Dorell Wright

[Natebishop3]

My definition of good is better than average. I think outside of shooting percentages (which is nice to have of course) he is doing average for his minutes per game. Sure it is partially subjective but I would say he has been good only compared to the bad that he was before. If he didn't have the bad before this would seem average imo. I love that he is now shooting better. You can't expect those percentages to keep up though if he gets more minutes. Of course I can't see him getting too many more minutes (even with injuries big minutes just aren't available on our team at his positions).

Average compared to what exactly? I'm not saying he's an All-Star, but he is actually contributing as a starter. He was not contributing as a bench player, which was the whole point of the thread.

 

[KeepOnRollin]

Average compared to what exactly? I'm not saying he's an All-Star, but he is actually contributing as a starter. He was not contributing as a bench player, which was the whole point of the thread.

Average compared to other starters around the league. I don't think anyone is disputing that he is doing better. It is coming with more minutes which should improve your numbers.

 

[BlazerWookee]

Average compared to what exactly? I'm not saying he's an All-Star, but he is actually contributing as a starter. He was not contributing as a bench player, which was the whole point of the thread.

Ime Udoka produced better as a starter than he did off the bench.

 

[Natebishop3]

Average compared to other starters around the league. I don't think anyone is disputing that he is doing better. It is coming with more minutes which should improve your numbers.

More minutes might improve numbers, but not shooting percentages. That contradicts what you are saying. As a starter he is shooting 15% better from the field and 15% better from three. That's a staggering improvement.

Other starters around the league average more than 20 minutes per game, I can bet you that.

 

[KeepOnRollin]

More minutes might improve numbers, but not shooting percentages. That contradicts what you are saying. As a starter he is shooting 15% better from the field and 15% better from three. That's a staggering improvement.

Other starters around the league average more than 20 minutes per game, I can bet you that.

I said I was very happy his shooting percentage numbers went up. They would go back down some if he did 32 minutes a game though. Most starters do play more then 20 minutes which is what I was getting at on the shooting percentages.

I happy he is doing better. The point blue and others were making was that this better would be great off the bench. This better in the starting lineup is merely average.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Also, sample size. 144 minutes? That's not much. If Dorell legitimately had a ORtg of 133 and a legit DRtg of 101, he wouldn't be playing for us, he'd be locked up with a max contract. He doesn't, he isn't, and his efforts have been great but are fools gold.

 

[Natebishop3]

I said I was very happy his shooting percentage numbers went up. They would go back down some if he did 32 minutes a game though. Most starters do play more then 20 minutes which is what I was getting at on the shooting percentages.

I happy he is doing better. The point blue and others were making was that this better would be great off the bench. This better in the starting lineup is merely average.

But that point makes no sense because the entire point of the thread is stating that he seems to play better as a starter, and that he isn't a very good reserve player. The point of the thread is to explain that Wright is one of those guys that needs to start to produce, which is an explanation for why he was so terrible as a reserve.

 

[Natebishop3]

Also, sample size. 144 minutes? That's not much. If Dorell legitimately had a ORtg of 133 and a legit DRtg of 101, he wouldn't be playing for us, he'd be locked up with a max contract. He doesn't, he isn't, and his efforts have been great but are fools gold.

What exactly are you guys trying to argue here? Am I saying he should start for us? Nope. Am I saying the guy is a really good player as a starter? Nope.

I'm saying that the reason why he was playing so poorly is because I think he's one of those guys that needs to start, otherwise it takes him too long to find a rhythm. 144 minutes is enough to create an argument that the guy plays better as a starter.

 

[blue9]

He might be better as a starter, but the team (any team) won't be better with him as a starter.
He's in the unfortunate position of not being good enough to be a starter, and being even worse as a bench player.

 

[KeepOnRollin]

But that point makes no sense because the entire point of the thread is stating that he seems to play better as a starter, and that he isn't a very good reserve player. The point of the thread is to explain that Wright is one of those guys that needs to start to produce, which is an explanation for why he was so terrible as a reserve.

Yes, your point is he is better as a starter so he should probably start if we want him to continue to do well as he sucks as a reserve. We see that. However our point is he is merely average as a starter so if you want to be better than average (I assume we do) then he isn't the guy to do that.

So really he probably should be moved for a guy who can excel of the bench that doesn't have the issue where he has to start to play better.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

What exactly are you guys trying to argue here? Am I saying he should start for us? Nope. Am I saying the guy is a really good player as a starter? Nope.

I'm saying that the reason why he was playing so poorly is because I think he's one of those guys that needs to start, otherwise it takes him too long to find a rhythm. 144 minutes is enough to create an argument that the guy plays better as a starter.

At this point, though: what does it matter? Who cares? What team would want a washed up player who has to start to be even average? This LOWERS his trade value! Nothing about this revelation is even interesting, let alone good news.

Congrats. We've figured it out. Now what?

 

[Natebishop3]

Yes, your point is he is better as a starter so he should probably start if we want him to continue to do well as he sucks as a reserve. We see that. However our point is he is merely average as a starter so if you want to be better than average (I assume we do) then he isn't the guy to do that.

So really he probably should be moved for a guy who can excel of the bench that doesn't have the issue where he has to start to play better.

What? Where did I say that he should be a starter for us? In fact, I specifically said that exact point that he should be traded for someone that can play well off the bench.

 

[KeepOnRollin]

What? Where did I say that he should be a starter for us? In fact, I specifically said that exact point that he should be traded for someone that can play well off the bench.

Then awesome! We agree. The only thing we disagree on then is the definition of average vs good. This is great news!

