since you are a poster who has posted in this thread, you are part of this "everyone" you speak of. Sorry homeslice but my all the above answer is the correct one.
he's right but I have a problem with anybody chummy with Dwight Jaynes. Jaynes was Canzano before Canzano
It is the roster... but why does it matter than Cronin said that? Is that supposed to excuse that he's put together a mediocre roster that has a ton of money guaranteed to a few players well into the future and two of our best players about to be free agents? If he had made moves for the future (trading Dame, for example) a "wait and see" approach would make sense. If he had acquired draft capital for some of the guys he moved, or gotten any young players of consequence in the deals he made, I'd be more willing to listen. As it is, he didn't do that. Other than drafting Sharpe, he's merely traded for different veterans (on expiring deals), given current players way more than they would have received anywhere else, and lit a lot of cash on fire when he signed Payton for some reason. Every GM can say, "Let me make this clear: the roster is a work in progress"... but who cares? What roster is NOT? Why should a GM be excused for not making the team better (in the present or into the future) merely because he says that?
The problem is pretty simple, we have shitty ownership that doesn’t care as much about winning as it does about profit paired with a 2nd year GM/HC combo that has assembled a roster full of runts. Zero fucking size, and the size we do have plays small.
The problem is our guards and Nurk cannot guard a chair. Maybe time to start Eubanks and Little. Bring Ant off the bench and trade Nurk for a mobile big man. If it's not that then do something else, but at least try! Or just keep doing what we are doing so we get the best pick possible next year.
There is a massive lack of size/length, and they get 'out-physicalled' on a nightly basis. 8 players are 6'6" and under and 11 players that are 6'8" or less....that is staggering amount of lack of size on an NBA roster. That is very much on Neil and now partially on Joe. Until that is fixed, it won't get better. They are last in the league in opponent shots at the rim. Their perimeter defenders don't keep anyone out of the lane, and then they don't have the size (Drew) or athleticism (Nurk) to deter many of those attempts. How long will it take to fix? Dame only has so many years left.
Fortunately, Nurk doesn't have to guard a chair. At various times during his career he has had elite defensive numbers. He's still a far better team defender than Eubanks. Don't let Eubanks' sexy blocks mislead you: he's the white Montrezl Harrell - he flatters to deceive, and is deservedly a bench player (and probably not even that on a good team). But what Nurk is, is maddeningly inconsistent. He was our best player in the two games against Dallas, the last time we looked dominant against a half-decent team. But he's just a fucking foul magnet.
I think this is part of the problem; the Blazers always seem slow to make the next move on offense. Is it because they are trying too hard to do the right thing? "Then Lillard on Sunday tucked an interesting nugget in his explanation about the team’s chemistry and how the Blazers have good on-court chemistry, they just don’t sustain it consistently. He noted how good teams have players who are able to get themselves out of ruts by identifying go-to plays or make adjustments on the fly. 'We are looking to the sideline for direction,' Lillard said. 'I think if we can get to the point where we govern ourselves and figure things out for ourselves while we are in the middle of (a lull), I think it will help us.' It wasn’t meant as a dig at Billups, but rather an illustration of how this team is still reliant upon their coach to direct them and lead them out of turbulence. I think it’s become evident this team is thinking a lot, and not just instinctually playing. Ultimately, that is on the coach. Billups has to find a way to unlock these guys, make them feel free, yet keep them within the parameters of his vision of how they should play."
I would start hart at the two and bring Ant off the bench. Put Naz in at 3. Hart does a good job of pushing the ball up court and is a better passer than Simons at this point. He also is much better at taking it to the rack and getting buckets. Ant missed an easy three on 1 last night, instead Turing there ball over. Dame has proven he can also play off the ball with hart bringing it up quickly and moving the offense. Simons could take be a scorer off the bench another area we lack. If he's on fire at the end of games leave him in. Dame and Ant slow it down way to much. Last night a few times Grant pushed the ball up and created with guys moving.
Who decided to hire Cronin without interviewing external candidates? I think that was the biggest issue we've got currently, and it seems indicative of an ownership approach that won't be effective.
1) Nurkic has been chronically overrated for years. He’s soft and not smart. 2) Ownership is as shitty as it gets 3) Chauncey has never coached. He’s very close to becoming Steve Nash. Ex nba stars usually don’t work out. 4) feels like a lot of guys got paid and just riding it out 5) refusal to consider Lillard trade because of feelings 6) Need second star and Grant isn’t it. Never was it. Not close. 7) years and years of willingly being a .500 8th seed type team and being totally happy with it couldn’t stockpile any young pieces or potentially hit that homerun in the draft.
I think the biggest issue is the trade deadline is February 9th and everyone wants answers on January 23rd. Sucks waiting, but when the made trades before the deadline last year they were blasted for not waiting until the deadline for a possible better deal. I bet we won't see anything until the deadline this year.
Unfortunately Nurk has a huge body, but mentally he is a midget. He has this crazy idea imprinted on him since many years ago that he is has so much talent and being underutilised so when he doesn't get enough balls he checks out mentally. Eubanks is defintely not better, but at some point effort has to be rewarded and something needs to be changed. Nurk not winning as any games anyway. We are literally close to the bottom of the Conference as it is.
