Game 46: Portland vs Dallas 7:30pm TNT

[Brandon-Clyde]

4th quarter GLB pic

Spoiler:

[d-train]

Biggie moves his feet real well for a guy who looks like he's carrying a few extra lbs.

[The Sebastian Express]

Dame tried so hard to carry the broken down corpse of this team tonight, but it was rough. It was rough. Just couldn't keep up with how many threes they took and were able to take. Second unit was.. brutal. But really, those are third and fourth and honestly fifth string kind of guys.

[d-train]

Trent padding his stats.

[monopoman]

Dame tried so hard to carry the broken down corpse of this team tonight, but it was rough. It was rough. Just couldn't keep up with how many threes they took and were able to take. Second unit was.. brutal. But really, those are third and fourth and honestly fifth string kind of guys.

On the upside we outscored them in the 3rd and 4th just had a really rough start to the game. Ariza was pretty good and it looks like he will fit this team a hell of a lot better than Baze did.

[Sinobas]

Simons has really fallen of a cliff. I think all the buzz and excitement about him is long dead. He just looks like crap.

[monopoman]

Simons has really fallen of a cliff. I think all the buzz and excitement about him is long dead. He just looks like crap.

I am willing to cut a 20 year old kid some slack he had 0 years in college and it seems like he will need a year or two to really establish himself. Maybe he won't ever get there but he is one of like three young guys on the roster that has a shot to be good someday.

Keep in mind if he spent a few years in college his game would likely look much more polished even despite all that he shows moments of brilliance. His stats are not good I agree, but consistency takes time and experience for almost every player.

[zzaj]

I actually came away with a good feeling after watching this game for some reason...went toe-to-toe with a really good team. Blazers had a different kind of focused intensity tonight. More like a veteran team with Ariza out there.

Despite 1 practice, Ariza and Swanigan looked much more connected and in flow with the team than Bazemore ever did. Actually, what Ariza provided tonight was what I was sorta expecting Bazemore to bring to the Blazers after his pre-injury start in Atlanta last year. I think Ariza is going to be good for the Blazers. You could see him getting frustrated with his teammates on the defensive end, and that's a good thing. He's a champion and a good voice for the locker room. Shoot, I am all for anything that can help cover the smell of the stinker that Tibbetts has orchestrated defensively this year.

The problem with Whiteside is the same problem that every team has had with him. In order for him to be effective as a shotblocker he needs lots of room, which pretty much means there is no secondary defense at all around the rim.

I was pretty surprised that Stotts let the starters play down 13 or whatever it was with 3 minutes left. Just more mileage on Lillard in a game it was pretty obvious the Blazers weren't going to win.

Gary Trent's kid has really turned his offense around since last year. It's almost like he leached it out of Simons. Hopefully Trent can continue to hit 3s consistently--that's going to help the team if he can build on that.

[d-train]

I have the TNT feed. They are talking about Howard's superman dunk that he missed. It was an emperor had no clothes moment. Everyone celebrated a missed dunk like it was the greatest thing ever. It was an A for showmanship and an F for execution.

[monopoman]

I was pretty surprised that Stotts let the starters play down 13 or whatever it was with 3 minutes left. Just more mileage on Lillard in a game it was pretty obvious the Blazers weren't going to win.

How much of that is Lillard wanting to be out there? I think he is probably one of the most fierce competitors in the NBA he may seem calm and collected during interviews even in a loss, but he seems to hate to sit out games or sit out at the end if there is any shot of a comeback.

If they were down 20+ with 3 minutes to go maybe you have a point but down 13 with 3 minutes is nothing in todays NBA if Lillard hits 3 three pointers in a row and they miss a few shots it could be a 4 point game.

[zzaj]

I was pretty surprised that Stotts let the starters play down 13 or whatever it was with 3 minutes left. Just more mileage on Lillard in a game it was pretty obvious the Blazers weren't going to win.

How much of that is Lillard wanting to be out there? I think he is probably one of the most fierce competitors in the NBA he may seem calm and collected but he seems to hate to sit out games or sit out at the end if there is any shot of a comeback.

If they were down 20+ with 3 minutes to go maybe you have a point but down 13 with 3 minutes is nothing in todays NBA if Lillard hits 3 three pointers in a row and they miss a few shots it could be a 4 point game.

Sure, anything is possible with a player that can regularly hit 35-40 footers...it's just a little bit different than Stotts' end of game rotations this year in these type of situations.

[d-train]

Gary Trent's kid has really turned his offense around since last year. It's almost like he leached it out of Simons. Hopefully Trent can continue to hit 3s consistently--that's going to help the team if he can build on that.

Trent has a simple role that he understands and is comfortable with. Simons's role is more complicated and it's new to him.

[Shem]

Simons has really fallen of a cliff. I think all the buzz and excitement about him is long dead. He just looks like crap.

I am willing to cut a 20 year old kid some slack he had 0 years in college and it seems like he will need a year or two to really establish himself. Maybe he won't ever get there but he is one of like three young guys on the roster that has a shot to be good someday.

Keep in mind if he spent a few years in college his game would likely look much more polished even despite all that he shows moments of brilliance. His stats are not good I agree, but consistency takes time and experience for almost every player.

I'm willing to agree that we put him in the fire too quickly based on his age and experience, but I do believe that he'll be a good one down the road.

[Roy The Natural]

Simons has really fallen of a cliff. I think all the buzz and excitement about him is long dead. He just looks like crap.

