Now that the Blazers are half way thru the season, I thought it would be good to evaluate where each of the players are at and give out some team awards. Here are my thoughts: Damian Lillard 2015-16: mpg: 36.5, ppg: 24.7, apg: 7.1, rpg: 4.6, per: 21.8 2014-15: mpg: 35.7, ppg: 21.0, apg: 6.2, rpg: 4.6, per: 20.7 Grade: A C.J. McCollum 2015-16: mpg: 35.5, ppg: 20.8, apg: 4.5, rpg: 3.7, per: 18.0 2014-15: mpg: 15.7, ppg: 6.8, apg: 1.0, rpg: 1.5, per: 13.1 Grade: A+ Allen Crabbe 2015-16: mpg: 26.0, ppg: 11.2, apg: 1.1, rpg: 2.6, per: 13.0 2014-15: mpg: 13.4, ppg 3.3: , apg: 0.8, rpg: 1.4, per: 8.7 Grade: A Al-Farouq Aminu 2015-16: mpg: 29.4, ppg: 10.9, apg: 1.6, rpg: 6.7, per: 12.7 2014-15: mpg: 18.5, ppg : 5.6, apg: 0.8, rpg: 4.6, per: 14.4 Grade: C+ Mason Plumlee 2015-16: mpg: 26.3, ppg: 9.2, apg: 2.6, rpg: 7.9, per: 16.5 2014-15: mpg: 21.3, ppg : 8.7, apg: 0.9, rpg: 6.2, per: 18.0 Grade: B Meyers Leonard 2015-16: mpg: 23.4, ppg: 8.6, apg: 1.5, rpg: 4.8, per: 11.0 2014-15: mpg: 15.4, ppg : 5.9, apg: 0.6, rpg: 4.5, per: 14.8 Grade: D+ Ed Davis 2015-16: mpg: 21.1, ppg: 6.6, apg: 1.1, rpg: 7.4, per: 18.3 2014-15: mpg: 23.3, ppg : 8.3, apg: 1.2, rpg: 7.6, per: 20.0 Grade: B Gerald Henderson 2015-16: mpg: 16.1, ppg: 6.8, apg: 0.9, rpg: 2.4, per: 10.7 2014-15: mpg: 28.9, ppg : 12.1, apg: 2.6, rpg: 3.4, per: 13.2 Grade: C- Maurice Harkless 2015-16: mpg: 18.2, ppg: 5.4, apg: 0.9, rpg: 3.3, per: 11.5 2014-15: mpg: 15.0, ppg : 3.5, apg: 0.6, rpg: 2.4, per: 8.4 Grade: C+ Noah Vonleh 2015-16: mpg: 15.4, ppg: 3.1, apg: 0.5, rpg: 3.8, per: 8.4 2014-15: mpg: 10.4, ppg : 3.3, apg: 0.2, rpg: 3.4, per: 13.2 Grade: C Tim Frazier 2015-16: mpg: 8.8, ppg: 1.7, apg: 1.3, rpg: 1.3, per: 4.8 2014-15: mpg: 21.7, ppg : 5.2, apg: 5.5, rpg: 2.5, per: 8.1 Grade: F Incomplete: Chris Kaman Luis Montero Pat Connaughton Cliff Alexander Most Valuable Player: Damian Lillard Most Improved Player: C.J. McCollum Biggest Surprise: Allen Crabbe Biggest Disappointment: Meyers Leonard Although we've seen quite a few losses this year, I really like the effort I've seen from this team. They're fun to watch, and give me a lot of hope for the future. Hopefully by the end of the season we'll see some of these grade go up a bit. Let me know what you think!
Great idea. I'm not sure that I necessarily agree with all of your grades but most of them are spot on. I think I'd bump most of your ratings up slightly (Hendo from a C- to a C, Aminu from a C+ to a B-). The only one I would bump higher would be Vonleh because he has really exceeded my expectations of him for this season. I'd put him at a B-, rating him based on what he does, not what people want him to do. He's going to be our lockdown defender, and he's done a great job of that in the limited opportunity so far.
I don't know about all that on Meyers. He went through a rough patch for sure but after injury he has steadily got better and has surpassed his before injury numbers and is continuing to progress. I guess my point is what did you really expect at the beginning of the season? Maybe those expectations were a bit high? Just my opinion but he does not seem to be the biggest disappointment to me. Henderson has a lower per and so does Vonleh who is starting. My biggest disappointment would be Henderson if i went by numbers and experience. In the big picture though i don't really have a biggest disappointment and i really have not had a huge surprise either. They are pretty much what they were thought to be when i looked at them at the start of the season. I will give them all a C to this point.
