Victor Claver

[PtldPlatypus]

I just wish the Webster experiment will end soon. He has flashes but is just way too inconsistent. He's been in the League now for (going on) five years and inconsistency is the only thing he's consistent with.

I am so sick of this claim. As a starter, Webster has been pretty good this year. 2 bad games out of 8 so far, IMO (Houston #2 and Chicago), and those were games in which he was matched up against two of the better defensive SF's in the league (Ariza and Deng, respectively). Also, in both those games he had a rough start, and basically was given little to no chance to get back into a rhythm.

Yes, prior to this year he had been maddeningly inconsistent. Yes, he was not great coming off the bench (except against the Wolves). But to say that he's "just too inconsistent" to be our starting SF is ignorant.

 

[Minstrel]

Considering Claver is no phenom, merely a solid prospect, there's no way I consider him a better talent than Batum, who was holding his own in the NBA in his age 19-20 season. Batum is actually a few months younger than Claver, yet has already shown himself to be a legitimate NBA player.

I'd love to see Claver have success with Portland, but I'll put my money on Batum as "small forward of the future" (and present, whenever he's back).

 

[jlprk]

Wow, the defense in that league sucks. No help defense no on ball pressure. Hard to get a feel for how good Claver can be from those highlights.

...And this is supposedly the 2nd-best league in the world. A highlight film is like a resume. Only shows the positive, and exaggerates even that.

 

[BBert]

Claver looked pretty slow to me, and against tepid competition. He's no Nicolas Batum. He'll be in for a challenge if he ever faces the speed and quickness of the NBA game. Until then, I'm not going to get my hopes up.

 

[fumanchu]

Yeah that's some slow moving basketball compaired to the NBA.

I seriously doubt he's near NBA ready, much less our SF of the future.

 

[THE HCP]

...And this is supposedly the 2nd-best league in the world. A highlight film is like a resume. Only shows the positive, and exaggerates even that.

No joke! I could make Sergio look like JKidd!

 

[jlprk]

I leave out the negatives on my resumé and focus on my passing ability!

 

[Blazer_Hippie]

After summer league Jason Quick mentioned that the team views Pendergraph as a backup Center for the second unit as McMillan wants a faster tempo with the second unit.

At 6'10" 250 lbs, I think he can handle it.

But longer term, do you really want him to be the backup if G.O. gets injured?

 

[Sinobas]

I am so sick of this claim. As a starter, Webster has been pretty good this year. 2 bad games out of 8 so far, IMO (Houston #2 and Chicago), and those were games in which he was matched up against two of the better defensive SF's in the league (Ariza and Deng, respectively). Also, in both those games he had a rough start, and basically was given little to no chance to get back into a rhythm.

Yes, prior to this year he had been maddeningly inconsistent. Yes, he was not great coming off the bench (except against the Wolves). But to say that he's "just too inconsistent" to be our starting SF is ignorant.

You're sick of what claim? That he is inconsistent? First of all, why do you think that he's done in his 8 games as a starter should erase the history of his whole career thus far?

He has been inconsistent this year. Look at his game logs. Only 6 games where he shot above 33%. I like the energy he's been bringing, but his jump shot is wildly inconsistent. Sometimes it looks worse than Ruben Patterson or Darius Miles, missing wide open shots.

Someone makes the claim that a player is inconsistent, and your retort is to say they are ignorant, just focus on the games they played well?

 

[PtldPlatypus]

You're sick of what claim? That he is inconsistent? First of all, why do you think that he's done in his 8 games as a starter should erase the history of his whole career thus far?

He WAS inconsistent his first three years. He's been consistent this year. Consistently bad as a reserve, consistently good as a starter.

Someone makes the claim that a player is inconsistent, and your retort is to say they are ignorant, just focus on the games they played well?

Ignorant means unaware of the facts or reality. IMO, someone claiming Webster is inconsistent is unaware of the fact that he has been consistently good when he starts, and less-so when he comes off the bench (except against Minnesota).

