In the comment section of the "Get Your Own Shots" post below EnglandDan made some interesting observations. I'm going to quote him here:
Teams fail when they have nobody who can consistently make their own shot AND they don't have a sophisticated offense nailed down. Teams also fail when they have someone who can create their own shot but cannot pass. Opposing teams simply shut down the scorer.
The Blazers are not going to have a sophisticated NBA offense run by five smart guys for some time. Therefore in the upcoming season it is going to be important for people to get their own shots.
I'm not so concerned here with whether you think ED's assertions are accurate. (That properly belongs in the original post below if you'd like to comment.) But he does bring up an intriguing question:
How many of our players would you designate as "smart" and who are they?
Now OBVIOUSLY we're talking about on-court basketball experience/execution/IQ here, not mental smarts in the general, human sense. I don't care to read any "Player X is an idiot" posts. We don't know them enough off the court to know their mental prowess. But from your fan/observational perspective which of our guys would you point to with confidence as examples of smart, NBA basketball players right now? Are there any up-and-comers that you have hope for?
Weigh in below.
--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)