Emergency GT: Magic (8-6) @ Blazers (7-6)

[Nemesis21]

WTF happened on that play? Did Vuc just step out of the way for the smallest player on the court?

Yes, can't wait until we trade him. Sick of watching him, I don't care if he loves the city or not. He can visit Orlando during the offseason. He just needs to play for another team.

Who plays C if Vucevic gets traded, though?

Duh! It's Biz. He's definitely worth $17 mill per season.

[tiderulz]

for those of us who didnt get to watch the game, what happened in that 2nd quarter? came out like gang busters and then folded after 1 quarter?

[tiderulz]

I logged in to say fcuk Evan Fournier.

the uncalled hate our players get from fans still amazes me

[ChosenSavior]

for those of us who didnt get to watch the game, what happened in that 2nd quarter? came out like gang busters and then folded after 1 quarter?

Defense completely disappeared in the 2nd quarter and Shabazz started his torching in that period going 3/3 from the 3 point line. C.J. and Evan got into it in the 2nd when C.J. ripped the ball off of Evan cleanly and Evan pushed him after the whistle. That altercation seemed to get the Blazers going and the primary reason why we dropped this game. We were fine in quarters 1, 3 & 4 for the most part.

[pepe1991]

for those of us who didnt get to watch the game, what happened in that 2nd quarter? came out like gang busters and then folded after 1 quarter?

Defense completely disappeared in the 2nd quarter and Shabazz started his torching in that period going 3/3 from the 3 point line. C.J. and Evan got into it in the 2nd when C.J. ripped the ball off of Evan cleanly and Evan pushed him after the whistle. That altercation seemed to get the Blazers going and the primary reason why we dropped this game. We were fine in quarters 1, 3 & 4 for the most part.

Yea i feel that CJ and Evan thing fired up a crowd and helped Blazers catch fire. And ofc Napier was making shots ,but it's not like we were guarding him anyway

[ChosenSavior]

for those of us who didnt get to watch the game, what happened in that 2nd quarter? came out like gang busters and then folded after 1 quarter?

Defense completely disappeared in the 2nd quarter and Shabazz started his torching in that period going 3/3 from the 3 point line. C.J. and Evan got into it in the 2nd when C.J. ripped the ball off of Evan cleanly and Evan pushed him after the whistle. That altercation seemed to get the Blazers going and the primary reason why we dropped this game. We were fine in quarters 1, 3 & 4 for the most part.

Yea i feel that CJ and Evan thing fired up a crowd and helped Blazers catch fire. And ofc Napier was making shots ,but it's not like we were guarding him anyway

Blazers have a great fan base. We had that crowd silent until that altercation happened. From there, the fans got more engaged and C.J. played some of the best defense I've seen him play in some time (I try to watch Blazers games when I can cause I like their team especially Dame and C.J.). All of Napier's shots were wide open...sigh

[nymets1]

Let's see how the Nuggets and Trail Blazers do when they come to play at our place. Next 2 games we can win vs Jazz( No Rudy Gobert) and Pacers. After that at Timberwolves, at Celtics and at 76ers will be tough.

[ChosenSavior]

I logged in to say fcuk Evan Fournier.

the uncalled hate our players get from fans still amazes me

It can get out of line for sure but emotions always run high in the game threads. Also Evan took an awful 3 point attempt like 4 feet from the 3 pt line when we were down 3 in the 4th and had time on the shot clock and in the game in general.

[Bergmaniac]

Freaking Napier, he was literally the worst player in the league when he played for us, smh...

[PrimeThyme]

I want AG to get offense run for him that suits his strengths. That's what we do for Evan and Vuc. Im not asking for him to get looks in the mid-post or even the same type of pin downs we run for Evan. I want him to be more involved in the offense period. I don't want to have him camped out at the 3 point line while Evan and Vuc play their two-man game. I want him consistently involved in the pick and roll from the start of games which will open up pick and pop looks for him at the 3 pt line, and cuts to the basket where he's shown throughout his career he can do because of his athleticism. Back cuts, run him off screens on the occasion to get him open looks, etc. Stuff that he's shown he can do.

