Wes

[Warriors10]

Out of the starting lineup tonight and Portland is getting romped 37-9 as I type.

[nyg]

Coming off bench the last few games.

[strotty]

He has regressed in year three. No anti-Wes sentiment here, but facts are facts.

The 2/3 spot in Portland is so jumbled with Matthews/Crawford/Batum/Wallace. Four REALLY talented players and Portland can't seem to figure out how to use them. Raymond Felton's stinker of a season at the point hasn't helped matters, either.

[PGsHeroes32]

The Blazers went to crap real fast. Felton blows, and with the condenced schedule they cant figure out how to get consistent lineup and rhythmn. They always struggle on the road so with some back to backs it only make it that much worse.

[4everwarriors]

He has regressed in year three. No anti-Wes sentiment here, but facts are facts.

The 2/3 spot in Portland is so jumbled with Matthews/Crawford/Batum/Wallace. Four REALLY talented players and Portland can't seem to figure out how to use them. Raymond Felton's stinker of a season at the point hasn't helped matters, either.

He's hit the junior wall. But, still countin' his scheckles.

[CTWarrior]

Don't ever see the Blazers, but his stats are not that impressive.  He gets his 13 a game, but doesn't contribute much of anything else (assists, rebounds, etc).  Not great for an NBA 2 guard.  If he is an excellent defender (and he may well be) than he is probably worth playing starter minutes.  If not, then not so much.  He's the kind of guy that would be a fantastic 20 minute/game guy off the bench for an elite team to score and play pressure defense. 

[Niv Berkowitz]

I usually check out the MU alums in the NBA frequently. Wes is averaging 2 fewer PPG this year and that's from shooting about 5-6% less than his norm in years 1-2 (46% vs. 40-41% this year). That's what it comes down too. They seem to be trying to find the right combo of guards and time.

13-15ppg is nothing to sneeze at in the NBA and I wouldn't discredit that. That's not a figure that every dude puts up. Novak and Hayward would kill to get that many minutes and opportunities. Whenever they are on I watch them. He just hasn't been hitting his shots the last month.

[UticaBusBarn]

As a footnote to this thread on Matthews, Hayward is out for at least a week with an eye injury.

[MerrittsMustache]

Portland has some good pieces, they just don't fit together. Wes, Wallace and Batum are solid players but they all have pretty similar games. Jamal Crawford is a chucker (12.7 shots/game in 26min/game). They've had three 1st Round picks in the last 2 drafts but none of them can get off the bench, in part because they're blocked by the 4 guys I just mentioned. Also, Felton was a very good PG only when playing in the system that created Linsanity, but has been very pedestrian otherwise and he isn't the type of PG who's going to lead a team deep into the playoffs anyway. Aldridge is a beast but Thomas and Camby are a combined 76 years old, which I'm pretty sure is how old Greg Oden's knees are.

The Blazers either need to blow it up or try to move a couple of their swingmen to acquire a PG and a C. Until then, it looks like they'll be stuck in NBA purgatory where they're not good enough to make a title run but not bad enough to get a franchise-changing player in the draft (like Kevin Durant  ).