Portland’s bench is ranked in the bottom ten in scoring. They started the season hot, were ranked tenth up until early November. They're ranked 23rd since. They’re also ranked 26th in free throw attempts. What they do do well is rebound and move the ball. So where does the fix come from? I’ve read and seen them making more of an effort to get Curry going, putting the ball in his hands, letting him work the pick and roll, etc, so that’s at least a start. Stauskas is still underutilized imo. He’s clearly one of the better playmakers on the team, nevermind the second unit, but doesn’t have the ball in his hands as much as he should. That being said, I don’t think either Curry or Stauskas are the pure scorer the second unit needs. They need someone that can consistently break a defender down, and/or, get to the line. Turner, Collins and Leonard aren’t those type of players, and I don’t want CJ anywhere near the second unit. Internal: He’s only played a little over 30 minutes, but in that small sample size, only Lillard and Nurkic average more free throw attempts per 36 than Anfernee Simons. Obviously hard to read into such a small sample, but he had a similar rate in preseason and also had a reputation coming into the league as someone that was good at drawing fouls. As for the other aspects of scoring, I think only Lillard and CJ are better at creating for themselves than Simons. That’s just a natural skill. The only other internal option would be Layman, but I’m basing that off of what he did in the g league two years ago, when he showed an ability to attack and get to the line. But that was the g league, and he hasn’t shown that same ability to get to the line in the NBA. To be fair though, he hasn’t been given the same offensive freedoms. External: Considering Simons’ inexperience, and where the team is, fighting for the playoffs, this would probably be the ideal route. So who’s available? Carmelo and Jabari are two options, but they would require sacrifices defensively, and I’m not sure what that trade off would accomplish. Would it actually make the team better? I don’t know. I’m not as concerned about defense with bench units, but it’s still worth considering. What would I do? Insert Simons into the rotation, and give him like a month. Let him play through failure. Give him a consistent minute count and stick to it. If after that month he hasn’t shown enough progress, then go and explore the trade/buyout market.
There is also the Olshey option: give the ball to Turner on every possesion in the pathetic hope he will do something to justify his contract. Personally, I vote for giving the rookies a chance.
Sun Tzu and the Lesson of the Concubines Sun Tzu’s book, The Art of War, earned him an audience with the King of Wu, who said, “I have thoroughly read your thirteen chapters. May I submit your theory of managing soldiers to a small test?” Sun Tzu replied, “Sir, you may.” The King of Wu asked, “Can the test be applied to women?” Sun Tzu replied that it could, so arrangements were made to bring 180 beautiful women from the palace. Sun Tzu divided them into two companies with one of the King’s favorite concubines at the head of each. He then made all of them take spears in their hands and spoke to them: “I presume you know the difference between front and back, right hand, and left hand?” The women replied, “Yes.” Sun Tzu continued, “When to the sound of drums I order ‘eyes front,’ look straight ahead. When I order ‘left turn,’ face toward your left hand. When I order ‘right turn,’ face toward your right hand. When I order ‘about turn,’ face around to the back.” After the words of command had been explained, the women agreed they understood. He gave them spears so he could begin the drill. To the sound of drums, Sun Tzu ordered “right turn.” In response, the women burst out in laughter. With great patience, Sun Tzu said, “If the instructions and words of command are not clear and distinct, if orders are not thoroughly understood, then the general is to blame.” He then repeated the explanations several times. This time he ordered the drums to signal “left turn,” and again the women burst into laughter. Then Sun Tzu said, “If the instructions and words of command are not clear and distinct, if orders are not thoroughly understood, the general is to blame. But if commands are clear and the soldiers disobey, then it is the fault of the officers.” He immediately ordered the women who were at the head of the two companies to be beheaded. Of course, the King was watching from a raised pavilion, and when he saw that his two favorite concubines were about to be executed, he was alarmed and swiftly sent down a message: “We are now quite satisfied as to the general’s ability to manage troops. Without these concubines, my food and drink will not taste good. It is the King’s wish that they not be beheaded.” Sun Tzu replied, “Having received the sovereign’s commission to take charge and direct these troops, there are certain orders I cannot accept.” He immediately had the two concubines beheaded as an example and appointed the two next in line as the new leaders. Now the drums were sounded again and the drill began. The women performed all the maneuvers exactly as commanded, turning to the right or left, marching ahead, turning around, kneeling, or rising. They drilled perfectly in precision and did not utter a single sound. Sun Tzu sent a messenger to the King of Wu saying, “Your Majesty, the soldiers are now correctly drilled and perfectly disciplined. They are ready for your inspection. Put them to any use you desire. As sovereign, you may choose to require them to go through fire and water and they will not disobey.” The King responded, “Our commander should cease the drill and return to his camp. We do not wish to come down and inspect the troops.” With great calm, Sun Tzu said, “This king is only fond of words and cannot carry them into deeds.”
