Enough with the small ball basketball

Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Register Log in
CupWizier said:
Because ball handlers are typically better passers also and when the offense breaks down a ball handler and shot creator can get to the basket or pull up for a shot. Look at Boston as they have several ball handlers/ passers on the floor at the same time. Same with GS. Some of our best early offense is when we added Napier into the 3 guard rotation and ball movement was much better.

As an example, would you consider Aminu a ball handler? Would you consider him a good passer?
Click to expand...
Great post.

This is so true. Ball handling, shot creating, and basketball IQ makes for a great passer
 
Mediocre Man said:
Great post.

This is so true. Ball handling, shot creating, and basketball IQ makes for a great passer
Click to expand...

It will be interesting to see if Wade Baldwin earns a bigger roll on the team next season - for this very reason.

BNM
 
Mediocre Man said:
He's very good. So underutilized IMO
Click to expand...

Well, he wasn't even with the team for most of the season. MEM waited until literally the last possible minute (on the eve of opening night) to cut him. So, we didn't sign him until after the season started. That meant he didn't get to spend summer league, training camp, or the preseason with us. I really look forward to what he can do next season, after a full summer/training camp/preseason with the team.

The thing that really intrigues me about Baldwin is that even though he has PG skills, he has the size, and especially the length, to guard shooting guards. In theory, that would seem to make him the perfect 3rd guard to complement Dame and C.J. If he can consistently knock down the open 3, he could be a much younger, cheaper, better passing version of Courtney Lee, a player many here would like to add using the Crabbe TPE.

BNM
 
Mediocre Man said:
He's very good. So underutilized IMO
Click to expand...

He will likely get his opportunity in summer league and preseason to show what he can do and if he can help the team. Remember he had surgery at the start of the season and the plan was to let him play in the G league to get into playing shape and gain experience.
 
As much as small ball cna be enjoybale to watch... faster paced, more shots... I do miss the dominate giants who used to own the NBA.

How about we go get Bropez and play him at PF along side Nurk?
 
BonesJones said:
"We should cut Aminu, 6'9 PFs are too small."

"We should bring back T-Rob (who's a 6'9 PF)!!!!"
Click to expand...

Thomas Robinson:
Wingspan = 7'3.25"
Standing Reach = 8'10"

Al-Farouq Aminu:
Wingspan = 7'3.25"
Standing Reach = 9'0.5"

Same wingspan, but Chief as a 2.5" advantage in standing reach.

BNM
 
Boob-No-More said:
That's not how it works. It completely ignores the defense, rebounding, passing, screening and other factors that impacts the scores of both teams.

Bottom line: POR was +3.8 points/48 with Nurkic on the court last season. So, you can have your soft, skinny stretch 5 and I'll take the guy that anchored a defense that went from 24th in the league one year to 8th in the league the next.

BNM
Click to expand...

I don't really disagree with you, just pointing out one of the main counters. The real question to me is do you somehow play much bigger with Nurkic/Collins/Harkless (coaching change?) or do you just start excepting the fact that Collins is your new NBA center and go Collins/Aminu/Harkless.
 
Reep said:
I don't really disagree with you, just pointing out one of the main counters. The real question to me is do you somehow play much bigger with Nurkic/Collins/Harkless (coaching change?) or do you just start excepting the fact that Collins is your new NBA center and go Collins/Aminu/Harkless.
Click to expand...
You keep saying Collins is the new NBA center like it's a fact. It's not.
 
Blazer4ever said:
Nurkic is a solid big man defender, but we're playing too small. need to have the small ball as an option not the gameplan
Click to expand...
I don't see the small ball tag....Aminu has a freakish wingspan equal to Nurk's...Harkless is not small, nor is Turner. We have 4 legit 7ft players and 2 who are just under 7ft...we only really play small ball with a 3 guard lineup of Dame, CJ and Bazz and don't do that that often
 
Anyone notice last night in the 4th quarter that the guy who guarded Kevin Durant the best.... was a foot shorter than him?
Certainly CP3 can't be matched up on him all game, but damn he was effective.
 
Blazer4ever said:
And what's the way to surpass them? become bigger inside
Click to expand...
You mean, like basically every other team in the league (particularly when they start their fave playoff lineup of Steph, Klay, Iggy, Durant, Draymond)?
 
