ESPN NBA-Blazers featured

[Wizard Mentor]

The Plumlee/Leonard combo has been a disaster on defense. Stotts has experimented lately with a Davis/Plumlee pairing, but it's unclear whether the Blazers can survive on offense with those two on the floor -- especially if Aminu joins them.

Portland will have to upgrade its front court, starting this summer, when Leonard hits restricted free agency.

 

[mook]

Everyone cuts and screens. Portland leads the league in off-ball screens by a mile, over even the Warriors, per data supplied to ESPN.com from the tracking site Vantage Sports.

Every team looks at our "undersized" back court and sees nice size advantages right up until they get out there and have to start covering the waterbugs. You have to be a really effective post-up guard to make up for all the points you give up on the other end of the court.

I was pretty down on Lillard and McCollum working long-term. It just seemed one had to go because there's never been a championship led by essentially two shoot-first volume point guards.

But with the league placing a premium on three point shooting and Stotts' ability to keep the ball swinging, yeah, I think this can work.

 

[Draco]

I'd rather we not be on ESPN. Can't watch that shit live on League Pass.

Yeah I ended up buying sling tv which is $20 a month gets ESPN and TNT. Sucks when games are on NBATV though I can't watch those.

 

[Natebishop3]

Every team looks at our "undersized" back court and sees nice size advantages right up until they get out there and have to start covering the waterbugs. You have to be a really effective post-up guard to make up for all the points you give up on the other end of the court.

I was pretty down on Lillard and McCollum working long-term. It just seemed one had to go because there's never been a championship led by essentially two shoot-first volume point guards.

But with the league placing a premium on three point shooting and Stotts' ability to keep the ball swinging, yeah, I think this can work.

Hmmm.... interesting topic for another thread. Stealing!

 

[Draco]

Zach Lowe is arguably the best writer in sports right now. He knows his shit, he writes extremely clear and well thought out pieces, and he clearly loves basketball. I truly enjoy reading his work.

Yeah; he's a simple everyday guy without an ego. He doesn't have to scream on TV or invent controversy to make excellent points.

 

[Draco]

Every team looks at our "undersized" back court and sees nice size advantages right up until they get out there and have to start covering the waterbugs. You have to be a really effective post-up guard to make up for all the points you give up on the other end of the court.

I was pretty down on Lillard and McCollum working long-term. It just seemed one had to go because there's never been a championship led by essentially two shoot-first volume point guards.

But with the league placing a premium on three point shooting and Stotts' ability to keep the ball swinging, yeah, I think this can work.

Welcome to the club!

The Dame CJ duo also allows us so much flexibility with our front court. We can have limited dribblers; no shot creators, somewhat one dimensional defensive players. It's not as if Dame and CJ are Jose Calderon out there either; they are active on defense and contribute.

 

[Red Rooster]

Zach Lowe is arguably the best writer in sports right now. He knows his shit, he writes extremely clear and well thought out pieces, and he clearly loves basketball. I truly enjoy reading his work.

Agreed, I've liked him since he started contributing on Grantland.