DeBlazerRiddem wrote:Evan Turner is the only kind-of "floor general" type player I remember Olshey signing, and that was a massive failure because he wasn't real good at that. Who knows maybe that put him off the idea while the eventual success of guys like Napier and Curry reaffirmed his belief, but I'm not talking about a guy who will get Lillard off-ball but a guy who can play spot minutes with the bench and get the most out of the other bench positions.
I think Olshey realized in the season between Batum and Turner the Blazers needed somebody...anybody...who could run the offense a little. Batum was pretty good at that, especially any side PnR sets. But one thing that made Batum good at the role was his extremely low usage and the fact he rarely held the ball more than a couple of seconds. Turner had a much higher usage rate and he held the ball for lots of seconds. He was a bit of a ball stopper, especially when he got into backing-his-man-down mode. Another critical difference was that Batum was decent, most time, at catch-&-shoot and spot-up. Turner was terrible at both
Olshey did sign Mo Williams and Steve Blake in successive years. Those guys were more like traditional PG's, especially Blake. But he has stubbornly resisted adding any real backup floor general since CJ was elevated to a starting role. That's not a coincidence. A backup PG like a Rondo, or a Mo Williams, or a George Hill would not only challenge CJ for all those backup PG minutes, but for some Dame-on-the-floor minutes as well
GEE wrote:For those that don't believe this is a massively upgraded roster, and a true contender...I bet you own at least one Laker jersey.
It's a major upgrade over last year's roster for sure. It may not be a significant upgrade over the 2018-19 roster though. On paper, this year's team probably has the best depth of any squad in the Olsey/Stotts tenure. But depth of role players don't make for a contender. It's not 4-10 in the rotation that makes a contender, it's 1-3, and that hasn't changed.
Portland's Achilles heel that has kept them on the Pretender treadmill is they have no answer when a good opponent sells out there defense to stop Dame. It's killed them in the playoffs, year after year, when they meet real contenders. I don't see any answer for that on this year's team. Covington will be the best wing they've had since Matthews/Batum, but that won't likely solve the riddle. And while Jones plays good defense, his few offensive strengths, transition/back door cut/lobs are things Portland has never done under Stotts, even at a mediocre level.
I'm anxious to see this year's team perform, but so far, they are paper tigers. Calling them a "true contender" before seeing a half season of them competing is way premature
dunlop212 wrote:If Anthony takes the step back one reasonably expects for a player in his late 30s (especially a guy who was a matador defender in his prime), Hood comes back a lesser player, and Little and Simons don't become legit NBA players, this is a pretty unimpressive bench.
you forgot to add if Zach misses 30 games and the often injured Giles gets injured again
and if Stotts can figure out how to involve Jones in the offense. We've seen the the poor shooting perimeter wings be square-pegs-in-round-holes in the Stotts offense over and over. That's an old movie
the team has a chance to be as good as the 2013-14 and 2018-19 blazer squads, but a lot will have to break right