Reep said:
I don't really disagree with you, just pointing out one of the main counters. The real question to me is do you somehow play much bigger with Nurkic/Collins/Harkless (coaching change?) or do you just start excepting the fact that Collins is your new NBA center and go Collins/Aminu/Harkless.
Click to expand...

I'd definitely go with Nurk/Collins/Good Moe. Aminu is in the last year of his deal and may not be around for the entire season (may be moved at the draft or the deadline).

Plus, we already know how improved our team defense was with Nurk manning the middle. As good as he was defensively for a 20-year old rookie, our team defensive actually declined as Collins' minutes increased. I'm not blaming that entirely on Collins, and he will presumably get better, but with his 3-point shooting potential, I see him as much more of an Aminu replacement than a Nurk replacement, especially unless he seriously bulks up, which may just end up slowing him down.

Nope, definitely Nurk/Collins/Harkless for me, both short term and long term. Nothing against Chief, but he is what he is, and one of the main things he is, is a valuable trading piece as both an expiring contract and a reasonably priced roll player.

BNM
 
Last edited:
Reep said:
You don't believe the NBA is trending toward more mobile centers who can hit the three?
Click to expand...
There's more of them, but an NBA center doesn't have to be mobile and hit 3s.
 
Reep said:
You don't believe the NBA is trending toward more mobile centers who can hit the three?
Click to expand...

There's still a whole lot of value in centers that can set good screens and defend the pick and roll. Nurk is great at both.

There's also value in rebounding and so far, Nurk has proven to be a much better rebounder than Collins. Nurk is just bigger, stronger and takes up more space. Until/unless Collins bulks up substantially, he's going to continue to be pushed around by other PFs and completely over matched against other centers. And, do we really want him to bulk up and risk losing his lateral quickness?

I'd prefer to keep both. Nurk has already proven he can completely transform our defense from one of the worst in the league to one of the best. Right now, Collins has the perfect body and developing skill set to be a stretch 4 in today's game. Keep both and use them both to their strengths. Nurk at the 5 and Collins at the 4.

BNM
 
Reep said:
You don't believe the NBA is trending toward more mobile centers who can hit the three?
Click to expand...
Trending, maybe I guess. I disagree that the right move is to go that small though. Nurk is actually mobile for his size and I believe he can develop a 3 point shot eventually (not that I want him to).

Lets look at other teams though this past year:

LAC had Jordan (Mobile but can't shoot)
LAL had BroLo (Can shoot but not mobile)
GS had Pachulia (Can't do either)
Sac had WCS (Mobile but can't really shoot)
Phx had Len/Chandler (Can't do either)

Den had Jokic (Can shoot but not mobile)
Minn had Gibson (Mobile but can't shoot)
OKC had Adams (Can't do either, okay mobile wise I guess)
Utah had Gobert (Mobile but can't shoot)

Mem had Gasol (Can shoot but not mobile)
Hou had Capela (Mobile but can't shoot)
SA had Gasol (Not mobile anymore and an okay shooter)
Dal had Mejri (Can't do either) Noel (Mobile but can't shoot)
NO had Cousins (Decent shooter and fairly mobile)

Chi had RoLo (Can't do either)
Indy had Turner (Decent mobility and shot)
Mil had Henson (Mobile but can't shoot)
Det had Drummond (Mobile but can't shoot)
Cle had Thompson (Mobile but can't shoot)

Tor had Valanciunas (Can't do either)
NYK had Kanter (Not mobile and doesn't shoot 3's)
Brook had Jarrett Allen (Mobile but shot 15 3's all year so who knows)
Philly had Embiid (Obviously good mobility and can shoot)
Boston had Horford (Good at both but is getting up there in age)

Mia had Whiteside (Mobile but can't shoot)
Orl had Vucevic (Can shoot but not mobile)
Cha had Howard (Mobile but can't shoot)
Atl had Dedmon (Mobile but can't shoot)
Was had Gortat (Can't do either)

What part of that screams that we have to have a mobile center who can shoot 3's? I just don't get the reasoning behind forcing Collins to play center and dumping Nurk.
 
hoopsjock said:
Trending, maybe I guess. I disagree that the right move is to go that small though. Nurk is actually mobile for his size and I believe he can develop a 3 point shot eventually (not that I want him to).

