Fantasy Outlook: Will Nurkic Thrive?!

[Nate]

I'm glad he wasn't practicing 3's. he never should.

Would you be upset if our guards were practicing post up moves?

 

[Haakzilla]

I care, very much how he gets them. I detailed it in my first post, but it seemed to get overlooked.

We finally have a big that plays like a big and not taking advantage of that bigness us a waste of his biggest strength.

We finally have a big that can get other bigs in foul trouble. I want to see the Blazers pound the ball into him in the low post at every opportunity, especially early in the game, to get the opposition's best rim protector and best rebounder in foul trouble. He's not going to draw any fouls on Rudy Gobert, DeAndre Jordan, Hassan Whiteside, Dwight Howard, Andre Drummond, etc. when he's shooting 3s. Every 3-pointer Nurkic shoots is a missed opportunity to draw a foul on the opposition's big man, and that's a waste of his size.

Getting the other team's best rebounder and best rim protector in foul trouble doesn't just benefit Nurkic, it benefits that entire team. Get that rim protector off the floor and it opens up the paint for Lillard and McCollum to penetrate. Get their best rebounder off the court and we get more possessions.

Nurkic is an elite offensiveness rebounder. Every 3-pointer he attempts draws him 23' from the basket. How many offensive rebounds is he going to get out there? As poorly as this team shoots, we NEED offensive rebounds to get us extra possessions. Nurkic can give us that - as long as he's not 23' from the basket shooting 3-pointers.

Nurkic has made ZERO 3-pointers in his NBA career. Obviously, it's not a strength of his. We currently have 12 other players on the roster that are better 3-point shooters than Nurkic. We currently have ZERO players on the roster who can score in the low post, get opposing bigs in foul trouble and grab offensive rebounds like Nurkic. Shooting 3-pointers negates those strengths.

So yes, I care how he gets his 20/10. It's not just about his final stat line. It's about his overall impact on the game. I want him getting the opposing big men in foul trouble and getting us extra possessions with offensive rebounds. Even if he only attempts 1 or 2 3-pointers a game, on those possessions, we as a team, are not playing to our strengths.

Bottom line, he wasn't bought here to shoot 3-pointers. We have 12 other players that shoot the 3 better than Jusuf Nurkic. Let them do their jobs and let him do his.

BNM

...I'm all-in on big Nurk, pound the rock and go to work!

 

[Boob-No-More]

Would you be upset if our guards were practicing post up moves?

Depends on which guards. Turner already has a bit if a post up game. So yeah, I'd like to see him keep practicing to perfect that part of his game. I'd love to see Crabbe add a post up game to his currently one-dimensional repertoire. He has the length to post up smaller guards, but I've never seen him even attempt to do so. Wes became good at posting up smaller guards while he was here. Andre Miller had a great low post game for a guard.

Dame and C.J. not so much. They don't have the length of players like Turner and Crabbe, or the upper body strength of Wes or Andre Miller. So, they are better suited to working on finishing in traffic, floaters and pull-up jumpers.

It's all about playing to your strengths.

BNM

 

[Strenuus]

Depends on which guards. Turner already has a bit if a post up game. So yeah, I'd like to see him keep practicing to perfect that part of his game. I'd love to see Crabbe add a post up game to his currently one-dimensional repertoire. He has the length to post up smaller guards, but I've never seen him even attempt to do so. Wes became good at posting up smaller guards while he was here. Andre Miller had a great low post game for a guard.

Dame and C.J. not so much. They don't have the length of players like Turner and Crabbe, or the upper body strength of Wes or Andre Miller. So, they are better suited to working on finishing in traffic, floaters and pull-up jumpers.

It's all about playing to your strengths.

BNM

In other words, use logic, is what you're saying. Shocking.

 

[Strenuus]

Would you be upset if our guards were practicing post up moves?

BNM stole what I was going to say.

And we've had guards practice post up moves. Didn't bother me if that's what we needed. We don't need Nurk taking 3's. We need him down low. You know, because we have no one else. This logic thing is fucking crazy.

 

[riverman]

We don't need Nurk taking 3's

Stren you've said this over and over...and I don't think anyone has said he should be our new 3 pt specialist.....I'm going to blame this on Meyers Leonard

 

[riverman]

BNM stole what I was going to say.

sure....

 

[Hobbesarable]

Stren you've said this over and over...and I don't think anyone has said he should be our new 3 pt specialist.....I'm going to blame this on Meyers Leonard

Triggered comes to mind. Haha

 

[Strenuus]

Stren you've said this over and over...and I don't think anyone has said he should be our new 3 pt specialist.....I'm going to blame this on Meyers Leonard

Never said he should be one.

We just need a low post threat. Is that too much to ask of stotts to actually utilize a big guy as a big guy?

 

[riverman]

Is that too much to ask of stotts to actually utilize a big guy as a big guy

I don't have these fears about Stotts....so it doesn't really apply to how I see the team. I like Stotts and trust his judgement

 

[Strenuus]

I don't have these fears about Stotts....so it doesn't really apply to how I see the team. I like Stotts and trust his judgement

Call them reservations, not fears. Fair?

Stotts will do what Stotts does - I have no control over it and lose no sleep over it.

 

[Nate]

BNM stole what I was going to say.

And we've had guards practice post up moves. Didn't bother me if that's what we needed. We don't need Nurk taking 3's. We need him down low. You know, because we have no one else. This logic thing is fucking crazy.

Just because he practices his shooting out to the 3 point line, doesn't mean he's going to be doing it in a game all the time.

It's stupid to pretend like he will never have to shoot a 3 in his lifetime. He should practice them. Even if for the next 5 seasons, he only shoots a 3 pointer once every few games, he should still practice them.

