Its ok. Davis, Beal, Barbosa?, Durant, Griffin, Curry and Derrick Williams? are all shooting more shots than Damian per minute for the preseason.
But I thought we were better than last years team according to some in here! Sent from my Baller-Ass 5.5" iPhone 6+......... FAMS
Seems like Stotts completely wasted the pre-season. We already KNOW that Dame/CJ can score. Should be working on getting others comfortable with an increased load.
Agreed. I think Stotts is an imbecile for letting Dame play massive minutes in pre-season. Talk about 'tempting fate'. We already know what we have in Dame, and, I think, he should have reduced minutes with the emergence of CJ. He can then concentrate on playing more efficiently, in a flat-out style- in slightly fewer minutes. With the depth we have, we should be rotating in fresh players regularly throughout the game. [though Stotts has shown some 'set-in-stone' sub patterns in the past]
Whoa whoa, slow the horses guys... though I don't agree with AS MANY minutes, He should be getting good minutes. He is going to be the leader and spearhead of the offense. If he isn't in the game now then the other guys will be playing and possibly learning in a fashion that doesn't benefit our best player. Dame is our number one scorer. How will the others get cohesive in playing with the best player on the roster if he isn't on the court? I wouldn't be calling Stotts an imbecile, I would consider him acknowledging where the scoring is going to come from and the only way to maintain that is to have the scorers playing with the non scorers to get tight.
Dame wanted to play a couple games near regular season minutes to get in shape for the regular season. He has 5 days off now. The minutes isn't a big deal. We're not making the playoff this year so being burned out by the end of the season will be fine. I expect to hear tons of bitching about Stotts this year; and as in this thread most of it is ludicrous.
Disagree. Growth season - no need to be firing 100% from the get-go. By game five, Dame will be in shape - he's not a guy to let himself get too unconditioned. Playing extended minutes, in meaningless games, is unwarranted exposure to the possibility of injury. If its a 'Harkless' situation player, wanting to learn the system, or play themselves into the rotation - fine. I cringed both times Dame rolled his ankle - and he was getting beat-up taking it to the hole - but for what? It's lunacy to push a player that IS your franchise - over 40 minutes in a meaningless game.
He lead the league in minutes as a rookie and has never missed a game. I think your obsessing over something of little importance.
You wouldn't be saying that if Dame had rolled his ankle worse than what he did - in a meaningless game.
Who was that dude that went 1 for 9 jacking up long balls? Perhaps someone ought to introduce him to Mr. Leonard.
Practice? Mr. Iverson has your answer for you there. We'll agree to disagree. Dame could have easily sat at half time, and been just as effective, conditioning wise, in the next game. (which counts for something!).
Honestly, I think it's well documented that it's not only stotts or Olshey. Lillard wants to play all the time. Rumors are that Olshey was upset last year because Damian wouldn't take some rest for the new jersey makeup game. Damian wants to play 48 mpg I'm sure.
I agree that the minutes he played in preseason aren't an issue - the whole team needs to learn to play with him. The reason I think Stotts is dumb is because he didn't use pre-season to get other guys warmed up for the regular season. Again, we KNOW that Dame/CJ can score. We should have used these games to work on improving the scoring abilities of Meyers, Plumlee, Harkless, Vonleh, Davis, etc. But it doesn't seem like Stotts likes to create game plans, and instead prefers to let his players free-lance based on a loose, basic philosophy.
Well, I think we can all agree that this is Stotts make it or break it season, if our offense doesn't improve (from a team ball aspect) he will be fired.
My fear is that, because there aren't any expectations, he'll be extended regardless of how the team does. Hopefully he only gets a 1-year extension though.
