Seems like a lot of you are pissed that Sharpe is not starting or playing "enough" minutes. For myself, I'm finding him very frustrating to watch. He just seems to drift in and out. I saw a play last night where he missed a dunk and then just stood there and watched, as if slightly dazed, without chasing the offensive board. And his defense is still clueless. "Yeah, but Anfernee..." - yes, Simons' defense is atrocious, but in a different way - it's more that he's just easy to push around, but he seems to know what he should be doing and trying to do it, whereas sometimes it looks like Sharpe is new to basketball. I'm team Chauncey here, but if he can't reach Sharpe then one of them has to go. Maybe Sharpe is just a space cadet? I'd be more forgiving but he's bricking an awful lot of shots these days. It's certainly true that with Anfernee you're surprised when his threes miss, whereas I'm kind of amazed when Shaedon's go in (they're so flat!) Sharpe has been a lot of ours' great hope for the Star-that's-already-on-the-roster. He certainly has star-like talent, but in the way that Ayton does, and with a similar problem above his shoulders. I would no longer be outraged if he was traded.
Agreed that Sharpe defense is more frustrating to watch than Simons, and Simons gives better effort. Kind of splitting hairs as all of Ayton, Sharpe, Simons are horrific on defense. I'd expect the Blazers move on from Billups in the summer as they'll want to cut costs. We'll have to see if Sharpe gets an extension.
I have complete faith that the Blazers will sign him to a near-max contract extension this off-season.
Chauncey has decided to make Sharpe an example and object lesson for what happens to a player who is playing bad defense defensive rating: Shaedon Sharpe 119 Anfernee Simons 121 defensive win shares (cumulative: all things same then more minutes = higher total): Shaedon Sharpe 0.6 (1418 minutes) Anfernee Simons 0.5 (1654 minutes) (Sharpe has 20% more def winshares while playing 17% less minutes) DBPM: Shaedon Sharpe -1.7 Anfernee Simons -1.9 Def. Rating in Last Night's Game: Shaedon Sharpe 129 Anfernee Simons 132 Def. Rating in 1st Denver Game: Shaedon Sharpe 141 Anfernee Simons 147 Def Rating in Minny Game: Shaedon Sharpe 120 Anfernee Simons 120 If Chauncey would have said that Simons just generates better results overall, OK. I don't believe that statement would have sufficient context but ok. However, he didn't say that; he explicitly said he was benching Sharpe because of defense, and I think everybody here can see the hypocrisy in that because we've been watching Simons be a sieve on defense for years. It doesn't matter which season, if you track back the 4 seasons that Simons has been a starter, he has been the worst on the Blazers in defensive rating, DBPM, and minutes adjusted defensive win shares; like clockwork. He was much worse than Sharpe on defense last night and the night before. obviously defensive metrics can be noisy. But when the same defensive stats show the same results for the same player player for 4 straight seasons, there's some credibility to the numbers. And that credibility demonstrates the inconsistency in Chauncey's claim
Don't disagree necessarily... Maybe Billups is grading on the curve. Simons is producing C level results, but his ability is C+ level. Sharpe is producing C+ level results, but his capacity is A- level. As a coach, you would push Sharpe harder to help him get closer to his peak performance.
I'd argue the Sharpe is a slightly better defender, but slightly worse relative to his position. It's close though. Sharpe is still playing plenty while Chauncey is choosing to limit the amount of time our two worst defenders share the floor and I'm ok with that decision. Obviously your mileage will vary on that decision depending on how much you want this team winning right now, but that's a whole other discussion. Also, while we'd all like to see Scoot and Shae starting, he's tried to maximize the minutes those two share the floor by bringing both off the bench.
After watching the post game show on K2.2, I've grown so tired of Danny Marang acting like Ants personal agent. His defense is still shit, yet he's not getting any kind of public shaming by the coach. ANd honestly, he's not part of the future of the franchise, so maybe don't throw Shaedon under the bus?
I heard stories from Sharpe's rookie year that he and his friends would show up to the PF and just rat ball. Nothing wrong with rat ball but other players would show up for treatment and to work on their games and it was problem. Dame would workout with anyone, including sharing his trainer and Sharpe would never join in. I've not heard those stories recently so hopefully he's putting the work in.
Well we are not inside Shaedon's head so trying to argue this is pretty pointless I will say that I think it forces Shae to be more aggressive which is something Chauncey has been trying to pull out of him...less likely for him to blend in when he's not out there with Deni and Ant. Yes, Chauncey could call more plays for him but part of becoming a star is seizing opportunities when they are not directly handed to you.
I'm sure he'll have one of those "moments" like Simons did. Hopefully this off season it clicks. Kinda tired of waiting for him to blossom.
I thought Sharpe played pretty well last night on offense. Yes he was cold from the arc, but he had 7 assists. So his head was in the game.
He has the body and athleticism to be everything we need. It’s frustrating to see him underperform but also get the shaft compared to how others have played.
I'm still on the team Sharpe, I'm not sure Billups is the best with development different personality types, He seems to gravitate towards players that remind him of himself (I could be wrong). Shae is still only 21 (turns 22 in the off season) and still hasn't even played 2 full seasons of games (hes at 159). I think Sharpe is held to a bit of a higher standard because Billups sees his potential but I'm not sure he knows how to unlock it. I think there's a solid chance if Billups sticks around they end up trading Sharpe and it ends up being a Jermaine O'Neal 2.0 situation. I hope I'm wrong though.