 

[Natebishop3]

At this point, though: what does it matter? Who cares? What team would want a washed up player who has to start to be even average? This LOWERS his trade value! Nothing about this revelation is even interesting, let alone good news.

Congrats. We've figured it out. Now what?

Oh so we're going to resort to sarcasm and condescension? Cool.

I got defensive because people started putting words in my mouth. The whole point is now we know why Dorell sucked so much balls earlier in the season. He was brought in to be a key reserve and now we know that's a role that he realistically cannot fill. That's good to know because he's signed beyond this season. We should be trying to trade him, so it IS good news because now we know that he cannot fill the role that we signed him for. Better to know now so we can hopefully get something of use for him.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Oh so we're going to resort to sarcasm and condescension? Cool.

I got defensive because people started putting words in my mouth. The whole point is now we know why Dorell sucked so much balls earlier in the season. He was brought in to be a key reserve and now we know that's a role that he realistically cannot fill. That's good to know because he's signed beyond this season. We should be trying to trade him, so it IS good news because now we know that he cannot fill the role that we signed him for. Better to know now so we can hopefully get something of use for him.

All that's left in this season is sarcasm. The condescension was unintentional; I meant to express frustration.

We knew he couldn't fill the role we hired him to do long before LMA went down. I mean, having him succeed at a role we didn't hire him for isn't necessary to see he was failing at the role we hired him for. I'm a little surprised we didn't try to move him at the deadline. But maybe we did, and other GMs rightly saw him as useless for the role he'd be asked to fill on their teams, too.

Wright is a lost cause; I guess the upshot of this whole conversation is that at least he's playing well for us when we need him most. It's not the job we hired him to do, but it's nice he's doing it anyway.

 

[Hobbesarable]

I'm pissed Claver didn't play more last night. We built our lead when he was in there, and he didn't see the court in the second half. Sometimes it seems like all Terry cares about is spacing the floor on offense. Claver might not be a scoring threat on O, but he plays D and makes smart plays. I think we might have won if he played in place of Barton or Wright in the second half last night.

Claver is a smart defensive role player and I hope we keep him beyond his current contract.

 

[cmeese47]

I'm pissed Claver didn't play more last night. We built our lead when he was in there, and he didn't see the court in the second half. Sometimes it seems like all Terry cares about is spacing the floor on offense. Claver might not be a scoring threat on O, but he plays D and makes smart plays. I think we might have won if he played in place of Barton or Wright in the second half last night.

That is why Terry should not be a head coach

 

[riverman]

I think it's worth cutting him some slack here, he's a Blazer newbie with a coach like none he's played for before. 1st year guys who may be vets, still have to make a team's system second nature. Given minutes, Wright has rebounded, defended out of position and scored in double digits. He's been to the finals and won it all. Has a good hoops IQ. I think he's a good fit as a role player off the bench.

 

[KeepOnRollin]

What are Dorell Wright's percentages after tonight's game?

 

[HomerLovesKoolAid]

Bench Dorell, unbench Victor.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

What are Dorell Wright's percentages after tonight's game?

As a starter (8 games): 44.4% overall, 41.2% threes. His ORtg dropped to 114. His DRtg is still a good 100, though.

 

[maxiep]

He had a tough night. What I liked was he kept shooting. He was getting to his spot and getting a good look. They just weren't falling.

Let's not forget, at one point Lillard was 1-10 last night. He kept shooting and turned it around.

 

[BBert]

Lillard is a player you have to stick with when he's having a night like that. You just don't bench your all star, and in the end he turned it around.

Wright was having an equally bad shooting night, and eventually Stotts gave him the rest of the night off.

 

[blue9]

Bench Dorell, unbench Victor.

And start Robinson!
Just tell Wright he's suspended indefinitely for conduct detrimental to the team: sucking at basketball.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

And start Robinson!
Just tell Wright he's suspended indefinitely for conduct detrimental to the team: sucking at basketball.

If we stars handing out suspensions for that, we might not be able to field a team for a few games!

 

[blue9]

If we stars handing out suspensions for that, we might not be able to field a team for a few games!

Touché!

 

[KeepOnRollin]

It is good thing Babbitt isn't still around otherwise Stotts would probably have him as our backup PF.

http://www.columbian.com/news/2014/mar/18/portland-trail-blazers-notebook-dorell-wright/

As it turns out, it appears as if Dorell Wright's play as the starting power forward in games without Aldridge has earned him a spot moving forward.

"When LaMarcus comes back, that's going to be 36 minutes," said Blazers coach Terry Stotts before Portland's game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday. "We have to look at him (Wright) as the backup four especially with Joel Freeland being out. Because we are able to change the pace of play."

At the power forward spot, where he was not playing for much of the year because of the Blazers playing younger players such as Meyers Leonard and Thomas Robinson, the spacing he provides by the threat of his shooting is something that's useful even if he misses.

 

[illmatic99]

Smh There's more to the game than spacing, Terry. Like, you know... defense.

 

[blue9]

Smh There's more to the game than spacing, Terry. Like, you know... defense.

How did those Lakers ever win a championship with Shaq not providing "spacing"? And just who is Wright creating space for?
I'm officially done with Terry. Call a press conference.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Smh There's more to the game than spacing, Terry. Like, you know... defense.

Like it or not, but Dorell's DRtg as a starter is 100, which is way better than our average of 105. I'm not saying he's a great defender or anything, but he's blocked a few shots and confused some post players out there. Of course, I'd rather have Claver out there making smart passes and defending well, but that's just me...