The Dante Cunningham Fan Club

[Boob-No-More]

I am a big fan of bringing in 4 year guys in the late first round and second round. They know how to play so they don't need as much teaching. They are probably not going to be as gifted but the history of the NBA is filled with physically gifted players who just couldn't get it done and were washed out of the league.

The Blairs, Cunninghams and Roys of the world should prove that point but gm's keep trying for the home run instead of 4 singles.

I agree with your point, but DeJuan Blair wasn't a 4-year college player. He only played two years of college ball.

And, while I'm picking nits, Brandon Roy wasn't a late first round or second round pick.

Perhaps guys like Aaron Brooks, Jared Dudley, Eric Maynor, Darren Collison, George Hill and Courtney Lee would be better examples of 4-year players selected in the bottom 1/3 of the first round that were able to step in and contribute immediately.

BNM

 

[BGrantFan]

Cunningham is better than Webster at this point. (How depressing is that, after all the years spent developing Martell, the contract, passing on Chris Paul, the missed season...)

Webster gives you three point shooting (has Dante taken one this year?) but that's about the only advantage he has. I'm far more confident in Cunningham making a 17 footer than Webster making a 3, though, so even there I'm not sure Webster really spaces the floor better.

And the nice thing about Cunningham is that you don't have to have a convergence of perfect circumstances occur to get efficiency out of him. You want him to play 6 minutes? Fine, he'll be productive in 6 minutes. You want to give him 25, he'll be efficient in 25.

He's right there with Aldridge as the best midrange shooter on the team.

Dante has a 14.9 PER as a 2nd round rookie. Martell, in his 'breakthrough' year, has a 12.7 PER. Incredible when you think about it. Add in the fact that Nic is at a 16.2 and is a better defender, and it could be time to trade Webster while his value is (relatively) high.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

it could be time to trade Webster while his value is (relatively) high.

They're trying, and it isn't! Webster should've been traded after that game when he played all 48 minutes, and just before Batum came back...

Martell would really thrive playing a run-and-gun game with a top PG. He'd experience a Channing Frye-esque career renaissance in Phoenix. Unfortunately I don't think they'd give us Robin Lopez for him...

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Cunningham is better than Webster at this point. (How depressing is that, after all the years spent developing Martell, the contract, passing on Chris Paul, the missed season...)
Webster gives you three point shooting (has Dante taken one this year?) but that's about the only advantage he has. I'm far more confident in Cunningham making a 17 footer than Webster making a 3, though, so even there I'm not sure Webster really spaces the floor better.

Agreed. Webster's best still beats Dante's best, though (no 25 point quarters for Cunningham). But Webster's best comes along about once a year. They both do a nice line in flying-out-of-nowhere-for-the-block.

 

[Eastoff]

The block was better than the dunk IMO

 

[drexlersdad]

GREAT comparison. Of course those few inches make all the difference.

dante has a 3.5 TALLER standing reach. you dont play basketball with the top of your head. for the win.

dante 8'10.5"
green 8'7"

http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-pre-draft-measurements/?year=2007&sort2=DESC&draft=0&pos=0&sort=2

 

[Masbee]

Yeah... that's from the dashes:

Can't get enough of that "Take that you no-defense, prima-donna, so-called all-star sumbich. - Pow! Right in your grill. Try and make me your poster again and next time I won't be so nice." Dunk.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

A reach nearly 8'11" is impressive. He has the same reach as rebounding monster David Lee.

 

[BBert]

I love a player who makes a monster dunk and doesn't gloat, taunt, pose or act like he's king shit about it. He didn't pound his chest, bark at the bench, or pull his shirt down to show off his nipples. Dante made the play, turned around, ran up the court like it happens every day, and kept playing basketball. It says, yeah, posterizing you ain't no thing, I can do it all day long.

 

[BGrantFan]

Dante's per/36 numbers line up favorably to guys like Carl Landry early in his career, plus he's only 22 years old.

Seems like a steal so far. At the very least, he'll have a career in the NBA somewhere.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

He's a pick-and-pop guy. Dante would flourish in a Phoenix type of system.

 

[Entity]

Can't get enough of that "Take that you no-defense, prima-donna, so-called all-star sumbich. - Pow! Right in your grill. Try and make me your poster again and next time I won't be so nice." Dunk.

I couldn't believe that while Amare's dunk made the top ten plays, Dante's revenge didn't even get a mention.

 

[hasoos]

Dante's per/36 numbers line up favorably to guys like Carl Landry early in his career, plus he's only 22 years old.

Seems like a steal so far. At the very least, he'll have a career in the NBA somewhere.

That would be sweet. I dig Carl Landry as a player. The first time I saw him play was against Oden in college, and he battled Oden even though undersized, both games, and went at him offensivly. But unfortunately, Blazer management didn't watch that tape I guess....

 

[maxiep]

dante has a 3.5 TALLER standing reach. you dont play basketball with the top of your head. for the win.

dante 8'10.5"
green 8'7"

http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-pre-draft-measurements/?year=2007&sort2=DESC&draft=0&pos=0&sort=2

Cool. Thanks for the additional info. I wasn't aware of the arm length issues. I loved Green coming out of G'Town.

 

[Boob-No-More]

BTW, I'm not ashamed to admit I was wrong about Dante. I was mad when we passed on DeJaun Blair at 22 for a Euro who will probably never play for us (other than maybe in summer league). I was livid when we passed on Blair again at 31. At least Pendergraph plays the same position, but Blair has WAY more talent. I was absolutely fuming when we passed on Blair a 3rd time at 33 and took Cunningham.

