The Small Forward position

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I didn't realize this was an old thread and I wondered why some of you were talking about landing the #1 pick as if it was going to be easy.
 
julius said:
I didn't realize this was an old thread and I wondered why some of you were talking about landing the #1 pick as if it was going to be easy.
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It actually feels good to eat crow in that respect. 2nd round is nothing to be ashamed of.
 
I think our biggest problem is at C.

A SF/PF combo of Harkless and Aminu gets you quality 3pt shooting from both forward spots. That's critical to our ability to win as we did. They also both play defense while the other 3 aren't so good at it. Someone has to play D...

Harkless and Aminu are not elite players, not on the level of Dame... If you can upgrade either spot, go for it.

We get little (but efficient) offense from our Cs, and the defense isn't all that great. Festus Ezili looked like an all star against the two. Breaking news: he's not an all star :) They do bring rebounding and hustle and basketball IQ. And Davis is best suited as a PF, IMO.

I think Aminu is underestimated by some. He's probably in the top 3rd of guys in the league who can play both forward positions.
 
Denny Crane said:
I think our biggest problem is at C.

A SF/PF combo of Harkless and Aminu gets you quality 3pt shooting from both forward spots. That's critical to our ability to win as we did. They also both play defense while the other 3 aren't so good at it. Someone has to play D...

Harkless and Aminu are not elite players, not on the level of Dame... If you can upgrade either spot, go for it.

We get little (but efficient) offense from our Cs, and the defense isn't all that great. Festus Ezili looked like an all star against the two. Breaking news: he's not an all star :) They do bring rebounding and hustle and basketball IQ. And Davis is best suited as a PF, IMO.
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Great post. I think Plums and Davis should both play PF.

Would you go after Whiteside?
 
dviss1 said:
Great post. I think Plums and Davis should both play PF.

Would you go after Whiteside?
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I like Horford a lot better.

And I'd love to see Meyers Leonard given a shot at C. I bet he'd be comfortable at the spot, he can play D and rebound there just fine, and he gets you another 3pt shooter.
 
Denny Crane said:
I think our biggest problem is at C.

A SF/PF combo of Harkless and Aminu gets you quality 3pt shooting from both forward spots. That's critical to our ability to win as we did. They also both play defense while the other 3 aren't so good at it. Someone has to play D...

Harkless and Aminu are not elite players, not on the level of Dame... If you can upgrade either spot, go for it.

We get little (but efficient) offense from our Cs, and the defense isn't all that great. Festus Ezili looked like an all star against the two. Breaking news: he's not an all star :) They do bring rebounding and hustle and basketball IQ. And Davis is best suited as a PF, IMO.

I think Aminu is underestimated by some. He's probably in the top 3rd of guys in the league who can play both forward positions.
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26% counts as quality 3 point shooting...?
 
dviss1 said:
Great post. I think Plums and Davis should both play PF.

Would you go after Whiteside?
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Whiteside and Plumlee/Davis in the frontcourt would be an offensive disaster. You can only play Plumlee and Davis at PF if they're next to a C that can at least shoot from 15 feet.
 
BonesJones said:
26% counts as quality 3 point shooting...?
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He was 6-12 the last two Clippers games. I think that's the role he's going to fill going forward.

He didn't take that many 3s in most games in the regular season.
 
Denny Crane said:
He was 6-12 the last two Clippers games. I think that's the role he's going to fill going forward.

He didn't take that many 3s in most games in the regular season.
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So the 26% over the season doesn't count because he didn't shoot many per game (small sample size), yet the 6-12 in 2 games is more indicative of his role going forward? You contradicted yourself.

Suddenly he becomes a quality 3pt shooter because of 2 game stretch after shooting an awful percentage over an 82 game season? Cmon now.
 
BonesJones said:
So the 26% over the season doesn't count because he didn't shoot many per game (small sample size), yet the 6-12 in 2 games is more indicative of his role going forward? You contradicted yourself.

Suddenly he becomes a quality 3pt shooter because of 2 game stretch after shooting an awful percentage over an 82 game season? Cmon now.
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I don't think a lot of 0-1 games says much about his shooting.
 
