I will add that I didnt think we needed a third scorer, but now I do. Not to score more, but to make it easier for Dame to score.
Harkless appears to be trying to earn that third scorer mantle with his play of late. I definitely think we can add another effective scorer in FA as well (Marvin Williams is my current flavor of the week). However, I think Dame also needs to change his mindset away from viewing himself as the best scoring option. The more he continues to increase his tendency to find teammates in scoring situations, the more likely he will be to find himself in improved scoring situations. I fully believe we'll be a better team overall with Dame putting up 20 & 9 than 24 & 6.
EXACTLY I been saying the same thing. I want him to avg 19-20ppg but close to 10 dimes a game and much better efficiency
I'm sure that he'd agree with you that this is the goal. The Blazers are a work in progress. Better players need to be added and existing players need to grow. As that happens, he's going to be able to share the scoring load. That said, for Dame to have lead this team to the position it's at this year, complaining about shooting percentages seems to me kind of like complaining about some of the brush strokes on the Sistine Chapel's ceiling.
McCollum averages 18 shots per game, Lillard averages 20, but uses more possessions as evidenced by averaging twice as many free throws. I think CJ picks his spots a bit better, and the shots he takes are generally better. Of course that also leads to possessions where he dribbles the air out of the ball because he can't find anything, but overall I think CJ has better shot selection than Lillard and that's evidenced by his percentages. Should he be taking some possessions from Lillard? I think that's a valid debate but the counter argument is that Dame is better at creating plays for others and not just himself.
IMO, that's beyond dispute, but also goes hand-in-hand with what others are saying. If I were to put numbers on it, Dame is basically 65% PG, and CJ is barely 20% PG. Dame can create for others, and should continue to do so, but just a little bit more often than he currently does. CJ is much better off the ball than Dame is, but he obviously has the ability to break his man down off the dribble very well. When he does however, he's going to the rim, and he should; when he plays PG, he much too often dribbles into traps or corners, and the flow offense stagnates. As he continues to grow in his game, CJ's going to get better at finishing at the rim as well as at drawing fouls, and then he will be the undisputed #1 scoring option on this team. I think CJ is still trying, more or less, to defer offensively to his overall-more-talented teammate, but I think the team would be better as a whole if Dame and CJ both honestly acknowledged which of the two is actually the better scorer.
Two things that have been mentioned that stick out to me: 1 - Fatigue. I think this is the primary issue at this point in the season. Would be nice to have a good back-up so we can decrease Dame's MPG a bit. 2 - A third scorer. Makes things easier for everyone. A lot of people are focusing on PF/C to address the "third scorer" issue. I get it - it helps balance the roster. But what about Derrick Rose? Seems like CHI is about done with him. Also, seems like his body is about done with him! Bringing him in could address both items 1 and 2 - he could quite easily be our 3rd leading scorer, and he'd allow Dame more time to rest so that he can play at a high level throughout the course of the season. Also, because Rose's body is failing him, coming off the bench in a supporting role could help extend his career and make him relevant again. I can't imagine that CHI is going to get much in return for Rose at this point in his career, so the worries of "it'll take CJ to complete the trade" don't apply. I'm not really sure what CHI needs, or how sign/trades work these days, but maybe something built around Aminu's value contract plus a re-signed Crabbe or Meyers and future considerations?
His shot selection has been shit, but he looks clearly fatigued. Not benching him for the game in GS was annoying, but understandable. If we win these next two, we might have a legit shot at locking up the 5th seed by the weekend, given MEM loses as expected. That would make our game on Wed against DEN meaningless. If so, Dame and CJ could be rested for a whole week before the playoffs. Given how well Dame has done with rest, that is exactly what we need.
I'm fine with him playing out. After tonight we have five off days and two games plus another two days or so before Game 1. Then, very few games with even one day of rest; most will be two days apart.
I agree Curry has more support which is why I wasn't only looking at this season. Even above in the Curry comparison (which I didn't bring up...lol) I went back 2 years to when Dame had LA, Lopez, Batum and Matthews.
Kinda gets me thinking what Terry will do to prep for LA or OKC in that week. Always have felt Terry's inability to change his strategy to opponents was his biggest weakness, but that home and home series vs DAL where he made massive changes to guarding Dirk in the second game gave me some hope that Terry has improved in this respect. Clips have completely muzzled Dame this season. Hope a weak of preparation for that defense can help Terry figure out answers. As of now, Clips are our most likely opponent at 83% likelihood. OKC next at 14%. I'd start prepping now.
I get that and agree that there's no doubt Curry is the more efficient scorer. But if Curry is the benchmark, every guard is going to come up short. I don't disagree with you that Dame needs to get to a point where his shooting percentage is better. I just think that focusing on that this year misses just what a fantastic job he's done pushing his young team into the playoffs when nobody gave them a chance.
With GS losing to Min last night, they only need one more loss and they cant break the record. If that happens, do they sit for the Mem games and thus not allow us to take the 5th spot? This is now my biggest concern with making the 5th spot.
I think this is partly why Cj has better shot selection. He wants to defer to Damian and not look the ball hog.
I think Terry does a good job of game preparation. It's the in-game adjustments that seem to be lacking. Again, which is why I looked back over more than just this season and have responded to some comparisons with examples of veteran surroundings and new/young surroundings. This is not something that is just recent or it would be too small of a sample size to come up with any conclusions other than a somewhat concerning trend.