I thought WTF is KP doing. We NEED a physical back-up PF and we passed on one that had lottery level talent THREE times. It was not that I disliked Cunningham, but with Travis, Batum and Webster all on the roster, I saw him as a long shot to even make the team, let alone get any kind of meaningful PT. Blair would have gotten PT from day one as our back-up PF.

Turns out, Cunningham is better than I thought. And, with all the injuries, he's gotten way more PT than I could have imagined, and played consistently well (not just consistently well for a rookie, consistently well period).

I still wish we would have used one of those three picks on Blair. With all the inuries we've had, we sure could use him. With his physical play and strong rebounding, I could see starting LaMarcus at the 5 and Blair at the 4 (with our centers out). But, it didn't happen. He's off helping San Antonio, who we are fighting for a play-off spot, win games.

But, I'm glad we ended up with Cunningham. He's a great role player, and could end up making Outlaw and/or Webster expendable. Perhaps, we can use those assets to land the physical big man we are currently lacking with Greg and Joel out.

BNM

 

[BlazerCaravan]

My memory's hazy, but does Dante remind anyone of Stacy Augmon?

 

[BGrantFan]

I still wish we would have used one of those three picks on Blair. With all the inuries we've had, we sure could use him. With his physical play and strong rebounding, I could see starting LaMarcus at the 5 and Blair at the 4 (with our centers out). But, it didn't happen. He's off helping San Antonio, who we are fighting for a play-off spot, win games.

Blair looks to be an elite rebounder and garbage scorer, but the reality is he is a-.2 in terms of production, and his win share of 48.8% means the Spurs are losing more often with him on the court than they are winning. That said, I'd love to have him on the Blazers, and regardless of potential injury, he should have been picked at #22 over Claver. After the year Batum had, why in the world was Claver picked? Blair could be giving production right now. I'd say Blair should have been picked over Pendergraph as well, but reality has meant that the Blazers have needed Pendergraph to play some center, so my 20/20 hindsight is skewed.

 

[BGrantFan]

My memory's hazy, but does Dante remind anyone of Stacy Augmon?

Interesting comparison, at least in terms of athleticism. I don't think Augmon had Cunningham's mid-range game. Then again, I know that Cunningham is not the defensive player that Augmon was during his prime.

 

[Boob-No-More]

My memory's hazy, but does Dante remind anyone of Stacy Augmon?

Augmon was an athletic freak, shorter and thinner, couldn't shoot from beyond 8 feet and was almost universally disliked by his teammates where ever he played.

Other than that, they are just alike.

BNM

 

[MickZagger]

He reminds me a lot of Derrick McKey. Cunningham might have a little bit better of a jumpshot.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Could. Not. Agree. MORE. about the only thing those two guys have in common is being slightly undersized for the power forward position, and they both like to shoot jumpers. In terms of court awareness and defense though? There's not much to compare.

I think they (TO and DC) kind of look like each other.

 

[BBert]

Augmon was an athletic freak, shorter and thinner, couldn't shoot from beyond 8 feet and was almost universally disliked by his teammates where ever he played.

Other than that, they are just alike.

BNM

Yeah, that's pretty much it. Augmon was wirey and probably stronger than he looked, a great defender, but he couldn't shoot, period. Dante is a very consistent outside shooter and he has HUGE guns for a SF. The guy is ripped.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Augmon was an athletic freak, shorter and thinner, couldn't shoot from beyond 8 feet and was almost universally disliked by his teammates where ever he played.

Other than that, they are just alike.

BNM

LOL! Fair enough!

 

[alex42083]

The thing I like is the coaches have seemingly given Dante the green light to shoot every time it if he's open for that 16-18 footer. He doesn't hesitate at all if he's open. It gives the rookie one less thing to think about on the floor -- whether to drive, find a cutter, etc. Just shoot the ball if you're open on the pick and pop. I'm sure that's played a part in his confidence level that the coaches have confidence in him to knock down the jumper.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

The thing I like is the coaches have seemingly given Dante the green light to shoot every time it if he's open for that 16-18 footer. He doesn't hesitate at all if he's open. It gives the rookie one less thing to think about on the floor -- whether to drive, find a cutter, etc. Just shoot the ball if you're open on the pick and pop. I'm sure that's played a part in his confidence level that the coaches have confidence in him to knock down the jumper.

He probably couldn't miss with that shot in practice, so they gave him the green light in the first place. The difference between him and, say, Martell (who is also can't miss in practice) is that Dante's FG percentage is pretty hot (52.1%).

here's Dante's first ten games:
3-4
0-0
0-0
1-2
2-3
2-3
3-6
0-1*
3-4
2-6*

Only two games less than 50% (only 11 total in 41 games this season). That instilled early confidence in the coaching staff; and in Dante, who took advantage of the situation by not taking bad shots. Now, he's got a permanent green light on that shot.

 

[alex42083]

He probably couldn't miss with that shot in practice, so they gave him the green light in the first place. The difference between him and, say, Martell (who is also can't miss in practice) is that Dante's FG percentage is pretty hot (52.1%).

Yup, and I feel like whenever Dante rises up to shoot, it's not a "Oh no!" like maybe Travis, or "are we getting the good or bad Martell tonight" when Martell shoots it. I actually feel like Dante will knock it down more times than not, and he is. Good to see.