Funny, I expect him not to play. Last game (unless it's the final) is traditionally when the guys who haven't had a chance to play get big minutes so they can show their wares to the non-NBA teams that send scouts to Summer League. I will be surprised if Clingan, Murray, Rupert and even possibly Minaya get minutes.
Well. yes, but it also means that THEIR best rebounder and shotblocker is sucked out of the paint to guard him.
Not if I'm coaching against him and he's a 30% 3pt shooter. My big will be down grabbing those sweet rebounds.
that didn't happen, at all, when Nurkic was gunning up three's at a career high and shooting 36%. He was open all the time because Nurkic shooting three's was never a concern of any defense
He had an elite block % in college of 12.6%. It was more than double Zach Edey's. For comparsion, Mutumbo's career single season high was 8.8%
in his final year at Georgetown, Mutumbo averaged 5 blocks/36; last season Clingan averaged 4 blocks/36 * Adonal Foyle averaged 6.4 blocks/game his junior season. Yeah, 6.4 * Alonzo Mourning averaged 5.4/36 his senior year at Georgetown * 6'9 Jarvis Varnado averaged 6 blocks/36 his junior year in the SEC * Emeka Okafor averaged 5.1 blocks/36 his sophomore season at UConn * Theo Ratliff average 5.6 blocks/36 his last season at Wyoming * Hasheem Thabeet averaged 5.2 blocks/36 his sophomore season at UConn looking at UConn history, Clingan isn't in the top-10 in blocks/game yes, he had the 3rd highest block rate in UConn history but that is often a list filled with lower minute players who didn't have to pace themselves. Just about everybody I listed averaged in the 32-34 minute range. Clingan averaged 17.6 minutes over two seasons and 22.5 last season all that's not to say he won't be the best rim protector Portland has had in a while, but he sure won't be posting the same block percentage in the NBA he had at UConn
Maybe Donovan's block percentage will go UP in the NBA. But you want to be a "The Donovan Clingan Block Percentage Future is Half-Empty" kinda guy....
To me it's the position from which the shot is coming from. For an example take Jokic. He doesn't shoot 3's from the corner much. He does however shoot a high percentage from the top of the arc. This allows him to be in position to pass the ball and run the offense through the center. Lots of different looks can come from that area. Teams have to get someone out there to guard him because he's deadly from there. Then if and when he passes out of that position he can break towards the rim either for roll type plays and or be in position to rebound. This is actually flex/flow offense refined. I say get Clingan comfortable taking shots from the top area and or just left or right and let the rest fall into place. We all have seen he can make good decisions with the ball and has the ability to pass. Denver also uses this tactic to get Jokic down the floor on defense quicker and it saves him some mileage.
Not funny. Correct. I didn't know thats how they typically do things but it makes sense. I cant say I wasn't disappointed though.
get a grip on reality, man Clingan's 'career' block percentage at UConn was 12.6%. Here are the highest career block rates in NBA/ABA history notice how most of those guys played when the average number of three's shot by a team in an NBA game was around 15 (or less). Last season, the average was 35. So, 20 more three's shot in a game means 15-20 fewer blockable shots (pace factor). But Clingan is going to land in the NBA and shatter the career blocked shot rate by over 60%? if you want to just talk single season record, there have only been 4 times when an NBA player eclipsed the 10% mark:
Rookie Wemby just put up the highest non-Manute block rate in NBA history? We're in for a long next 15 years...
it's crazy he was called the best prospect since Lebron....a generational talent...a unicorn ok then....but on top of all that, he has a rookie season than exceeds all those sky-high expectations....yikes!!
Oh no, I don’t expect him exclusively at the 3 pt line, if that’s what you thought I meant. The threat of him being a 3 pt shooter changes everything. A DA-Clingan lineup will happen for, what, maybe 6-8 mins max a night? All the things you say are true and are a worry if that is something we relied on heavily. I’m just saying Clingan flashing the potential of becoming a decent shooter allows us to use a throwaway year on experimenting on the two-big lineup and thinking about what the next building pieces are. My post was more about being more excited about Clingan as a prospect than I was prior, and the rest of my post was just thinking about the possibilities out loud.
Yeah, I had you all wrong. I thought you were saying that we'd put Clingan in the corner and try to run those two together for like 20 minutes a game or something. You are right, if Clingan can just be a threat from deep it will make playing them together for limited minutes doable, whereas if he can't the spacing will be horrendous on offense. With defending the three point line being the biggest theoretical drawback when those guys together. Still, this isn't a season where most of us are expecting a ton of wins so this is the season to figure this kind of stuff out in reality. Should be fun to see.
Absolutely. Most people aren’t going to care about anything out past the season, but I’ve always found it fun to be a bit forward thinking and explore what could happen. Apparently, Schmitz agreed with the national consensus and people like me were wrong. This video has me hyped about what we landed with in a bad draft class. Imagine this man with a 3 ball and shot 36% on high volume. Look at some of his passes from as far out as the 3 point line. Instead of these guys, he had Shae cutting to the basket with his 45”+ vertical. I also like the idea of having Clingan giving an entry pass to Avdija when he has a smaller guy in the post (who might give it back to Clingan if he sprints to the basket). And of course, any flashes of a 3 will rapidly speed up Scoot’s development. I haven’t been mad at the screen setting so far either. I think the building blocks are there to make a play-in or maybe even playoff appearance in ‘25-‘26.
