I didn't see a thread about this on the first page in the forum. They're being recalled from the D-League. TRAIL BLAZERS RECALL NOLAN SMITH AND WILL BARTON FROM IDAHO STAMPEDE Guards to rejoin team in time for Wednesday’s practice PORTLAND, Ore. (January 9th) – The Portland Trail Blazers have recalled guards Nolan Smith and Will Barton from the team’s NBA Development League affiliate, the Idaho Stampede, it was announced today by General Manager Neil Olshey. Portland assigned Smith and Barton to the Stampede on Sunday, Jan. 6. The guards played in both of Idaho’s games at the 2013 NBA D-League Showcase in Reno, Nev., on Monday, Jan. 7 and Tuesday, Jan. 8. Smith posted averages of 22.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.00 steal and 38.0 minutes per game. Smith led Idaho with a game-high 28 points on Jan. 7 against Texas. Barton averaged 14.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.50 steals and 33.5 minutes per contest. The first-year guard out of Memphis tied for the team lead in rebounds (8) and assists (6) vs. Texas on Jan. 7. Both players will be in Portland for today’s practice and are available for tomorrow’s game vs. Miami.
Per game and per minute, Smith was better than Barton at everything except steals. Yet Barton already had experience in the D-League, while Nolan was a rookie. This portends a dismal future for Barton.
Do the Blazers have an NBDL schedule planned for guys like Barton? I was hearing that the Grizz have Selby and Wroten on sort of a D-League rotation. They want to have one of them around at all times but one getting D-League playing time at all times as well. That made a lot of sense to me, and I was wondering if more teams had a system like that. I always viewed players getting sent to the NBDL as sort of a punishment for poor performance, but apparently some teams out there have a pre-formulated schedule for their D-League assignments.
To be fair, I feel like Barton has looked better when he has better players on the floor with him. When he's been on the floor with the rest our bench, the flow has been off and Barton seems to play with less restraint. He's looked better when on the floor with at least a starter or two. While I don't see Barton ever being as good as Batum, I liken this situation to Batum. Remember how awful he was in Summer League? He was absolutely terrible. The talk was that he'd go back to France for at least 1-2 years. Instead, he stayed here. Then he steps on the floor with real NBA players, and he looks infinitely better.
Nolan has had a grand total of 3 games this season where he's played 15 or more minutes. Ronnie Price has had 14 such games. Nolan hasn't been given a chance. Before the objections come, Let me just preemptively say that Ronnie Price hasn't done jack sh*t to "earn" his minutes. Everyone wants to say "Nolan Sucks" but the truth is that nobody knows.
I didn't think anything would ever get me to do a "player comparison" involving Nolan Smith, but you did it. http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pcm_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=0&p1=smithno01&y1=2013&p2=pricero01&y2=2013 Price hasn't been good. Smith has been putrid. It's amazing to me that we haven't been able to find anything better.
