That he doesn't believe the Blazers can win with both C.J and Lillard. He said C.J is basically a one trick pony and really only cares about his offense. Also said that Neil's crazy if he doesn't trade CJ for a better defensive two way SG.
They would need to greatly improve their defense at the sf and pf positions to hide the back courts defensive deficiencies if they ever wanted to advance farther than the second round with their backcourt how it's currently constructed.
Ropp, isn't he that guy who was pouting like a petulant toddler about getting fired from his gig on Talking Ball? Seems like he might have an axe to grind. BNM
I don't know why I'm responding to this, but CJ is far from a one-trick pony. One-trick ponies only have...ONE trick. There literally isn't a way to score the ball that CJ isn't great at. However many ways you can score the ball, that's the number of tricks to CJ's pony.
Well one trick pony in the sense that he can only score. So Cj only has offense is what Ropp probably means when he says he's a one trick pony
The problem is that Dame and CJ are both one trick ponies and too short. What did Joe Dumars and Isaiah Thomas ever won?
Joe Dumars was an elite defender, and Thomas wasn't too bad either. No comparison. Dame and CJ are individually two of the worst defenders in the league right now and also two of the worst guard defenders Portland has ever had by many metrics. You can surround them with very good defenders and maybe pull it off, but I do agree with the premise that if you keep both of them in the starting lineup you have an uphill battle for every game, and much moreso in the playoffs.
Okay, updated as of today, for this season for all guards > 25 min/game: 1. Westbrook 104 2. Rondo, Paul, Johnson, Curry 106 6. Curry, Wade, Holiday, Hill, Harden, Beverly 107 11. Wall, Waiters, Smart, Conley, Bradley 108 17. Walker, Klay Thompson, Teague, Parker, Oladipo, Matthews 109 See anyone missing yet? 57. CJ 114 58. Lillard 114 At least they aren't last: 67. Devin Booker 115 68. Jameer Nelson 116 I love seeing Dame and CJ score, but it is painful watching them bet burnt on D and watching the rest of the team take fouls trying to cover for them. The only way this team wins significantly with them in the backcourt is if they have a Come to Jesus moment about their defense--and even then I'm not sure they can do it.
I like Ropp. He's not a basketball expert, but at least he's one of the few independent voices talking about the team. Where else can you get honest talk about the Blazers and Paul Allen?
