They aren't 'Young' anymore

[riverman]

Nobody addresses the elephant in the room, which is that the members of this forum are getting older.

Many of us have lost a step, or fallen down the steps, or have step-children.

Face it, the forum needs fresh blood. And then after our transfusions, perhaps we'll have the energy to recruit some new younger members.

barfo

You're not factoring in "second childhoods"

 

[H.C.]

Nurkic averaged 1.8 assists his 4th year in the league. Jokic averaged 7.3 assists in his 4th season. Green averaged 7.4. Pretty sketchy comparison IMO

Sketchy to say neither are outstanding dribblers ight.
Now we're using stats ight.

27.4 usage rate
21.2 usage rate
22.6 usage rate

Oh I also find it funny that you're not using Nurk's 5th year stats.

Who has the ball in their hands more?

Nurk is a fine passer and has plenty of vision.
He doesn't have an offense built around him like Jokic, nor does he have the off-ball movement from CJ&Lillard that Green gets from KD/Curry/Thompson/Iggy/etc.

 

[BonesJones]

Since they mostly have birthdays during summer vacation, at the end of the 2019-2020 season in June:

Dame will be 29
Aminu will be 29
Curry will be 29
Turner will be 31
CJ will be 28
Kanter will be 28
Hood will be 27
Nurkic will be 25
Collins will be 22

So what we seem to have is a team entering their prime this year that made the Western Conference Finals basically right on schedule despite missing their starting star center.

People are really looking hard to find something wrong with this picture.

The thing that's wrong is... How the hell are we going to get better?

Dame and CJ are in their prime.
Nurkic is coming back from injury so he'll be largely absent and then probably not at the same level
The coaching will be the same.
We can only keep one of Curry, Hood, and Kanter. With only one of them, we probably don't make it out of the 1st round, and definitely don't make it to the WCF.
We have limited flexibility this off-season to improve our team, and have a GM who hasn't shown the creativity to overcome it.

 

[BonesJones]

Sketchy to say neither are outstanding dribblers ight.
Now we're using stats ight.

27.4 usage rate
21.2 usage rate
22.6 usage rate

Oh I also find it funny that you're not using Nurk's 5th year stats.

Who has the ball in their hands more?

Nurk is a fine passer and has plenty of vision.
He doesn't have an offense built around him like Jokic, nor does he have the off-ball movement from CJ&Lillard that Green gets from KD/Curry/Thompson/Iggy/etc.

Nurkic is better at tough passes.
Green is the better overall passer though, as being able to attack and put pressure on the defense to open up passing opportunities for others is a part of passing. He's also a smarter passer and reads the defense better.

And Jokic is better than both of them. Nurkic isn't really in their class.

 

[KingSpeed]

Lol....love the negative reaction as that is all some people seem to be able to respond with. You get the bigger picture idea though. Narrative.....amusing. That is why the word 'some' is used. But per usual, pick and chose. The fact is, the Blazers have 2 of their most important players at their physical peak and that won't be getting any better. Take advantage now.

And of course the part about about how players like Dame don't come along very often. For those who can only respond negatively, that means he is very special and enjoy the time we have left. Try and see some positive.

Dame has more than 2-3 years left in his prime. Nash was 31 when he won his first MVP. Dirk was 33 when he won his title. I’d say 3-5 years is Dame’s prime. And as a team we’re not as old compared to the rest of the league as you suggest. We were the second youngest team in the playoffs this year.

 

[KingSpeed]

The thing that's wrong is... How the hell are we going to get better?

Dame and CJ are in their prime.
Nurkic is coming back from injury so he'll be largely absent and then probably not at the same level
The coaching will be the same.
We can only keep one of Curry, Hood, and Kanter. With only one of them, we probably don't make it out of the 1st round, and definitely don't make it to the WCF.
We have limited flexibility this off-season to improve our team, and have a GM who hasn't shown the creativity to overcome it.

GM is not creative? He got Hood and Kanter for nothing. Every offseason, people say we haven’t gotten better and then we play better.

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

Nurkic is better at tough passes.
Green is the better overall passer though, as being able to attack and put pressure on the defense to open up passing opportunities for others is a part of passing. He's also a smarter passer and reads the defense better.

And Jokic is better than both of them. Nurkic isn't really in their class.

Well of course, but Nurkic is still much better as a focal point of the offense / outlet for Dame then what they had,

 

[BonesJones]

GM is not creative? He got Hood and Kanter for nothing. Every offseason, people say we haven’t gotten better and then we play better.

Lmao. Trading two 2nd round picks for a role player isnt creative. Signing a buyout free agent isnt creative. You dont understand what I mean by that, I guess.

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

Lmao. Trading two 2nd round picks for a role player isnt creative. Signing a buyout free agent isnt creative. You dont understand what I mean by that, I guess.

When it comes to how “creative” NO is or isnt, its kind of a hard job to judge from the perspective of a fan. We really dont know if he’s being creative or trying to be. I mean, NO isnt my favorite..., but we have no idea what agents wont return his call, what GM’s are or arent willing to work with him. If it sounds like Im making an excuse, I’m not trying to, Im just saying only a few people really know what conversations he’s having, and if he’s “trying” creative things or not. I 100% know you, you know this, but its much easier for is to come up with things that work, and why all the players, teams, agents, etc should want them to happen, then it is to make those things happen.

Creative or not, I liked that he turned two guys not playing, into a roster spot for Kanter and got Rodney.