 

[oldmangrouch]

Claver looked pretty slow to me, and against tepid competition. He's no Nicolas Batum. He'll be in for a challenge if he ever faces the speed and quickness of the NBA game. Until then, I'm not going to get my hopes up.

Hmm. I thought it was just me.

I'm not seeing a guy who has the speed to play SF in the NBA, or the muscle to play PF.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

Hmm. I thought it was just me.

I'm not seeing a guy who has the speed to play SF in the NBA, or the muscle to play PF.

Ah, you mean this pick might have been better used if packaged with something else to move up a few spots to get Ty Lawson or Brandon Jennings?

 

[MrJayremmie]

I drool over Jennings... on... this... team...

But I need to not think about it.

We should just listen to STOMP from now on during the draft.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Considering Claver is no phenom, merely a solid prospect, there's no way I consider him a better talent than Batum, who was holding his own in the NBA in his age 19-20 season. Batum is actually a few months younger than Claver, yet has already shown himself to be a legitimate NBA player.

I'd love to see Claver have success with Portland, but I'll put my money on Batum as "small forward of the future" (and present, whenever he's back).

Agreed on Batum, but in fairness to Claver, they're in the same Euro-cohort and Claver was usually ranked ahead of Batum. But Claver had a serious injury from which he is still recovering. He's the captain of Valencia (pretty good considering his age - and they're one of the second-tier [behind Madrid and Barca] Spanish teams) and in no hurry to get over here.

I have my doubts that his game will translate. He's a bit of a tweener: seems to lack the ballhandling skills and speed for SF, but too skinny for PF. He (like Rudy) seems to lack a middle game: it's threes or dunks.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

Agreed on Batum, but in fairness to Claver, they're in the same Euro-cohort and Claver was usually ranked ahead of Batum. But Claver had a serious injury from which he is still recovering. He's the captain of Valencia (pretty good considering his age - and they're one of the second-tier [behind Madrid and Barca] Spanish teams) and in no hurry to get over here.

I have my doubts that his game will translate. He's a bit of a tweener: seems to lack the ballhandling skills and speed for SF, but too skinny for PF. He (like Rudy) seems to lack a middle game: it's threes or dunks.

I've heard this before, and I don't get it. How many dunks has Rudy had this year? One? Maybe two? He is incapable of getting to the basket when it's not a wide open fast break. Rudy is exclusively a three point shooter.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

That's because of McMillan and Roy.

Rudy plays the Brandon Roy role with Spain and does it very well. He can create for himself and others. He's not just a three point shooter. Nate is trying to mold him into James Jones.

 

[barfo]

I've heard this before, and I don't get it. How many dunks has Rudy had this year? One? Maybe two? He is incapable of getting to the basket when it's not a wide open fast break. Rudy is exclusively a three point shooter.

He had at least one play last night when he drove to the hoop. Didn't dunk it cause he got hammered down, but he did get free throws.

barfo

 

[Rastapopoulos]

It's threes or dunks

I've heard this before, and I don't get it. How many dunks has Rudy had this year? One? Maybe two? He is incapable of getting to the basket when it's not a wide open fast break. Rudy is exclusively a three point shooter.

What don't you get? It's a disjunction, not a conjunction.

But besides that: the reason he has had no dunks is not because he CAN'T dunk, but because he's not being put in that position. He hasn't lost jumping ability since last year, he's just lost a PG who knows how to alley to his oop.

 

[Nikolokolus]

That's because of McMillan and Roy.

Rudy plays the Brandon Roy role with Spain and does it very well. He can create for himself and others. He's not just a three point shooter. Nate is trying to mold him into James Jones.

Rudy isn't even a starter for his National team. and he almost exclusively gets his shots off of the point guard delivering the ball or getting a steal and dunking on the break. His handles have never been all that great (watch him some time, he can ONLY go right) which makes him a liability as a player creating off the dribble, especially against NBA athletes which seem to both him quite a bit.

