Guys like Mitchell, Booker and Edwards were basically given the green light to be the guy on their team right off the bat. Which is what Sharpe should have right now. Instead we got Grant and Simons thinking they’re the guys. When given the green light to be the guy for that stretch. We won and Sharpe’s numbers looked equivalent to those players when they were 21
not really…I think they’re friendly because of Canadian basketball. He didn’t stand down but Ant ran in and pushed Brooks
I don't know whether Sharpe is just a potential Khris Middleton on steroids or if he's the next Kobe but I want to say people are forgetting what Prep to Pro prospects used to look like. Due to him leaving Kentucky early, Sharpe is the closest thing to a Prep to Pro prospect since before it was banned. It's similar with Giannis, who was drafted after what would've been his HS senior year in the US. When you look at Kobe, McGrady, Giannis during their 3rd year, I think you'll see the stats are similar to Sharpe. 17-20ppg per 36 minutes. His efficiency is a little behind but with him deferring to Ayton, Simons, Grant, etc, you don't get to see him find his rhythm. He needs touches and not just in a "Take 13 shots out of rhythm, split up into different quarters" kind of touches that he's been getting under the current system. There needs to be a full reign to mess up approach and that's difficult with him being designated as a spot up shooter who defers to the older guys (Ayton, Grant, Simons, and Banton) who want to take the ball for whatever reason and don't want to look anywhere else except the rim. Also, for the life of me, I cannot understand why Sharpe and Deni aren't playing together more. They're the only two players that demonstrate some semblance of offensive chemistry when placed together since they actively look for one another and move in conjunction with the other. There's no reason to separate them so much when you could potentially develop a Kobe-Odom dynamic here. I'll also continue to hammer down my belief that Sharpe needs to live on that mid-range game if his three point isn't falling. When he jumps straight up, it's difficult to block and it's practically like shooting a free throw over others due to his hang time. Since his handle is still a work in progress, he should focus on just doing the minimum by passing the three point line and becoming a "zone busting" mid-range shooter. Sure, the mid-range may be considered obsolete to stat geeks but in actuality, what it does is space the floor up for teammates while also allowing the mid-range shooter to get close enough to penetrate and kick out/attack. Or it allows enough space for a reset against zone defenses by retreating back across the three point line. This is what Sharpe can do to become not just a better three level scorer in this league but also a playmaker and being in range to grab rebounds, as well. We've seen him do this, mind you. His most successful games involve something like this
What fight could a player possibly have in him when every boss he has is saying “you’re not good enough so we’re going to play bad on purpose to get the really good player next year”? I’d be working as little as possible waiting for when it’s time to actually win… tanking is bullshit and does horrible things to team culture.
I don’t believe it’s tanking if you just trade away the vets that are taking the PT from guys who aren’t quite ready yet. I can’t stress enough how much we need to get rid of the vets, Beags.
These are the last 10 games of Sharpe's rookie season. He looked pretty good for a rookie, 23.7 points per game. However, to begin the next season, Chauncey Billups started a backcourt of Scoot Henderson and Anfernee Simons. To me, Billups should have been fired immediately for that starting backcourt if Sharpe was fully healthy (which I assume he was). Billups started Simons, Scoot Henderson and Matisse Thybulle instead of him.
How do you know he was not told that he needs to start Ant? He was the face of the franchise on billboards/etc. that year. Even after having drafted Sharpe, and then Scoot, it was Ants face everywhere.
I agree that getting rid of the coach and vets and letting the kids play would be so much better than this. But the more they don’t do that, the more I have to think it’s on purpose. And I think that is BS.
Sharpe should have been in the starting unit from the beginning of the 2023-24 season. I don't know whose decision it was for Sharpe not to be a starter, but whomever it is should be removed.
Sharpe / Deni Cling Kong / TimeLord Ant Grant Lebron play to win Ayton + Scoot + Camara + 1st round pick (we agree to take Bronny) and Lebron Go on a win-streak of 16 of 20 games and our record becomes 24 and 20 and looking solid believe me - we can tank hard and still wont get Flagg. And Scoot is not (sorry). Lebron can mentor Sharpe. Sharpe and Clingan are the future. Lebron will retire and the Blazers can continue rebuilding. This tanking crap is out of control and the only thing happening is that we are creating a losing culture! Its awful to watch!! Oh! Lebron and investor group (Carmelo!) then buys the team from Jody.
LeBron doesn't fix the tanking - he's 40 and can't defend a chair. That Blazers roster wouldn't even make the playin. The last time to make a win now trade was when we had #3 Ant Sharpe but Dame here. That ship has sailed.
I didn't realize until tonight that Dyson Daniels is leading the league in both steals and deflections and it's not close. Although his shooting is not improving, he is averaging 14.6 points a game. He was drafted right after Sharpe.
Daniels improvement came after being traded and being in a better situation. Hopefully for Sharpe, it's other players being traded that improves his situation.
Yes seems that Atlanta has been a great situation for him. But its also hard to know as players can make such huge improvements in year 3 that he might have made similar improvements in New Orleans. With their injuries he'd probably have had even more offensive opportunities than he has had in Atlanta. The problem here is all 3 of our vets in Ayton, Grant, Ant. The worst defender on the team might actually be Ayton which is saying a lot because Ant is horrible. I think you could even potentially have Ant stay here if both Grant and Ayton were moved. Trae is the Hawks version of Ant but the difference is all their wings and bigs play defense, follow the teams offense gameplan, and hustle on both sides of the ball. Quinn Snider also has been a good coach with two franchises as well as a team succeeding in the playoffs. But Quinn looked much worse when Murray was on that squad last year, so personnel is certainly the main component of these teams executing better. I'd aim to trade Ant too - but really I just think it needs to be any TWO of our three vets shipped out as one of them on their own would likely be fine.
Flashback. Worth noting that he was also a G-League Ignite player, like Scoot, Kuminga and Jalen Green. Maybe it takes 3 years to shake off the stink.
In this interview Shaedon talks about coming in late at night to get more shots up and get his confidence back. I don't think that matches the narrative that so many on here are pushing that Shaedon doesn't want it bad enough. Again I think it's a fact that the seniority of Ant and Jerami fucks Shaedon up. I think that's all there is to it. Shaedon listened to everyone say they were the two best players on the team all last season and he definitely defers to them, especially Ant. If both guys go, or only Ant, then I expect Shaedon's game to pop to a different level.
