The West

[The_Lillard_King]

Portland has 3 assassins. Dame, Batum and matthews

LA?

 

[Pinwheel1]

Portland has 3 assassins. Dame, Batum and matthews

For me....... an "assassin" has to have the ability to get to the rim, hit a pull up J, and be money with the 3. Has to have all three to keep the defense honest. I love Wes, but I don't think he can do all three. Certainly both he and Nic, along with LA are great options in crunch time, but lets face it when the game is on the line, it's Lillard time. Although I would love to see Nic take over more games like he did for France.

 

[e_blazer]

Having a solid roster with an "assassin" or two at the start of the season is great, but I'm more concerned with what the roster looks like as the season goes along and as the playoffs approach. Success in the West will be most dependent upon which teams can stay the healthiest. There's such a razor-thin margin between the top 6 or 7 teams that the loss of a key player or two for more than a few weeks could kill a team's chances of a favorable match-up in the first round and maybe even result in not making the playoffs at all.

 

[magnifier661]

LA?

I don't see him as an assassin. He reminds me how the Lakers used Shaq back in the day. He would carry the load for the first 3 quarters, then Dame takes over the 4th.

 

[magnifier661]

For me....... an "assassin" has to have the ability to get to the rim, hit a pull up J, and be money with the 3. Has to have all three to keep the defense honest. I love Wes, but I don't think he can do all three. Certainly both he and Nic, along with LA are great options in crunch time, but lets face it when the game is on the line, it's Lillard time. Although I would love to see Nic take over more games like he did for France.

I agree the 4th is Lillard time.

 

[e_blazer]

BTW, how bad-ass is the word "assassin"? It's so bad-ass that it's got two "ass"es in it and ends in the word "sin".

 

[BlazerDuckSeahawkFan94]

Aldridge is an assassin, he hits clutch shots. Dame is a killer closer though.

 

[BigGameDamian]

Portland has 3 assassins. Dame, Batum and matthews

I don't think Mathews or Batum are assassins. To me an assassin is a player that can not only carry a team but put a team away on there own so to say, if that makes sense. Mathews & Batum are great help teammates to put a team away and don't get me wrong they can hit big shots. It just takes more than hitting a big shot to be an assassin.

 

[magnifier661]

I don't think Mathews or Batum are assassins. To me an assassin is a player that can not only carry a team but put a team away on there own so to say, if that makes sense. Mathews & Batum are great help teammates to put a team away and don't get me wrong they can hit big shots. It just takes more than hitting a big shot to be an assassin.

See I disagree. Robert Horry was an assassin imo. They are the guys not afraid to make that big shot. The ones that don't choke when it matters.

You are describing a superstar. The Jordan, kobe, bird, etc. they are at an entirely different level. I don't think even Chris Paul is at that level.

The cool thing is I see that in Lillard. He has that Superstar swag!

 

[3RA1N1AC]

I'm cautiously optimistic and am thinking 4 seed and wcf

 

[3RA1N1AC]

Okc, clips and SAS ahead of them.

Minny is gonna lose 50 games, Utah might lose 60