I've been critical of Duop, but it's hard to argue the effectiveness. Some combination of his shooting + knowing how to play just works with this team. Too bad he's rough defensively and on the boards.
All I know is, the coaches LOVE this kid. Works his ass off and has a great attitude. Been pleasantly surprised by hi play that’s for sure. Very cool guy if that means anything.
ill tell you something, im not missing nurk not being on our team at all after kanter > nurk, whiteside > nurk, eubanks > nurk, now we have duop > ayton, this forum certainly remains loyal to whatever this is
considering the huge differential in observable talent, that this is even brought up seems crazy. some statistical snapshots: ********************************************************************************************************************* and the on/off comparison: one other set of numbers is that opposing teams have an offensive rating of 115.0 when Ayton is on court and 114.5 when he's off court. Opponents have an offensive rating of 108.8 when Reath is on court and 116.3 when he's off court. Suggesting that Portland's defense is 0.5 points worse with Ayton and 7.5 points better with Reath **************************************************************** there are obviously other factors at work in these numbers other than just Ayton vs Reath. Like rotations and quality of opponents, etc.. Still, I'm a little surprised at how Portland plays with Reath vs how they play with Ayton. Not very surprised because I have always thought Ayton is overrated and that the least important position in today's NBA is C, unless that C has generational talent. I do think it's pretty notable that Reath is a poor rebounder for a C and not a paint presence on defense or a rim protector, but the Blazers appear to play better with Reath than with Ayton. Might just be some statistical skew and artifacts at this point but it's worth tracking. Of course, my bias is I'd rather have Nurkic than Ayton
Yep. Ayton looks way more talented out there but for whatever reason the Blazers play better with Reath on the floor. That was the point of the thread.
Is it possible..... that Sharpe's improvement has more to do with Anfernee Simons returning? Ayton has played a grand total of... what.... 2 quarters(?) with Simons. Reath has played the last three games with Simons. Reath hasn't even played 50% of the minutes that Ayton has this season. He has been the starter the last three games. I would think that would have a large impact on such a small sample size. How many minutes has Shaedon played with Reath compared to Ayton?
Shaedon has played 127 minutes with Reath. He has an ORTG of 119.89, 21.84 USG%, 61.59 TS%, 1.06 PPP He has played 465 minutes with Ayton. ORTG of 103.56, 2193 USG%, 50.7 TS%, and .84 PPP Of course, it's not a fair direct comparison, because it doesn't factor in everyone else on the court, and who the opponents are, etc.
Hasn't Ayton talked about wanting to be a PF before? I think we should grant him that opportunity. He seems like a PF trapped in a center's body.
Points in paint have been leaning heavily in opponents favor since Ayton's injury. It's not a sustainable way to keep games competitive. If the rapid fire Blazer 3-point shots stop falling, Portland is gonna get smoked on the scoreboard. Don't want to take anything away from Reath, he's been a very decent pick & pop role playing Center. But Ayton has shown a much, much better knack for getting stops, boards, and finishing around the rim.
Not even emergency really. I wouldn’t mind tossing him out there every game just to see if his jumpers on, or not. Mays is decent but damn does he dribble the air out of the ball with no real plan.
I’m not really interested in him during a year where we really compete. I want to double dip at center this year, and I think there are more than a few guys that would be better players than Reath right away. Even PJ Hall, a guy who a team will draft with no expectation that he will become anything more then a role player, is going to be way more effective right away because outside of being about to shoot a 3, he also will hustle on the boards and can protect the rim a little bit. I’d much rather draft him in the 2nd round and play him as a third string center than actually have Reath be a third string center.
Bingo. Sharpe is better off ball than being an initiator on offense. He looked uncomfortable in that role. Could be a reason why Ant and Dame never had huge performances in the same game but with Sharpe and Ant it's the opposite.
