If I was to make my own subjective a list of priorities for a modern NBA C, it would look something like: Rim Protection (Clingan) Paint Defense (Clingan) Focus & Intensity (Clingan) Rebounding (Clingan) Upside (Clingan) Switch-ability on defense (Draw) Offensive Rebounding (Clingan) Salary & Contract (Clingan) Post Passing (Draw) Strong Hands in Traffic (Ayton) Shooting % at Rim (Ayton) 3 point Shooting (Clingan) Mid Range Shooting (Ayton) I know other people will want to rearrange those priorities; maybe add some. But in my view this really isn't close
I'd probably give Ayton the slight edge on switch-ability - he's actually decent here for being such a tall big. But Ayton mid range shooting is a liability as he jacks up so many of those inefficient shots. Maybe that should be a shot selection attribute which Clingan would be superior in. So yes to your overall point that about 80% of the attributes you want from a center have Clingan as clearly superior. The main justification I read for starting Ayton over Clingan is just because Clingan would accept being benched while Ayton would pout. If they were identical performers on the court but Clingan was in his 8th season and Ayton in his 2nd it would be set in stone that Clingan is the starter. It will be stupid if the Blazers start an inferior Ayton just to appease him at the cost of wins, cost at building a better long term center, and cost of players earning their minutes.
I pray Jerami is gone and we can make it work filling in his minutes with more Deni/DA/DC. Toumani and Deni are so versatile you can start to plug and play these guys around each other and experience net positives. I personally trust DA to keep him around, I think him plus DC is a killer center duo that can make it far. Keep in mind ayton was still part of a 64 win group. He has the acumen to be a part of a winning team that wins playoff games. I say invest in that a bit. I think they split this 50/50 this year, for all of Donovan’s struggles and conditioning issues - DA was a bit more consistent
DA and Deni seem to have a real connection (Maybe it is a DA to DA connection). I would not be too upset if we get to see this a bit more, but DC is obviously a part of the future and DA is a maybe...
@Mediocre Man You didn't bring up the -6.6 until AFTER the 14 game comment. You lost me lol.... What is the 14 game referencing then?
It was a sarcastic comment about our coaches ability to determine who should be on the floor. I was responding to Ukrainefan’s comment about the eye test. Clingan CLEARLY better, but our fucktard coach still ran Ayton out there. But hey, we won 14 more games…..which had nothing to do with Ayton, and little to do with the Conductor
I am legitimately shocked that Ayton has any votes, much less as many as he does. Especially after seeing +\- and record as starter. Of course Ayton’s PER is higher, Clingan can’t make a fucking layup, but he’s still a better overall player
I sure am looking forward to you continuing to be continually outraged... that act never ever grows stale STOMP
PER is an advanced stat too. I pointed to it as a counter to your contention that this season was a statistical blowout in DC's favor. Again, I like Clingan. I wanted them to draft him and he exceeded my expectations this year. If they move Ayton this offseason I won't be shedding any tears, but if they keep him I think it will be best for the team that he remains a starter for the reasons I stated prior. I am absolutely sure that Donavan will get plenty of run next year regardless of whether he's the starter as he's the future. STOMP
I get it. Truly I do. I feel for everyone that doesn’t have me on ignore because I can be a broken record. BUT, when this franchise CONTINUALLY rewards average. When every single person watching without Rose Garden colored glasses can see it’s asinine to trot out Ayton and Grant in the starting line up, maybe our coach could see that also?
Even though we lose 6.6 points when he starts? Id rather have a team of 10 PER guys that were all + in the +\- stat than a team of 20 PER guys that were - Legit asking….does that make sense?
Did the pizza guy tell you that it's definitely the coach's call? I mean with that revelation from Joe's presser with the coach, they have to both hear what Bert wants every week. So what I'm asking is do you think Chauncey has the autonomy to make those bad decisions? Could he have been told not to sit those guys to preserve their trade value? Just wondering if you have more insight than some of the rest of us because to me the only thing that makes sense is that he was told not to sit Jerami, Deandre or Ant.
Chauncey set the lineup. The one thing I know is neither Joe nor Chauncey was grantees to come back next season. Chauncey’s job was to win games. Chauncey played and started who he thought gave him the best chance to win
