He probably can, easily, since Mo barely has any PG skills himself. CJ could do what Mo does, and I think he could do it better. Sent from my banana using Tapatalk 4
A) It does seem a bit presumptuous, but maybe he has a feel/quote from Stotts that he's not supposed to drop in print yet (oops.) B) I concur that right now Dame/Mo/Wes have a tight rotation going. That doesn't mean that something better may be available. While Stotts isn't Nate, McScribbles famously moved Roy to SF(!) and Miller to SG(?!?!) b/c he wanted Blanky and his single-digit PER starting at PG. Until something better came along. C) Freeman's correct that CJ's played about a week of practice and a week's worth of summer league ratball in the last year. He has to show he's NBA game-speed, mentally and physically. Even "fully healthy #1 pick" Bennett has shown adjustment problems (to put it delicately). It would be unfair for a guy whose last "meaningful" game action was dropping 34 in a loss to Bryant College (?) to be tossed into an NBA game after a year off and expected to produce like Mo Williams, a 10-year vet and former All-Star. It's good that his coach is looking out for him and his development. All that said, let's do some parsing. He's going to "come off the bench at SG, simulating his role with the Blazers." Who do we have as the backup SG? I can't think of anyone other than Dame, Mo or Wes who's played guard minutes outside of garbage time (or Earl, when Mo was out for a quarter or so). So is CJ just another version of Wild Will? I don't know that I see that happening. So the rotation will change if CJ plays, since Dame is our backup SG right now. So is Stotts planning on sitting Dame for CJ while Mo keeps playing 20-25mpg? And to say that the rotation is "locked" might be overstating it. Robinson lost his spot to Leonard, even though there are still only 9 in the rotation. But it might be tougher for CJ to overtake Mo than for Leonard to beat out Robinson. Still, I'm very bullish on CJ, but it doesn't look good for him to get minutes, if you believe what the team/Freeman is saying
I'd say that Freeman's correct, at least in the short run, that CJ won't be part of the rotation when he rejoins the team. But there's a lot of season left and, if he's as good as has been reported, I'd be willing to bet that he gets minutes before the season's over. I could see stealing him some minutes by letting him play in a small ball lineup alongside Damian with Wes playing SF. I wouldn't mind seeing a little less of Wright.
If McCollum winds up being the second coming of Damian Lillard, there's no way they stick to this plan. Elite talent always finds a way. The obvious solution is to slide Matthews to the 3 for a few minutes and play CJ at the 2. Take 13 mpg away from Dorrel Wright, who isn't really integral to team chemistry anyway and hasn't done a ton to cement his role on this team. Eventually an injury will come along and CJ will get his turn. Over 82 games there are always opportunities.
I've been sidestepping this since draft day, because I'm already a fan without much logical justification. Not many guys can do what Damian did--come in after his senior season from a lower-caliber college program and wreck shop--but I really think CJ's another one. No one here batted an eye when Dame started and played almost 40mpg last year. Thinking that CJ can do similarly in 15 or 20 doesn't seem all rainbows and unicorns to me. But I don't get to see practices. Dude played as a straight PG through triple-teams in the SL and still was pretty effective. There's no way that he'll be the best player on the court for the Blazers, and I'm excited to see what he can do as a gunner in a lineup where you can't double him.
Geez! I wish Terry would not say stuff like that! Mo Williams is not the best at anything so he is not even close to the best backup PG in the NBA. He is close to the worst shooter on the team, next in line to Wright for the honor. He's missed more shots that any two other backup players combined, and more TO that the rest of the bench combined. Christ that would mean if Olshey were to figure out how to get a PG in here to backup Lillard, keeping the potential championship play alive, Terry would leave him on the pine. Now that would piss me off
For the sake of your blood pressure, I'll submit that Stotts is using coach-speak. Of course he isn't going to say "Good Mo is pretty good, but there are days when he stinks like a fecal compost bin on a humid summer day, and we can't have too many of those", even if true. Of course he isn't going to say "CJ is probably the best hope we have on the bench going forward--Mo better watch his back", even if true. I like that he's praising the players who've been performing for him while protecting his rookies.
You McCollum worshippers sure seem deflated over an opinion piece in the Oregonian. The only part of the article surprising me is that the rookie will return to Portland after only 2 games. Why? Leave him in Boise. After a month of SG play, the Stampede could start teaching him PG skills, behind D-league scoring leader Lucky Pierre Jackson, who went #42 in the 2013 NBA draft.
You know, our "Red" team of Watson/CJ/Crabbe/Claver/Robinson (or Leonard) would destroy our reserves from last year.
As good as has been reported? Can you link me to where it says he's some kind of Michael Jordan? In the weak 2013 draft he went what, 10th? That's like 15-18 in the strong 2012 draft. Why does anyone think he'll take less than 2 years before finding his way? He sure sucked in Summer League, dragging down the most talented SL team to the league near-bottom record. He's going to provide competition to former all-star, best sub on the team, highly underrated Mo Williams? As a rookie? After missing half the season? I got news for you guys. McCollum won't play much NEXT season, either.
First of all, dumb thread title. It should definitely be more like "Freeman: McCollum won't be part of Blazers rotation." He's citing zero sources and not even claiming he has any. He's pulling it out of his ass. Worse yet, he's acting like he knows. Weird, in a bad way. As for the concept of not playing CJ, it's basically terrible. Mo Williams NetrtG is -10 while Lillard's is +10. In plain english, every minute Mo plays, his poor play "cancels out" every minute of good Lillard play.
It's just a writer, you guys. He doesn't know anything about Terry Stotts, who has played it close to the vest when it comes to coaching decisions. As he should.
Are folks blind at what Stotts said? I know the author is. When McCollum plays in Boise, Stotts said, he will fill a role that most closely “simulates” his role with the Blazers. He will come off the bench and exclusively play shooting guard. Yup. He's definitely going to find minutes in the rotation. They wouldn't send him to D-League to play 2 games and come back if they didn't intend him to get in the rotation to some extent.
Man, I watched every Summer League game and didn't come away with that at all. We must have been watching different games.
