He also doesn't make the right pass when Dame's on the floor. It's like he feels that when he gets the ball when playing with Dame he has to take the chance to get a shot up, like he's starved for shots. I know that wasn't the case at the beginning of this season but historically speaking.
Yeah and on second thought, CJ's run at the beginning of the season was fool's gold. Dame was deferring to him so much that we weren't using our best option close to enough. That's why we haven't seen a significant enough drop off in performance since CJ's been out to justify his status on the team... even if he does play like he did early in the season.CJ and Melo have almost identical mindsets on offense. They both know that they can pretty much get their shots off whenever they want, so it's like they don't stop to think if there might be a better option.
Maybe CJs number drop (slightly) in the playoffs because every team in the playoffs is good.
I think the point about CJ's playoff numbers being underwhelming and his impact being overrated is that if he was what some in here claim he is (an all-star level player that fits with Dame) then he would clean teams' clocks in the playoffs because of the way they sell out on Dame. His shooting percentage would be through the roof, his assists would be through the roof... he would be putting up MVP type numbers because the opponent is daring him to. I just hope people can stop living in the legend created by one great game as a scorer in game 7 against the Nuggets in 2019.
I think you maybe are sensationalizing at least my appreciation for CJ helping us win games....CJ's value wasn't created by one game....let's just start there and then let's put things in perspective...nobody is "living the legend" about CJ....a person can value him without putting him in "MVP' status....when Dame has been hobbled CJ has stepped up....we don't get to the finals in the west without him helping us win more than one game 7.......fans aren't that over the top about a player who has never made an allstar or all NBA team. Most fans here have wanted to trade him for 8 years now...I always thought he's the perfect 6 man.
Yeah you're right. Players trash roster suck.
We're on the same page but he's not the sixth man. Olshey and Stotts have anointed him the second man and it just doesn't work. I also think he could be a good second option on a team just as competitive as ours if that team's first option was a big. The fact is we can't just use him when Dame is off the floor, we can't have him as our sixth man because we are paying him 30M per season. I've never once said I think that CJ is bad, he's just bad on this team.
Is your opinion that this roster could legitimately compete for a championship under different coaching? If so, how do we solve the conundrum that the Dame/CJ back court causes on defense? I'm just wondering because I like a lot of our roster but the fact that Nurk isn't mobile enough to get out and defend the perimeter combined with CJ being a horrendous perimeter defender and Dame being a below average perimeter defender makes me skeptical. How do we ever contend when we can't defend the perimeter where the majority of offense is set up in today's NBA? I understand that advanced analytics say that Gary isn't very good on defense but the eye test and the fact that we went from last in the league in three point defense to middle of the pack with Gary starting, says he's much better than CJ.
not sold...the right move is to get healthy and develop chemistry with the new guys DJJ and Roco....we're not off to a bad start at all going 8 -4 over the last 12 with the bench playing big minutes.....
Some people are okay with being just good enough.
It really sucks you haven't enjoyed the Blazers for 9 years....the 7 years of making the playoffs sure were better than the 14 years before Stotts and not making the playoffs....and Dame signing a max deal beats Lamarcus moving to San Antonio.....you can dissect the stat sheets and have moneyball entertainment if you like...but it doesn't water down my Blazer experience. It's a theme but some of us aren't here for that. I'm here to cheer for a bright future....it's insulting to have that defined by someone disgruntled who thinks that's a flawed approach to the sport and support of the team is based on dominating the league year after year.
