Blazers Links: Can Mo Williams and Damian Lillard Continue Playing Together?

Maynor used to hit Lillard for open 3s but Mo doesn't do that. He just turns the ball over and Lillard hardly gets any shots. Remember how Lillard's stats improved with Maynor on the court, I wonder what they are with Williams? It seems he's much less productive.

 

Maybe you haven't noticed but Dame is missing wide open 3 shots for the last bunch of games...he has plenty of opportunity, he's just not converting

 

Kendall Marshall was available

 

The change is because CJ beat out Wright for backup minutes. The problem is now Stotts has to alternate rest for Wes and Batum so one is always available at SF.

 

Those advanced stats don't really tell us much of anything. The team is playing near .500 ball anyways over the last month.

I would hope CJ can eventually beat out Mo for all of the backup SG minutes at which point Mo would not play with Damian and only be his substitute at PG. But that might not happen this year and I doubt a CJ-Dam backcourt would be any better defensively.

It would be nice if we had a SG/SF off the bench who could play defense. But then court spacing might become an issue if that players isn't a 3 point shooter. Its pretty greedy to want a bench player who hits threes and plays great defense, I mean many teams would love that out of their starters.

If I were coach one change I would consider is having Damian play more with the ball in his hands. If he is getting trapped or double teamed or fatigued then let Mo help him out but in general I think Damian is better as a PG than a SG. The team should be configured to play to the strengths of our main weapons not our backups.

 

Mo's netRtg is up to -8 from -10 a month ago - not the kind of improvement I was looking for.