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Blazer4ever

Blazer4ever

Finding a Way
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Players like Brian Roberts or Cliff Alexander can give us a different look, they're both players that allow us more options, I think if they get a DNP it's the coach's fault. I'm not talking about someone like Caunaghton who currently doesn't have a place in the league other than in garbage time...
Alexander is a better interior scoring option than anyone we have at PF. Roberts is the only PG we have besides Dame and CJ and should at least play some of the minutes when one of them sits.
I'm not saying either should play major minutes or that they could never get a DNP, but I think not using them by default is poor coaching
 
fumanchu said:
This is not the time of season where you go 11 deep. Maybe the first 2 months or so, but the rotation should get tighter. We are fighting for playoff positioning.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Now that the Blazers are a legit playoff threat, guys like Montero and Alexander probably won't see a lot of minutes. With all of the free agents the team will have this summer, there will be opportunity to move up the rotation ladder next year if they can show Stotts some improvement.
 
how much did CJ, as a lotto pick making millions, play in his first couple of years?

Now, how much would undrafted projects (one of whom has already been injured) on long-ish term deals making league minimum play? Don't get me wrong, I love that they got locked up in case they do get some smattering of potential, but the NBA isn't "everyone gets to play" time. Whose minutes are you dropping to get Alexander in the game. And Roberts is 30. What upside do you think he's bringing that's worth having CJ or Henderson or Crabbe sit?
 
No team goes 12 deep in their rotation. It just doesn't happen. Even if you became a fan of the Spurs you aren't going to see all the bench guys play outside of a huge blowout.
 
BrianFromWA said:
how much did CJ, as a lotto pick making millions, play in his first couple of years?

Now, how much would undrafted projects (one of whom has already been injured) on long-ish term deals making league minimum play? Don't get me wrong, I love that they got locked up in case they do get some smattering of potential, but the NBA isn't "everyone gets to play" time. Whose minutes are you dropping to get Alexander in the game. And Roberts is 30. What upside do you think he's bringing that's worth having CJ or Henderson or Crabbe sit?
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Good points, but then you bring up Roberts? WTF does Roberts need with "upside." He's good, right now. If we had LBJ would he not make the rotation because of limited upside? 8-10 minutes every third game would keep Dame's minutes down by about 2-3/game, making him less tired for a stretch run/playoffs and less injury prone.
 
"An outsider's view"

Yeah, that's accurate.
 
I was bringing up Roberts in the vein that, why is it the coach's fault if he gets a DNP? I could almost see if you were bringing up Alexander and Montero to "develop" in a "tank" season, but we're not. And for Roberts, it's not like you're trying to develop him, and while I have no doubt that he's better than Frazier (who got about the minutes he deserved) it really would be the coach's fault to sit a much better player (like CJ) or one who's established his role in the rotation (like Crabbe) to go with someone just because they're new.

LBJ is better than the guy we would sit him for. Roberts is not. He doesn't have a "different look", as he plays PG by shooting decently from deep and passing the ball with a smattering of D. He's a perfectly serviceable backup that I wouldn't be shocked if he plays decently if CJ or Dame goes down. As for Dame's minutes, he's right at 36 (same as last two years and down from 39 his rookie year) and I don't remember thinking in the last couple of stretch runs and playoffs "Man, Dame looks tired. And he seems to be getting nagging injuries."
 
and if I'm being honest, I'm much more concerned with CJ's minutes (35 mpg, when he's never played 16) and any "wall" he might hit than Dame's. But I think we're quite stocked at the wings and can overcome that if he needs a few more minutes' break with Henderson, Crabbe (Harkless?) and the like.
 
BonesJones said:
Alexander is not an interior scorer. What makes you think that?
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I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to say. Alexander is a DeAndre Jordan type of scorer. Dunks everything, has nice touch around the rim with decent post moves. He has an improving mid range shot, but if he isn't an interior scorer then I'm not sure what he is.
 
Reep said:
I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to say. Alexander is a DeAndre Jordan type of scorer. Dunks everything, has nice touch around the rim with decent post moves. He has an improving mid range shot, but if he isn't an interior scorer then I'm not sure what he is.
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What post moves? When has he even had a chance to demonstrate any post moves? Or touch, for that matter? We have no idea what--if anything--Alexander can do.
 
Better to remain silent and thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt

















Exhibit A folks for why universal internet access is a bad idea.
 
