Curious to see how good or bad

[BlazersBroncos]

We will be very bad and with the vets playing 30+ mpg very boring to watch.

[JasonStern]

Sharpe is grossly overrated by (seemingly) most; he's a negative on both ends of the floor. He needs to take a massive leap.

Another generic grocery store white bread level post. What tier of roster has he played with? Has he dealt with injuries? When he played, did he not appear super athletic? How exactly was he a negative on both ends of the floor?

I will admit that he's looking more like a Darius Miles 2.0 than a Vince Carter 2.0. But like Miles, Sharpe is fun to watch.

[Walton1one]

One thing that I will add here that I found interesting, I don’t know if anyone here listens to Sam Vecenie’s podcast? Game Theory?

I find his comments pretty insightful. He does a lot of scouting, a lot of in depth breakdowns of players. He just did a breakdown of top 24 under 24 players in the NBA, which I found interesting.

Of note, no POR Players made that list. The closest was Avdija (25-30 range). Sharpe was mentioned in the 40 range, although injuries were mentioned as part of the reason for that ranking. I don’t agree with everything they say, or with the Sharpe ranking per se, but I do find their comments insightful. Worth a listen, if you like to get a deep dive on players, particularly around draft time. He also did a podcast with Clingan, where they did a film breakdown of his game.

[SweaterBae]

Sharpe is grossly overrated by (seemingly) most; he's a negative on both ends of the floor. He needs to take a massive leap.

Another generic grocery store white bread level post. What tier of roster has he played with? Has he dealt with injuries? When he played, did he not appear super athletic? How exactly was he a negative on both ends of the floor?

I will admit that he's looking more like a Darius Miles 2.0 than a Vince Carter 2.0. But like Miles, Sharpe is fun to watch.

Nonsense, I actually did research, obviously unlike you. You like that he dunks, talk about superficial opinion making. He was between like 9th and 13th on the roster, higher(better) accounting for the guys who didn't play many minutes, in basically every single metric. efg%, ts%, fg%, rebound rate, assist rate, turnover rate, steal rate, block rate, on off, BPM, offensive and defensive rating. He was like 5th in FT rate and that was by far his best stat.

[JasonStern]

Sharpe is grossly overrated by (seemingly) most; he's a negative on both ends of the floor. He needs to take a massive leap.

Another generic grocery store white bread level post. What tier of roster has he played with? Has he dealt with injuries? When he played, did he not appear super athletic? How exactly was he a negative on both ends of the floor?

I will admit that he's looking more like a Darius Miles 2.0 than a Vince Carter 2.0. But like Miles, Sharpe is fun to watch.

Nonsense, I actually did research, obviously unlike you. You like that he dunks, talk about superficial opinion making. He was between like 9th and 13th on the roster, higher(better) accounting for the guys who didn't play many minutes, in basically every single metric. efg%, ts%, fg%, rebound rate, assist rate, turnover rate, steal rate, block rate, on off, BPM, offensive and defensive rating. He was like 5th in FT rate and that was by far his best stat.

He was also injured last season. 32 games. Still a 15.9ppg/5.0rpg/2.9apg player on a 22.4% usage rate at 20-21. Now actually read my post and compare his stats to Darius Miles as I said. Looks like he's trending positively.

Calipari said he had the potential to go #1 if he had a full college season. But I'm guessing Calipari didn't do any research on a player he had on his roster for an entire season. Nor did the entire Blazers scouting team.

A lot of these stats that you mention are tied to the talent of the team and the talent of the teams played. If you are playing with g-leaguers against a stacked western conference every night, and your 5th best scorer is Dalano Banton, your metric stats aren't going to be as high as if you were playing on a team like Boston.

But yes. I love the potential of Sharpe and Rupert. You can't teach athleticism. Whether they improve their BBIQ or not is on them. Is taking a low ceiling, low floor player like Steve Blake really a better use of a #7 pick?

[Pattycakes]

This team could be if they don’t make any trades.

Starters: Ant-Sharpe-Deni-Grant-Ayton
Bench: Scoot-Matisse-Clingan

Why did you just skip like 4 dudes more qualified for Pt than Matisse?

[GEE]

This team could be if they don’t make any trades.

Starters: Ant-Sharpe-Deni-Grant-Ayton
Bench: Scoot-Matisse-Clingan

Why did you just skip like 4 dudes more qualified for Pt than Matisse?

This points to my biggest concern... What will Chauncey do with the talent that he now has? Assuming both TL and Sharpe come to camp repaired and in top form, I think the player rotations and minutes distributed to each player, and at what position depending on the particular night's matchup, will be our teams' biggest Win/Loss factor... and that's solely on Chauncey.

Nobody will like or understand it, but I love having Thybulle start at the 2 (but be the first out) because of his outstanding defense. Balance and Chemistry will be important and with ANT, I think Mathrees will offset his biggest weakness nicely. I want Grant to start at the 3, with only a few mpg at the 4. Deni backs up the 3 and 4 (for now). Sharpe and Scoot back up the 1 and 2 respectively (for now). Ayton at the 5 with ClingOn, Reath, Camara and the others in the pound will provide depth, and could potentially force Cronin to trade one or both of Grant and Thybulle... when the pups (including Scoot and Sharpe) grow up a little more.

