Hype #9

You guys hear about Devin Harris being the starting point guard for the Mavs' this year? I give Don Nelson credit for having enough guts to start a rookie point guard, in place of his high-paid, veteran point guard, Jason Terry. Doing something thats best for the team, whether other players like it or not... I think you see where I'm going with this.

Cheeks would never do this. The team is so stagnant with Damon at the point. He dribbles too much, he's terrible at setting up other players, and he never blows by anyone anymore. If Damon starts a fast break, he just takes it in and misses the layup. Damon will never blow by anyone and take a shot, because of fear of being blocked from behind, thats why he never takes it in the lane and creates. All his shots are taken with the defender in front of him. If he creates offense its just for himself, not for his teammates.

Telfair runs the team better, is quicker, is smarter, draws fouls, creates offense for his teammates, much better court vision and passing ability, and is much better in the open court. All Damon has on Telfair is a better shot, but Telfair will pick that up eventually.

I'm all for starting Telfair NOW...but you think Cheeks has enough guts? Even though this is debatable of whether Telfair should start over Damon, do you think that if it was clearly best for the team that Telfair start as a rookie, would Cheeks do it?

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b-07-r

roY.

dkap

No. Cheeks lacks vision. Ironic, being a legendary PG.

Dan

Playmaker0017

First off - Terry is the worst PG in the league. I've tried explaining that to people here, but no one wants to listen.

It's not that he is a terrible PG, it is that he is NOT a PG at all. He has ZERO ability to play the position. That was one of the worst issues in Atlanta, but people loved him because he'd score a lot and his assist numbers looked decent (but were inflated due to the Damon-dribble effect).

Thus, a rookie PG is BETTER than Terry at the PG spot. Terry is just awful.

Telfair, while he has glipses of great play, he is no where near starting level for a season. I think starting him now could be more detrimental than helpful, especially if he runs into trouble.

There is NO NEED to force the kid to start right now. We aren't going anywhere. Playing tons of minutes doesn't always equal getting better as a player. Let him get minutes here and there and develop.

There is more of a chance to ruin him than to make him great by playing him a lot right now as compared to playing him situationally.

Not just that - but Damon is not as terrible as most make him out to be. He's an average PG in this league. He makes few mistakes with the ball and has a decent enough shot to require a man to guard him. He's not spectacular, that's for sure. But, I think a LOT of the dribbling has to do with the fact that there is little to no offense in place.

Play.

dkap

Every time he doesn't pass it is a mistake...

That certainly does not help, but no way is it the primary factor. Scottie and Arvydas had no problem distributing the ball quickly and effectively, despite working within the same lack of offense.

Face it, Damon is just as much of a non-PG as your 2nd favorite whipping boy JT.

Dan

Schilly

This is a simple answer IMO.

It boils down to expierience. Both Terry and Harris are new in the Mav's.

Stoudamire has been with the Blazers for 9 years, and with the exception of the 2002-2003 season has started the whole tim.

Harris has college game expierience, Telfair does not.

IMO I think telfair may get the opportunity to start, but not till January at the earliest.

Hype #9

Atleast Terry can score, Damon stagnates the whole offense with his over-dribbling and only looking for ways for himself to score.

How else is he supposed to learn from his mistakes? Telfair will make his mistakes, no doubt, but he'll learn from it. He'll learn alot more if he's out there playing and getting experience, rather than just sitting on the bench all season.

As a point guard, some of his responsibility is to run the offense and create offense. Besides creating offense for himself, Damon rarely creates offense for anyone else.

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Todd

That is the reason to start Telfair.

mook

you will find very few people who despise Damon as much as I do. I mean I really, really, really don't like him.

that said, you can't just hand the reigns at the most important position over to a kid just out of high school. he may become the second coming of John Stockton eventually, but that's just too much to ask.

Cheeks will have to give him playing time, though. I think you run NVE mostly at backup shooting guard and let Telfair get minutes at backup point.

if in a month he's consistently shown that he's at least as good as Damon (which is a pretty low bar to set), you give him a shot at the starting spot.

Playmaker0017

For all of you people that want to start Telfair:

90% of sports is mental. If he starts making mistakes and losing games - there are two ways that he can go. He can improve or he can become a headcase. Always second guessing himself.

You can ruin the kid before he has a chance. Especially at that age.

Experience doesn't always translate positively.

While Todd says the REASON to start Telfair is because the Blazers aren't going anywhere ... that is the reason to avoid ruining him.

Would you ask a gourmet chef to speed along his masterpiece just because you're hungry? Would you ask him to turn up the temp to make it cook faster, even though you'll potentially lose flavor?

Hell no.

You go into the meal with patience and enjoy the flavor when it's ready.

Telfair is NOT ready.

Play.

Playmaker0017

You've obviously never watched him play. His style is VERY similar to Damon's. He overdribbles with zero penetration or shot creation for others. Either that or he pawns the ball off at half-court because he can't handle pressure. Which forces the SG or SF to set up the offense.

He also turns it over at a FAR higher rate.

He's also a worse defender, if you can believe it.

He's got twice the tools that Damon does, but can't operate them.


Like I said in another post - the game is 90% mental. He may not EVER learn from his mistakes and may take another road and second guess himself. A PG is a delicate position.

There is no reason to rush it.

Also, no one thinks that Telfair is going to SIT THE BENCH all season. He'll get plenty of PT, but asking him to come in and start and win ... it's possibly too much.

Yeah, go watch a Jason Terry game and you'll see someone NOT set up the rest of his teammates.

Stoudamire is an average PG. You hate him so much because the grass is greaner ... but if you had JT ... the grass would be meadows of golden, full-bladed grass. He's awful.

I've watched BOTH PGs. I don't like either of them, but Damon is the lessor of two evils.

Play.

The Pup

Yeah....weren't the Blazers something like 33-9 during that time that Pippen started at the point?

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QRICH

I agree with Play on this one, I think Telfair will get plenty of burn on the court, but I dont' think he's ready to start yet. People are forgetting Telfair is a HS-er and Harris was a 2-3 year starter at Wisconsin, and big-10 player of the year. However, I do think Telfair will be the better player of the two..it's just going to take time.

tlong

It would be a HUGE mistake to start Telfair at this point. The kid flat out cannot shoot a lick! If you think teams tend to pack it in against the Blazers now, then watch what they would do if Telfair started.

Hype #9

I'm not a fan of Terry either, but his shooting percentages are higher. I'm pretty sure Damon will be taking more shots, than Terry will on Dallas.

Career TO Stats:
Terry: 2.61
Damon: 2.53

Looks close to me.


[quote]Like I said in another post - the game is 90% mental. He may not EVER learn from his mistakes and may take another road and second guess himself. A PG is a delicate position.[quote]
The PG position is the hardest position to learn in the NBA, but if he's not capable of learning from his mistakes, he won't amount to much in the NBA. So we should babysit him so that he never makes any mistakes? He'll make mistakes whether he's starting or not, and he'll have to grow and learn because of those mistakes.

There's a few, but may not be significant enough to throw him into the starting line up.

I'm not picking between Stoudamire and Terry here, my focus is not on Stoudamire vs Terry. Like I said, I'm not a fan of either, I'm just picking Telfair over Damon.

Agreed, but unfortunately Damon is our starter and our "leader".

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Hype #9