 

[KeepOnRollin]

Olshey tried to be creative and get Porter. Was outbidded at the last moment.

 

[SportsAndWhine]

The thing that's wrong is... How the hell are we going to get better?

Dame and CJ are in their prime.
Nurkic is coming back from injury so he'll be largely absent and then probably not at the same level
The coaching will be the same.
We can only keep one of Curry, Hood, and Kanter. With only one of them, we probably don't make it out of the 1st round, and definitely don't make it to the WCF.
We have limited flexibility this off-season to improve our team, and have a GM who hasn't shown the creativity to overcome it.

It doesn’t really matter; the product next year will be what it is. We don’t affect any change as loyal customers of the corporation. I hope we do really well next year, that Meyers wakes up enough to make us not miss Kanter, and that Nurkic provides us the extra boost to do even better in a Westerm Conference that’s full of changes.

But ultimately, sports are just a bet you make with yourself every game that in three hours you’ll feel happy. It’s just a game. I hope we win but I refuse to worry about things I can’t change.

 

[H.C.]

Nurkic is better at tough passes.
Green is the better overall passer though, as being able to attack and put pressure on the defense to open up passing opportunities for others is a part of passing. He's also a smarter passer and reads the defense better.

And Jokic is better than both of them. Nurkic isn't really in their class.

Not saying he is or isn't in their class.
I just found it funny when the guy said this.

Nurkic can make some good passes; but he can't run the offense. That requires a player with handles and vision.

Then went onto use the year where Nurk averaged 1.8 apg instead of this year when he nearly doubled that at 3.2
I don't think it's inconceivable to believe Nurk could hit the 4-5 apg range.
Which imo is prolly the number he needs for Portland to continue to make noise in the playoffs.
Portland needs easy buckets. Can't rely on getting to a spot and pulling up.
Works against gambling defenses like OKC, and inexperienced teams like Denver.
But GSW more often than not kept CJ/Lillard from getting to those spots. Instead forced them 1-2 feet deeper on those jumpers.

You're a shooter you know what it means when the defense forces you 1-2 feet deeper on the shot you want to take.
Still makeable, but not the rhythm you wanted.

 

[hoopsjock]

Replace Harkless and and Aminu with let's say Bogdanovic and Millsap. Bring back Nurk.

Do we win the title this year?

I don't know but I'll tell you this, we'd still be playing and GS would be shitting their pants right now on the verge of being eliminated.

 

[wizenheimer]

Nurkic is better at tough passes.
Green is the better overall passer though, as being able to attack and put pressure on the defense to open up passing opportunities for others is a part of passing. He's also a smarter passer and reads the defense better.

And Jokic is better than both of them. Nurkic isn't really in their class.

not only that, we saw Green absolutely blitz Portland in transition. He was like Westbrook, only under control. Neither Jokic or Nurkic can do that. Green can run an offense; Jokic can be the main pivot point of an offense. Nurkic can't really do either yet

I was talking about Portland really needing a player like Paul George or Kawhi to take pressure off Lillard and somehow, Nurk was morphed into a player with that kind of offensive impact. I like Nurkic and think he's Portland's 2nd best player but he's not going to take the defensive pressure off Dame like an elite wing would

HC: I used 4th year Nurkic because I used 4th year Jokic and Green. All things equal

yeah, Nurkic upped his assists to 3.2 this year, but I just don't think that's anywhere close to the ballpark of Green and Jokic averaging over 7 assists. That's more than Lillard averaged. More than that, Jokic had an assist/turnover ratio of 2.35, Green was at 2.31, while Nurkic was at 1.39. It's loopy to suggest Nurkic is anywhere within 3 zip-codes of being in the same class as a playmaker

one final note: Portland had a healthy Nurkic against the Pelicans last year and he didn't do one thing to ease the defensive pressure on Dame

 

[BonesJones]

When it comes to how “creative” NO is or isnt, its kind of a hard job to judge from the perspective of a fan. We really dont know if he’s being creative or trying to be. I mean, NO isnt my favorite..., but we have no idea what agents wont return his call, what GM’s are or arent willing to work with him. If it sounds like Im making an excuse, I’m not trying to, Im just saying only a few people really know what conversations he’s having, and if he’s “trying” creative things or not. I 100% know you, you know this, but its much easier for is to come up with things that work, and why all the players, teams, agents, etc should want them to happen, then it is to make those things happen.

Creative or not, I liked that he turned two guys not playing, into a roster spot for Kanter and got Rodney.

Well he can prove me wrong this summer because he'll have to be creative to upgrade the roster with the guys we're set to lose.

I doubt it happens. Hope I'm wrong.

 

[BonesJones]

It doesn’t really matter; the product next year will be what it is. We don’t affect any change as loyal customers of the corporation. I hope we do really well next year, that Meyers wakes up enough to make us not miss Kanter, and that Nurkic provides us the extra boost to do even better in a Westerm Conference that’s full of changes.

But ultimately, sports are just a bet you make with yourself every game that in three hours you’ll feel happy. It’s just a game. I hope we win but I refuse to worry about things I can’t change.

It doesnt matter if the team is better next year? Maybe to you. It matters to me.

 

[oldmangrouch]

Lmao. Trading two 2nd round picks for a role player isnt creative. Signing a buyout free agent isnt creative. You dont understand what I mean by that, I guess.

He is very creative at coming up with deals he "almost" made.

 

[wizenheimer]

He is very creative at coming up with deals he "almost" made.

yep...and I think we're seeing that with the Porter rumor