Simons / Scoot
Thybulle / Sharpe
Grant / Deni
TL(InThePaint) / Reath(Perimeter threat)
Ayton(Deadly Midrange like LA12) / ClingOn(InThePaint)

Ultimately, I'm not buying into all of the LOSER TALK around these parts, and I strongly BELIEVE it may have very little merit.

RIP CITY!!!

[Walton1one]

One thing that I will add here that I found interesting, I don’t know if anyone here listens to Sam Vecenie’s podcast? Game Theory?

I find his comments pretty insightful. He does a lot of scouting, a lot of in depth breakdowns of players. He just did a breakdown of top 24 under 24 players in the NBA, which I found interesting.

Of note, no POR Players made that list. The closest was Avdija (25-30 range). Sharpe was mentioned in the 40 range, although injuries were mentioned as part of the reason for that ranking. I don’t agree with everything they say, or with the Sharpe ranking per se, but I do find their comments insightful. Worth a listen, if you like to get a deep dive on players, particularly around draft time. He also did a podcast with Clingan, where they did a film breakdown of his game.

So, EDIT here, one blazer did make the list it was Scoot Henderson @ #17. After LY I think a lot of people are down on Scoot, however, they both had very interesting/nice things to say about him, particularly Vecenie, especially his potential, which I found insightful

[Wizenheimer]

One thing that I will add here that I found interesting, I don’t know if anyone here listens to Sam Vecenie’s podcast? Game Theory?

I find his comments pretty insightful. He does a lot of scouting, a lot of in depth breakdowns of players. He just did a breakdown of top 24 under 24 players in the NBA, which I found interesting.

Of note, no POR Players made that list. The closest was Avdija (25-30 range). Sharpe was mentioned in the 40 range, although injuries were mentioned as part of the reason for that ranking. I don’t agree with everything they say, or with the Sharpe ranking per se, but I do find their comments insightful. Worth a listen, if you like to get a deep dive on players, particularly around draft time. He also did a podcast with Clingan, where they did a film breakdown of his game.

So, EDIT here, one blazer did make the list it was Scoot Henderson @ #17. After LY I think a lot of people are down on Scoot, however, they both had very interesting/nice things to say about him, particularly Vecenie, especially his potential, which I found insightful

It's absolutely true that Scoot had a bad year statistically. And for the most part, the eye-tests matched the stats. He purely sucked at times.

the first thing to take away from that is that G-League doesn't do much to prepare a player for the NBA. That may especially be true for 18-19 year old PG's. But if you were watching, Scoot did flash enough potential, at times, to at least make people a bit hopeful about his upside. Obviously, he has shooting issues to overcome and a lot of his trnovers were really ugly. He has to clean that up....a lot

I'm not sure his reality will ever match all the pre-draft hype he had. That was obviously over-the-top. He probably won't ever be a top-10 player, maybe not even all-star level (although that's not out of reach, yet). Maybe not ever a Derrick Rose, but a good chance of a Darnell Valentine, and likely a higher ceiling than that

[Walton1one]

I think, in the podcast what they said was, when he was drafted, they thought he had all pro potential, and now they felt it was more like he has a potential to be an all-star player, meaning have a year or more where he was voted as an All Star as his ceiling, which I agree with. They compared his stats to Dearon Fox, and Darius Garland, their first years in the league as a comparison, which was pretty interesting to see

The main things that was said that I agree with, was he did not have trouble getting to his spots, he just didn’t know what to do when he got there, but getting to the spots shows that he has the ability, it is the decision making, strength, comfort level in finishing through contact, obviously his shooting at the rim has got to get better, but they felt it was more him being a young player and indecision, than ability/skill, because he did not have trouble getting into the paint or where he wanted to go

The other comment that really stood out to me was he has the drive. There was no doubt that he will put in the work\improve on his game, which, seeing some of the videos from the summer kind of shows that, to me that is a huge factor in a player, reaching their potential.

[zzaj]

I keep saying, if Scoot hits Kemba Walker level the Blazers will be in very good shape with that pick.

[dckingsfan]

This team could be if they don’t make any trades.

Starters: Ant-Sharpe-Deni-Grant-Ayton
Bench: Scoot-Matisse-Clingan

Why did you just skip like 4 dudes more qualified for Pt than Matisse?

This points to my biggest concern... What will Chauncey do with the talent that he now has? Assuming both TL and Sharpe come to camp repaired and in top form, I think the player rotations and minutes distributed to each player, and at what position depending on the particular night's matchup, will be our teams' biggest Win/Loss factor... and that's solely on Chauncey.

