Shooters

[calvin natt]

It’s all about shooters. Not to state the obvious but the offensive issues can be mostly resolved with shooters. Guys like Morrow (maybe not 2017 Morrow but that type). Lillard will be better with other shooters. Nurk will be better with shooters. The Morrow/Jodie Meeks type guys who can spread the floor and make life easier on CJ and Damian and Nurk. They don’t need to be all stars. Just threats. The offense looks like crap because the Blazers are way, way too easy to guard. It’s much easier said than done but the truth is they don’t need to get rid of anyone they just are absent of deep threats. It’s the way of the nba and it’s causing issues for their three good players.

 

[Scalma]

It’s all about shooters. Not to state the obvious but the offensive issues can be mostly resolved with shooters. Guys like Morrow (maybe not 2017 Morrow but that type). Lillard will be better with other shooters. Nurk will be better with shooters. The Morrow/Jodie Meeks type guys who can spread the floor and make life easier on CJ and Damian and Nurk. They don’t need to be all stars. Just threats. The offense looks like crap because the Blazers are way, way too easy to guard. It’s much easier said than done but the truth is they don’t need to get rid of anyone they just are absent of deep threats. It’s the way of the nba and it’s causing issues for their three good players.

Yeah, offensively it’s clearly our biggest weakness. I’m not a fan, but I would like to see Connaughton get more minutes with the starting unit. He can hit an open shot, or at least better than Harkless and Turner. The upgrade will have to come from a trade though.

 

[BBert]

Yeah, offensively it’s clearly our biggest weakness. I’m not a fan, but I would like to see Connaughton get more minutes with the starting unit. He can hit an open shot, or at least better than Harkless and Turner. The upgrade will have to come from a trade though.

Teams have scouted Pat, so he's not getting many looks these days. But that's good. They have to guard him, which makes it easier on Dame and CJ.

 

[Scalma]

Teams have scouted Pat, so he's not getting many looks these days. But that's good. They have to guard him, which makes it easier on Dame and CJ.

That’s literally the difference between this year and last. There’s no one teams have to respect from outside except dame and CJ.

 

[Pinwheel1]

That’s literally the difference between this year and last. There’s no one teams have to respect from outside except dame and CJ.

Last night was painfully obvious. Early on they focused on Dame and CJ and literally dared everyone else to shoot from the outside. Hark, ET, Vonleh, Nurk....they all put up bricks on their first shot. (as did CJ) It was not pretty. Aminu might make a small impact if they start him at SF, but like I have said all offseason....we need another shooter. Preferably at SF.

And NO trading CJ for one does not help the situation. We need at least 3 in the starting lineup surrounding Nurk.

 

[Blazinaway]

That’s literally the difference between this year and last. There’s no one teams have to respect from outside except dame and CJ.

have to wonder how much respect Dame is getting when he is shooting career worsts at 40% FG and .329 from 3, that is not helping either

Napier is shooting absolutely lights out this yr but unfortunately he's another small guard - too bad he's not Turner size.

 

[Scalma]

Last night was painfully obvious. Early on they focused on Dame and CJ and literally dared everyone else to shoot from the outside. Hark, ET, Vonleh, Nurk....they all put up bricks on their first shot. (as did CJ) It was not pretty. Aminu might make a small impact if they start him at SF, but like I have said all offseason....we need another shooter. Preferably at SF.

And NO trading CJ for one does not help the situation. We need at least 3 in the starting lineup surrounding Nurk.

Yup. We have three guys that can put the ball in the hoop. The rest are all defensive minded role players, so when one of our big three aren’t scoring, we’re pretty much fucked.

 

[Labinot41]

I said it from the beginning of this Season we badly need some shooters

 

[Mediocre Man]

The biggest issue is that we run a motion offense with little to no passing

 

[TBpup]

The biggest issue is that we run a motion offense with little to no passing

Lots of hand-offs though...

 

[Drttimmy]

Lots of hand-offs though...

Somebody who is offensive schematic savvy will have to explain the hot potato concept to me. It was implemented day 1 of the Stotts era and I still have yet to see it yield anything advantageous in all that time. My best guess, it's intended to induce ball movement and keep the point man from continuously dribbling at the top. Problem is, once they hot potato right back, the point man just continues dribbling as he was. Or maybe Stotts has a minimum two pass rule and it's a easy way to meet the rule, so they can go play iso.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Somebody who is offensive schematic savvy will have to explain the hot potato concept to me. It was implemented day 1 of the Stotts era and I still have yet to see it yield anything advantageous in all that time. My best guess, it's intended to induce ball movement and keep the point man from continuously dribbling at the top. Problem is, once they hot potato right back, the point man just continues dribbling as he was. Or maybe Stotts has a minimum two pass rule and it's a easy way to meet the rule, so they can go play iso.

