I think the +/- stat is near meaningless, but I guess I'll agree to that. As long as we're not tanking at that point.
rather have Valunciunas for 2M less..? Christian Wood for 2M less...? Bobby Portis for 6M less...? Robert Williams for 6M less...? Ivaca Zubac for 6M less? Jakob Poeltl for 7M less....? Kevon Looney for half the cost....? Nurkic can be a big plus for the Blazers if he has 2 good games for every bad one, but he seems to run about 50-50 the last few seasons, and of course, he misses a lot of games. If he stays healthy and can consistently deliver production with decent efficiency he'll have a big impact. I just don't have a lot of confidence of that happening something that has bothered me about Nurk is his low conversion rate at the rim (0-3')...last season: Jarett Allen .809 Rudy Gobert .803 Robert Williams .801 Deandre Ayton .793 Nikola Jokic .776 Joel Embiid .763 Isaih Hartenstein .759 Jakob Poeltl .747 Christian Wood .739 Ivac Zubac .719 Nikola Vucevic .708 JaVale McGee .706 Valunciunas .696 Steven Adams .693 KAT .688 Clint Capela .684 Nurkic .653 Portis .644 these were half of all of Nurk's shots and he averaged 11 shots a game. Making that list worse is that several of those players have mid-range shots, or three's. or both. Nurkic only shot 56.3% from the field last season what really bugs me about all that is the issue is easy to see, and it should have been easy to correct. All Nurkic needs to do is have a little discipline and patience on those shots. He throws up way to many wild-ass shots almost as soon as he touches the ball. More control around the rim means more conversions on higher efficiency; it also means he'll draw more shooting fouls because officals aren't going to blow whistles on those shots that have almost no chance of going in. Discipline and patience right? But he's now in his 9th season so thinking he'll suddenly see the light and correct what should be easy to correct for 8 years seems like a pipedream
I wonder what it was like for Shaedon to share the court with Lebron who is regarded as one of, if not the best player if not ever, at least in his (Shaedon's) lifetime. He did not seem starstuck. If anything, he momentarily stared down at him on that alley-oop.
If there is something I would like to see with sharpe within a couple more games, trying to get him a bit more involved in the offense, he just camps in the corner in half court sets. Try to use him to set picks and roll or pop, he should get a bit more use on offense. I suspect Chauncey is trying to keep it simple for now, but he needs more than that to progress
This move we saw last night by Sharpe is crazy. He drives by Jamal Murray, then makes Caldwell-Pope think he's going to throw up a hook shot? but instead puts on the breaks and fakes KCP out of his shoes. Then while he's still got Michael Porter Jr on one side and Jokic on the other side of him, he calmly slides up a layup just outside of Porter Jr's reach. Reminds me exactly of Brandon Roy. This was a 1 on 4 that Sharpe executed as if he were having a day at the park. Watch KCP go flying out of the play. Amazing. We saw Roy do this time after time. Hopefully we'll get that deja vu feeling in seasons to come.
That kid is going to be all right. That's athletic ability + skill + apparently, not being concerned about the competition. Just stay healthy and keep learning...
Who looked the least rattled by the Miami Heat? Shaedon Sharpe. Sharpe is not a bench player. The sooner he's a starter the better for the Trail Blazers. I don't see any rookie jitters like you see with some of our other players who are not rookies. Age and experience obviously have nothing to do with losing your composure. Watching the several amazing plays of Sharpe, he makes it look like he's playing ball in his backyard. Dribble through traffic? No problem. He'll do it in no hurry but with great athleticism and skill. Jump over Josh Hart for a rebound? No problem. Steal, fast break, get fouled but still make the layup? No problem. Calmly side-step a defender to get open for a 3-pointer. No problem.
Sharpe seems to glide when he plays. He will be the reason we take the next step. When? Who knows? We also need an athletic freak at forward to compliment him before anything else happens
Yeah even though he projects to be a pretty good on ball defender, he’s gonna be even better off ball playing the passing lanes and being a weak side shot blocker.
Probably a good opportunity to start him against a team we’ll still be able to beat, but not a tough starting defensive assignment. Gordon is primarily a catch and shoot guy and is considerably smaller than Sharpe. Not sure why we’re pressured to play him over 30mins either. You could always play him 25mins and add the extra 5mins if he’s played well up to that point.
Not all in. Let’s see how he takes criticism. Let’s see his work ethic. Let’s see if he’ll stay in Portland if he becomes HE
