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I grew up watching players like Maurice Lucas, Buck Williams, Kermit Washington, Rick Mahorn, Charles Oakley, Anthony Mason, Ben Wallace, Dennis Rodman, Karl Malone, and Patrick Ewing, players who were hard-hitting goons when they needed to be. If you hard-fouled one of their teammates, you can bet your ass they were going to come head hunting for you.
And while the NBA game has changed, you still need a player in that role. You still need a Draymond.
How many times did we watch Lillard get beat to shit driving to the hoop? Opposing teams had no fear of repercussions. What, Nurk was going to run up to them and then flop to the ground? Every team knows, you hard foul Curry, you're going to have to deal with Draymond. That right there reduces the wear and tear on your best players over the long NBA season.
Does Draymond push things too far? Sure, but that isn't a bad thing. Lillard and Curry are some of the greatest 3pt shooters in NBA history, yet they push the distance they shoot from.
Or look at a player like Steve Blake, I remember so many games where he would have 7-8 assists and 0 turnovers. And while some say that's great, IMO, 0 turnovers for your starting point guard means he wasn't pushing the envelope enough. He wasn't pushing things far enough. Look at the list of point guards with the most turnovers in their career.

Now I'm not saying the Blazers need Draymond, but we do need a young enforcer to grow and develop with our young players. We need someone who will throw an elbow if you go head-hunting for a dunking Shae or a driving Ant or Scoot.
With the right assistant coach, I can see Jabari growing into that role, but I don't think it's natural for him.
But for the most part, I have no problem with Draymond and wish the Blazers had a player like him.
And while the NBA game has changed, you still need a player in that role. You still need a Draymond.
How many times did we watch Lillard get beat to shit driving to the hoop? Opposing teams had no fear of repercussions. What, Nurk was going to run up to them and then flop to the ground? Every team knows, you hard foul Curry, you're going to have to deal with Draymond. That right there reduces the wear and tear on your best players over the long NBA season.
Does Draymond push things too far? Sure, but that isn't a bad thing. Lillard and Curry are some of the greatest 3pt shooters in NBA history, yet they push the distance they shoot from.
Or look at a player like Steve Blake, I remember so many games where he would have 7-8 assists and 0 turnovers. And while some say that's great, IMO, 0 turnovers for your starting point guard means he wasn't pushing the envelope enough. He wasn't pushing things far enough. Look at the list of point guards with the most turnovers in their career.
Now I'm not saying the Blazers need Draymond, but we do need a young enforcer to grow and develop with our young players. We need someone who will throw an elbow if you go head-hunting for a dunking Shae or a driving Ant or Scoot.
With the right assistant coach, I can see Jabari growing into that role, but I don't think it's natural for him.
But for the most part, I have no problem with Draymond and wish the Blazers had a player like him.