Re: Game 61: Portland vs Atlanta 4:30pm SNW
Posted: Sun Mar 1, 2020 10:36 pm
About a million years ago I remember reading a quote by some coach (maybe it was Jerry Sloan, or Phil Jackson)..."great teams are made up of 90% fit and 10% talent". This coach went on to say that he thought that the talent level in the NBA was pretty static except for the top 10 or so players. Meaning, an average NBA player will look great if the fit is right and a good player can look pretty average if the fit is bad...we've seen this time and time again when players switch teams--the fit changes and suddenly the player is better or worse than he previously was.
I bring this up because I think that's partly what the Blazers have been running up against this season. On paper Whiteside is a better player than Nurkic, but Nurkic's fit on the team makes him the better player.
Whiteside
Melo
CJ
are all players that would likely look much better on teams that were a better fit for what they bring to the table on the court. Fit meaning roster construction, locker room impact, and system on both sides of the ball.
All that being said, I do think that the criticisms of Whiteside are slightly off-base. If you take him off the roster at the beginning of the year I believe the Blazers would be in the mix for worst record in the league--subtracting Whiteside's 7.3 winshares from the Blazer's 26 wins confirms that notion. Whiteside needs to find the right fit with his skill set...perhaps alongside an aggressive secondary rim defender/rebounder and a team that plays good perimeter defense that can successfully funnel opposing players.
I bring this up because I think that's partly what the Blazers have been running up against this season. On paper Whiteside is a better player than Nurkic, but Nurkic's fit on the team makes him the better player.
Whiteside
Melo
CJ
are all players that would likely look much better on teams that were a better fit for what they bring to the table on the court. Fit meaning roster construction, locker room impact, and system on both sides of the ball.
All that being said, I do think that the criticisms of Whiteside are slightly off-base. If you take him off the roster at the beginning of the year I believe the Blazers would be in the mix for worst record in the league--subtracting Whiteside's 7.3 winshares from the Blazer's 26 wins confirms that notion. Whiteside needs to find the right fit with his skill set...perhaps alongside an aggressive secondary rim defender/rebounder and a team that plays good perimeter defense that can successfully funnel opposing players.