DeRozan has been awful in every facet of the game in these playoffs. I'd rather start Aminu. Seriously.
 
riverman said:
I want in your face defense at the SF position and Aminu is very good at that...I want Aminu guarding Lebron ...he held Lebron to 11 pts in 3.5qtrs last time we played them. That's an accomplishment...we just didn't have a bench guy who could keep it up when Aminu was out.
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Yep and Aminu shut down Paul George too.
 
I feel strongly about Harkless going forward. The guy is (almost) 23 and has the potential to be a long-term part of this team, but my question is, is Harkless able and willing to develop his game more? If over the off-season, Harkless works on his obvious weaknesses, his percentage at the 3-point and free-throw line, and come out next year shooting low to mid 30s% at the 3 point line, and above 70% at the free-throw line, I would have no more doubts about him.
 
BonesJones said:
Haters!
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I'm not hatin' at all. I ref a bunch of youngsters who wear their version of that cut.

I've seen it done WAY better than Crabbe has his. Like I said, his needs about 3 inches off.
 
Crabbe needs to fix it for sure but not until this season is over. At this point i simply would not be willing to cut my hair. Way too superstitious.
 
If you take the options Portland currently has and rank them, it's a curious outcome.

Player.......Shooting.....Handles.....Passing......Defense.....GetOwnShot......Rebounding...........Average
Aminu...........3................4..................4................1....................4.......................2......................3.0
Crabbe...........1................3..................2................3....................3.......................3......................2.5
Harkless........3................2..................3................2....................2.......................1......................2.167
Montero........2................1...................1................4....................1.......................4......................2.167

Of course some of that is subjective because we don't know if Montero can play D well or rebound so he got the last place grade in those two or he would have been #1 by himself. He rebounded well in the D-League but that may not translate well. We have an idea from what little playing time and from what we've heard from multiple practices at the PF that he has the 3rd best handles behind CJ and then Dame, is a very good passer, can create his own shot, has a sweet stroke (shooting 100% in the Playoffs so far on very limited attempts) and isn't afraid of anyone....has a bit of that swagger you need in the Playoffs.

He's tremendously raw and unproven but as far as his 'skills' versus what we currently have, I'd like to see at least what he could do given some regular minutes. Watching Aminu dribble or pass is giving me a headache and certainly doesn't look to be getting any better...yet. I've also seen a lot of hesitancy when shots are wide open and you just can't have that. If Aminu could dribble, pass and shoot more consistently, he would be quite good. Almost the same from Harkles. Crabbe can shoot but can't dribble or pass either which for a wing seems someone necessary. Montero can do all of those things.....he just needs the experience.
 
Good point @TBpup. Montero very well may be in the mix next year. If we don't bring Henderson back, I would really like to see Montero getting some consistent minutes off the bench, hopefully developing him into a legit contributor.
 
BonesJones said:
Crabbe's haircut is dope. You elders wouldn't understand
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Ah, the ignorance of youth......the current "geezer" generation set the world on its ear 50 years ago, as far as men's hairstyles go. We understand completely. We also figured out that if you're too into how your hair looks, maybe you aren't directing your focus where it needs to be. I wish Crabbe was as consistent with his shot as he is with his 'do......
 
Rule of thumb...if you're old...lose the mullet and the spandex pants. Realize you look like a squeezed tube of toothpaste with a Q tip stuck in the end.
 
Natebishop3 said:
I really see this spot as the main target going into this offseason. I like Aminu and Harkless, but I think Aminu is better suited as a backup and Harkless seems to be a project, which is fine. He's only 22 so he could still put it together.

I look at our team and I see Crabbe as our starting shooting guard. He's everything you want in a starting two. He has the size, he can shoot, he's athletic, and he plays decent defense.
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If he's everything you want, you've got some low standards there bub. He's bad at creating his own shot. Did you know that 80% of his 2s and 95% of his 3s are assisted? Contrast that with a guy like CJ who can (20/70). He "can play defense" I sure don't see him shutting any one down, I don't see Stotts putting him on anyone as a defensive specialist like he does with Harkless.

Crabbe is nothing more than a backup.
 
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