Scalma
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McCollum’s struggles continue
It’s nearly halfway through the Blazers season and what was once considered a slow start for CJ McCollum is now turning into a subpar season. The “star” the Blazers are pushing relentlessly for the All-Star Game was absent for large portions of Friday night’s matchup, including a potential game-tying shot in the final seconds to cap a 4-for-15 shooting night.
The $25.76 million dollar man is averaging 20.8 points and 2.6 assists, while shooting 32.9 percent from 3-point range and 45.5 percent overall.
To his credit, McCollum stood after the game and calmly answered direct questions about his game, which is more than his coach, Terry Stotts, could muster.
Stotts became increasingly terse as I asked three consecutive questions about McCollum’s play, before finally ending his 2:46 media session with “I’m not going down this line with you.”
The “line” of questioning?
Q: What do you make of CJ’s play this season?
A: [Scoffs] “I think he is giving good effort. He’s probably not shooting the ball as well as he would like, or we would like, but I think he is competing. He was guarding [Russell] Westbrook who finished with 31 points). Unfortunately for CJ, people are going to tie his play into how he’s shooting the ball. He hasn’t shot the ball as well as we expect, or he expects to … so unfortunately, I don’t think that’s the sole determinant of how he’s playing this year.”
Q: So the saying goes, “If scorers aren’t scoring the ball they have to find a way to impact the game in other areas.” Do you feel like he is impacting the game in other areas?
A: [Five-second pause] Sure.
Q: Which areas do you feel he is making an impact?
A: I’m not going down this line with you.
Stotts had more to say later, when he called me into his office to protest what he considered “unfair” questions, but it’s telling that he couldn’t come up with examples of how McCollum is making an impact outside of his scoring.
Blazers’ fans are well aware of McCollum’s deficiencies on defense, and the past two seasons have seen his willingness to pass decrease, although he did have five assists on Friday, just the fourth time this season he has amassed five or more assists.
McCollum was as professional as one could hope on Friday. When asked if he was discouraged by his shooting, he shrugged his shoulders as his hands rested in his pockets.
“I’m not happy about it,” McCollum said. “I gotta do better. I have to figure out ways to help contribute. Nights like tonight, when the defense is loading up, you just try to make the right plays, and when the opportunity presents itself, you gotta be able to knock down the shot.”
On Friday, McCollum went 1-for-5 in the first quarter, didn’t attempt a shot in the second quarter and went 2-for-5 in the third quarter. In the fourth, he went 1-for-5, hitting a pull up jumper with 1:07 left that brought Portland within 109-105, but his 22 footer that could have tied the game with 8.4 seconds was off.
McCollum and I have talked about his struggles sporadically throughout the season, and he is always quick to point out that on nights when his shot is off he has to find a way to contribute. I asked him Friday if he feels like he is impacting the game in other ways.
“It’s hard,” McCollum said. “I try to defend better, guarding Russell [Westbrook], guarding some of those guys … but there’s not a lot of rebounds, Nurk is getting most of the rebounds, so … just try to be in the right spots, make the right plays, make the right passes when it presents itself and go from there. But when you have opportunities to be aggressive on offense, you take advantage. And when there is nothing there try to make something else happen for somebody else.”
The unease in all of this for the Blazers is how much they need McCollum to be a star. Because the team has been handcuffed in free agency because of the spending of 2016, improvement was going to have to come from within. Damian Lillard has done it every season in Portland, and now that McCollum is 27 — often considered the prime of a NBA player’s career — it figured that much of the Blazers’ success would rely on McCollum’s ability to elevate his game.
If anything, it appears he has regressed.
To the Blazers’ credit, they are 22-17 and are still a contender in the tight Western Conference race, thanks mostly to Lillard’s excellence, a surge from Jusuf Nurkic, recent spikes in play from Maurice Harkless and Seth Curry, and an occasional outburst in scoring from McCollum.
I asked McCollum on Friday about a season that still has time, but is also in danger of slipping away, and about how this was supposed to be when he is entering his prime.
“What else can I do, Jason? There’s nothing else I can do, man,” he said. “I can shoot 1,000 shots. I can go into the gym and get an hour and half in by myself like I always do … it has to translate. And it will.”
Evan Turner and his “jelly” legs
A common scene for the Blazers after a game is Evan Turner leaving the locker room half-dressed and walking across the hall to the trainer’s room. What goes on in there (it’s off limits to media) is unknown because Turner is an old-school type who doesn’t broadcast his injuries or complain about what ails him.
But for the past week, Turner has looked a little creaky, as if it takes some time getting his body moving fluently. I asked him Friday how his body felt.
“Achy,” he said.
After being pressed, Turner revealed he is dealing with issues in his calf, his Achilles, a hamstring and his hip. He said his legs feel like “jelly.”
“I just try to push it out of my head,” Turner said. “At the end of the day, nobody really pays attention to excuses. It is what it is. It could be worse.”
Clearly, his ailments are taking away from his game. In the past five games before Friday, Turner had a combined nine assists and 11 turnovers. It has led to a drop in his minutes, which dipped all the way to 14 on Tuesday against Sacramento.
“I have to get back to attacking more,” Turner said. “I have to assert myself more and get more shots.”
But his body is making it more difficult. Turner says his various ailments are a reflection of the Blazers’ schedule.
“We’ve been on a crazy streak … overtimes, playing every other day, and when do get off traveling from the holidays we come back to a back-to-back,” Turner said. “You put [the injuries] in small, tidy windows and think of the mission at hand. I think everybody is tired, not only our team, but teams in general. I just have to work through it.”