Im not comfortable with his ability to put the ball on the floor and create his own offense that way either yet at this stage in his development. But where me and you consistently part ways on this is by thinking that is the only way he can be more involved in the offense. There are plenty of ways to do it that don't involve him creating his own shot.

All fair points.

Let me ask you this...

How concerned are you with Gordon's lack of offensive rebounding/evolving shot chart? In two years, Gordon's gone from taking 45% of his shots at the rim down to just 24% of his shots.

I'm all for taking more threes, but his number of midrange jumpers is, unfortunately, also up

Not surprisingly, his offensive rebounding is a career low.

This year % of shots by area
At Rim: 24.2%
3-10 Feet: 14.1%
10-16 Feet: 9.4%
16-23 Feet: 16.1%
Threes: 36.2%

Last year
At Rim: 36.1%
3-10 Feet: 9.2%
10-16 Feet: 10.6%
16-23 Feet: 13.1%
Threes: 30.9%

2 years ago
At Rim: 45.4%
3-10 Feet: 10.5%
10-16 Feet: 8.6%
16-23 Feet: 11.2%
Threes: 24.5%

It feels like a lot of the stuff we KNOW Gordon is really good at - scoring on offensive rebounding, in transition and on cuts - he's doing a lot less.

How much of that can we pin on coaching and how much can we pin on him wanting to hunt for threes with his new found jumper?

I think its a combination of both. Alot of the offense we run has him camped out at the 3 point line the majority of the time, which would make sense for why a good portion of his shots are coming from there and why his offensive rebounding would be down. Thats part of the reason why I want him involved in more pick and rolls so he is more of a threat towards the basket. Im sure some of it falls on him as well, I dont want him to just settle and become a jump shooter. But It is up to Vogel to get him involved in more of the offense.

[WeAreVenom]

for those of us who didnt get to watch the game, what happened in that 2nd quarter? came out like gang busters and then folded after 1 quarter?

Defense completely disappeared in the 2nd quarter and Shabazz started his torching in that period going 3/3 from the 3 point line. C.J. and Evan got into it in the 2nd when C.J. ripped the ball off of Evan cleanly and Evan pushed him after the whistle. That altercation seemed to get the Blazers going and the primary reason why we dropped this game. We were fine in quarters 1, 3 & 4 for the most part.

Hmmm, wonder if toughness is something we need to address? We are relatively young, though.

[PrimeThyme]

for those of us who didnt get to watch the game, what happened in that 2nd quarter? came out like gang busters and then folded after 1 quarter?

Defense completely disappeared in the 2nd quarter and Shabazz started his torching in that period going 3/3 from the 3 point line. C.J. and Evan got into it in the 2nd when C.J. ripped the ball off of Evan cleanly and Evan pushed him after the whistle. That altercation seemed to get the Blazers going and the primary reason why we dropped this game. We were fine in quarters 1, 3 & 4 for the most part.

To be fair, they had already long gone on their run. This was already after Evan and Vuc to a lesser extent went hero ball in the second quarter to try and stop the run. That's part of the reason why he was so frustrated and reacted the way he did to CJ. But yeah it didn't help because their momentum didn't stop after that. Evan's hero ball cost us the game last night. Hopefully, it doesn't become a habit again.

[OrlChamps2030]

for those of us who didnt get to watch the game, what happened in that 2nd quarter? came out like gang busters and then folded after 1 quarter?

Defense completely disappeared in the 2nd quarter and Shabazz started his torching in that period going 3/3 from the 3 point line. C.J. and Evan got into it in the 2nd when C.J. ripped the ball off of Evan cleanly and Evan pushed him after the whistle. That altercation seemed to get the Blazers going and the primary reason why we dropped this game. We were fine in quarters 1, 3 & 4 for the most part.

To be fair, they had already long gone on their run. This was already after Evan and Vuc to a lesser extent went hero ball in the second quarter to try and stop the run. That's part of the reason why he was so frustrated and reacted the way he did to CJ. But yeah it didn't help because their momentum didn't stop after that. Evan's hero ball cost us the game last night. Hopefully, it doesn't become a habit again.

