Nurkic and Kanter 48 Minutes at Center

[RoseCityRebel]

Combined for 22 points, 26 rebounds and only 4 fouls.

Ballgame. Thanks, big fellas.

 

[B-Roy]

Kanter can straight up play. Defensive deficiencies and all, he can neutralize that himself on the offensive end most nights.

 

[twobullz]

They had a combined 22 and 20 in the last game with only 5 fouls. Not many teams can match up with both of them.

 

[Natebishop3]

Kanter can straight up play. Defensive deficiencies and all, he can neutralize that himself on the offensive end most nights.

He’s a smart player, he always tries hard, and he hangs around the basket. If he had a better outside shot he'd remind me of a taller Zach Randolph.

 

[Tince]

Is this where we complain about Giles not playing or we tip our cap to the big guys that were a part of a great win?

 

[RoseCityRebel]

Is this where we complain about Giles not playing or we tip our cap to the big guys that were a part of a great win?

It’s the worst Blazer team of my lifetime!

They should have won by much more against a Laker team on a back-to-back at home.

 

[riverman]

great tag team at the 5

 

[tiredhunter]

He’s a smart player, he always tries hard, and he hangs around the basket. If he had a better outside shot he'd remind me of a taller Zach Randolph.

Need more 4 boards 2 point possession to get the true Z-Bo vibes.

 

[JoshuaHall]

Kanter commits some insanely stupid fouls that result in and-1s.

maybe the timing is just bad but seems like he fouls more than he does.

 

[BonesJones]

Is this where we complain about Giles not playing or we tip our cap to the big guys that were a part of a great win?

Giles makes more sense next to Melo, Kanter makes more sense next to DJJ or RoCo. Gotta have one defensive 4 or 5 in the game.

 

[mook]

It'll be interesting to see if Melo gets any minutes at all after Zach returns.

Seems like Hood and GT coming off the bench gives us just enough defense to allow us to play Enes for his scoring and rebounding. But I think a lot of times he's just going to be played off the court by smaller and faster centers.

We're probably going with an 8 or 9 man rotation. Hood and GT will definitely be there.

Zach can play PF or C. With his defense he slots in pretty easily with any lineup, and if he's bringing an offensive game that night you can even end the game with him among the starters. You can't do that with Enes, because that means sitting Nurk.

So that leaves you with Melo and Kanter fighting over the 9th man's minutes. Kanter is clearly playing better. I wonder how Melo is going to feel about things with a string of DNP's.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

So that leaves you with Melo and Kanter fighting over the 9th man's minutes. Kanter is clearly playing better. I wonder how Melo is going to feel about things with a string of DNP's.

With Stotts at the helm, we're never going to find out.

 

[mook]

With Stotts at the helm, we're never going to find out.

NBA players have such respect for Melo that I don't know that Stotts is the only one who is conflicted about playing him minutes. Melo is going to get more opportunities, I think, because of that.

But each opportunity is going to come at the cost of benching a very worthy player. I think Stotts is going to run with the guy who is productive.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

NBA players have such respect for Melo that I don't know that Stotts is the only one who is conflicted about playing him minutes. Melo is going to get more opportunities, I think, because of that.

But each opportunity is going to come at the cost of benching a very worthy player. I think Stotts is going to run with the guy who is productive.

My concern is more that with Melo out there Melo'ing, the other players who should have the opportunity to be productive alongside him (and thus play over him) won't get that chance.

 

[James lamphear]

To be able to win a championship players going have to accept there roles and that's means you might not get the minutes that you think you deserve every night. So what it will interesting how Stotts will play it when Zach comes back. But we see it you can play Kanter if you have other defenders around him and you play him because he rebounds something we was missing in that 2nd unit last year.

 

[julius]

If the team is the steward of his legacy, will limiting his play and hiding his deficiencies help his legacy enough that Melo will be ok with not having the green light that he seemed to have in games 1 and 2?

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

With Stotts at the helm, we're never going to find out.

I hope you are wrong.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

Melo's only role now should be to keep himself in shape in case we have an injury. He should not be on the court otherwise.

 

[SIeepwalker]

Melo's only role now should be to keep himself in shape in case we have an injury. He should not be on the court otherwise.

This is super obvious but it won't actually happen

 

[PtldPlatypus]

I hope you are wrong.

You and me both, brother.

 

[beast blazer]

They should be getting at least 60 combined minutes at center.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

This is super obvious but it won't actually happen

Yes, I think it's as obvious as assertions that Nurk and Whiteside could never play together and the assertion that Whiteside would never be re-signing here. Yet GM and coach were saying it would happen.

 

[RoseCityRebel]

Giles makes more sense next to Melo, Kanter makes more sense next to DJJ or RoCo. Gotta have one defensive 4 or 5 in the game.

How long can Melo stay in the rotation unless he starts playing better? At some point every player knows if they are helping or hurting the team, and he’s hurting the team now and it’s sad to see. Hoping he turns it around quick because he can put up buckets.

 

[RoseCityRebel]

With Stotts at the helm, we're never going to find out.

See, I disagree with this. Even if it’s Melo, the coach and players know if a player is helping or hurting the team. It won’t be for 15 games or so but Melo won’t be in the rotation if he continues to play as poorly as he did the first two games. I don’t see Stotts as being beholden to playing Melo undeserved minutes unless I’ve missed something?

 

[kjironman1]

I wonder how Melo is going to feel about things with a string of DNP's.

There is a point where his feelings are just that. "Feelings". If he truly wants to win he needs to play the role he is given. That will be to come off the bench when needed and do what the team needs him to do. Score and be the wily veteran that helps players improve. That is his role now.

 

[B-Roy]

There is a point where his feelings are just that. "Feelings". If he truly wants to win he needs to play the role he is given. That will be to come off the bench when needed and do what the team needs him to do. Score and be the wily veteran that helps players improve. That is his role now.

He doesn't care about winning. Nothing he has ever said has ever eluded to him putting winning first. He's only ever talked about his "legacy" and how he's still skilled enough to be starting. It's very clear that his priority is scoring, and leaving his footprint on the game. Winning comes secondary and only matters if he's playing a big role in the winning aspect. Ever since the OKC days he's been an over the hill star who is out of touch with reality. The game has passed him by, and even if he was still in his prime I don't think he would be an all-NBA player in today's league.

The Blazers don't need him this year, they never did, which is why the signing was so baffling. He was a great story last year because his offense looked amazing compared to Anthony Tolliver, Kent Bazemore and Mario Hezonja. His defense didn't look any worse than those guys or Hassan Whiteside either, and he can get hot if you give him 30 minutes a night. We don't need any of that this year. We brought him back as a sign of good faith and gave him a charity role hoping he would somehow play good team basketball for the first time in his career.

What sucks is we're probably going to lose a few more games forcing this experiment to try to work because they aren't going to cut bait on Melo. Things were most likely promised or assumed behind closed doors because of Melo's stature, and they want to continue using Melo to show the rest of the league that we take care of our players.

 

[tlongII]

I disagree. I think Melo wants a ring.

 

[SIeepwalker]

I disagree. I think Melo wants a ring.

Well if he wants one he needs to be the best towel waiver ever

 

[Wizard Mentor]

They should be getting at least 60 combined minutes at center.

What hyperbole. I don't think they need more than 52, combined.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

H Hoping he turns it around quick because he can put up buckets.

Can he put up buckets at an efficient rate though? As bad as his defense is, he needs to be far above average on efficiency, but his efg% last year was 48.5% compared to a league average of 49.66%.