Portland Trail Blazers: 3 Pros and 3 Cons after a dozen games
Pro #2: Norman Powell showing up big on offense
In the eight games Norman Powell played this season, he’s been the team’s most solid player on both sides of the ball. He is third on the team, scoring17.4 points per game. Additionally, Powell is the Blazers’ hottest outside shooter in the young season. Combining the 6-3 forward’s scrappy defense with upticks on both field goal and three-point percentages make him a big part of the Trail Blazers.
The more Powell plays, the more re-signing him looks like a good investment that keeps getting better.
Norman Powell finished with 25 PTS on 57% (8-14) shooting in Portland's home win over Indiana! #RipCity | @trailblazers pic.twitter.com/5FMWh9bbAH
— NBA Canada (@NBACanada) November 6, 2021
Con #2: Jusuf Nurkic not getting enough shots
Across the board, Jusuf Nurkic is having a pretty solid season stat-wise, with 11.4 points and 11.9 rebounds per game. What’s hard to understand is in a season where Nurkic is averaging 56.3 percent shooting from the field (his highest shooting percentage in any season for the Blazers by over 5 percent), why is he only averaging 8.0 shot attempts a game? Which is his lowest amount of attempts per game in any season with the Trail Blazers.
He can be an offensive force inside, and this team needs a healthy dose of points in the paint to open up more looks for the perimeter shooters. Simply put, the Blazers don’t get enough balls to Nurk down low. That has to change.
Next: Page 3 – One goes up while the other goes down