Three preseason games in - has your opinion changed at all?

[Natebishop3]

So we've had three preseason games to digest some new information. Some thoughts that I've had so far:

CJ is legit. I still have doubts about starting him because I love using him off the bench ala Jamal Crawford, but the guy can flat out score. He is definitely 6th man of the year material.

Aminu is going to be fine as our starting small forward, but we need to stop pretending he's Batum. He's not a play maker. He's more of your usual athletic wing that can slash and defend. I like the signing though.

Our bigs are tough and can rebound like crazy, but scoring will be hard to come by. I'm glad we have Leonard because Vonleh is still developing and Davis/Plumlee can't score from outside of five feet of the basket.

Crabbe is ready to contribute. I doubt he'll drop 20 every night, but he is showing growth and he's ready for a regular spot in the rotation. Depending on what happens with Hendo, I would be perfectly fine starting Crabbe and bringing CJ off the bench as a super sub.

I think this team has the talent to surprise a lot of people, but youth and a lack of consistency is going to make it hard to win games. I still think we're going to be one of the bottom 5 in the league, which I'm fine with.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

The inconsistency will kill us some nights, but it was cool to see us battle without Dame. We'd be 2-1 if Bellianelli didn't have his one Massive game a month against us, or if Dame played the other night. I feel like any night could be our night, and also that we won't get blown out too much.

Scrappy. We're scrappy.

I love these kiddos.

 

[Natebishop3]

The inconsistency will kill us some nights, but it was cool to see us battle without Dame. We'd be 2-1 if Bellianelli didn't have his one Massive game a month against us, or if Dame played the other night. I feel like any night could be our night, and also that we won't get blown out too much.

Scrappy. We're scrappy.

I love these kiddos.

That's really all I can ask for. As long as they work hard and we develop the young guys, I really don't care much about wins. My hopes for this season are:

1. CJ takes that next step and becomes a consistent contributor (averages 15 ppg-ish)

2. Play Crabbe, Vonleh, Harkless, and Meyers as much as possible to see what we've got on our hands.

3. Let Aminu, Plumlee, and Davis show whether they're more than just average role players.

I'm really hoping to see some of these young guys take a step forward. We need to get a better idea of who we should be devoting our time developing. It's going to be hard to give each guy an equal look, so we need them to distinguish themselves. CJ really looks ready to prove he was worth that pick. I would like to see similar evidence of progress from guys like Meyers, Crabbe, Harkless, and Vonleh.

I would love to have a clear plan by the end of this season so Neil can draft one star and hopefully use some cap space to sign one or two contributors.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

The reason CJ is playing so well is that he's grown 2 inches

The 6-5 guard out of Lehigh started at point guard in place of Damian Lillard (left ankle sprain) Saturday night, finishing with 30 points on 11-of-20 shooting from the field, four assists, a steal and no turnovers as the Trail Blazers fell 94-90 to the Kings in front of 14,172 at Sleep Train Arena.

http://forwardcenter.net/shorthanded-blazers-hold-their-own-in-loss-to-kings/

 

[Natebishop3]

The reason CJ is playing so well is that he's grown 2 inches


http://forwardcenter.net/shorthanded-blazers-hold-their-own-in-loss-to-kings/

Orrrrrr he got some new shoes

 

[illmatic99]

Team looks way better than expected, and nearly every one of the young guys has shown improvement.

Still don't think it translates to playoffs or anything. I'll up my prediction from about 28 wins to 35. I would hate to be out of contention for a top 5 pick however.

 

[UncleCliffy'sDaddy]

I like that we seem to have better depth 1 through 10, and that the chemistry seems really good despite all the changes. But far and away what I like best is that this team wants to run...and then run some more. It seems like they're off to the races from the initial tip off until the final buzzer. Yes, it can get sloppy but win or lose, that's fun stuff to watch. There's a lot of upside to this team as currently constructed. I can only imagine how good we could be with the addition of one or two key pieces. And that is what this season should be all about.....seeing what pieces are going to work and where exactly we need help. The playoffs are secondary for the time being.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Everything has happened exactly the way I thought it would.

In all seriousness, I have been pleasantly surprised by Crabbe, Frazier, and Harkless, and mildly disappointed by Plumlee. I think the preseason consensus of Connaughton, Montero, and Alexander all being non-playing projects seems supported by the evidence.

