I’m as happy as a man who has no emotions can be (which is only marginally happy) that Skal Labissiere has finally found a team that will give him a somewhat consistent role, however small it may be. I didn’t think it would ever happen, but it is, right before our very eyes.
But whatever happiness I feel from this circumstance is undone by the fact that Labissiere isn’t doing very much at all with his minutes. He’d barely scored 15 points total in the two weeks since he had a 15-point game. He’s finally got a role, and he’s squandering it. Either that, or the coaching staff is not putting him in a position to succeed.
Quick reminder for any Trailblazers coaches that may be reading this: it’s extremely easy to put Labissiere in a position to succeed. That position is “the midrange”, and all you have to do is tell him to stand at the elbow and shoot jumpers. It’s like free money. Why am I the only one who can see this?
The Blazers have to be trying different things at this point; their season is in danger of coming completely off the rails, if it hasn’t already. What harm could attempting to unleash Labissiere do? They lose another game? That was going to happen anyway. I won’t allow myself to become excited over this 15-point performance. It could be a sign of greater or things to come, or it could just be another meaningless random blip in the endless sea of random blips that make up the NBA season.