 

[barfo]

What don't you get? It's a disjunction, not a conjunction.

But besides that: the reason he has had no dunks is not because he CAN'T dunk, but because he's not being put in that position. He hasn't lost jumping ability since last year, he's just lost a PG who knows how to alley to his oop.

That made me wonder where the phrase alley-oop came from. It seems it comes from "allez, hop!", which is supposedly what French acrobats say before they leap.

The caveman comic Alley Oop also draws it's name from the same source, although I don't quite see the connection between a caveman and a French acrobat?

barfo

 

[Minstrel]

That's because of McMillan and Roy.

Rudy plays the Brandon Roy role with Spain and does it very well. He can create for himself and others.

He can create by passing. Every scouting report on his European performance said that his ball-handling skills were his main offensive weakness, and nothing in his NBA performance has really contradicted that. If he had good ball-handling skills to go with his shooting and passing, he'd be an NBA star. Shooting and passing have a limited upside when you can't do either off the dribble.

He's a great finisher/shooter when someone else creates for him.

 

[jlprk]

I just wish the Webster experiment will end soon. He has flashes but is just way too INCONSISTENT. He's been in the League now for (going on) five years and INCONSISTENCY is the only thing he's consistent with.

I am so sick of this claim. As a starter, Webster has been pretty good this year...Yes, prior to this year he had been maddeningly INCONSISTENT. Yes, he was not great coming off the bench (except against the Wolves). But to say that he's "just too INCONSISTENT" to be our starting SF is ignorant.

You're sick of what claim? That he is INCONSISTENT? First of all, why do you think that he's done in his 8 games as a starter should erase the history of his whole career thus far?

He has been INCONSISTENT this year. Look at his game logs. Only 6 games where he shot above 33%. I like the energy he's been bringing, but his jump shot is wildly INCONSISTENT. Sometimes it looks worse than Ruben Patterson or Darius Miles, missing wide open shots.

Someone makes the claim that a player is INCONSISTENT, and your retort is to say they are ignorant, just focus on the games they played well?

He WAS INCONSISTENT his first three years. He's been CONSISTENT this year. CONSISTENTLY bad as a reserve, CONSISTENTLY good as a starter.

Ignorant means unaware of the facts or reality. IMO, someone claiming Webster is INCONSISTENT is unaware of the fact that he has been CONSISTENTLY good when he starts, and less-so when he comes off the bench (except against Minnesota).

2 weeks ago, someone calculated player consistency = standard deviation of the player's efficiency (ESPN formula, not NBA.com formula) divided by the mean. For Portland, they only reported that the most consistent to date was Oden and the least, Fernandez. I guess my point is that it's possible to measure consistency objectively, and not argue about it subjectively.

http://courtvisionaries.blogspot.com/2009/11/nba-analytics-november-13th.html

 

[jlprk]

He had at least one play last night when he drove to the hoop. Didn't dunk it cause he got hammered down, but he did get free throws.

I say this about a lot of post-Whitsitt Blazers: He's too skinny to drive through traffic. That's why he's just an outside shooter. 6-5 and weighs 185. A shadow of a human being.

That made me wonder where the phrase alley-oop came from. It seems it comes from "allez, hop!", which is supposedly what French acrobats say before they leap. The caveman comic Alley Oop also draws it's name from the same source, although I don't quite see the connection between a caveman and a French acrobat?

Alley-oop used to mean swinging on a vine like Tarzan. It transferred into flying through the air, swooping toward the hoop.

 

[barfo]

Alley-oop used to mean swinging on a vine like Tarzan. It transferred into flying through the air, swooping toward the hoop.

Ah. Well, that makes perfect sense, thanks. The vine metaphor didn't occur to me. Of course, that means the comic has a certain confusion between Tarzan and caveman, but I guess that's ok.

barfo

 

[jlprk]

I'm only here to help you, Barfo. We may have our tiffs, but it's all part of my facilitation of your maturation into becoming a man.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Nice crossover from Claver here.