I think the biggest shift in my thinking is the idea that Crabbe and Harkless could be pushing the unfortunately-injured Henderson out of the rotation.

 

[B-Roy]

I don't think anyone that figures to be a rotation player has disappointed me. They all play hard.

 

[riverman]

Dame/CJ
Crabbe/Henderson
Aminu/Harkless
Leonard/Vonleh
Plumlee//Davis

I think this is the rotation to start and Connaughton has to beat Harkless to get in the rotation..Alexander has to beat Vonleh...Frazier isn't beating anyone nor is Montero

 

[Natebishop3]

Everything has happened exactly the way I thought it would.

In all seriousness, I have been pleasantly surprised by Crabbe, Frazier, and Harkless, and mildly disappointed by Plumlee. I think the preseason consensus of Connaughton, Montero, and Alexander all being non-playing projects seems supported by the evidence.

I think the biggest shift in my thinking is the idea that Crabbe and Harkless could be pushing the unfortunately-injured Henderson out of the rotation.

Yeah... Plumlee has been outplayed by Davis. I was not expecting that. Right now I would actually consider putting Davis ahead of Plumlee in the depth chart.

 

[riverman]

There's just not a huge dropoff in the first two units

 

[KeepOnRollin]

CJ isn't only going to get backup PG minutes. That would cap him out at 12 mins. He is going to get at least 28 a game.

 

[Natebishop3]

CJ isn't only going to get backup PG minutes. That would cap him out at 12 mins. He is going to get at least 28 a game.

I could just really see Hendo/Kaman being dealt.

 

[KeepOnRollin]

I could just really see Hendo/Kaman being dealt.

I still want to keep Kaman (our bigs have promise but could still use his help in practice) but agree about Hendo. Or just riding the pine at some point.

 

[Natebishop3]

I still want to keep Kaman (our bigs have promise but could still use his help in practice) but agree about Hendo. Or just riding the pine at some point.

I think Kaman has too much value to just leave him rotting on the bench. I think they might be waiting for Henderson to get healthy and then trade him.

 

[riverman]

Yeah... Plumlee has been outplayed by Davis. I was not expecting that. Right now I would actually consider putting Davis ahead of Plumlee in the depth chart.

I thought about that and you may be right...you could swap anybody in the first two squads and pretty much have the same team except for Dame

 

[Natebishop3]

I thought about that and you may be right...you could swap anybody in the first two squads and pretty much have the same team except for Dame

My only reluctance is that Davis seems to be a better scorer than Plumlee, and we might need that post presence to be paired with Vonleh. I really like Noah, but he's still raw and not dependable as a scorer on the second unit.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Yeah... Plumlee has been outplayed by Davis. I was not expecting that. Right now I would actually consider putting Davis ahead of Plumlee in the depth chart.

I've thought the same. Aside from Plumlee being a better part and Davis a better shot-blocker, their skill-sets are interchangeable enough that performance is everything. Is Plumlee simply playing against better players, or is Davis just better? I'd like to see them swap roles here in preseason just to see if that would have any impact on their performance relative to one another.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

I could just really see Hendo/Kaman being dealt.

If only we could actually get something worthwhile for that package.

 

[0-Our!]

Everything has happened exactly the way I thought it would.

In all seriousness, I have been pleasantly surprised by Crabbe, Frazier, and Harkless, and mildly disappointed by Plumlee. I think the preseason consensus of Connaughton, Montero, and Alexander all being non-playing projects seems supported by the evidence.

I think the biggest shift in my thinking is the idea that Crabbe and Harkless could be pushing the unfortunately-injured Henderson out of the rotation.

I'm mostly w/ u on all ^; I'm still feelin' good about my 37 game prediction & I would just add it' s just preseason so w/ Plumlee I'm not going to criticize him or many other guys right now too much BUT IF his reg. season play/production is the same as preseason... he'd be a huge disappointment to me; I have a feeling we won't have to worry about this though

 

[B-Roy]

Davis really has the ideal skillset of a center but the body of a power forward. He gets pushed around too easily.

Plumlee hasn't been that much better, but he's fared okay as long as he wasn't guarding Cousins. I don't mind having Davis start over Plumlee, but if you're going to do that it might make more sense to have Meyers play the pivot, at least against bigs that have a post game. I think it's kind of stupid to have Meyers play the four exclusively anyways - at least on defense.