I agree with everything from 42n8Bounce. Full Fisclosure: his post was a PM I sent him and he took it and claimed it as his own.
Yeah, Vonleh was a tough one to grade. Solid on defense, but I've been disappointed in the progression of the rest of his game. He's increased his minutes from last year by 50%, and his points and rebounds hasn't increased proportionately. His per has slipped to a measly 8.4. He's definitely young and has potential. I liked what I saw from him in Summer League. He's shown flashes that are very impressive (the dunk over Gobert last night!) But there's only so far he can go with 'solid defense'. I want to see more.
Yup I agree. His defense is nice. My one huge problem with him is he's too damn shy. It feels like he has no confidence in his game and thinks too much. I'm not suprised by those numbers you provided regarding his minutes increase and his pts and rebounds barley moved. The eye test def supports that.. His lack of rebounding really concerning as well.. Yea I know he's young but so are a lot of players and they show you more than that hopefully this second half of the season after the all star break he makes the biggest leap
I didn't actually read your reasoning, or any responses, but I think your grades are pretty spot-on for the most part. Will read tomorrow.
I'd give Dame and CJ both A's; Crabbe and Ed Davis get a B+; Mason, Harkless, and Vonleh get a B; Henderson and Aminu both get C's; Meyers and Frazier get D's.
Great question. I suffered thru the Mo and Nate years, so I have an appreciation for Stott's preference to focus more on the offense. Overall I think he has the team playing hard and with a lot of energy. Their record isn't too far off from where I expected, but they lost quite a few close ones that could have easily gone our way. With so many young guys to develop, I think he's done a fine job balancing the winning with player development. Grade: B
It's all about expectations. I came in to the year thinking Meyers would have no trouble putting up 15ppg. He has supremely disappointed so far.
Probably splitting hairs, but I wouldn't grade Dame quite so highly, as I think he has made a lot of questionable (at best) decisions with the ball, both in terms of shot selection and distribution (or lack thereof). Perhaps I've been reading too many @Tunchi and @MarAzul posts, but I think his FG% and AST% would be higher if he were a more willing distributor; and in response to any that say that his teammates need to be more willing to shoot, I would argue that that is a primary responsibility of any team's starting point guard--to foster that willingness and confidence in his teammates. He's been great, for the most part, but I'd probably only give him a B+ for the first half.
Great job, Bounce! You hit every grade on the nose. Actually, I was thinking you were a tad generous to Mo, but the way his performance has been improving, it's a fair assessment. I'm hoping he continues to grow. I think he has the potential to be a very valuable utility guy for us and he's certainly one of our most intriguing acquisitions. But again, nice job. I look forward to the final exam results!
Seeing that both Aminu and Harkless were graded the same I might make the argument that since Harkless was obtained for a 2nd round draft pick, and Aminu was our "premier" Free Agent signing, Harkless has performed better according to what each of them cost. Harkless certainly hasn't outperformed Aminu, but he has shown more promise than Aminu. I'd be very curious to see him get 10-15 games as the starting SF.
Hard for me to grade the player who have been injured. I agree it is about expectations for me as well. I had decent expectations for CJ and Crabbe and they still exceeded them........... A Dame...A He has been hurt, but I would give him an A as of late. His D has actually improved quite a bit IMO Ed Davis: B...... He has not surprised me at all on defense, better rebounder than I thought. Not much O, which I knew Meyers .....C My expectations were that he would be very inconsistent this year. And he has..... Henderson as of late is what I expected. The injury set him back as did the adjustment coming off the bench........B (as of late) Aminu....B is exactly what I expected. At the beginning of the season his shooting exceeded my expectations, but now he is back to what I thought he would. Harkless....B Vonleh......C better on D than expected, his offense will come as soon as he adjusts his inside shot. Needs to be less flat to avoid getting it blocked. The last game he had one shot that was perfect. So it looks like he is working on it. Next year, if/ when his mid range shot is more consistent, I see a huge jump in his production. Still hopeful for this guy. Plumlee.......A.... totally exceeded my expectations. Stotts...B+ Low expectations that he could change his offense to meet the skill set of his team. I think he has done a very good job.
