Game Thread GAME# 34: SUNS @ BLAZERS - DECEMBER 30, 2019 - MONDAY, 7:00 PM, NBATV & NBCSNW

That's the lamest thing I've ever heard.

 

They had 9 players dressed and ready to play. Who exactly was he gonna play that was better?

 

Really? One game? Look at their stats for the season. Saric's shooting is respectable and Melo's is shit.

 

Better than the 4-16 clankfest he put up? Who knows....but I'd like to see what Little could do with even half that amount of attempts. Certainly the defense would be better.

 

Again you won’t get me to disagree with ya. At this point if I’m Stotts I start Little and cut back on both Lillard and Cj. Give the lions share of the shots to 1M and Trent.

 

Several reasons why Little should be starting instead of Melo.

 

The biggest is probably because he is going to be a huge part of this team if he becomes what they envision him becoming.

 

For heaven's sake. Really? You thought enough to respond and then to respond like this?

Saric's scoring 11 ppg this year. That's actually lower than his career average, and his career to this point hasn't been anything to write home about. Carmelo's scoring more, his FG percentage is a little less, but, if you take out his slump over the last three games, they are effectively equal, and Carmelo has only been with his team for a month after taking a year off while Saric is on his third team in less than a year for some reason.

One also can look at their careers. But the head-to-head matchup is a pretty good one. Sorry it doesn't fit your sorry narrative.

 

As I addressed in another response, the numbers are nearly identical, Saric's always been average at best, his age doesn't matter because he's had time to show what he can do and his number remain constant, his size is meaningless because he doesn't use that to be a better player ... and then Carmelo outplayed him head-to-head last night even playing a poor game.

 

Firstly- Oh, heck yeah! "Ignore" gets rid of the negative posts, made by just a few of our asses that are floating around here; so the game threads aren't to bad to follow. Actually, they are enjoyable for me now.

Secondly- I have the option to view what those idiots post, WHEN I WANT TO. Sorry about the caps. I can't emphasize that enough though. When I get drunk, and want to call them a retard; I have that option. It's beautiful.....

Thirdly- Lol. Ask King, if there are people you can't "ignore"..... Lol

 

Saric is shooting a very nice 54% on 2-point shots. Carmelo is shooting an abominable 41.4 % on 2-point shots, making him one of the worst 2-point shooters on the team. How is that using his size better than Saric? Sorry that doesn't follow your narrative.

 

While I like to see Little getting minutes, I don’t think he should be starting. He generally does very little (no pun intended) with his time from a point/rebound or any other stat-line perspective. Carmelo may have deficiencies but at least teams have to respect him / guard him - Little not so much.

I think he will get better but allow him some time to learn & grow.

 

Sadly, it doesn't seem to really matter that Melo is out there. Which is why I'd like to see Little getting more than a few minutes run. Give him the opportunity to learn, grow and develop. Playing Melo 37 minutes at 35 years old isn't the answer.

 

I agree he needs time to learn - but is he really learning better/faster by sitting and watching versus playing?

 

Dame is setting a career high in assists per game.

 

Can't argue against that philosophy either. Really this season is't worth making any real statement against either way. Just play the guy enough to make a difference in his season i guess.

 

I don’t think anyone is complaining about Dame. It’s about how we play as a team. Blazers are dead last in assists in entire NBA 2 of last 3 seasons. In fact, in last 3 seasons, only twice had a team averaged under 20 assists, and both occurrences were the Blazers.

 

And it's 100% Terry Stotts offense.

 

Wut? Ridiculous.

 

It wasn't Terry Stotts jacking up ill advised contested 3 point shots in the second half and often times with no passes and less than 10 seconds into the shot clock. As awesome as Lillard was in the first half, he was almost just as bad in the second half as he sets the tone and the tone he set was trying to do it himself.