Buffalo Blazer
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As a matter of fact, early in last nights game, SA seemed to be careful not to lose LA on the pick-and-pop, forcing Damian to shoot or drive.
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Effective field goal percentage favors 3-pt shooters. Today's NBA is going more and more towards small forwards and guards, especially those with 3-pt shooting abliity.
I've watched every second the Blazers have played (many multiple times) since 2007, aside from when I've been on a camp in Afghanistan. 30 in person, the rest on CSNNW or LeaguePass. That argument doesn't fly. I highly doubt that many in here can say the same.
I've seen Damian take it to a new gear and score points in bunches in a relatively short time.
Of course. Damian is great, but a lot of what he gets to do is because of what LMA does and because of what Nic, Wes and Robin bring to the game. Basketball is first and foremost a team game. All of the players' individual games blend into the whole and, in the Blazers' case this year at least, result in a team that offensively is the best in the NBA. This nit picking of stats, while of some value, misses the mark, IMO. Stotts has done a great job of crafting an offense that takes advantage of his players' strengths. Is LMA the perfect player? No, of course not. But what he brings to the overall offensive game of the Blazers is essential and Stotts has constructed an offensive galaxy that revolves around the gravity of LMA's mid-range game, with dishes to the perimeter and an occasional streaking meteor of Lillard driving to the hoop. It's working well and you know what they say about trying to fix what ain't broken.
To boil down Brian's argument, which actually is really a simple one...
Which would you rather have:
.476 shooter taking the hardest 2pt shots in the game
or
.333 3pt shooter taking all 3pt shots
To boil down Brian's argument, which actually is really a simple one...
Which would you rather have:
.476 shooter taking the hardest 2pt shots in the game
or
.333 3pt shooter taking all 3pt shots
To boil down Brian's argument, which actually is really a simple one...
Which would you rather have:
.476 shooter taking the hardest 2pt shots in the game
or
.333 3pt shooter taking all 3pt shots
I'd guess that you're the only one here that missed Blazer games because they were in Afghanistan, but I don't think that the amount of Blazer ball you've watched is all that uncommon here at all... hell, I've watched most every Blazer game for a lot longer then 2007. I guess this misconception explains why you're comfortable being condescending towards the masses who continue to disagree with you
STOMP
The argument is flawed in its simplicity. These shots don't go up in a vacuum. If you're solely focused on getting an open 3, it requires a lot of ball movement; things can get derailed on the way. A lot has to go right.
On the other hand, getting an open 17-footer for a big is much easier. Less has to happen. Fewer moving parts, if you will.
That's the problem with being married to advanced statistics. This particular one (eFG) fails to control for the times you run a play to get an open 3 and it gets derailed, resulting in a bad possession.
So just one question.... why is so much made about Damian missing layups but LA can jack long jumpers all day and it's fine?
If all LMA shot were "open 17-footers", you might have an argument. He doesn't. And Stotts may indeed be "crafting a galaxy of an offense around LMA's jumpshooting ability" and telling LMA to take 23 shots per game in a 75/25 jumpshot-to-paint shot ratio while shooting 42% on said jumpers. In that case, it's the coach costing the team points, not the player. I'm not sure I'm comfortable saying that, but it's definitely an argument to be made.
As for the "less moving parts"...I think that precisely because Olshey and Stotts have created a team/offense that is proficient at doing those things, LMA shooting poor %'s on so many jumpers is detrimental.
Don't get me wrong, there are games when Wes or Nic (or both) crap the bed and it falls to Dame and LMA to pull the collective butts out of the fire or the team's going to lose. And LMA has a decent proficiency level (call it league-average or so?) at shooting jumpers. That doesn't mean that he should be shooting 15 or so of them a game, or that he should do it when it's contested, or when he's going against a double-team, or (insert sub-optimal situation here). So if he has an open J, it's similar to him hitting a free throw. When he tries a turnaround J, his percentages (38%) are similar to Kendrick Perkins or Deandre Jordan shooting a pair of free throws.
Would you say, Buffalo, that not using them is better for understanding and analyzing the games and players? Do you advocate just going by what people's recollections of games are?
Because Lillard shoots 38.86% at the rim, which is worse than every single one of LA's shot areas except 3-point range and the right baseline?
Simply put, LaMarcus is a better jump shooter than Lillard is a finisher right now.
But how does that factor in FTA and fouls that are put on the other team? It's not JUST about making or missing shots. Getting into the lane is important, and Dame seems to be one of the only guys on our team who tries to do it. James Harden has made a living off of just going into the lane and drawing fouls. The fucker attempted 25 foul shots in a game this year. It's an important aspect to the game and it's one that Dame is clearly trying to work on.
That's the problem with being married to advanced statistics. This particular one (eFG) fails to control for the times you run a play to get an open 3 and it gets derailed, resulting in a bad possession.
Sure he can work on it; I'm glad he's trying. But if a whistle is blown, the miss doesn't count. That he's shooting so poorly means fouls aren't getting called. So basically, that factor is baked in. If defenders start getting called for fouling Lillard, his percentage at the rim will naturally go up. But they're not, so it's not.
His FTA have gone up from 3.9 during his rookie season to 5.2 this year, so they ARE calling it, just not as much as he would probably like. As he becomes more established, he will get more calls, and that percentage will come up. Making the All-Star team would go a long way towards that end. Regardless, I see the value in him attacking the basket, even if he doesn't make the shots. It's an important component to our team, because otherwise teams could just focus on the three point shot.
Actually, it does.
And Brian's argument isn't solely about eFG%, but also that 17' shots are low percentage (more difficult).
I do think LMA is easily the team's MVP.
Agreed, I think he's already much closer to his natural "respect ceiling" than it seems. I did a calculation the other night that, if he got just one more whistle on a shot than he does now, he'd be up to 7 (sounds like 7.2) FTA's a night, which would be top 10 in the league. At his FT%, he'd be 3rd or 4th in the league in makes per night.
So it might be that he's trying too hard, or asking too much of the officials; he's never going to get half the calls he wants driving up the lane like that, and he might not even get 1/4 of what he wants. His game will likely change over time as he realizes this; and he'll probably get that extra whistle, so his percentage will go up.![]()
Part of his problem is that he's not very good at creating contact. If you watch guys like Harden, Westbrook, etc, they are really good at creating contact while also having a good shot. Dame seems to try to avoid contact, which doesn't help him sell the call, and in trying to avoid the contact, he has to take a much more difficult shot.
Yes, and in a perfect world where every possession results in an ideal shot, I'll take Dame, Wes, or Nic for 3. In the real world where easy shots are hard to come by, I value having LMA's ability to shoot over somebody, albeit not at the same percentage as an open 3 by a shooting guard. I do agree with you that I'd like to see a few more up-and-unders, etc. on the low block. He looked good yesterday abusing Diaw.
So when the discussion gets serious and there's actual conversation, not just shit stirring, it seems the Blazer Fanatic runs away with tail between her legs.
Or it's Saturday afternoon and she's too busy being a mom to bicker with us.![]()