I really hope the team considers keeping him this summer. I love how he plays and he's only 23. He played a hell of a game tonight.
It was great to see Hickson and Batum in the paint mixing it up. I've never seen Nic play in the paint as much as he did tonight.
Portland will certainly have enough cap room to sign him if they really want him. I wish we would have offered him more years to re-sign at this bargain price, but Olshey is trying to position us to land another max player. Problem is, I don't see any max players available next year. Harden seems like a long shot now (though they might throw a lot of money at Pekovic if he has a good season). We could use our money to improve the bench, go after guys like Landry, Morrow, Jack, Augustin, Calderon, Uhdrih, but Olshey seems to want to save up for a big impact player.
I like how Hickson stepped up and made two free throws in the fourth, just after the Blazers had missed four in a row, then he made a jumper a minute later.
That's true... I've never been one to rely on stats. It just so happened that MEM/LAC was on the same time as LAL/POR, so I only caught the game at commercial breaks, mostly catching the hackshow with Dwight, but I understand how boxscores could be misleading. In the game I was primarily watching, Z-Bo had 15 pts, 16 rbs, 3 asts, but on 5-15 shooting. If I had just read that boxscore, I would have assumed he had a poor shooting night, but having watched it, I understand why he missed those 10 shots. There were really only two opportunities the entire game that he should have made but missed... the box should have really read 5-7. That's the thing,... you can't just read a boxscore and understand how a player (or team) played in a particular game. Ex: If Zach Randolph is surrounded by DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin, somehow positions himself in a way to tip the ball towards the rim, tips it again, then finally grabs a solid rebound, and puts it up with authority, that shows as 1-3 FG in the boxscore.
Who said Hickson sells tickets? I said Hickson sells tickets! Who said Olshey erred by letting him go and better get him back? I said Olshey erred by letting him go and better get him back! Who said Hickson is his favorite player this season? I said Hickson is his favorite player this season!
And don't forget Claver, my 2nd-favorite player this season! Every year I pick someone before the season starts. One year it was Sergio. Another, I picked Koponen, then Pritchard didn't sign him. That was a pretty empty season for me...
I don't know, I'm not making an opinion yet. I kind of have a bad feeling about JJ as to what will happen when he gets a big contract. I don't think he will be on this team beyond this year anyway.
Kind of where my head is at too ... which isn't to say I don't like the guy and don't think he can add something to the team, but hearing the rumors about how lazy he got after the Cavs slapped the "untradeable" label on him, it definitely causes me to pause for a moment.
We'll see how the season goes along. If he continues to battle, I'll take a flyer on him. Eventually he can spell LA and Meyers.
Since I was already viewing this as a developmental throw away-ish season, I've been thinking more about the possibilities of offers he might bring in at the deadline if he kept up this play.
