Watch the first quarter again—he ended up guarding the guy who got the shot up a few times. Then the game fell apart and went about as you would expect.
Butler is an absolute twig Badji is not NBA ready Jabari Walker was horrible at D (needs reps) J.Grant finds safe place to hide during scrums Moses might not make the team Nurkic plays a half season if you're lucky Kris Murray, new rookie, yay! Thybulle is a guard, undersized SF Nassir, SF shoved into the PF, struggled last seaon Shaedon, not a SF. He excelled at SG during tank. Rupert is very raw, needs to develop do you folks want to win some games or not? Jaquez Jr. has the size and skillset to be a very good legitimate Small Forward in this league.
I actually really like Jaquez but serviceable is the word that comes to mind—'very good' might be a stretch.
Jacquez feels like a bigger Pat Connaugton. A high-effort, high-energy guy. Does a little of everything. I doubt he'll become a very good starting small forward. He would need to improve his shooting a lot. He could be a 2nd player acquired in a Dame trade. Certainly not the primary player.
So Murray a new rookie yay, but Jaquez Jr, also a rookie and same size but Jaquez Jr has the size and skillset to be a very good legitimate small forward and Murray doesn't? Seems like you are doing all you can to talk down the blazers players and talk up Jaquez Jr. What is it about Jaquez jr that makes you so much more excited about him then murray?
I know, I know, the local Blazers smartass. Talk down to a Blazer? By being honest? I do watch Blazer games. I don't know what other folks are seeing. The team kinda stunk last season. - Nurkic misses time, where's the counter argument? - Grant does runs from contact, 6'4" Tyler Herro averages more rebounds then the Blazers PF. I do like Jerami's game, he's a good scorer with good skills and is a fun to watch Blazer. But people do wonder why his rebounding #'s are low. I simply explained why. - Butler is tall, but super duper lightweight. - Walker looked lost at times last season, he's a young player, he needs to develop. Coach didn't run him much because he wasn't ready, just a rookie. - Moses is on a non guarantee - Badji is huge, but uncoordinated, needs practice - Rupert shoots 35%Fg 25% 3pt, if I said he sucks and can't shoot, that would be talking down. I said he was raw, needs to work on his shooting. - Shaedon performed brilliantly at SG, not at SF - Thybulle is undersized for SF, Very good perimeter defender, not great defending post. He's a guard. Murray ?? I like Murray. Where would Jaquez Jr. be effective in Portland? how about Portland trades Nassir Little? Try their hand with a bigger SF who already shown better ball handling and possibly more potential? Nassir is coming off a bummer season, the injury bug has not been kind to Nas. He had all of March to open up his game and impress his peeps, and could only muster up 6ppg on 37%fg & 23% 3pt. If Jaquez Jr. never leaves Miami, and Nassir Little kicks butt next year in a bounceback season, getting 12-14 a night off the bench, then I will be rooting for the guy. there's attitude, and bad attitude. I don't take bad attitude out on Blazer players. I save that for Billups and Cronin, because they're not playing in games that I watch.
My point was Murray and Jaquez are the same size and both rookies. You blew off Murray because he is a rookie but them talk like Jaquez is the next great thing. If you are grading Murray down just be a he is a rookie, why not the same disregard for Jaquez as a rookie to. Why is the Blazer rookie just a rookie but the heat guy you talk up like he is some great prospect?
With Giannis' potential availability in 2025, and Dame's contract goes until 2027, teams who want to get Giannis will not be trading for Dame
That reminds me of the time I was trying to fire up our summer league co-ed soccer team and got my metaphors mixed up and shouted "Let's go lick their asses!
I would say more of a Hart type. I think he can actually be a little better than Hart (who I love as a player)
It's taken 2 years and the "Winning Culture" and "Home Court Advantage" for this team is gone. They are more interested in what player they can get from the lottery. To answer your question. NO! They don't care about winning any longer.
I think Hart is a really good comparison. Both played 4 years in college for good defensive-minded coaches. Both bring energy and like to push the ball from the SF spot and both have been inconsistent from the 3-point line but are both capable from that range. Both with a similar wing span at around 6'9" ( same as Scoot by the way) JJjr is slightly bigger at 225 which will help against bigger 3s. Both with a high BBIQ and both are good rebounders. They are glue guys vs. being a star.
they do have similarities. I watched JJJ in several college games and I really have to squint and tilt my head to see him having anything close to Hart's impact. I question his speed and quickness. He's a tweener forward; I suppose Hart is a tweener guard but makes up for it with energy and hustle. JJJ could do the same but I just think Hart has a big advantage in mobility as for 3pt shooting, Hart shot 39% from the college three on 532 attempts; Jaquez shot 33% on 354 attempts and he only shot that high because of an outlier season when he shot over 39% on 94 attempts. For the rest of his UCLA career he shot 30% on 260 attempts. Hart was at a different level as a college shooter if the Blazers do trade with Miami, sure, they need to get JJJ back but at this point I think it's more a matter of extracting every ounce of assets they can get from the Heat, not so much a case of JJJ having major upside
Here are some more stats. He led UCLA in points (shooting 48%) and rebounds while being the league MVP. They lost in the Sweet 16 to Gonzaga by 3, but JJjr had 29 points and 11 rebounds. I think his overall impact was huge. Time will tell if that translates to the NBA but I have always liked him.
ok...sure, he looked pretty good in some college games NBA is different though, even different than March Madness....ask Adam Morrison **************************** I was curious about the Pac-12 MVP list...went back to Brandon Roy: some good players on that list...and some that never translated to the NBA. I had forgot that Crabbe was actually a PAC-12 player of the year....yikes! quite a run of marginal MVP's from 2010 to 2017
well, those last 3 guys were 1st, 3rd, and 6th picks; Poeltl was a 9th pick. Two one-and-done's and two others who played 2 years Brooks was a 45th pick, but played 3 years. So, JJJ at 18 after 4 years seems to fall into a different range. Maybe a low-ceiling/higher-floor kind of guy I'm not sure it will matter as I'm half-convinced Portland will simply not trade Dame to Miami
My description of Kris Murray would be ... mini-Lamarcus. Length, midrange, soft touch, spread the floor, play smart, play within the system, find open cutters, grab some boards, stop some layups, get a hot hand and put points of the board in a flurry. I'm also saying if Jaquez Jr. can be acquired in the Dame Trade, he would blend into the lineup seamlessly in Portland. He would not be a useless & crummy player aquired because Dame turned into a whiney baby and demanded a trade to the Heat.
