It's now been 2 full months since Scoot started playing like a legit NBA player. That's 18/7 per 36. There are 12 players who have averaged that for a season before age 22 (over at least 1500 minutes). Guys like Isiah, AI, DRose, Kyrie, Luka, Ja, Cade, Lamelo. But none who also shot over 40% from 3. Scoot is demonstrating himself to be a unique player.
So... maybe all of those scouts who rated him highly weren't crazy after all? That would be very nice.
The turnaround is unbelievable. Last night, he backed a defender into the paint and took a stepback 3 that was off but looked good. I'm used to seeing great players add something to their game each offseason. Scoot seems to be adding elements to what he can do during the season. The steal early in the game where he just ripped it out of the hands of I think Collier during the gather was fantastic. It's too bad he couldn't complete that tip dunk in the 4Q, but how many PGs can do something like that and make it look normal?
Scoot looked very good last night. Showed he can finish with his left hand as well. He was very much under control. Did not force it much. Like everyone else on the team, he seems to play better with Deni on the court. A very solid 30 minutes. Hard to believe how well he has developed considering he does not start.
Need numbers to back me up but he just looks so much better when he plays without Simons. If he's deferring to Ant, his off ball utility is not nearly as impactful
Steven Vaughn just tweeted the same thing. I wanted to argue that his TO rate (about 3.2/36) isn't all that bad for a PG, but it's apparently top-10 for NBA PG's. And his A/TO is right at 2.0, but apparently average starters are around 2.5. So I guess I have to agree with you.
I don't think that is the case...anymore. Not since Scoot has upped his game. The ball movement from the whole team has improved in the last 17 games. I didn't think Scoot and Ant were a good pair either, nor was I sure about Scoot and Deni since Deni pushes the ball so much. But it is working. I have specifically watching for it. We see a lot more up tempo offense as opposed to Ant (or Dame or CJ ) walking the ball up the court. Now we see the offense initiated by multiple players and because Scoot's 3 pt shot looks so much better, even when he does defer to Simons or Den, he looks comfortable and confident out there. Last night, Scoot 6 assists, Ant 6 assists, Deni 5 assists. (Grant 3 and Camara 3) Whether or not we like the non-tank or not, there is still no doubt that the offense is a lot more fun to watch. (as well as the defense)
Of course; he's certainly improved over his rookie year, and he's likely to improve more. Just saying that's probably the most important and obvious thing for him to work on.
You don't say a lot about Shaedon. I guess this is a question that either doesn't get answered or is going to be positive but what do you think of him? Are people right to question his motivation/drive? He seems nice but maybe that's hindering him.
Shae is an enigma right now, his passiveness has been discussed endlessly and IMO it's a worry as is his defense. Chauncy challenged Scoot on his D and Scoot responded and has definitely upped his D and overall game, Shae was basically benched for his poor D and effort there, so far he has not responded very well to Chauncy's challenge as Scoot has. Shae has so much raw talent, but talent without drive is a waste. Frankly I am not sure what will happen with Shae, sometimes I think give him another year and then I think package him this summer so we don't have to take a big risk and pay him a big contract.
Chauncey's supposed challenge to Sharpe for his defense has no weight with Simons starting and getting all those minutes. I'm sure Sharpe isn't the only Blazer that sees that hypocrisy while watching from the bench as Simons is a turnstile of defense, play after play, game after game, season after season I don't know where Sharpe ends up as a player. The results so far have been disappointing. But before the Blazers give up on Sharpe they should give up on Billups and see if another coach can tap into Sharpe's potential or if the potential is a mirage.
So I guess the solution for the rest of the season is to have both Shae and Simons come off the bench. Start Scoot, Deni, Grant, Camara, and Clingan. 5 guys who play D........no hypocrisy. That will show Shae.
1) Scoot wasn't troubled by that, so it's either not an issue or Sharpe is the only player incapable of letting it go. 2) Simons' defense isn't nearly as bad as a few of you make it out to be. He puts in mostly good effort now, but he still gets pushed around. It often looks worse than it is, because he's usually the only defender on the floor worth hunting out on PnR's. He's certainly better on the perimeter (but not in the post) than Dame ever was.
If anything should have truly "shown Shae", it should have been the game where Murray got the start ahead of him. But yeah, a lineup comprised solely of players who actually give a damn on defense would be nice.
I think consistency of message would show him something. And as long as weak defense is Billup's excuse for demoting Sharpe and cutting his minutes while there have been no repercussions for Simons, at all, for even weaker defense than Sharpe I think there's a likelihood that Sharpe won't consider the message to be real, just an excuse I've said before if Billups would have told Sharpe, and the fans thru the media, that the demotion was because other players were having bigger impact on both ends of the floor, that would have been fine. But that's not what Billups said
I don’t think his game needs defending to be honest. If he got the minutes constantly, I believe he will thrive. I share in another thread awhile back about all the extra work he puts in on the teams down time. He hits up gyms on the road and has coaches meeting him at the practice facility at all random hours of the night to get shots up. Not worried about his drive. He is just a chill guy in the mold of TMac or Ant. Doesn’t’ ever get hyped out there and I believe that puts off a certain type of vibe for fans. Trust me this kid works hard.