 

[Natebishop3]

If only we could actually get something worthwhile for that package.

What's our biggest position of need right now? We have so many unknowns.

PG - I guess we could use an actual backup pointguard.

SG - Crabbe/CJ that's not a bad rotation right there, with Connaughton as a wildcard.

SF - Aminu/Harkless I don't really want to add any more wings either. Both of those guys intrigue me to the point that I wouldn't want to add anyone else until we know what we have.

PF - Leonard/Vonleh same issue. I don't want to add anyone until we know what we have with these guys.

C - Plumlee/Davis honestly neither of these guys knock my socks off, but they both seem like competent players and totally fine as a starter/backup.

So unless we're adding an All-Star, I'm not really sure what position I would target. The good thing is that we have a ton of young talent to dip into if the right deal comes along. I've heard DeRozan is available. Not sure what they would want for him though.

 

[oldmangrouch]

I still see this season as an extended try-out with at least 10 guys getting significant minutes.

 

[oldmangrouch]

What's our biggest position of need right now? We have so many unknowns.

PG - I guess we could use an actual backup pointguard.

SG - Crabbe/CJ that's not a bad rotation right there, with Connaughton as a wildcard.

SF - Aminu/Harkless I don't really want to add any more wings either. Both of those guys intrigue me to the point that I wouldn't want to add anyone else until we know what we have.

PF - Leonard/Vonleh same issue. I don't want to add anyone until we know what we have with these guys.

C - Plumlee/Davis honestly neither of these guys knock my socks off, but they both seem like competent players and totally fine as a starter/backup.

So unless we're adding an All-Star, I'm not really sure what position I would target. The good thing is that we have a ton of young talent to dip into if the right deal comes along. I've heard DeRozan is available. Not sure what they would want for him though.

I agree. How do you make a move when you don't know what you have? If you could turn Kaman/Henderson into a pick - go for it. Otherwise, I don't see the team making any significant moves.

 

[Natebishop3]

I agree. How do you make a move when you don't know what you have? If you could turn Kaman/Henderson into a pick - go for it. Otherwise, I don't see the team making any significant moves.

I suspect we might see a move before the trade deadline. At that point Neil will have had a better look at what he has and could probably focus on an area that he wants to upgrade.

 

[B-Roy]

Consolidate some players for a better starter. Olshey and crew (and the rest of the league) will probably have a better feel for the guys at the mid point of the season, where a trade might be more viable.

If Plumlee is playing well at midpoint, could you consolidate Plums, Kaman, Hendo and some picks for Cousins? Just something to think about.

 

[Reep]

What has preseason changed?

The team is more ready on defense then I thought;
The team is more ready on offense than I thought;

Meyers has a future, but still has a lot of work to do;
Meyers has more tools than he was allowed to show in the past;
Plumlee has more tools (passing) than he was allowed to show in the past;
Harkless might be my new favorite player;
CJ: I really hope they bring him off the bench;
CJ: I may take heat for this, but of the current group he is my least favorite and one I hope they trade--not sure he fits;
Crabbe: earned a shot at starting SG if I was coach (the low key Dumars next to I. Thomas?);
Davis: Love him on the team, but unsure about his future;
Vonleh: Sure about his future, but glad we have time to develop him;
Aminu: has better handles and worse passing than I thought;

Stotts: was last years team less than optimal for his coaching skills?

What happened to all the lobs that Dame talked about in practice? I haven't seen that many yet.

 

[Natebishop3]

Consolidate some players for a better starter. Olshey and crew (and the rest of the league) will probably have a better feel for the guys at the mid point of the season, where a trade might be more viable.

If Plumlee is playing well at midpoint, could you consolidate Plums, Kaman, Hendo and some picks for Cousins? Just something to think about.

Not only will we most likely have a better idea of who we want to keep by that point, but usually some other teams have decided to throw in the towel or dump players. Cousins is actually a good target because the Kings will most likely have combusted by mid season and they will be more open to a trade. Not sure if Hendo/Kaman would be even remotely enough though. To get Cousins it might have to be something more like Vonleh/Hendo/Harkless or something like that.

 

[UncleCliffy'sDaddy]

I can't believe how little love Henderson is getting. This is a rock solid player. Consistent too. I'd be curious to see the consensus if he had been able to practice and play. I think too many folks are counting him out way too soon. I'm dying to see what this guy can bring to an already exciting bunch.