Apples and oranges. That may or may not explain why Whiteside's FTA/minute is low this year compared to Whiteside's previous years, but I said that Whiteside's FTA/min this year is low compared to Nurkic' FTA/min every year.
You've said that often for years on this board, and no one knows what you're talking about. I don't remember him pissing all over the city and fans. All I remember is that he suspected the team doctor of fucking up his injuries. His career dropped from superstar to permanently dead while here, and I don't blame him for being disappointed. There were politically-motivated articles all over the country accusing him of faking injury, etc. I was reading the Seattle P-I, and I still remember a Seattle political cartoon ridiculing him as a tree-hugger, supposedly climbing trees while injured, searching for nuts, implying that he was nuts.
huh? career numbers.... FTA/minute: Nurkic .15....Whiteside .14 FTA/36: Nurkic 5.5....Whiteside 5.1 FGA/36: Nurkic 14.9....Whiteside 13.4 FTA rate: Nurkic .368....Whiteside .379 usage rate: Nurkic 24.6%....Whiteside 22.0% TS%: Nurkic .529....Whiteside .594 I guess one way to look at it is that he's "active" because he puts up more shots and has a higher usage rate. But the reason he has a little higher FTA/minute and FTA/36 is simply because he shoots more. But he does so with less efficiency another way to gauge 'activity' for a post player is rebounding and shot-blocking; Whiteside is much better at that....and no, I'm not saying shot-blocking means better defense wut? Walton was drafted, and was so "attracted" to Portland he left the very first moment he could and then filed a lawsuit against the Blazers. Whiteside was traded for. if you went thru and listed the best 50 Blazers, probably 45 or more were landed in the draft or by trade. The last couple of good free agents Portland signed were Rod Strickland and Brian Grant, about 5 or 6 CBA's ago
Nurkic runs all over the front court, while Whiteside patiently waits for the pass or rebound to come to him. As for career numbers, I'm thinking of how I've seen them as Blazers.
His complaints were at the team, not the city and the fans as he questioned his medical treatment and blamed management. Since then he apologized many years ago and talks glowingly of his time in Portland, the fans and his teammates.
One quick example: he gave at least one interview where he claimed the people of Portland wanted him to leave. He implied fan hostility, not his dispute with the Dr., inspired him to leave. Not surprisingly, this happened after his malpractice suit foundered on revelations about his extensive drug use.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a 20-20-10 game tonight. Maurice Lucas did it after he was a Blazer. The only ones in the last 10 years are DeMarcus Cousins 3 times, Westbrook once. http://bkref.com/tiny/xGVxq
Grizzlies are super fun right now. Part of it is some unsustainable hot shooting, but Jenkins has them playing fast and free offensively. Talent meshes well too on that end. Morant is playing with supreme confidence. Has looked excellent in both halfcourt and transition. So dynamic and explosive with the ball and has done a good job using that to not only score but to set up his teammates where they can attack an advantage. JJJ and Jonas make for a pretty lethal roll/pop combo that also have some interchangeability. Both have enough feel and decision making to run handoff/highpost stuff with. They've got two dominant finishers in Jonas and Brandon Clarke. Elevated alongside a creator like Morant that can draw two and also has great natural feel/insincts/good lob thrower to set them up. Can't really defend or rebound with the Clarke/JJJ front line but JJJ's high volume/elite 3 point shooting and Clarke's insane finishing is hard to handle. Dillon Brooks (although his confidence outweighs his real ability) and Jonas post ups are also decent late clock options as well. High feel/instincts role guys like (SloMo, Melton, Tyus) are also doing a good job filling in the gaps on both ends. Only disappointing thing with them right now for me is Jaren's defensive development. Looked good today when Houston went 5 out with no center and guarding PJ Tucker. Just ignored him and focused solely on timing Harden's drives at the rim (had some massive blocks) but everywhere else is still pretty rough. Decision making and positioning isn't great. Looks wobbly/clumsy on switches and overall just isn't consistently a presence or in the right spot as much as I'd like him to be or thought he'd be at this point. Still fouls too much and can't anchor, track and pursue the ball well enough to not be terrible on the defensive glass.
Memphis is so so good! And they are so young as well. Ja and JJJ have been incredible lately and I cannot believe they got Melton for nothing.
