Game Thread GAME# 35: BLAZERS @ HAWKS - DECEMBER 30, 2017 - SATURDAY, 4:30 PM (PST), NBCSNW

Dude, you're way out of line.

 

I’ve been around a few years and I’ve had my share of experience coaching youth basketball (which is worth little if anything in the long run) but if there is one thing I learned very early is that you can’t “make” anyone play team basketball. It can be taught but it can’t be forced. Over the years I saw far more than my share of mini CJs, sucking the energy out of the team game just so they could stand out individually before moving on to the next level. They weren’t there for the team, they were there for themselves. And they didn’t have anything else to get them there but one on five skills. And it’s (dismayingly) amazing how many coaches will tolerate that if it helps their own bottom line. CJ didn’t get to the show by playing team ball. He grew up an incredibly undersized kid who’s only chance to stand out was to be a ball hog, who scored enough (or entertainingly enough) to make everyone overlook his selfish tendencies. And anyone who takes the time to dig into CJs history a little will see what I’m talking about. In CJs mind, he made it against all adversity. But I suspect that in the minds of his various teammates at all levels growing up, CJ was THEIR adversity......CJ McCollum is fully made. He is what he’s going to be as a basketball teammate. Now Portland needs to send him somewhere that might actually work.........

 

I was watching the Bucks destroy OKC this morning on a highlight recap at work and the passing was beautiful...all their points came off multiple passes that ended with dunks, layups or 3s.....Jason Kidd is a hell of a coach. My son played HS hoops for 4 years with a ballhog and a coach that encouraged him.....nobody got to shoot unless it was a second chance off a rebound....today that ballhog superstar kid is a street junkie...jobless..strung out. You make a great point about this situation in teaching the game. Team hoops is why I loved that Pistons team with Sheed....most unselfish basketball team I've maybe ever seen.

 

theres difference between American and European players, european players play team basketball, just look at SA, theyre playing european style, even Teletovic (MIL player) said he always plays good against them cause he read them all the time, and thats cause hes european and knows european basketball obviously

Dame has shown he can pass, he should play like that all the time, we had some great games when we played like the team, sadly, its just couple of games

CJ is obviously much better play than Napier, but I like Napier style so much more

 

CJ is a tremendous scorer but he kills ball movement, player movement and player involvement/touches. If you don't get touches, it is much less likely you are engaged on the defensive end. Not many players enjoy standing around watching one guy dominate the ball over and over again and then be asked to go down and bust their butts on the defensive end.

I find it at least somewhat curious that our biggest margin of victory is a game CJ didn't play in and one of our worst losses is when Dame was out and CJ dominated the ball while getting a measly 2 assists. Even with that, one of his assists was in the last couple minutes of play. He put in 30 minutes with just 1 assist before that late, meaningless dish.

Maurice Harkless is 14-24 (.583) yet could get only 3 shots in 18 minutes last night.

 

He's a perfect 6 man of the year candidate...what we wanted Mo Williams to be...that's CJ....good starting 2 guards can shut him down...he'd own the 6 man award for multiple years...sparkplug

 

yeah, our offense is horrific, no ball movement, no player movement, no cutters except Pat C (we had that with Dame & CJ last year), Dame & CJ iso ball and then Nurk... rest of the team is just a non factor on our offense, Mo Harklees was right

you have to find the way to get everyone involved, share the fucking ball, move your asses around (thats all Stotts, I know)

 

Read the posts right around his. Everyone was saying McCollum can't pass, is hogging the ball, etc. That's because McCollum was playing like trash. Napier is a much better player.

 

thats funny cause fans around the league think hes the worst coach in the NBA and MIL fans cant stand him

 

hes not better player at all, nevermind much better player, but his playing style is

 

this team would be better with less quality player(s) than CJ, but who are a better fit
if only Neil Olshey could see that and make some trade, but I think he wont trade CJ, hes proud of him, cause he drafted him of course

also I dont think he believes he can make POR better team with trading CJ, he wont risk anything

 

Belinelli is a cuss word in Italian?

 

You mean to say that you think McCollum is more talented. I still say Napier is the better player. Get the hotdog showoff off the team.

 

Where's the guy who said we need to dump everyone and build around Armon Johnson and Tim Frazier?
He should be here to witness his glorious triumphant! now everyone here are like him

 

There are a handful of bottom dwelling teams who could use his scoring and we can use their draft picks (at least 2 first round picks):
Atlanta, Memphis, LA Lakers, Orlando, Dallas, Sacramento, Charlotte, Chicago, or Brooklyn.

 

Rockets fans? Maybe you don't like him but I wouldn't look to fans as analysts for the most part.......Kidd was called out in the coach's corner on NBA TV as one of the brightest players turned coach in the league.....he's turned the Bucks around in a pretty short time.

 

Lol. He's a trash passer, trash defender, trash rebounder...

He's a good scorer. That's it.

 

Who the fuck is saying that...?

 

Only if you ignore all his misses, butterfinger passes, butterfinger dribbles, lazy incompetent passes, lazy incompetent selfish rushes to the basket, no court vision due to selfishness, I'm tired of typing, error after error after error, on and on...

You summed it up into one word. Trash. Good job. But Napier is a better scorer because he scores the way a player should.

I've been typing this since McCollum's first game in Summer League. I said the same about that egomaniac Bayless during his first Summer League, when everyone except me thought he was a great player.