I am willing to cut a 20 year old kid some slack he had 0 years in college and it seems like he will need a year or two to really establish himself. Maybe he won't ever get there but he is one of like three young guys on the roster that has a shot to be good someday.

Keep in mind if he spent a few years in college his game would likely look much more polished even despite all that he shows moments of brilliance. His stats are not good I agree, but consistency takes time and experience for almost every player.

I'm willing to agree that we put him in the fire too quickly based on his age and experience, but I do believe that he'll be a good one down the road.

Yea I'd agree. Simons has a lot to work on. But most of it is pretty reasonable stuff.

His hesitation to the right is nasty and gets him by defenders pretty regularly and with ease. Unfortunately he has not counters, and really hasn't proved he can go left at all when attacking.

Simons also needs to get a lot stronger. His body isn't ready which affects him on both sides. On offense he get knocked off his line to the rim way too easily. And just can't finish through contact at all. On defense he's not strong enough, or savvy enough to knock opposing guards off their line.

He needs to raise his release point just a smidge. He doesn't need to turn into CJ out there with a super high release, but a slightly higher release will help him. Mainly it will help him with his arc, not even necessarily getting the shot off.

Game is still moving too fast for him, and he doesn't look confidant out there right now.


I do think it's prudent to remember that at this point last year Collins had basically fallen out of the rotation and was really struggling. Both Simons and Collins were projects who WE KNEW would need to work on their bodies for a bit before being ready.

[monopoman]

I am willing to cut a 20 year old kid some slack he had 0 years in college and it seems like he will need a year or two to really establish himself. Maybe he won't ever get there but he is one of like three young guys on the roster that has a shot to be good someday.

Keep in mind if he spent a few years in college his game would likely look much more polished even despite all that he shows moments of brilliance. His stats are not good I agree, but consistency takes time and experience for almost every player.

I'm willing to agree that we put him in the fire too quickly based on his age and experience, but I do believe that he'll be a good one down the road.

Yea I'd agree. Simons has a lot to work on. But most of it is pretty reasonable stuff.

His hesitation to the right is nasty and gets him by defenders pretty regularly and with ease. Unfortunately he has not counters, and really hasn't proved he can go left at all when attacking.

Simons also needs to get a lot stronger. His body isn't ready which affects him on both sides. On offense he get knocked off his line to the rim way too easily. And just can't finish through contact at all. On defense he's not strong enough, or savvy enough to knock opposing guards off their line.

He needs to raise his release point just a smidge. He doesn't need to turn into CJ out there with a super high release, but a slightly higher release will help him. Mainly it will help him with his arc, not even necessarily getting the shot off.

Game is still moving too fast for him, and he doesn't look confidant out there right now.


I do think it's prudent to remember that at this point last year Collins had basically fallen out of the rotation and was really struggling. Both Simons and Collins were projects who WE KNEW would need to work on their bodies for a bit before being ready.

Collins is 2 years older than Simons so I think Collins has had more time to mature his game and add strength.

[Roy The Natural]

I'm willing to agree that we put him in the fire too quickly based on his age and experience, but I do believe that he'll be a good one down the road.

Yea I'd agree. Simons has a lot to work on. But most of it is pretty reasonable stuff.

His hesitation to the right is nasty and gets him by defenders pretty regularly and with ease. Unfortunately he has not counters, and really hasn't proved he can go left at all when attacking.

Simons also needs to get a lot stronger. His body isn't ready which affects him on both sides. On offense he get knocked off his line to the rim way too easily. And just can't finish through contact at all. On defense he's not strong enough, or savvy enough to knock opposing guards off their line.

He needs to raise his release point just a smidge. He doesn't need to turn into CJ out there with a super high release, but a slightly higher release will help him. Mainly it will help him with his arc, not even necessarily getting the shot off.

Game is still moving too fast for him, and he doesn't look confidant out there right now.


I do think it's prudent to remember that at this point last year Collins had basically fallen out of the rotation and was really struggling. Both Simons and Collins were projects who WE KNEW would need to work on their bodies for a bit before being ready.

Collins is 2 years older than Simons so I think Collins has had more time to mature his game and add strength.

Collins was 20 years old at the start of last year. Simons was 20 years old at the start of this year. I think they're pretty similar.

[Norm2953]

I'm willing to cut Simons some slack for he really needs an veteran PG to settle him down.

Interesting to watch Doncic up close. He's got a lot of Larry Bird in him and his ability to handle
the ball and create for others in infectuous. Their ball movement and ability to make outside
shots makes them difficult to match up with. Porzingas was a major problem for Portland
and that team had all kinds of lanes to the basket after they made 10 3 pointers in the first
quarter. Portland never quit and fought hard to keep up but was simply outmatched which
happens when a playoff contender plays a lottery bound team.

[d-train]

Biggie played 23 minutes. It was only the 3rd time in his career he played 20 or more minutes in a game.

[mojomarc]

I haven't seen the game yet, but I think it is pretty telling that Dame scored 47 and yet was still a -2. He kept them competitive but pretty much had to do it single-handedly, didn't he? The Mavs are a pretty good team with one of the brightest young stars in the game in Doncic, and Dame essentially by himself can keep us in the game.

Crazy

[PDXKnight]

Ariza can ball, if he’s consistently 12/5 we might even pick up that year 2 option

Dame great as usual, no one helping out as usual but I feel like with cj we have even less of a shot. That dude never got better on d