Lately Dame and CJ minute has been down the reason why they average what they got was they play alot minutes first of the year. Stotts is trusting his bench now that has reduce there minutes.
 
Don't underestimate the importance of passing. If you have one guy playing with the 2nd unit who is not comfortable with it, then a couple turnovers can be costly. I have no idea how good Cliff Alexander is right now as a rookie, but this was part of his Draft Express breakdown and might explain his lack of playing time....so far.

"Alexander also ranks as one of the worst passers in this year's draft class, generating just 12 assists in 492 minutes of action this season, or one for every 41 minutes he's on the floor. His 5.4% assist percentage ranks second worst among players currently projected to get drafted, as he simply doesn't read the floor very well, is predictable with what he's trying to accomplish, and struggles to react to what the defense throws at him, often looking very rushed with his moves"
 
You're saying Hasheem Thabeet got a raw deal as a Blazer I guess...but actually it was Victor Claver who really got no love. Stotts is using his rotations better than I can remember...the third string isn't going to see any court time unless it's a blowout and they're playing another third string roster..sorry. Kaman is going to play long before Cliff will
 
Alexander will get his chance, probably sometime next season. Alexander is not NBA ready.

Roberts is NBA ready. His DNPCD was about his lack of familiarity with Stotts system. How many practices did Roberts have with the Blazers before the Utah game?

In a tight game, why place a new player in the position of being the reason for losing the game? Stotts did the right thing in the Utah game. The Blazers won, and Roberts got a close up look at how the roster plays. Win-win. Roberts will get more minutes as this season plays out.
 
PtldPlatypus said:
What post moves? When has he even had a chance to demonstrate any post moves? Or touch, for that matter? We have no idea what--if anything--Alexander can do.
Click to expand...

From Kansas and high school. I agree we haven't been able to watch him this year. I would imagine he is not worse than he was at Kansas.
 
Roberts will enter the rotation as the season continues; otherwise why bother picking him up? I think that he'll probably play 8 minutes tonight, in fact; he needs to be able to run the offense, though, and that does take some training first. Brooklyn isn't so amazing that we can't give Roberts a milk run. If he succeeds, keep him in the rotation and let CJ & Dame both sit a few more minutes. Especially with the 4-in-5 coming up, we'll need Dame and CJ as fresh as possible.

Alexander is more unproven, but you never know.
 
Reep said:
From Kansas and high school. I agree we haven't been able to watch him this year. I would imagine he is not worse than he was at Kansas.
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Level of competition is vastly different. I'd love to see what he can do, but we have absolutely no idea if he can do anything worthwhile at an NBA level against NBA competition.
 
I think with Alexander it's sort of like TRob....might not be the quickest study on the roster...I doubt it's talent but more likely BBIQ...he's really young and I think Montero and Alexander are being coached now for the future..if he was better than Vonleh...he'd be playing. Vonleh isn't getting huge minutes either
 
PtldPlatypus said:
Level of competition is vastly different. I'd love to see what he can do, but we have absolutely no idea if he can do anything worthwhile at an NBA level against NBA competition.
Click to expand...

Agreed, but the assumption was he did not have any post game. He only has post game. But, certainly it needs to be developed and refined at the NBA level.

And I would not play him this year either. Give him practice time this year and then see if there are minutes available next year.
 
Reep said:
Agreed, but the assumption was he did not have any post game. He only has post game. But, certainly it needs to be developed and refined at the NBA level.

And I would not play him this year either. Give him practice time this year and then see if there are minutes available next year.
Click to expand...
I think, going back to the OP, that I was more focused on the claim that "Alexander is a better interior scoring option than anyone we have at PF". We don't know if anything that he's shown in high school/college is translatable at the NBA level yet, so it's ridiculously premature for the OP to make that claim. Not having a mid-range game is not equivalent to being an interior scorer. IMO, until he actually demonstrates the ability to execute post moves against NBA competition, we can't really legitimately call him an interior scorer...yet.
 
Roberts' minutes shouldn't come just at the expanse of CJ's or Dame's, I think he'd be more effective playing some of the minutes one of them sits anyway, when we're sometimes left with say CJ, Henderson and Harkless in the backcourt and the offense isn't running well. If we play just one of CJ and Dame then I think at least Crabbe or Roberts should play. I like Henderson and Harkless at the 3 or even at the 2 with Crabbe on the floor but having either one as the secondary ball-handler isn't enough IMO
 
Roberts is a pt guard, we might want to get him familiar with the playbook before he gets big minutes
 
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