These guys bring us down so much seemingly. So much defensive attention gets placed on Dame/CJ as no one has to worry about Noah or Plums. Noah especially. Mentioned this in passing last night during the game, but Vonleh and Plums comprise possibly the worst front court combo in the league. Also doesn't help that the other sorta big guy next to them is Aminu, who is a specialist. Looking over rosters, maybe PHX gets close in Teletovic and Chandler, but they have Len who is coming along recently at least. I suppose it is encouraging that we've won 35 games with this makeup. Should not be hard to upgrade and see it reflected in wins next year.
Ummm, NOahs issue wasnt offense last night. It was his D. He had 8 pts and 4 rebounds in 11 minutes........
Has to do with a lot more than just last night. Defenders are just leaving Noah wide open. The 12 minutes he's on the court is always a net negative because of how poor the spacing is on offense. And his defense has dropped from earlier in the season. Plums is ok. He's most likely our third best player, but he's very limited defensively. This isn't some reactionary revelation. It's just come to light when we've faced some opponents who are exposing our biggest weakness up front. And tbh. It's a legit question-- look around in the league and the depth charts.
It's easy to forget how young Plumlee is. It's a very young, very athletic, and surprisingly skillful combination with shooting, passing, and ball handling. They aren't without their flaws, but I see a lot of potential from the duo a couple years down the road. I don't even have a problem with Vonleh starting ahead of schedule, because that doesn't really entitle him to big minutes with Stotts' rotation. We do need more consistent scoring from the SF spot, though. I like a lot of what Aminu does, but he's probably close to his ceiling. An upgrade there would definitely help cover for Plumlee/Vonleh's development curve.
Really curious to learn about what you see in Noah and his potential. I don't even see flashes -- maybe I'm not looking hard enough. When he's in the game, per 100 possessions, we're losing at least 4 points on the offensive end. Only guys with a lower offensive +/- are Pat, Montero, and Alexander. It feels like it's too late in the season, and too crucial of a situation to give the guy minutes. Granted he's not playing much, but his negative impact is most definitely felt.
He's shown the capability of being a good offensive player, but his confidence seems low in game situations. Right now, he looks like Dame early in his career when he couldn't finish around the basket. Current production has virtually zero to do with potential. You do see the disconnect there, right? I'm less certain about Noah's defensive potential, but Plumlee and Davis are such hustle players, it may be sufficient for Vonleh to be a strong, physical presence.
Of course our biggest weakness if up front but Noah is not ALWAYS a net negative. In fact, there have been games he had the highest or 2nd highest +/- of a anyone on the team. Part of his lack of success, is age, there by a lack of confidence and also how the Blazers use him. His job is to set screens....almost exclusively. They have been so many times he has rolled to the basket or there has been a switch and he pins a 6'2" right under the basket but the guards don't even look to get him the ball in a situation that would be very favorable. Then when he has been open all game long but not getting the ball, he finally gets a shot with no rhythm, no flow and his first natural instinct is to give it right back to a guard like every other big man on this team. He often only shoots as a second thought or when Stotts is yelling at him to shoot because he is so wide open. That confidence will come in time. He has a good shoot, good form, release, rotation etc. He just needs more than the 1 or 2 shots he gets on some nights. He's still 20 years old yet almost every game will do something that no other big man on this team can do.....just not very often.
I get what you're saying -- they probably are scoring-wise. The starting frontcourt actually. Noah is a future p&p guy and he's clearly a ways off from being a legit option. Plumlee is a developing passer who can only score on the p&r. Aminu, offensively, reminds me of Travis Outlaw. Maybe it's their high-elbow jumper. On a contender Aminu should be a 6th or 7th man. There is zero post scoring on this team. A capable frontcourt scorer will do wonders for this team.
There is nothing about Noah that reminds me of Dame early in his career. Dame had as many points in his very first game as Noah has had in his last 6 games played, combined. And that's including the 8 he threw up last night.
Some validity to this. For sure. Do you agree with still giving him his token 6 minutes per half this late into the season when we are in a playoff push?
Neil and his staff know this. They've tried twice, summer and the deadline, to land Monroe - a legit post scorer.
Did you not see his nice looking bank shot last night? Or how he followed up a cj miss with one of the most powerful dunks any blazers has done all season? I really dont think some of you are watching these games and actually paying attention... Again... 8/4 in 11 minutes... what more are you expecting out of a 21 yr old trying to find his way?
Need a Snickers? You're not reading like your normal self this morning... The comparison to Dame was purely about finishing around the basket and how it took time to develop that confidence, not about overall scoring. The bulk of Dame's points were not coming around the basket. He was woefully inefficient close in. But, you could see he had the ability, just like Vonleh has the makings of a gifted offensive player.
Plumlee can play a little bit, but Vonleh is terrible. He should not be a starter at this point in his career. The PF/C combination is definitely the weak spot of this team.
No. I think he should still get minutes but do so against the other teams bench and since they are in the Playoff chase, start your best 5 and use bench minutes to develop since he is not a regular rotation player. No matter how well or poorly he does, he doesn't go back in after his initial 6 minute run at the beginning of the 1st and 3rd quarters. No, if the guards would actually look to get him the ball when he is wide open or when he has a huge mis-match off a switch on a regular basis from the start, he likely would be in a better place from a rhythm and confidence standpoint. However, that hasn't happened so let him get his minutes off the bench at this point instead.
After last night, I watched Dame walk right to the lockerroom, and I couldnt help but feel he must be thinking... man... if LMA would have stayed, we would basically have this same team but with LMA and we would be the second best team in the west... I cant help but think how good we would be right now if we had LMA....
We are definitely down on the list. Marvin Williams & Cody Zeller (Hornets) Kenneth Faried & Nikola Jokic (Nuggets) Larry Nance & Roy Hibbert (Lakers)
