Game 77: Portland vs Washington 4:00pm Root+

[Brandon-Clyde]

vs.





Time: 4:00pm
Place: Washington DC
TV: Root+


GLB of the game Ashley Park

Spoiler:

[Brandon-Clyde]

1st quarter GLB pic

Spoiler:

[Brandon-Clyde]

2nd quarter GLB pic

Spoiler:

[Brandon-Clyde]

3rd quarter GLB pic

Spoiler:

[Brandon-Clyde]

4th quarter GLB pic

Spoiler:

[Norm2953]

Toronto is doing its best to get to 5 by losing 15 games in a row.

[Brandon-Clyde]

Victory GLB pics

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

[JasonStern]

Everyone bashes Chauncey, but he's on the biggest winning streak of the season - two.

[Shem]

Everyone bashes Chauncey, but he's on the biggest winning streak of the season - two.

Not true. The Blazers had a 3 game winning streak this season.

[Shem]

Watch on YouTube

[Wizenheimer]

well, in a season of WTF are the Blazers doing? they are on a 2 game wins streak, firmly locked into 5th in the lottery

however, if they would have found the easy path to lose these last 2 games, right now, they'd be tied with the Spurs for 3rd seed in the lottery. And looking at the schedules, odds are the Blazers would have ended up 3rd ahead of the Spurs

two useless wins

[The Sebastian Express]

The useless wins was playing the vets against Memphis and winning an overtime win. Right now they're playing a bunch of rookies and Ayton. These are unexpected wins, but not as offensive as the wins against Memphis. Those are the wins to throw your hands up about.

Simons, Grant and Thybulle all played against Memphis in both those wins (Grant only played fifteen minutes in one game, but that's because he got injured iirc).

Just no need for them to play the vets in that game, they did, they won. Those are the damning wins.

[JasonStern]

two useless wins

They aren't useless. They give Shem a reason to validate Chauncey Billups as head coach. His G-League roster beat 2 G-League rosters. And to be fair, he'd probably be a decent G-League coach. But this is a team with a $163M payroll, and it is only capable of beating G-League teams. And Memphis, for some reason.

[Wizenheimer]

The useless wins was playing the vets against Memphis and winning an overtime win. Right now they're playing a bunch of rookies and Ayton. These are unexpected wins, but not as offensive as the wins against Memphis. Those are the wins to throw your hands up about.

Simons, Grant and Thybulle all played against Memphis in both those wins (Grant only played fifteen minutes in one game, but that's because he got injured iirc).

Just no need for them to play the vets in that game, they did, they won. Those are the damning wins.

yeah, those wins were damaging too. So was the Toronto OT win. And so was the 'revenge' upset win over Dame & the Bucks when Chauncey played the vets:

Anfernee Simons 38:29
Jerami Grant 37:52
Malcolm Brogdon 35:44
Deandre Ayton 35:00

that was just a dumb sugar rush

still, those wins were on the books this week making the situation very clear, and Ayton absolutely did not need to play the last 2 games. and Scoot did not need to play as many minutes with Hagans available. Tanking in a subtle fashion would have been easy

it's a good thing Toronto won last night otherwise the Raptors would be within a couple of games of Portland. And it would be so like the Blazers and this abortion of a season to have a legitimate shot at 3rd and the highest lottery odds but instead drop all the way down to 6th

*************************************************************************

even accounting for the Jailblazer days, I've never been as negative on the franchise as I am right now. I think ownership sucks and has no concern about building a winning team as long as the cash keeps flowing and Jody can keep raking in her millions from executor management fees. I have huge doubts about the management and Cronin. I think Dame is probably justified in believing that Cronin wasn't honest with him; and that Cronin essentially cornered Dame into asking for a trade

I think Billups is a mediocre coach, at best. And I think the F.O. has decided to go with their dumpster-diving version of a 'big-3' in Grant-Ant-Ayton and that has play-in/late-lottery purgatory written all over it. It's also a ridiculously expensive dumpster: big salary/small impact

I like Sharpe but haven't seen him play for 3 months and I worry about his durability. I also have a sinking feeling he just doesn't have the necessary alpha genes that would propel him to stardom. I've been unimpressed with Scoot, mostly. I don't think he'll be a bust, but I also have doubts about him ever being all-star level. Meanwhile, Amen Thompson has performed extremely well and looks like a future DPOY candidate. Walker, Camara, Banton, Rupert might be an effective group of backup players....or, might not

and of course, the Blazers have 4 draft picks in what everybody is saying is one of the worst drafts ever...when they need 4 picks in the best draft ever

all-in-all, there's just not a lot to like about the Blazers right now

[BlazersBroncos]

The useless wins was playing the vets against Memphis and winning an overtime win. Right now they're playing a bunch of rookies and Ayton. These are unexpected wins, but not as offensive as the wins against Memphis. Those are the wins to throw your hands up about.

Simons, Grant and Thybulle all played against Memphis in both those wins (Grant only played fifteen minutes in one game, but that's because he got injured iirc).