Pretty lame to pin the loss on one player IMO. We’re not in this game without Fournier’s 22 points

Ross was invisible and scored 5 points while getting scorched on D

Elfrid was invisible most of the night (only scored in the first and 4th??) and blew 2 layups in the 4th i believe

Vucevic was bad

AG looked rough too

I think Simmons is The only guy who had a good individual game. It’s wrong to pin this on one guy. It was a bad team effort on both ends

[PennytoShaq]

One thing I noticed on watching the 2nd half this morning - we could not guard these guys at all. Especially the 3 guard lineups. And then we could not take advantage on the other end. Honestly, a little embarrassing to allow a guy like Napier to do so much damage. Then lilliard and CJ heated up big time, and it was over.

I figured we would lose this game since the magic's weakness is defending the point. That is the Blazer's bread and butter - they are pure guard play with an ok frontcourt.

[PrimeThyme]

Defense completely disappeared in the 2nd quarter and Shabazz started his torching in that period going 3/3 from the 3 point line. C.J. and Evan got into it in the 2nd when C.J. ripped the ball off of Evan cleanly and Evan pushed him after the whistle. That altercation seemed to get the Blazers going and the primary reason why we dropped this game. We were fine in quarters 1, 3 & 4 for the most part.

To be fair, they had already long gone on their run. This was already after Evan and Vuc to a lesser extent went hero ball in the second quarter to try and stop the run. That's part of the reason why he was so frustrated and reacted the way he did to CJ. But yeah it didn't help because their momentum didn't stop after that. Evan's hero ball cost us the game last night. Hopefully, it doesn't become a habit again.

Pretty lame to pin the loss on one player IMO. We’re not in this game without Fournier’s 22 points

Ross was invisible and scored 5 points while getting scorched on D

Elfrid was invisible most of the night (only scored in the first and 4th??) and blew 2 layups in the 4th i believe

Vucevic was bad

AG looked rough too

I think Simmons is The only guy who had a good individual game. It’s wrong to pin this on one guy. It was a bad team effort on both ends

No, we're not in the game if it wasn't for that bench unit. Every single bench player was at least +4 last night, besides Mario. Fournier did not keep us in that game last night as he was -9, his hero ball during certain crucial stretches of the game really hurt us. He and Vuc lost us the lead in the second quarter where the second they came in Portland went on a 16-0 run where Fournier had 4-5 consecutive possessions of hero ball to try and stop the bleeding but couldn't. Someone posted the play by play earlier on in the game thread while it was happening that shows it. Then in the fourth when we mounted the comeback and were down three he forced the 3 early in the shot clock and we never truly got back in it after that.

None of the starters played well thats true, but I feel more than anything Fournier hurt us last night. I'm sorry that that's lame to you, but that is just my opinion from watching the game. Everything cant be put on him as its a team game but alot can in my opinion. When Fournier is on and playing within himself and the flow of the offense he is the MVP of this team and a main reason why we've one the games we have, but when he has games last night where some of his bad habits from the previous years rear their head im going to hold him accountable as well.

[OrlChamps2030]

To be fair, they had already long gone on their run. This was already after Evan and Vuc to a lesser extent went hero ball in the second quarter to try and stop the run. That's part of the reason why he was so frustrated and reacted the way he did to CJ. But yeah it didn't help because their momentum didn't stop after that. Evan's hero ball cost us the game last night. Hopefully, it doesn't become a habit again.

Pretty lame to pin the loss on one player IMO. We’re not in this game without Fournier’s 22 points

Ross was invisible and scored 5 points while getting scorched on D

Elfrid was invisible most of the night (only scored in the first and 4th??) and blew 2 layups in the 4th i believe

Vucevic was bad

AG looked rough too

I think Simmons is The only guy who had a good individual game. It’s wrong to pin this on one guy. It was a bad team effort on both ends

No, we're not in the game if it wasn't for that bench unit. Every single bench player was at least +4 last night, besides Mario. Fournier did not keep us in that game last night as he was -9, his hero ball during certain crucial stretches of the game really hurt us. He and Vuc lost us the lead in the second quarter where the second they came in Portland went on a 16-0 run where Fournier had 4-5 consecutive possessions of hero ball to try and stop the bleeding but couldn't. Someone posted the play by play earlier on in the game thread while it was happening that shows it. Then in the fourth when we mounted the comeback and were down three he forced the 3 early in the shot clock and we never truly got back in it after that.

