Question 5: What Would You Like to See From the Current Roster Moving Forward?
Ashlin: Ball Movement! The first unit relies too heavily on Lillard to make plays, and the second unit relies too heavily on Turner to make plays. I would like to see the ball spread around more. Curry, McCollum, Nurkic, and Stauskas have all flashed playmaking ability.
Also, Collins and Jake Layman should both see more time on the court to further develop their games.
Patrick: I would love to see Portland try and go after a 3-and-D wing who has the potential to be an All-Star. I know this may come at the price of CJ McCollum… I just feel the team needs a taller co-partner for Dame in the backcourt who can defend better and who won’t need to be as good as CJ offensively to still be nearly as effective. There’s no doubt a hole at small forward for this Blazers team, as they’re relying on Maurice Harkless, Evan Turner (in a nuanced role, not really a winger), and Jake Layman to fill in this spot.
I’d also like to see Head Coach Terry Stotts experiment more with Zach Collins and Nurkic together. They look like they could complement each other well, and we’ve only seen brief glimpses of them together. Although playing two seven-footers feels a little regressive in the modern NBA, a three-game skid is a perfect time to start getting weird.
Gutbrod: I think Stotts could be a bit more creative with his lineups. Call me crazy, but McCollum always seems best fitted as a super Lou Williams in a 6th man role. The shift could go along with moving Collins into the starting lineup, keeping scoring options in the starting five while adding McCollum’s dynamic scoring to a very streaky bench group. This is sort of an extreme example, but it would also shore up some of the defensive issues that arise from playing Lillard and McCollum at the same time.
When the team has limited talent as the Blazers have, it’s on the coach to scheme the team into a position to make plays and win games. While I think Stotts is great at designing plays, I question his ability to deviate from what he is comfortable within his rotations. I’m not sure who to blame there, though, as Neil Olshey certainly not done Stotts many favors with the roster.
Moore: I want more from Nurkic — more intimidation, more points, more blocks. I want Leonard to stay in his lane — grabbing rebounds, making smart passes to the perimeter, setting solid picks and shooting the occasional three-ball. I want Collins to stop fouling so much. I want Maurice Harkless to be the gamechanger that he’s capable of being (once he’s healthy, of course). I want Turner to continue leading the second unit. I want Seth Curry to contribute more on offense. Finally, I want Dame and CJ to just be themselves. (Don’t fix what ain’t broke.)
Piper: Defense, Defense, Defense. I would love to see an improvement as a whole defensively, first of all. As far as more individually, I would like to see more minutes for Zach Collins whether that be more time at the four with Nurkic or more minutes at the five with the second unit. Also with Harkless coming back, I would like to see Layman’s minutes significantly decreased so Harkless can get some minutes and so we can see some glimpses of Gary Trent Jr and/or Anfernee Simons. Lastly, I would like to see the Blazer’s make some moves this season and not finish with the same roster they started with.