I was only able to catch the last eight minutes of the game so someone please fill me in how it really went? Did Scoot really get to play PG or was Simons pounding the ball a lot? This was my concern, those two being a terrible pairing. I think Simons plays best when he has the ball. Scoot will never be effective off the ball. I fully expected nerves to get to Scoot in game one, but the Clippers also are a good defensive team. Add in, vets love to take it to the rookies early on the results are no surprising. Simons and Brogdon are very good players, but I think they offer little to Scoot as they should be in winning scenarios, not in Portland. Scoot needs a vet like Dame had, Earl Watson. Nobody ever looked to Watson to start, compete or anything of the like. Career backup that can help teach the rookie. Get them through the highs and lows. And I know Simons started at SG, but he is ball dominant and Sharpe should be starting there. He gets to the rim at will and he is a streaky shooter like Simons.
Chauncey is bringing Scoot along the Chauncey Way: suck for your first three teams and five years before suddenly turning into a Finals MVP.
This thread is about Scoot so I'll keep it short. IMO. Sharpe looked great last night. He looks light years above what he was last year at this time. Just my opinion but Sharpe should be in the SG spot very soon.
I know there is a lot of hand wringing about Chauncy as a coach - and he certainly has his issues, but he and his team have definitely done a good job helping Sharpe develop, so that's something to be said in his favor.
If this is your philosophy I feel really bad for you as a Blazers fan for at least the next couple of seasons. You may get some peace by the trade deadline but on a rebuilding team guys just aren't earning their minutes by how they are playing now, they're earning minutes by how they are expected to be playing when we're trying to win games again.
I feel bad for me too. To be clear, I didn't say all 48 minutes at each position should go to the best player at said position.
Amen just last night, Jamal Murray, Cade, Melo Ball, and Kyrie Irving all looked worse in their first NBA game and they sure didn't turn out half bad.
Well what is that based on? Some huge percentage of the time that young players explode it's because they are traded to a team and then they get minutes and touches (Jermaine O'Neal) and are not buried on the bench, Injury of the player ahead of them (imagine the Patriots and Bill Belichiek if Bledsoe doesn't get injured...changes the entire NFL for 20 years), or they are force fed minutes and touches despite the outcome (Durant and Kobe both fit this mold among many, many others). Your idea of young guys earning minutes is such an old-school approach. It's why Sharpe is languishing on the bench when he is pretty clearly the 2nd best player on the team after Ant. I'm a bit surprised Scoot is starting TBH, because Billups clearly agrees with you to the point of giving Ant of all people primary playmaking during almost the entirety of the first half. It's almost like Billups knows he has to play Scoot, but wants to just give his best player the ball, like he has done throughout his career in Portland and disguising this as an offense. With Lillard it worked because Lillard would use the pick and roll to distribute, not just call his own number.
Amazing spin, just unreal in fact. Do you work for a PR firm? No doubt Jermaine benefited from playing with those guys, but equally obviously the moment he had minutes and touches he exploded. Dunleavy pulling Jermaine who was frustrating Shaq in Game 7 is a HUGE part of why we lost that game.
I do not work for a PR firm. Your spin that Jermaine being subbed out in Game 7 being a HUGE part of why the Blazers lost isn't something even I couldn't spin. So you may be the real PR master.
Yes, after a brief stint as primary playmaker, Chauncey incomprehensibly decided our shoot first combo guard Simons, should initiate the offense, and our no-shot PG should play off the ball. Unreal.
Yeah, no. He got fouls on Shaq and that game was close who knows what happens if we keep in JO to frustrate Shaq further and perhaps get more fouls on Shaq. We brought Arvydas back in to soon and he immediately picked up more fouls which killed us. Perhaps you don't remember the game, but I have it forever burned into my brain. Obviously the refs were the biggest factor, but Jermaine was awesome in his short stint against Shaq and gave us a different defensive look. The main point is, you are DEAD WRONG about not playing Scoot and Sharpe major minutes until they beat out guys who won't be on our team when we are actually competing. That's an unbelievably insane position to take given the past years of NBA history.
You might have missed the game but Scoot/Sharpe combined for 64 minutes, they didn't get buried. I thought people loved Billups when he arrived because he actually gave the young guys a chance? Now supposedly Sharpe playing 28 minutes is him "languishing" on the bench? And your take that Sharpe is the 2nd best player on the team seems like a major stretch. I'd guess he's the 5th or 6th best player on the roster. I'm not sure what Sharpe has done in meaningful NBA games to warrant such praise, but I can see some tools where he eventually becomes a top 2 player.
Since you put it in all caps, bold, and italics, and underline, it must be right. And they are getting major minutes, so you should be thrilled. JERMAINE NOT PLAYING IN THE 4TH OF GAME 7 WAS NOT A HUGE REASON THEY LOST
It's not JUST minutes hello? Scoot was playing off-ball half his minutes last night. Sharpe is often stuck in a corner and rarely is given the green light to get downhill and drive which is obvious from how he passes immediately on the perimeter. Instead we are wasting those touches and responsibilities on Grant who is extremely unlikely to be on the team after next summer, and Ant who is clearly another combo guard who plays mediocre defense and has a shoot-first mentality. Minutes where one is used ineffectively are almost worse than sitting on the bench because you get no touches and rhythm, worst case they can harm your confidence.
You should really watch the movie adaptation of a book that completely changed all sports into the modern form, namely "Moneyball.". If you prefer the written form, read the book. Your philosophy is outdated and just incongruent with modern sports realities.
PG is the hardest position for new players coming into the NBA to get the hang of. Considering we have a 19 year old running the PG with no college experience, there is going to be lots and lots of growing pains. Anyone judging him on one game, or even one or two seasons needs to get checked lol.
Yes, I'm aware, I watched the game. I did not see one player on the roster worthy of being fully catered around at the sacrifice of others. That's true for Ant, Grant, Ayton, Scoot, Sharpe, etc. I believe Scoot and Sharpe are going to continue to get far more opportunities this season than they would on an average NBA team. Hopefully they take advantage of it and it pays off.
