Portland Trail Blazers: “Here I am Stuck in the Middle with You”

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Dec 6, 2021
Portland Trail Blazers
Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers.

Q2- How does Larry Nance Jr. get more playing time?

Despite the continued defensive woes, one of the bright spots I’ve enjoyed is watching Larry Nance Jr. He reminds me a little bit of a poor man’s Brian Grant. Nance plays with heart and energy on both sides of the court. The more I watch him, the more I believe he might be the best power forward to have to play with Jusuf Nurkic. After Nurk, he is arguably the Portland Trail Blazers’ second-best interior scorer.

While Robert Covington excels as the prototypical 3-and-D player, Nance is quicker around the rim. LNJ is also more fluid, requiring defenders to pay more attention to him than Covington. Add in Nurkic and Nance’s passing abilities, and I think they’d excel with playing together more, something that head coach Chauncey Billups must utilize more often.

Q3- Can Nurkic become more consistent on both sides of the ball?

It seems like there has been a back and forth with Jusuf Nurkic’s consistency. He either has solid defensive nights, but he’s quiet on the score sheet, or he has monster offensive nights where he isn’t as effective on defense. The good thing about this problem is Nurkic has the talent to dominate on both sides of the ball. These days, having that kind of talent at the Center position is a rarity in the NBA.

The bad part is Nurk appears easily winded or unmotivated at times. His lack of consistency further adds to my thought process of starting Nance next to him. Like in any other job, who you work with can greatly impact motivation and mindset.

A change in the lineup might also be the final test to see if Nurkic can become more consistent. If not, the team needs to consider trading him for a different player with more consistency. 

Next: Page 3 – Change starts from within

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