None of the starters played well thats true, but I feel more than anything Fournier hurt us last night. I'm sorry that that's lame to you, but that is just my opinion from watching the game. Everything cant be put on him as its a team game but alot can in my opinion. When Fournier is on and playing within himself and the flow of the offense he is the MVP of this team and a main reason why we've one the games we have, but when he has games last night where some of his bad habits from the previous years rear their head im going to hold him accountable as well.

Except.. you literally did put everything on Fournier.

Evan's hero ball cost us the game last night

It was a 5 point game where Napier went 5/5 from 3 and you’re pinning it on one starter.. when every starter played bad

Last night the offense wasn’t pretty, but someone has to create and take shots in the half court. It’s pretty clear Fournier and Simmons are the only guys who can break a set defense down off the dribble and score

Your agenda is obvious

[pepe1991]

Pretty lame to pin the loss on one player IMO. We’re not in this game without Fournier’s 22 points

Ross was invisible and scored 5 points while getting scorched on D

Elfrid was invisible most of the night (only scored in the first and 4th??) and blew 2 layups in the 4th i believe

Vucevic was bad

AG looked rough too

I think Simmons is The only guy who had a good individual game. It’s wrong to pin this on one guy. It was a bad team effort on both ends

No, we're not in the game if it wasn't for that bench unit. Every single bench player was at least +4 last night, besides Mario. Fournier did not keep us in that game last night as he was -9, his hero ball during certain crucial stretches of the game really hurt us. He and Vuc lost us the lead in the second quarter where the second they came in Portland went on a 16-0 run where Fournier had 4-5 consecutive possessions of hero ball to try and stop the bleeding but couldn't. Someone posted the play by play earlier on in the game thread while it was happening that shows it. Then in the fourth when we mounted the comeback and were down three he forced the 3 early in the shot clock and we never truly got back in it after that.

None of the starters played well thats true, but I feel more than anything Fournier hurt us last night. I'm sorry that that's lame to you, but that is just my opinion from watching the game. Everything cant be put on him as its a team game but alot can in my opinion. When Fournier is on and playing within himself and the flow of the offense he is the MVP of this team and a main reason why we've one the games we have, but when he has games last night where some of his bad habits from the previous years rear their head im going to hold him accountable as well.

Except.. you literally did put everything on Fournier.

Evan's hero ball cost us the game last night

It was a 5 point game where Napier went 5/5 from 3 and you’re pinning it on one starter.. when every starter played bad

Last night the offense wasn’t pretty, but someone has to create and take shots in the half court. It’s pretty clear Fournier and Simmons are the only guys who can break a set defense down off the dribble and score

Your agenda is obvious

PrimeShaq putting all the blame on Fournier and wants Gordon to shoot literally every single possession ? In other news Earth is not flat.

[Nemesis21]

No, we're not in the game if it wasn't for that bench unit. Every single bench player was at least +4 last night, besides Mario. Fournier did not keep us in that game last night as he was -9, his hero ball during certain crucial stretches of the game really hurt us. He and Vuc lost us the lead in the second quarter where the second they came in Portland went on a 16-0 run where Fournier had 4-5 consecutive possessions of hero ball to try and stop the bleeding but couldn't. Someone posted the play by play earlier on in the game thread while it was happening that shows it. Then in the fourth when we mounted the comeback and were down three he forced the 3 early in the shot clock and we never truly got back in it after that.

None of the starters played well thats true, but I feel more than anything Fournier hurt us last night. I'm sorry that that's lame to you, but that is just my opinion from watching the game. Everything cant be put on him as its a team game but alot can in my opinion. When Fournier is on and playing within himself and the flow of the offense he is the MVP of this team and a main reason why we've one the games we have, but when he has games last night where some of his bad habits from the previous years rear their head im going to hold him accountable as well.

