Notice nurk is unhappy with his role

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by Mr. Robot, Nov 13, 2021.

  1. Buffalo Custard

    Buffalo Custard Well-Known Member

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    The underlying issue here is that this is a contract year for Nurk. Before you shell out big bucks to re-sign him, you need to answer 3 questions.

    1) Is he the player he was before the injury?
    2) Does he really want to be here?
    3) Is he the type of center we need?

    At this point, I'm not sure what the answers are. We need to get this right.
     
  2. andalusian

    andalusian Season - Restarted

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    Can't expect me to check the auto-correct on my phone. I have fixed at least 5 mistakes in this post before giving up. It is what it is.
     
    Last edited: Nov 13, 2021
  3. Phatguysrule

    Phatguysrule Well-Known Member

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    Obviously not good enough...
     
  4. wizenheimer

    wizenheimer Well-Known Member

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    Nurkic touches: 49.3 this year; 51.4 last year. So, 2.1 fewer touches. About a 4% reduction. Doesn't seem like much but I suppose if he was thinking that Billups was going to involve him more, like he said, it would be disappointing

    just to be clear, I think Nurk has been real solid this season, especially on the glass and on defense. But I question if he should be making waves 13 games into the season of a 1st year HC when a lot of things aren't working well for Portland

    by the way, Dame has the ball in his hands for 392 seconds a game this season. Last season, he had the ball in his hands 501 seconds a game. Almost 2 minutes less this year. Dame dribbles 356 times a game this year. Last season, he dribbled 457 times a game. 101 fewer dribbles. Looks like CJ has simlar reductions although by not as much

    https://www.nba.com/stats/players/t...ir=1&Season=2020-21&SeasonType=Regular Season
    https://www.nba.com/stats/players/touches/?sort=TEAM_ABBREVIATION&dir=1
     
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  5. Phatguysrule

    Phatguysrule Well-Known Member

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    He's missing too many inside 5ft as well...
     
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  6. andalusian

    andalusian Season - Restarted

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    Nurk is who he is and who he has always been, expecting things to change into year 8 of his NBA career is unreasonable. He is an above-average defender and a below-average offensive player. Unfortunately for him, he is more suited for the NBA of 10 years ago than the NBA of today. He is attractive to Portland mostly because they play so many small players and he is a great last line of defense. In a way, Nurk's attractiveness to Portland is because they insist on playing CJ and Dame together. Frankly, the modern NBA has evolved to what we see with Miami for example, bigger wings, more mobile center (Bam). Once the Blazers adjust the roster makeup - I just do not see why Portland would go out of their way to retain him.

    Frankly, if I were put in charge of the Blazers, I would seriously look at ways to replace CJ and Nurk with either a couple of bigger wings or a wing and a mobile center - it's time to bring the team roster to the modern NBA and stop being cute with whatever is left of Dame's prime.
     
  7. Rastapopoulos

    Rastapopoulos Well-Known Member

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    If this counts as "making waves" then once again I feel very old and out of touch. I question whether Chauncey would even be aware of this unless somebody made it their business to call it to his attention.
     
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  8. blazerkor

    blazerkor Well-Known Member

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    If you don't think that teams monitor their players' social media then you are a bit out of touch. I guarantee every team has people checking all of their players' socials and reporting the info back. I'm also sure the coaching staff is kept up to date. If a team has a tool to gain insight into where their players' heads are at, why on earth wouldn't they use it?
     
  9. SlyPokerDog

    SlyPokerDog Woof! Staff Member Administrator

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    Looking at those stats Nurk might make the all star team this year.

    That would be nice in a contract year.
     
  10. bobf

    bobf Well-Known Member

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    Interesting. Yeah I’d prefer Nurk wouldn’t bitch.

    I do want to know how PPP is calculated as you cited or where I can find out.

    In 2018-2019 Nurk’s PPP ie points per major possession rivaled Dame’s, the way I calculate it at least. I am using actual possessions not estimated. I’m also giving a bonus for fouls drawn and for points following a players missed shot even if that player didn’t score - because some player’s shots generate significantly more offensive rebounds than others. But even without those adjustments Nurk’s PPP will rival Dame’s.

