What was even more remarkable is that no Blazer made a shot after a 9 pt lead for 11 straight minutes and we only scored 14 pts in the 4th qtr of the most important game of the season....worst time ever to have a complete team wide shooting slump..it was so bad it almost made one wonder if they weren't laying down and taking a dive....they weren't but it was that exaggerated on the big stage.
I would argue he was pretty close to decent at the end of the season. He improved a lot and some people didn't notice.
He's young enough and athletic enough that I would hope he could improve under the right coach. I still don't understand why he's so bad at driving though. He's a dunker that can't drive.
Ant ended the season as one of the hottest 3pt shooters in the league. I would like to see him shore up his mid-range and attacking the rim with ferocity. His athleticism looks effortless. He keeps that shooting up and he will be feared by opponents; he has not reached his potential, not even close. Next year is is break out season MIP candidate (I'm optimistic).
Didn't you listen to olshey? 4/5ths of our starting lineup is returning = we're in great shape #neillogic
Yeah it makes me almost sick to think about honestly. We got shit on by role players. Like HCP at his dungeons and dragons nights. Austin Rivers is also a scrub, best known for that year he pooped on Portland in the first round.
The problem is the Blazers have been missing a starting forward forever, so that needs to be addressed before backup PG. Secondly what good backup PG want to sign a cheap deal to a DameCJ team with limited opportunities? You post makes it sound like we have solutions at every backup position. Ant was the only backup who provided any help. So you could say the team needed a backup SF, PF, C along with PG.
If Kanter is the perfect backup, how did we end up playing 6'6" 10 day contract RHJ all the backup minutes in the playoffs?? And people say Zach Collins wouldn't have helped.
Just my take but Kanter is a great backup and wins games in the regular season. You make a good point on the flip side. Kanter might have been more playable with Collins available. The problem might have been more about playing Melo with Kanter?
I think this is all valid. Kanter is nice to have as a security blanket during the regular season if Nurk misses 25 games. He keeps you in the playoff hunt and allows you to run a lot of the same plays in the offense. And Kanter would've been more tolerable if we had quality defenders at 1-4 during his bench minutes. The real problem with Kanter is that he's unplayable in the playoffs. The league has moved even more toward pace-and-space since he played significant minutes for us in the playoffs a couple seasons ago. He's just too slow and opponents just pick him apart when there's time to prepare. Plus he can't pass for shit. Do we really want a significant salary and role player to just use during the regular season? Doesn't this force the coach and players to get used to a guy who won't be around when the real season starts? Really, you can say the same thing about Melo and CJ. They are guys who can win you regular season games but when shit gets real you want bodies who can defend and play a team game around Dame's greatness. These aren't the guys we're looking for.
Agree on Kanter; I'd like to see the team bring him back as the 11th man on a cheap contract for the regular season. But if he wants multiple years or a guaranteed role let him walk. He is the perfect gatekeeper as a bench big/emergency starter; he can help in the season but if Zach or Giles type of prospect gets healthy and contributes they can take Kanters minutes. The playoffs Kanter is often unplayable except for situational matchups. I also think the Melo/Kanter pairing was a mess on the bench, especially in the playoffs. If RHJ or DJJ was in Melo role then maybe pairing them with Kanter when Dame sits would have given the bench rotation the offense/defense balance it needed. Instead we had a combo of offensive skilled+shit defense players on the floor together (CJ, Simons, Melo, Kanter)
It's really hard to expect guys like Melo and Kanter to take end-of-bench roles once they've been featured so prominently on a team. It's just a recipe for locker room battles. Is this really what we want our new coach to be worrying about while he/she implements a new system? Do we want that coach to be worried about what Melo or Kanter are muttering under their breath when a rookie takes their job? They are both good guys and professionals. But egos are egos. These guys don't offer anything that special that 30 other guys couldn't duplicate without all the historical issues. CJ is not so replaceable. But again, I'd rather have him gone so he's not there expecting anything out of the new coach just because it's the way it's always been. Hopefully we get something back for him that can be plugged into the new coaching system.
Kanter would not and most likely will never be “Significant Salary” ever again. He also doesn’t seem to mind his role.
Agree on Melo. I'm not sure about Kanter. He got extensive DNP in Boston. He had DNP in our last playoff games and I didn't hear any comments. I think Neil needs to be upfront and honest with Kanter, if he wants a bigger role he can leave. If he enjoys being part of the team and more of a Chris Kaman role then keep him.
Kanter is perfectly happy as is. He was our only consistent scorer in many regular season games, that we would have fallen far behind. His claw-like sure hands (compare to Butterfingers Nurkic with small hands and many missed close easy shots) put him way above average in reliable scoring for a sub center. He is cheap. What is the problem?