It’s nearly halfway through the Blazers season and what was once considered a slow start for CJ McCollum is now turning into a subpar season. The “star” the Blazers are pushing relentlessly for the All-Star Game was absent for large portions of Friday night’s matchup, including a potential game-tying shot in the final seconds to cap a 4-for-15 shooting night.
The $25.76 million dollar man is averaging 20.8 points and 2.6 assists, while shooting 32.9 percent from 3-point range and 45.5 percent overall.
To his credit, McCollum stood after the game and calmly answered direct questions about his game, which is more than his coach, Terry Stotts, could muster.
Stotts became increasingly terse as I asked three consecutive questions about McCollum’s play, before finally ending his 2:46 media session with “I’m not going down this line with you.”
The “line” of questioning?
Q: What do you make of CJ’s play this season?
A: [Scoffs] “I think he is giving good effort. He’s probably not shooting the ball as well as he would like, or we would like, but I think he is competing. He was guarding [Russell] Westbrook who finished with 31 points). Unfortunately for CJ, people are going to tie his play into how he’s shooting the ball. He hasn’t shot the ball as well as we expect, or he expects to … so unfortunately, I don’t think that’s the sole determinant of how he’s playing this year.”
Q: So the saying goes, “If scorers aren’t scoring the ball they have to find a way to impact the game in other areas.” Do you feel like he is impacting the game in other areas?
A: [Five-second pause] Sure.
Q: Which areas do you feel he is making an impact?
A: I’m not going down this line with you.
Stotts had more to say later, when he called me into his office to protest what he considered “unfair” questions, but it’s telling that he couldn’t come up with examples of how McCollum is making an impact outside of his scoring.
Blazers’ fans are well aware of McCollum’s deficiencies on defense, and the past two seasons have seen his willingness to pass decrease, although he did have five assists on Friday, just the fourth time this season he has amassed five or more assists.
McCollum was as professional as one could hope on Friday. When asked if he was discouraged by his shooting, he shrugged his shoulders as his hands rested in his pockets.
“I’m not happy about it,” McCollum said. “I gotta do better. I have to figure out ways to help contribute. Nights like tonight, when the defense is loading up, you just try to make the right plays, and when the opportunity presents itself, you gotta be able to knock down the shot.”
On Friday, McCollum went 1-for-5 in the first quarter, didn’t attempt a shot in the second quarter and went 2-for-5 in the third quarter. In the fourth, he went 1-for-5, hitting a pull up jumper with 1:07 left that brought Portland within 109-105, but his 22 footer that could have tied the game with 8.4 seconds was off.
McCollum and I have talked about his struggles sporadically throughout the season, and he is always quick to point out that on nights when his shot is off he has to find a way to contribute. I asked him Friday if he feels like he is impacting the game in other ways.
“It’s hard,” McCollum said. “I try to defend better, guarding Russell [Westbrook], guarding some of those guys … but there’s not a lot of rebounds, Nurk is getting most of the rebounds, so … just try to be in the right spots, make the right plays, make the right passes when it presents itself and go from there. But when you have opportunities to be aggressive on offense, you take advantage. And when there is nothing there try to make something else happen for somebody else.”
The unease in all of this for the Blazers is how much they need McCollum to be a star. Because the team has been handcuffed in free agency because of the spending of 2016, improvement was going to have to come from within. Damian Lillard has done it every season in Portland, and now that McCollum is 27 — often considered the prime of a NBA player’s career — it figured that much of the Blazers’ success would rely on McCollum’s ability to elevate his game.
If anything, it appears he has regressed.
To the Blazers’ credit, they are 22-17 and are still a contender in the tight Western Conference race, thanks mostly to Lillard’s excellence, a surge from Jusuf Nurkic, recent spikes in play from Maurice Harkless and Seth Curry, and an occasional outburst in scoring from McCollum.
I asked McCollum on Friday about a season that still has time, but is also in danger of slipping away, and about how this was supposed to be when he is entering his prime.
“What else can I do, Jason? There’s nothing else I can do, man,” he said. “I can shoot 1,000 shots. I can go into the gym and get an hour and half in by myself like I always do … it has to translate. And it will.”
Evan Turner and his “jelly” legs
A common scene for the Blazers after a game is Evan Turner leaving the locker room half-dressed and walking across the hall to the trainer’s room. What goes on in there (it’s off limits to media) is unknown because Turner is an old-school type who doesn’t broadcast his injuries or complain about what ails him.
But for the past week, Turner has looked a little creaky, as if it takes some time getting his body moving fluently. I asked him Friday how his body felt.
“Achy,” he said.
After being pressed, Turner revealed he is dealing with issues in his calf, his Achilles, a hamstring and his hip. He said his legs feel like “jelly.”
“I just try to push it out of my head,” Turner said. “At the end of the day, nobody really pays attention to excuses. It is what it is. It could be worse.”
Clearly, his ailments are taking away from his game. In the past five games before Friday, Turner had a combined nine assists and 11 turnovers. It has led to a drop in his minutes, which dipped all the way to 14 on Tuesday against Sacramento.
“I have to get back to attacking more,” Turner said. “I have to assert myself more and get more shots.”
But his body is making it more difficult. Turner says his various ailments are a reflection of the Blazers’ schedule.
“We’ve been on a crazy streak … overtimes, playing every other day, and when do get off traveling from the holidays we come back to a back-to-back,” Turner said. “You put [the injuries] in small, tidy windows and think of the mission at hand. I think everybody is tired, not only our team, but teams in general. I just have to work through it.”