    Also I’d put PPP in the category of “scoring” rather than “offense” which is broader - incudes things like assists, screens, offensive rebounds - of course harder to measure.

    But in 2018-2019 Nurk was quite efficient. And this year he is way more efficient than Dame or CJ.
     
  11. Mr. Robot

    Mr. Robot Well-Known Member

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    the guy who hasnt bought in must be roco and i can understand that, surely its frustrating to play in this offense

    chauncey billups needs to find the way to involve nurk & roco more in the offense, dame & cj mccollum need to take a step back

    perhaps the analytics say its best for the team if they take most of the shots, but in that case, were playing 3 on 5 on offense, nurk & roco are non factors and it will cost this team
     
  12. Mr. Robot

    Mr. Robot Well-Known Member

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    i really cant understand why its problem to involve nurk & roco more in the offense

    just give it time, a lot of time, even if there are problems with it, we can always revert to old iso bball, that will always be available with guys like dame, cj mccollum & powell
     
  13. bobf

    bobf Well-Known Member

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    They are picking up the slack. Almost the whole team is highly efficient compared to Dame (and CJ) on the shots they take. What can anyone do to compensate for wasted possessions on poor shooting? There are only so many possessions in a game.

    Here are the Blazers PPP the way I calculate it from game events. Points / Possessions used shooting or FT's (not turnovers). Bonus for drawing fouls. Continuation points counted on missed shot.

    Zeller 1.400
    Powell 1.355
    Little 1.351
    Nurkic 1.291
    RoCo 1.243
    Simons 1.208
    Nance 1.180
    McCollunm 1.104
    Dame 1.041 (267 possessions)

    Dame 1.316 2020-2021
    Dame 1.305 2019-2020

    Look at Dame compared to last two years. 0.3 PPP lower. On 267 possessions this year that's -80 points -6 points per game down the tubes. It would take a superstar to compensate for that and we don't have any other superstars.
     
  14. wizenheimer

    wizenheimer Well-Known Member

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    forget about another superstar. That ain't happening since there are only a few of them in the league. It's debatable Dame is even at that level when he's playing well. The problem is Portland doesn't have anybody remotely close to all-star. All those role players in that list above Dame can't do more than play supporting roles. CJ rarely does more than support.

    Dame's doing half his job, running the offense, better than he ever has, which is part of the reason those PPP's for the other players are where they are. But he's playing with supporting actors. No other leading actors. And Portland desperately needs another besides Dame

    so again, when Dame isn't carrying the Blazers, they are a .500 team; maybe a little better, maybe a little worse. You can keep blaming Dame for Portland's situation this season, that's got legs. But it was Dame's legs that got Portland to the point that a .500 record looks like failure after Dame's first 9 seasons
     
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  15. Fairly-Hard

    Fairly-Hard Former Member Gone New!

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    All of this conversation is great and all but let’s see him play an entire season. Even 65-70 games without injury.
    Not talking about a sprained ankle. Talking about broken bones and other significant stuff.
     
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  16. royo

    royo Well-Known Member

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    Nurk have to sit and watch some Shaq tapes. You are 7. You have to earn it. You have to fuckin take it from them.
    You have to make midgets fear you => coach use u => fans respect the power.

    I don't even know what he is trying to play atm. Olajuan? Aldridge?

    Some self confidence on the floor wouldn't harm him too.
     
  17. Freshtown

    Freshtown Well-Known Member

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    He’s just not good enough to be a malcontent.
     
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  18. Pinwheel1

    Pinwheel1 Well-Known Member

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    If he is really unhappy....too fucking bad. But you never know for sure. I assume he wants better stats so he can get paid more this summer.
    I just don't think he is good enough offensively for a bigger role.
     
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  19. wizenheimer

    wizenheimer Well-Known Member

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    yeah, I think there's frustration because this his contract year and he's thinking he may be losing millions by not being a featured player
     
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  20. AldoTrapani

    AldoTrapani Well-Known Member

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    Man this guy acts like he’s a superstar. This is why I never was high on this guy. He’s always bitching
     

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