Portland has had some of their worst benches in franchise history over the last 7 seasons. It's not a coincidence that Olshey was hired 7 seasons ago with my obligatory torpedo fired at Olshey out of the tube, I'm fine with Portland trying anything to add some punch to the bench rotation. At the same time I'm fine with saying that the odds of the Blazers finding that punch with any of the existing bench personnel are smaller than my sister-in-law not saying something snarky about me the rest of the day...hint: she's cutting into me in the other room as I type this. That's ok because Olshey isn't the only asshole I can launch torpedoes at...the holidays are open season as far as I'm concerned forget about Turner and Meyers; they can't do it. Curry and Stauskas are just too limited and just too flawed. I still can't believe Olshey thought it was a good idea to build a bench around Turner's talents. That's like trying to build a house on a foundation of popsicle sticks, aspirin, bell-bottoms, and 8-track tapes. Yeah, I launched another one...sue me I'd bench Turner, as in ride the pine. Let Baldwin handle the playmaking and go for mobility: Baldwin-Simons-Trent-Layman-Zach. Sure, 90% chance of failure but that can't be much higher than the current situation. One final torpedo: the best bench move would be to put Olshey on a bench in the unemployment office
The problem is, the Blazers dont have anyone can effectively and consistently create their own shot against set defense. When the balls moving we'll have good outings, but when not it's not, we resort in Rvan Turner to bail us out.
I know he's probably not ready but I wish they'd just play through Collins then and just tell him to be aggressive.
I've been saying it for a while! Play through him, he's got amazing footwork, he's not much of a ball handler but he doesn't need to be. I think he's a decent passer. If they really believe that he's a "foundational" piece then they really need to take the kid gloves off. Stotts has basically relegated him to being ML on offense, he gets 3's and dunks once in a while, while setting a lot of (mostly bad) screens on offense. I don't feel like Stotts has ever played to Zach's strengths, and I don't really understand why...
Layman - get him shots, let him know you expect him to score 10 points a night and I think he is capable. He's never been given more than a couple shots a night in most cases but this season made the most of his opportunities on most nights.
Small sample size, but this at least shows me that maybe he deserves that chance. The more he plays, the better he is. Weird concept. Layman is the guy I’m afraid is going to “Vonleh” us again. He’ll go somewhere else next year, get a legit chance, and take off, all the while we’re left begging for a similar player to fill a hole.
It took them over a year to realize the benefits of playing through Nurk, so expect this move to arrive sometime next season!
Stotts doesn’t trust young players. He was forced to trust Lillard. It’s fair to wonder what would’ve happened to CJs career had Wes not gotten injured. Or if the Afflalo trade would’ve been made had Barton gotten a consistent look. Even the third year guys like Crabbe and Connaughton only got opportunities because Olshey didn’t leave Stotts with much of a choice. Like, what’s going to happen with Simons’ development? He’s going to warm the bench until Olshey takes away the alternatives in his third year? And then they’re going to sell that as “internal development.” Lol FOH.
Will Barton is exactly the type of player that this core is missing off the bench. Neil Olshey, take a bow!
What sucks about Barton is he was getting sporadic minutes his last season in Portland (10mpg) then got traded to Denver and immediately produced in a larger role. All he needed were consistent minutes. Has Stotts ever given consistent minutes to any young player that wasn’t out of necessity?
One thing about Barton, he was a terrible 3 point shooter when here. Much like ET his game just didn't fit in Stotts' system. The summer after he was traded he must have really worked on it because he became a +35% guy instead of a -30% shooter.