Not only is it just a good basketball skill to have, practicing shooting 3's is good for cardio and lower body strength workouts at the very minimum. I think freethrows and 3's are a good way for him to end his workouts.

Stop freaking out about a basketball player, playing basketball. I don't care if he practices full court heaves. He's a basketball player. Calm down.

He posted a story on instagram today. He was playing tennis. Don't have a heart attack.

 

[Nate]

It's all about playing to your strengths.

BNM

We're talking about players practicing. That usually includes working on weaknesses. If they wanna spend extra time working on other stuff, it would be stupid to tell them not to.


You guys are pretty much saying that you wanna kick players off the court, for working on weaknesses. Which I'm sure they're doing, after they're done working on the more important parts of their game.

Nurkic should be on vacation with Crabbe right now, he's just wasting a half hour or so after practice, working on 3's.

What an idiot.

 

[Boob-No-More]

That's moronic. We're talking about players practicing. That usually includes working on weaknesses. If they wanna spend extra time working on other stuff, it would be stupid to tell them not to.


You guys are pretty much saying that you wanna kick players off the court, for working on weaknesses. Which I'm sure they're doing, after they're done working on the more important parts of their game.

Nurkic should be on vacation with Crabbe right now, he's just wasting a half hour or so after practice, working on 3's.

What an idiot.

Nice. Before you question someone else's intelligence you may want to brush up on your reading comprehension skills.. I already addressed this:

And, while he does have some good footwork and good low post moves, there is so much more he can add. Until he has a McHale like repertoire of low post moves, and can reliably execute those moves without turning the ball over (17.4% career TOV%) I don't want to see him shoot a single 3. That's his value add. I'd rather see him work on improving his low post moves and finishing ability than add something we already have covered and don't really need.

Finally, FT shooting. He's a career .586 FT shooter. That puts him squarely in Dwight Howard territory. Park his ass down on the low blocks and feed the beast and he will get fouled A LOT. Which would be a waste, if he can't make his FTs. I also don't want to see other teams resorting to Hack-a-Nurk - at which point, he goes from an asset to a liability. FT shooting is about learning the proper form and then shooting enough reps to develop muscle memory. Rather than spend time hoisting 50 3-pointers in practice, spend that same time shooting an extra 50 FTs. It will make you a better player and a better asset who can be left on the floor with the game on the line. Once you can reliably knock down 75% - 80% of your FTs in game situations, you can waste time dicking around at the 3-point line in practice, but not before.

So, rather than spend that extra half an hour working on 3's, I'd rather see him working on things he can actually use in the games that makes him a better player and us a better team (i.e. improving his shooting percentages around the rim, cutting down on TOVs and becoming a better FT shooter than Dwight Howard.) If he just spends that extra half hour shooting FTs, it will help him and the team, much more than spending that same time shooting 3-pointers.

Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't make them an idiot, but calling them one shows a lack of maturity on your part. Seriously, name calling? That's the best you've got.

BNM

 

[Nate]

Nice. Before you question someone else's intelligence you may want to brush up on your reading comprehension skills.. I already addressed this:



So, rather than spend that extra half an hour working on 3's, I'd rather see him working on things he can actually use in the games that makes him a better player and us a better team (i.e. improving his shooting percentages around the rim, cutting down on TOVs and becoming a better FT shooter than Dwight Howard.) If he just spends that extra half hour shooting FTs, it will help him and the team, much more than spending that same time shooting 3-pointers.

Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't make them an idiot, but calling them one shows a lack of maturity on your part. Seriously, name calling? That's the best you've got.

BNM

dr

 

[Boob-No-More]

" You are great at what you do now and that's what you need to focus on, Trying to expand outside that comfort area is not what what we need from you here."

That's a strawman argument based on a false premise.

First, it assumes Nurkic is "great at what he does now". He most certainly is not. He has tremendous potential and great footwork, but the results leave a lot to be desired. Just look at his shooting percentages close to the basket and his TOV%. Both are well below average for a starting center in this league. He's also a career .586 FT shooter - also well below average. So, he most definitely is not "great at what he does now". Not even close.

So, if I was his boss I'd tell him to first focus on becoming great at what we need him to do to help the team and once he becomes great (or at the very least, average) at the basic core requirements of his job, then he can work on expanding into other areas of proficiency.

BNM

 

[Strenuus]

Just because he practices his shooting out to the 3 point line, doesn't mean he's going to be doing it in a game all the time.

It's stupid to pretend like he will never have to shoot a 3 in his lifetime. He should practice them. Even if for the next 5 seasons, he only shoots a 3 pointer once every few games, he should still practice them.

Not only is it just a good basketball skill to have, practicing shooting 3's is good for cardio and lower body strength workouts at the very minimum. I think freethrows and 3's are a good way for him to end his workouts.

Stop freaking out about a basketball player, playing basketball. I don't care if he practices full court heaves. He's a basketball player. Calm down.

He posted a story on instagram today. He was playing tennis. Don't have a heart attack.

Oh, i dont lose sleep. And he can practice them, and do one every 5 or so games. He just shouldnt make it a habit in game situations every game.

Youre funny though, thinking i was actually worked up. I usually forget about it all 10 minutes later. That could be because im about to be in my mid 30s, though.

I dont carry the same thoughts with me or let something as insignificant as this throughout the day. You just dont see that part.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

Nurkic was good in his first game as a Blazer but not good enough to have fantasies about.

A player that can

• be a force in the post
• shoot outside
• rebound
• defend/block shots
  
• allow us to not play Meyers Leonard
• have a PER of 29 in his first game with us

Well, that may not move your needle, but it moves mine!