Except.. you literally did put everything on Fournier.

Evan's hero ball cost us the game last night

It was a 5 point game where Napier went 5/5 from 3 and you’re pinning it on one starter.. when every starter played bad

Last night the offense wasn’t pretty, but someone has to create and take shots in the half court. It’s pretty clear Fournier and Simmons are the only guys who can break a set defense down off the dribble and score

Your agenda is obvious

PrimeShaq putting all the blame on Fournier and wants Gordon to shoot literally every single possession ? In other news Earth is not flat.

[Bergmaniac]

Defense completely disappeared in the 2nd quarter and Shabazz started his torching in that period going 3/3 from the 3 point line. C.J. and Evan got into it in the 2nd when C.J. ripped the ball off of Evan cleanly and Evan pushed him after the whistle. That altercation seemed to get the Blazers going and the primary reason why we dropped this game. We were fine in quarters 1, 3 & 4 for the most part.

To be fair, they had already long gone on their run. This was already after Evan and Vuc to a lesser extent went hero ball in the second quarter to try and stop the run. That's part of the reason why he was so frustrated and reacted the way he did to CJ. But yeah it didn't help because their momentum didn't stop after that. Evan's hero ball cost us the game last night. Hopefully, it doesn't become a habit again.

Pretty lame to pin the loss on one player IMO. We’re not in this game without Fournier’s 22 points

Ross was invisible and scored 5 points while getting scorched on D

Elfrid was invisible most of the night (only scored in the first and 4th??) and blew 2 layups in the 4th i believe

Vucevic was bad

AG looked rough too

I think Simmons is The only guy who had a good individual game. It’s wrong to pin this on one guy. It was a bad team effort on both ends

Every loss is mostly Fournier's fault according to quite a few posters here, it's downright hilarious.

[PrimeThyme]

Pretty lame to pin the loss on one player IMO. We’re not in this game without Fournier’s 22 points

Ross was invisible and scored 5 points while getting scorched on D

Elfrid was invisible most of the night (only scored in the first and 4th??) and blew 2 layups in the 4th i believe

Vucevic was bad

AG looked rough too

I think Simmons is The only guy who had a good individual game. It’s wrong to pin this on one guy. It was a bad team effort on both ends

No, we're not in the game if it wasn't for that bench unit. Every single bench player was at least +4 last night, besides Mario. Fournier did not keep us in that game last night as he was -9, his hero ball during certain crucial stretches of the game really hurt us. He and Vuc lost us the lead in the second quarter where the second they came in Portland went on a 16-0 run where Fournier had 4-5 consecutive possessions of hero ball to try and stop the bleeding but couldn't. Someone posted the play by play earlier on in the game thread while it was happening that shows it. Then in the fourth when we mounted the comeback and were down three he forced the 3 early in the shot clock and we never truly got back in it after that.

None of the starters played well thats true, but I feel more than anything Fournier hurt us last night. I'm sorry that that's lame to you, but that is just my opinion from watching the game. Everything cant be put on him as its a team game but alot can in my opinion. When Fournier is on and playing within himself and the flow of the offense he is the MVP of this team and a main reason why we've one the games we have, but when he has games last night where some of his bad habits from the previous years rear their head im going to hold him accountable as well.

Except.. you literally did put everything on Fournier.

Evan's hero ball cost us the game last night

It was a 5 point game where Napier went 5/5 from 3 and you’re pinning it on one starter.. when every starter played bad

Last night the offense wasn’t pretty, but someone has to create and take shots in the half court. It’s pretty clear Fournier and Simmons are the only guys who can break a set defense down off the dribble and score

Your agenda is obvious

I don’t have any agenda. I like Fournier. I just like Fournier when he’s not playing hero ball and forcing his offense. Same with AG. When AG forces his shot I call him out for I️t as well. The majority of the blame falls on Fournier for me last night. Just like when we win, generally Fournier is one of the main causes for I️t. But last night was brutal.