Also, if Felton shows up to camp in shape, he could bounce back and have a pretty good season. People will be asking PapanikaWho instead of saying we Olslapped NY for the 48th pick.
The hatred runs too deep for people to say that about Failton. He was a UFA, he could go anywhere he wanted, and the fact that we got anything out of him is a fucking miracle.
The problem with Felton (and the NBA and their guaranteed contracts) is that if he feels like showing up out of shape and then half-asses it through the season, there's little a team can do. He didn't want to be here and it showed. Good fucking riddance, I say.
Luke Babbitt could be a 50% 3pt. shooter in his system. I guess my thought is if the team isn't going to compete for a title, they may as well be fun to watch, so I'm softening on D'Antoni only because of the wide-open game and PnR offense he'd bring to PDX. Hibbert not being a Blazer changes the goals of the team, as well as the style, IMO.
It was a one-time amnesty for a player signed by that team under the old CBA. You can't amnesty a player every year indefinitely.
Mike Rice mentioned D'Antoni has a good canidate during the broadcast today, and I agree with him. Players like Mike, and fans like to watch a fast paced game.
Batum and Lillard will benefit the most from D'Antoni. Lillard has shown he can keep his dribble alive in traffic and find the open man, the perfect PG for D'Antoni. Of course, we'll have to see if he can do this against legit NBA defenses. I try not to take too much from SPL but his skillset seems perfect for Mike. He's been my #1 target since McMillan was fired.
They should keep Kaleb as an assistant, and hire an assistant just to focus on the defensive game plan.
Mike Dunleavy. I don't see a risk with D'antoni. I'm pretty confident in the reasons on why he failed in New York as I'm pretty confident in the reasons on why he was highly successful in Phoenix. Distraction wise, Portland is similar to Phoenix. He can get here and focus solely on Basketball and what he does best. The nucleus here is closer and similar to the one that he had in Phoenix. The player Lillard has similar skills to Nash. Batum is similar to Shawn Marion in what he can do. LA is similar to Stoudemire in the things he can do. Matthews is a poor mans Joe Johnson, better defensively. In reality, he's probably closer to Bell but hey, he still fits into what D'antoni wants to do. When it's all said and done, I can't see a situation with Coach D being a bust. Mike Rice said something interesting to Dwight Jaynes in Posting Up. The coach needs to believe in himself. I have no doubts D'antoni believes in himself and what his game is about. He proved this at the end of his ride with New York when he marched into the New York office and said 'that guy right there is the problem, Not me. Bring me Deron Willams'. There is no doubt he believes himself and what he can do.