Lets look at other teams though this past year:

LAC had Jordan (Mobile but can't shoot)
LAL had BroLo (Can shoot but not mobile)
GS had Pachulia (Can't do either)
Sac had WCS (Mobile but can't really shoot)
Phx had Len/Chandler (Can't do either)

Den had Jokic (Can shoot but not mobile)
Minn had Gibson (Mobile but can't shoot)
OKC had Adams (Can't do either, okay mobile wise I guess)
Utah had Gobert (Mobile but can't shoot)

Mem had Gasol (Can shoot but not mobile)
Hou had Capela (Mobile but can't shoot)
SA had Gasol (Not mobile anymore and an okay shooter)
Dal had Mejri (Can't do either) Noel (Mobile but can't shoot)
NO had Cousins (Decent shooter and fairly mobile)

Chi had RoLo (Can't do either)
Indy had Turner (Decent mobility and shot)
Mil had Henson (Mobile but can't shoot)
Det had Drummond (Mobile but can't shoot)
Cle had Thompson (Mobile but can't shoot)

Tor had Valanciunas (Can't do either)
NYK had Kanter (Not mobile and doesn't shoot 3's)
Brook had Jarrett Allen (Mobile but shot 15 3's all year so who knows)
Philly had Embiid (Obviously good mobility and can shoot)
Boston had Horford (Good at both but is getting up there in age)

Mia had Whiteside (Mobile but can't shoot)
Orl had Vucevic (Can shoot but not mobile)
Cha had Howard (Mobile but can't shoot)
Atl had Dedmon (Mobile but can't shoot)
Was had Gortat (Can't do either)

What part of that screams that we have to have a mobile center who can shoot 3's? I just don't get the reasoning behind forcing Collins to play center and dumping Nurk.
Click to expand...

How many of those teams made it to the final four this year?
 
Boob-No-More said:
There's still a whole lot of value in centers that can set good screens and defend the pick and roll. Nurk is great at both.

There's also value in rebounding and so far, Nurk has proven to be a much better rebounder than Collins. Nurk is just bigger, stronger and takes up more space. Until/unless Collins bulks up substantially, he's going to continue to be pushed around by other PFs and completely over matched against other centers. And, do we really want him to bulk up and risk losing his lateral quickness?

I'd prefer to keep both. Nurk has already proven he can completely transform our defense from one of the worst in the league to one of the best. Right now, Collins has the perfect body and developing skill set to be a stretch 4 in today's game. Keep both and use them both to their strengths. Nurk at the 5 and Collins at the 4.

BNM
Click to expand...

I don't disagree, but think they should cram Nurkic down their throat more and Collins needs to shoot a lot more threes (and oops). If we stay with two small guards dominating the ball and the shots, then Nurk is not as valuable as he could be and is exposed when he has to guard out to the three point line.
 
Reep said:
But he will struggle guarding outside shooters.
Click to expand...
And those outside shooters will struggle guarding them inside, and he'll likely be better at protecting the rim.
 
Reep said:
How many of those teams made it to the final four this year?
Click to expand...
Well considering I listed every team in the NBA, all four of them were on my list. LMAO.

Since you missed it though:
Capela is mobile but can't do anything on offense outside of 2 feet from the basket.

Warriors play without a center but their true center sucks so they don't have options. They are one of the greatest teams of all time so it's hard to match them no matter what our lineup is.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Blazer4ever
what we didn't have this year - power forwards
2
Replies
35
Views
3K
SharpesTriumph
SharpesTriumph
Blazer4ever
Exclusive Our secret strategy for tonight?
2
Replies
36
Views
5K
BlazerDuckSeahawkFan94
B
PtldPlatypus
Holdahl: "Aminu embraces 'small ball' play, though not the name"
Replies
0
Views
308
PtldPlatypus
PtldPlatypus
B-Roy
Best and Worst Blazers 2 and 5 Man Lineups
Replies
8
Views
699
BlazerCaravan
BlazerCaravan
Reep
Is Collins demoted?
2 3 4
Replies
99
Views
7K
James lamphear
J

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)
Back
Top