Blazers Beat Reporter Mike Richman did an AMA

Richman took Quicks role as blazers beat writer so these are somewhat interesting. He was joined by another new addition to the NBCSNW team Dane Delgado, but I have no idea who he is.



The highlights

 

BlazersEdge is such a talent mine...

 

My takeaways

- Glad I’m not the only one thinking about using Turner at the 4.

- Every time I read Meyers and will play in the same sentence I died.

- Aminu at C is an interesting idea as well. It’s happened before and with more teams going away from having a traditional backup center, could be something to play with if Zach gets in foul trouble.

- I like the idea of a ten man rotation early in the season. I feel we only have about 7 rotation spots locked up, and that’s assuming Harkless is ready to go opening night.

- gut feeling says Aminu gets extended instead of traded. He’s valuable, even if Zach takes a starting spot from him.

 

A Turner/Swanigan pairing at the 4 and 5? Yikes...

 

It would presumably be Turner and Collins

 

Yeah I guess they'd be mutually exclusive. I don't know why we wouldn't play Moe at the 4 instead of Turner..

 

Well, Moe is starting.

 

So is CJ. You can stagger minutes.

 

If Layman is for real he could be another option as a stretch 4.

 

I like this idea better, especially given his added strength. I think he could regularly attack and beat opposing PFs off the dribble.

 

Talk about damning with faint praise

 

Whatchu mean?

 

Someday NBCSportsNW might widen their scope beyond BlazersEdge and y'all might be talking about HCP and a certain someone (technically) being co-workers.

 

This upcoming season feels like its gonna be very mediocre and very weird. I don't like the lineups at all. It all feels so uncertain and just destined to fail. Neil should stop trying to convince us in Olshey and also, I know Dame and others have talked up Meyers again but man I just can't start to believe it after how many chances he has got. ET is meh. Nobody knows what is going on with Moe. Aminu is meh. Nurk is also kind of a toss up because he can be inconsistent. Collins is a toss up. He has his good games but also games where he doesn't exist. I honestly don't know where this team is even going, is there even a plan? I liked the pick up of seth curry and that's about it.

 

Lineup offered without comment:

Starters: Dame/CJ/Trent/Collins/Nurk
Bench: Baldwin/Curry/Harkless/Aminu

 

Cippy, my man, why so down? You look at that glass of Red Bull and rum and to you, it looks half empty. From where I'm sitting, it looks half full. Here's why:

Nurk just turned 24 a month ago. Last season was his first as a full time starter. Sure, he struggled initially on the offensive end, but he eventually settled down and, took (and made) better shots, cut down on the TOVs, etc. From the opening game, he was rock solid all season long on the defensive end. He transformed us from a bottom 5 to a top 8 defense. That's quite an accomplishment for such a young, inexperienced player. He still has room for improvement. We have not yet seen Nurk at his best.

Statistically, Zach Collins had an absolutely abysmal rookie year. But, he was only 19 when the season started and had one year of college ball - as a back up. He can only get better (he can't possibly get worse statistically than he was last year).

We return all of our starters from a team that won 49 games. Do you realize how few teams can say the same. If they were able to win 49 games and claim the 3rd seed last year, why cant they do it again (or better) this year? The ONLY key player we lost was Ed Davis. I loved Ed, but he was a back up who played less than 19 MPG and had an average made FG distance of 2.4 feet - not exactly spacing the floor. Great guy, great teammate, solid back up, but his production can be replaced. Zach Collins will get minutes backing up both the 4 and 5 spots and should be able to replace, or exceed Ed's contributions. Zach is bigger, quicker and more talented offensively. He will block more shots and score more points than Ed ever did. If not this year, then next. He's still young, but he will get there. He's a fearless, competivem hard working player with a take no prisoners attitude, on the defensive end. Its rare to see such a young player take so much pride in his defense.

The rest of our bench got better. We have much better shooters, scorers and defenders to trot out with the second unit this year than last year, or anytime in many, many years. These guys are going to be battling for minutes (and some of them playing for their next contracts). That internal competition is healthy. It will make them better, make the team better and give the coach more options to choose from.

I really look forward to watching Simons and Trent Jr. develop. Even if neither cracks the regular rotation this season (I believe Trent Jr. will, during the second half of the season), it will be fun watching these two teenagers get their first taste of NBA action. I think they both have a lot of upside.

Or not...

You never know. That's why the play the games. I can't wait! I'm totally amped for this season to get started!

BNM

 

Love that ET is not listed.

 

We haven't?

https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201703090POR.html

If he's gonna be better than that, then I'm really excited.

 

Starting line up of the future? Is Reddick projected to start again this year in PHI, if so, and Ariza starts in PHO, that would possibly be the youngest starring line up outside of SAC (and they'll suck, so who cares?). I don't expect to actually see those five starting this season, but I'd love to see them be the five on the floor at the end of games post all star break. Nurk and Collins for their defense, Trent for his long range shooting, ability to draw fouls, and willingness to take big shots. And, of course, Dame and C.J. because they are our two best players and best scorers.

I'd also like to see some side pick and roll action between C.J. and Collins, like we used to see with Batum and Rolo. The pick and roll is a damn effective two-man play, but when all you do is run high pick and rolls with Dame and Nurk, it becomes too damn predictable. Let some of the other guys get in on that action. With C.J. and Collins, you can even mix up the pick and roll with an occasional pick and pop to keep the defense off balance and guessing.

BNM