Agreed, but the season goes on. Interesting to see how this changes the offense. AA will no doubt step into starting role. He's a more than adequate 3 pt shooter, but Wes was 4th in the league in made 3s, 10th in adjusted FG %. His shooting is a big part of how we try to space the floor. I don't think AA is that type of shooter. But, he's a little better off the bounce than Wes. It's just going to be different. Wes played a big part in almost all of the 10 pt+ comeback wins. Those 3s are huge, and his defense is hard to quantify. He's not a "stopper", but he makes the great ones work for every shot. He's one of the more cerebral defenders in the league - love listening to him talk about guarding a guy like Harden. Can AA slow down the Harden/Thompson type of guys when it matters? While playing starter (32+) min per game? How does the 2nd unit look minus AA? Especially in half court offense. That's actually the most scary part to me. If CJ steps up, we might be alright. Hard to imagine we're as good as we were w/Wes, but there's reason for hope.
As a UO football fan, there were many times this season that I thought injuries were going to ruin the season. Star players kept going down. Having Mariota was a big part of why the season didn't fall apart. For the Blazers, we still have LA & we still have Dame. WCF is still possible.
