latter, he needs to be able to move without the ball, be set up and be killer knocking down open shots. His shooting percentage when closely guarded in college was low, and it you watch him play now, you can see why: he's got a funky shooting form and he's not physically strong. He's can dribble, but he's not shown to be a guy who can set up teammates to score. He needs to jump off two feet. He can't get separation with defenders. Defensively, he's a liability. Don't believe me? Look at his evaluations coming into the draft. It's not just me saying this. It was pretty much everyone. He was considered a reach by the Blazers and quite likely a guy who wouldn't be drafted. Don't believe that? Did he perform well in the preseason? Did the Blazers give him a chance to even get a taste of minutes when the game was still in doubt even with all of the injuries? That brings me to the biggest thing of all: This team went as close to going all-in as Neil Olshey was going to go. They traded two first-round draft picks for a complementary player. That's a desperation move. It's a move you make because you think you are this close to playing for a title. You're betting your future on Robert Covington covering your deficiencies. From that perspective alone, reaching for a kid who lacks realistic upside and isn't going to be in your rotation especially when you lack healthy depth inside isn't sensible. Oh, and BTW, going back to your stats like PER for Elleby as support for his ability, I checked. Did you know what his PER ranking is this year? 200th. Know who's second? Moses Brown. Seriously, if you have an irrational love for the kid or maybe a tie to the kid, that's great. Super for you. But don't throw out your reason at the door because someone who is realistic doesn't have your same brand of rose-colored glasses. He's a Blazer and I'd love to see him succeed because of that, but I'm not going to be such a homer that I think the guy can be more than an end-of-the-bench guy in the NBA. I saw him in college and I've watched him in the pros and I just don't see him making a difference without an abnormal amount of improvement.
Let's get some Blazers length! https://i1.wp.com/cumm.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/celebrity-NBA-star-Greg-Oden-Nude.png?ssl=1
BTW ... I loooooooove when staff members and global mods go back and pick and choose old posts to try to take shots at forum members, especially when they were ghosts during the original discussions. You didn't see me saying anything to Scalma or about Elleby after the previous game. Yet suddenly here you are. Bush league. But I guess some people have to do stuff like this to feel good about themselves. Maybe next time you can man up and express an opinion beforehand, and we can all go back and evaluate your posts.
So do you still believe the scouting report you came up with or not? You still think he’s a defensive liability and a waste of a roster spot?
I believe it's one game and he played well and we won and I'm going to enjoy it. I'm not going to judge him on one game any more than I was going to come in here and pound my chest to you the previous game and said "I told you so. Are you willing to admit you are wrong?" If he proves me wrong, fantastic. If I'm proven right, it's no big deal. Fair? BTW, it's amazing to me that a mod who wasn't involved in the original exchange has to come in here and post something to support you and bring you back into the discussion at a time convenient to you three days later. Probably just a coincidence ....