It's a pick and roll. What the handoffs do is get the defense to move. At some point, Nurk screens and starts the pick and roll.

 

[KingSpeed]

Last night was painfully obvious. Early on they focused on Dame and CJ and literally dared everyone else to shoot from the outside. Hark, ET, Vonleh, Nurk....they all put up bricks on their first shot. (as did CJ) It was not pretty. Aminu might make a small impact if they start him at SF, but like I have said all offseason....we need another shooter. Preferably at SF.

And NO trading CJ for one does not help the situation. We need at least 3 in the starting lineup surrounding Nurk.

Carmelo Anthony 8o(

 

[blue9]

So, basically, Allen Crabbe was an extremely important part of the team? Because he's the only player that's missing from last year's roster.

 

[Labinot41]

So, basically, Allen Crabbe was an extremely important part of the team? Because he's the only player that's missing from last year's roster.

Yes definetly, Crabbe created so much space for everybody because the opponent coud not let him open on the Perimeter because he was a Deadly great shooter with 44% percent from 3. Nurkic had so much room in the paint last season. It was good for the cap that we tradet crabbe, but very bad for our game. At that time he was tradet i knew our spacing got killed. Now Lillard passes to Nurkic in the paint and there were 3 guys there because they could safely ignore our "shooters". If we had even one better shooter, there might only be two guys there. Spacing is so, so so so so so important in today’s game.

 

[ripcityboy]

The biggest issue is that we run a motion offense with little to no passing

 

[theprunetang]

Yes definetly, Crabbe created so much space for everybody because the opponent coud not let him open on the Perimeter because he was a Deadly great shooter with 44% percent from 3. Nurkic had so much room in the paint last season. It was good for the cap that we tradet crabbe, but very bad for our game. At that time he was tradet i knew our spacing got killed. Now Lillard passes to Nurkic in the paint and there were 3 guys there because they could safely ignore our "shooters". If we had even one better shooter, there might only be two guys there. Spacing is so, so so so so so important in today’s game.

You nailed this. Hard.

 

[blue9]

Yes definetly, Crabbe created so much space for everybody because the opponent coud not let him open on the Perimeter because he was a Deadly great shooter with 44% percent from 3. Nurkic had so much room in the paint last season. It was good for the cap that we tradet crabbe, but very bad for our game. At that time he was tradet i knew our spacing got killed. Now Lillard passes to Nurkic in the paint and there were 3 guys there because they could safely ignore our "shooters". If we had even one better shooter, there might only be two guys there. Spacing is so, so so so so so important in today’s game.

I don't totally disagree. I said, at the time, that we got worse by the trade - many people said it was addition by subtraction, but I was not one of them. The move was a smart financial move, but definitely made us worse. But this much worse? I don't think so. Our starting unit is unchanged, with the exception of Nurk/Plumlee - which should be an improvement. Overall, our rotation has been nearly identical for the past three seasons, with the only changes being:

+Gerald Henderson
+Evan Turner
-Alan Crabbe

None of these guys are huge difference-makers. Yes, Crabbe would be better for our team than Turner. But if a team's performance hinges so strongly on the difference between Crabbe and Turner I think the team has much bigger issues. Foundational issues.

 

[tester551]

So, basically, Allen Crabbe was an extremely important part of the team? Because he's the only player that's missing from last year's roster.

I'm watching the Nets game. I'm thinking the Blazers offense is missing Plumlee.
Last year Blazers ran so much of their offense through Plumlee in the high post.
After the Nurk trade, they used Nurk in a similar manner from the high post. This year it seems absent.

Lol. Just as I'm writing this, Nurk finds Mo on a cut along the baseline

 

[Scalma]

So, basically, Allen Crabbe was an extremely important part of the team? Because he's the only player that's missing from last year's roster.

Yeah he was and was also part of the closing lineup most of the times. There’s actually people in here that have said “we’re missing shooters, but not Crabbe.”

Lol!

 

[BBert]

I'm watching the Nets game. I'm thinking the Blazers offense is missing Plumlee.
Last year Blazers ran so much of their offense through Plumlee in the high post.
After the Nurk trade, they used Nurk in a similar manner from the high post. This year it seems absent.

Lol. Just as I'm writing this, Nurk finds Mo on a cut along the baseline

Nurk's passing is the most disappointing thing to me about his game this year. Last season his passing was a revelation. It seems like more often than not this season, when he tries to pass, he tries to make a pass that isn't even remotely open. Nice to hear he actually hit someone.

 

[Scalma]

Nurk's passing is the most disappointing thing to me about his game this year. Last season his passing was a revelation. It seems like more often than not this season, when he tries to pass, he tries to make a pass that isn't even remotely open. Nice to hear he actually hit someone.

I still think that splint or whatever he’s wearing on his shooting hand affects his ability to grip and catch the ball, which also affects his passing because he can’t put as much zip behind it.