"I think that’s what we were hoping for when we drafted Damian,” Olshey said of Lillard’s dominating success. “We knew we were going to hand him the ball on day one, and that’s why we didn’t bring any good point guards that would compete for minutes with him " Read more at http://www.hoopsworld.com/nba-am-blazers-are-open-to-trades/#m6e0sU00hy8Ipc2p.99 We knew this was true, but the back up PG spot needs to be addressed. Price is fine as the third PG off the bench in case of injuries. But not the 2nd.
I'm sure our other guards love to read that. Way to pump up team moral and loyalty. Sometimes it's better to not state the obvious. Before opening his mouth, someone in Olshey's position should ask himself the question: "What are the positive and negative outcomes of what I'm about to say?" I suppose the positive to Olshey is that he's deflecting criticism of himself. That's not team first. He's not a message board poster who can just spout off any random emotional reaction without any tangible ramification. But yeah, our backup PG situation is worse than I'm sure even Olshey imagined.
Now is the time to bring that type of guard. I believe lillard has all the confidence he needs and now needs help. I would much rather have a defensive minded pg that can be brought in and be pesky and strong. Even if that guard only scores like 2-4 points a game, but completely excels on d would be more than enough. I mean really guys. If your combined scoring at pg is 18-20 PPG, we should be ecstatic! Now is the time to fill voids we have serious holes in and that's defense. Our bench scoring is somewhat of an issue, but I really think our d is more of a problem.
Royal Ivey could be had and is somewhat decent as a back-up. He is extremely defensive minded, 6'-4", doesn't need to score to be effective. He's nothing we could go goo goo over, but for a 10-15 minute per game player, we could get him for cheap.
I fear moving the needle will be the new overused phrase by fans in regards to trades. Replacing calm waters and cake baking.
I don't think Neil needs to worry about the delicate psyche or poor confidence of a professional athlete. If they don't have the internal motivation needed to succeed an office worker in a suit isn't going to help. The players understand what Olshey's role to the team and media is so I very much doubt they are losing sleep over him stating the obvious.
Yes but the problem with Price is he just isn't what we expected. But you maybe onto something. Last night, Price gave us what we wanted. If he could consistently give us that type of production. Or even slightly less than what we saw last night; we have our Back-up PG. Unfortunately, he mostly turns the ball over and has no idea how to run an offense. I hope that changes.
I disagree. It's been my perception over the years that most pro basketball players are spoiled immature coddled babies. Plus every ounce of confidence is needed to succeed at this level. No big deal if we disagree. I don't much care which way he said whatever he said. It was just my reaction from a management perspective. Cheers.
Huh? Price has played exactly like I expected. Dude couldn't play before Neil signed him and the same is true now.
Price was brought in to mentor Lillard. It was Smith who was slotted as the backup PG when Olshey was creating this roster. I don't think it is that Price has exceeded expectation as much as it is that Smith is not working out as a viable backup PG.
The story has been from the beginning that we brought in Price, one of the crappiest PGs in the league, to mentor Damian. I hope they were talking about life style and perspective, and not basketball.