Nobody will like or understand it, but I love having Thybulle start at the 2 (but be the first out) because of his outstanding defense. Balance and Chemistry will be important and with ANT, I think Mathrees will offset his biggest weakness nicely. I want Grant to start at the 3, with only a few mpg at the 4. Deni backs up the 3 and 4 (for now). Sharpe and Scoot back up the 1 and 2 respectively (for now). Ayton at the 5 with ClingOn, Reath, Camara and the others in the pound will provide depth, and could potentially force Cronin to trade one or both of Grant and Thybulle... when the pups (including Scoot and Sharpe) grow up a little more.

Simons / Scoot
Thybulle / Sharpe
Grant / Deni
TL(InThePaint) / Reath(Perimeter threat)
Ayton(Deadly Midrange like LA12) / ClingOn(InThePaint)

Ultimately, I'm not buying into all of the LOSER TALK around these parts, and I strongly BELIEVE it may have very little merit.

RIP CITY!!!

What is your prediction on the number of wins that the Blazers secure this year? Maybe we need a prediction thread after the preseason.

[BlazersBroncos]

lol

Deni coming off the bench is about as likely as Jessica Biel leaving JT for Harvey Weinstein.

[zzaj]

lol

Deni coming off the bench is about as likely as Jessica Biel leaving JT for Harvey Weinstein.

Yeah, Deni off the bench isn't happening. There's a very good argument to be made that he is currently the Blazers' "best" player.

[BlazersBroncos]

lol

Deni coming off the bench is about as likely as Jessica Biel leaving JT for Harvey Weinstein.

Yeah, Deni off the bench isn't happening. There's a very good argument to be made that he is currently the Blazers' "best" player.

He for sure is our best player. He and Grant are the only guys on this roster that would start on a contender.

I put him over Grant because he is a better defender, rebounder, facilitator and plays winning ball (IE moves the rock - doesnt ISO like Grant).

Grant had a path to being such a winner but he bolted to DET because he cares more about FGA than winning playoff games. He could have been a Top-5 role player if he stayed in his lane. Albeit he likely doesnt make near as much money if he takes that route.

But Grant could have been a Tay Prince / Shane Battier level role player IMO. A guy every championship team salivates over.

[Walton1one]

Grant wanted that big deal, which he got from DET\$60 million and then Cronin tripled? down on that and gave him $160mil, woof....

[zzaj]

lol

Deni coming off the bench is about as likely as Jessica Biel leaving JT for Harvey Weinstein.

Yeah, Deni off the bench isn't happening. There's a very good argument to be made that he is currently the Blazers' "best" player.

He for sure is our best player. He and Grant are the only guys on this roster that would start on a contender.

I put him over Grant because he is a better defender, rebounder, facilitator and plays winning ball (IE moves the rock - doesnt ISO like Grant).

Grant had a path to being such a winner but he bolted to DET because he cares more about FGA than winning playoff games. He could have been a Top-5 role player if he stayed in his lane. Albeit he likely doesnt make near as much money if he takes that route.

But Grant could have been a Tay Prince / Shane Battier level role player IMO. A guy every championship team salivates over.

No arguments really from me...if you count both sides of the ball. Now, I'll want to see more than 1 decent year out of Deni before we get too deep into "best" player arguments...and even though I know what you mean by "winning" basketball, Deni didn't elevate his team in WAS to the win column very much...

My sincere hope for the season is that Chauncey allows/enforces more open court play. If Deni is to play well again this season, it's going to be because the Blazers are running and pushing tempo--Deni thrived while playing at tempo in Washington. If he is a starter on a largely halfcourt team, I expect his impact to crater and for him to go back to looking like the player he was in the years before last year.

There's truly no excuse to try and be a halfcourt team with Scoot/Sharpe/Deni on your roster...

[DeBlazerRiddem]

I don't think a guy is a loser or a losing type player because he took the opportunity for more money. Its a career decision for sure but doesn't mean he wouldn't be a winner in the right situation. He still is a guy that every championship team salivates over with the main hiccup being money, not what he contributes on the court.

I think as soon as Grant makes it onto a decent team people around the NBA will be thinking "where has this guy been hiding, why has this two way forward been wasted away on bad teams" because he is exactly what good teams want for their #2/#3 type players. 6'8 players who can shoot are always in demand for good teams.

The biggest knock on him is his rebounding but that probably will help him extend his career as well, I don't think he's about to drop off a cliff. I've said before about Aldridge but I think it applies to Grant as well, players with good size and length who don't base their game on explosiveness or above the rim play and can shoot and get their own shot are about as age proof as any type of player. Of course any player can be taken out at any time for entirely random reasons but I would bet on Grant not falling off a cliff

[tester551]

He for sure is our best player. He and Grant are the only guys on this roster that would start on a contender.

Blazers do have 1 players on the roster who actually played in the NBA finals... in fact he STARTED on that team.

[BlazersBroncos]

He for sure is our best player. He and Grant are the only guys on this roster that would start on a contender.

Blazers do have 1 players on the roster who actually played in the NBA finals... in fact he STARTED on that team.

You’re right, but it’s hard to put Rob into any discussion with his injuries.

When healthy he is a nice 5th starter for a contender depending on the roster construction.