Just no need for them to play the vets in that game, they did, they won. Those are the damning wins.

yeah, those wins were damaging too. So was the Toronto OT win. And so was the 'revenge' upset win over Dame & the Bucks when Chauncey played the vets:

Anfernee Simons 38:29
Jerami Grant 37:52
Malcolm Brogdon 35:44
Deandre Ayton 35:00

that was just a dumb sugar rush

still, those wins were on the books this week making the situation very clear, and Ayton absolutely did not need to play the last 2 games. and Scoot did not need to play as many minutes with Hagans available. Tanking in a subtle fashion would have been easy

it's a good thing Toronto won last night otherwise the Raptors would be within a couple of games of Portland. And it would be so like the Blazers and this abortion of a season to have a legitimate shot at 3rd and the highest lottery odds but instead drop all the way down to 6th

*************************************************************************

even accounting for the Jailblazer days, I've never been as negative on the franchise as I am right now. I think ownership sucks and has no concern about building a winning team as long as the cash keeps flowing and Jody can keep raking in her millions from executor management fees. I have huge doubts about the management and Cronin. I think Dame is probably justified in believing that Cronin wasn't honest with him; and that Cronin essentially cornered Dame into asking for a trade

I think Billups is a mediocre coach, at best. And I think the F.O. has decided to go with their dumpster-diving version of a 'big-3' in Grant-Ant-Ayton and that has play-in/late-lottery purgatory written all over it. It's also a ridiculously expensive dumpster: big salary/small impact

I like Sharpe but haven't seen him play for 3 months and I worry about his durability. I also have a sinking feeling he just doesn't have the necessary alpha genes that would propel him to stardom. I've been unimpressed with Scoot, mostly. I don't think he'll be a bust, but I also have doubts about him ever being all-star level. Meanwhile, Amen Thompson has performed extremely well and looks like a future DPOY candidate. Walker, Camara, Banton, Rupert might be an effective group of backup players....or, might not

and of course, the Blazers have 4 draft picks in what everybody is saying is one of the worst drafts ever...when they need 4 picks in the best draft ever

all-in-all, there's just not a lot to like about the Blazers right now

Yep. Agree with just about all of this.

I will say Banton looks like a pretty smart little move by Cronin - but at the same time there is a high chance he is just one of the number of guys that put up numbers when it doesnt count and stinks when on a winner (I call it 'Ron Mercer Syndrome').

[The Sebastian Express]

I don't see Danton as a winning player if he's a starter. I think he could be a good bench player in spurts for a winning player.

I'll also agree that no, Ayton didn't need to play these last two games. I don't care about Scoot playing big minutes, I think that's important for him and for the fanbase.

I don't worry about Sharpe's personality, imo. I think he's just a quiet introverted kid. But you don't try to dunk on as many guys as you do with that kind of ferocity if you don't have something in you, imo.

[Wizenheimer]

I don't see Danton as a winning player if he's a starter. I think he could be a good bench player in spurts for a winning player.

I'll also agree that no, Ayton didn't need to play these last two games. I don't care about Scoot playing big minutes, I think that's important for him and for the fanbase.

I don't worry about Sharpe's personality, imo. I think he's just a quiet introverted kid. But you don't try to dunk on as many guys as you do with that kind of ferocity if you don't have something in you, imo.

Banton has length and he has handles. Portland is in need of both attributes. What they don't need is Banton's tendency to chuck and over-dribble. If the Blazers can mitigate those tendencies, Banton definitely has a role

as for Sharpe, I'm not sure a willingness to try for highlight dunks represents alpha genes. Those would compel a player to demand the ball in crunch-time minutes, especially when the offense was struggling. Ant sure wasn't shy about that; neither was Grant. Sharpe doesn't do that...he defers. A big part of that may be because of his youth. Still it concerns me a bit because the Blazers definitely need a back court alpha better than Ant

[HoopsFanAZ]

The last two wins are disappointing … all about going into the lottery with better odds. Allegations of tanking won’t happen, to be sure. And as to the draft sucking, I’m optimistic, pretty much always, about the infusion of talent — Both lottery picks. The points made previously in this thread are reasonable.

I watch Scoot and see a strong leadership PG. I absolutely prefer the Steve Nash, Magic, Stockton PG who stirs the drink — not scoring PGs like Dame, Bledsoe and Westbrook. The Kidd assist, defense, rebounding with set shot 3s and elbow shooting is just rare. The Billups leadership PG is good, too.

Sharpe and Ayton are the other 2 starters that fit together. And the sizable host of young or youngish bench players plus Reath. I’m happy to see the growth of Murray.

The ONLY concern I have is what Cronin does with the “vets” — Ant, Brogdon, Thybulle, Grant, Time Lord. I like them but would not mind if ALL were traded. Grant is the only one I go back and forth with.

[Shem]

two useless wins

They aren't useless. They give Shem a reason to validate Chauncey Billups as head coach.

Would it kill you to stop making sh** up??? Would it??? It's like talking to a Trump supporter. Let me put it to you this way. If you have to lie to make someone look bad, what does that say about your integrity? Or your credibility for that matter? Of course I'm trying to reason with someone who thought that the Blazers would have made the playoffs with Terry Stotts instead of Billups the season where Dame played 29 games and was playing injured in the games he played. But look who I'm replying to. Someone who wasn't aware the Blazers had a 3 game winning streak this season.

[The Sebastian Express]

I would say Ant and Grant also deferred to Dame. Shaedon is a second year player who was coming off the bench often because our organization is too obsessed with mismatched guard lineups. Shaedon has shown a willingness in the past when it was clear he was the guy on the floor. I'm not going to make a judgment on his on-court personality and willingness to take the lead, be the guy until he's in a lineup with Scoot and other younger guys.

That's just me. I'm really hopeful we see Scoot and Shaedon under the guidance of a different coach and with Ant shipped out. My dreams are probably too much, but is what it is.

Also I agree re: Banton chucking and over-dribbling. If he gets those under control, very good bench guy imo and still young. If he continues to chuck and over-dribble, I would prefer we move on in the future and not let him take up minutes from other guys.