The Trail Blazers Five by Five Part 2

The Five by Five is a one-off installment that dives into the 5 pros and 5 cons of the Blazers during this period of the season. These may be trends that have occurred, things to look out for or simply some fun facts about the Blazers.

Here is Part 2 of the story, read Part 1 Here.

Final Two Pros

4. CJ The Magician

Efficient is one word to describe C.J. McCollum‘s start to the New Year. Actually, that’s an understatement. Let me spit out his gaudy January numbers for you. He’s got percentage splits of 51-40-88 (FG%, 3P%, FT%), true shooting percentage of 60.4% while averaging 27.6ppg, 3.7rpg and 3.6apg. He’s making 46% of his pull-up jumpers, and 52% of his spot up looks – that’s in the 98th percentile! This is all while only taking up an extra 4% in usage while on the floor and playing an extra 30 seconds per game (34.9mpg). Are you impressed?

I could easily stop here, but I won’t.

When you watch CJ on the floor, you rarely think he’s going to make a bad play. He’s got the kind of wizardry to navigate himself between small nook and crannies on the court in order to shake his man. He’s got the tight handle with either hand, the step-back, the pull-up, the spin move, the ‘shake n bake… Almost any move you can name in order to get off a good look. His ability to run the pick and roll (thanks Steve Nash) is second to none.

Notice every time he starts a pick and roll sequence, he is always rubbing shoulder to shoulder with the screen setter. He creates early separation while having the IQ to know where his man and the screen defender is at. He then has the ability to go downhill and perform any sequence of moves to get off his look. His signature pull-up is arguably his favorite weapon of choice. His ability to attack his man, put them on their back foot then quickly raising as they’re off balance. Now that’s a thing of beauty.

No wonder his surname is Magician this month.

5. Calabro and Hurd

I know. There are a lot of Blazer fans who miss the longtime voices of Mike Barrett and Mike Rice. But time to move on and appreciate the new commentators we have now. We can’t live in the past and wish they would come back, and in my opinion, they shouldn’t.

Kevin Calabro and Lamar Hurd have come in and given the Blazers more informative commentary. Sure, the quality of play hasn’t been up to the standard that we had hoped for, but you know what these two actually talk about in depth? BASKETBALL!

Mike Barrett was class and I think Rice ultimately let him down. Rice was getting old, lazy and had me disinterested. A lot of ‘homer’ Blazer fans think Calabro and Hurd should be more like them, but why? Mike and Mike would just joke on air, talk about their favorite places to eat, how Rice’s tooth always hurt and not be that well informed about either team. They would be VERY BIASED towards the Blazers and as a fan who loves the game, I want to hear more than that. They could call it as they see it on game day, but that’s not what a caller should be doing.

Calabro offers his iconic voice and distinctive catchphrases like “setting his tootsies,” while Hurd (Oregon State Basketball Alumni) brings a witty, but knowledgable presence as Kevin’s partner in crime. He has the ability to dive into the intricate team schemes, the nuances of team offenses, while also breaking down the defense. Without a doubt, fans around the league are more interested in tuning into Blazer games without hearing homer calling (Cavaliers, Kings, etc), and that’s what it should be about. Obviously some slight bias to their team, but I want to hear this sort of detail. You should be learning while watching every game, not just observing mindlessly as two people mess around on a tilted scale.

I may have gone on a bit longer than expected, but as Hurd said:
“This is the kind of aggression you take out on somebody when they liking your girl’s pictures on Instagram!”