After 10 games, what have we learned?

Nice summary. My take on Leonard:

He's a scarecrow - "if he only had a brain." He has allstar athletic ability, but doesn't seem to have basketball horse sense. I wouldn't be surprised if ML were better at a different sport (like volleyball). Kim Hughes thinks that ML can be taught. ML is a high character, hard worker, so it's possible - I hope so.

Whether he develops into an allstar, average NBA center, or permanent bench warmer is still a mystery after 10 games.

 

1.) LMA is coming off an injury. 2.) Has still yet to develop solid post moves. He has all the ability in the world at the block but it's very evident his arsenal of go-to moves is lacking. 3.) He's a late bloomer

A full summer strictly working on low post maneuvers would do LaMarcus wonders.

 

Want to see the ultra-secret place where media guys find such stats? It's updated the morning after each game.

http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball/fantasy/nba/portland-trail-blazers/team/tips/13/25/1

http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball/fantasy/nba/portland-trail-blazers/team/quarters/13/25/1

 

We are 1 of 8 teams who score more than 100 pts a game. (That will probably drop when we play more on the road.) Obviously tempo is a key to points scored and points allowed, but so far offense has not been the issue. Yet when everyone evaluates the team one of the first things they look at is..... bench scoring. Maybe we do bring JJ off the bench, not to improve the bench scoring but to improve our starting Defense.

 

Agree totally. BUT: there are a lot of guards who came into the league with a splash then never improved much if at all. Damon Stoudamire, for one. Tyreke Evans for another. I'll be anxious that Lillard might be one of those for a year or so. Right now he looks good because he's had a lot of experience for a rookie and teams don't know him yet. Let's be sure this isn't Lillsanity before we send him to the Blazer Hall of Fame.

I am very pleased that Batum is finally playing more consistently. But is he hugely improved? Or is he just playing a lot more minutes?

"Terrifying" works both ways. We are AWFULLY reliant on the three point shot. Like the old Magic only without Shaq or Howard. Or Penny.

Agree, and that might be the most pleasant surprise of all. He has bounced back nicely after last season. I guess he really was injured. Still wish he had more guard skills, but hey, the Grizzlies do nicely with Tony Allen.

Hey - Jared Jeffries! And to be fair, Batum and Aldridge are suffering the Uncle Cliffy effect of slacking off on defense because they're suddenly playing the entire game and being asked to do so much more on offense.

You may be right, and they've certainly looked lost in the tiny number of minutes on the court. And it's been a bad time for some Euro imports - I thought Tiago Splitter would be much better than he is, and I thought he was much better than Freeland or Claver. But I still think they need more of a chance before we can write them off as busts, in part because they're not doing what I know they can do, and I think it's because they're still adjusting and they're only getting very spot minutes.

And to be fair, was anybody really "waiting" for them? It's not like the Timberwolves and Rubio.

 

Yes, he is hugely improved. His current PER is a career high of 22.1. That's a 27.7% improvement over his previous career high of 17.3 (twice). So, he's playing more minutes AND being more productive on a per minute basis. Many of his advanced and per 36 minute states are also at, or near career highs. His AST% is way up. He's scoring more, rebounding well and getting a lot of steals. Some of his current advanced stats are similar to his second season, but others are greatly improved. In summary, he's putting it all together for the first time - scoring, rebounding, passing, defense are all at, or significantly above his previous career bests and that is reflected in his much higher PER.

BNM

 

He looks like he's playing "free" ... I'm not saying that Nate specifically held him back, but I think his philosophy that emphasized grinding and playing deliberately in the half-court was ill-suited to Nic's optimal way of playing the game.

 

we have a fun young team to watch and improvement to look forward, we finally have our PGOTF! likely no playoffs but one nevers knows, and some capspace to make moves with next summer

 

On Lillard: The crazy Bayless comparisons have been put to bed. Hopefully, people will stop listening to morons like Shaq and put the ridiculous Damon Stoudamire comparisons to bed as well.

 

This is the worst bench in Blazer history.

Kevin Pritchard should be fined for the Babbitt/Claver picks.