Game 55: Portland vs LA Lakers 7 00pm Chargetv and KUNP

[Brandon-Clyde]

Consolation GLB pics

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

[Walton1one]

Simons is being targeted on defense, which is the story of his entire career

Great to see an end of the bench player like Banton playing key minutes instead of Scoot, this is what dysfunctional teams do

lol, running one hand runner, by LeBron, looked effortless, if he’s making those tonight, not looking good for POR

Only players in double figures tonight, Deni, Camara, Scoot, and Sharpe, and we keep hearing without the veteran players this team could not be competitive, what a crock of crap

DFS doesn’t look nearly as prolific from 3pt as he did with BRK, not that it’s a big surprise

I have never been a huge fan of Reaves, but his performance tonight is pretty impressive

Do you think LAL would trade Reaves straight up for Simons? Lol.

Grant, lol x2, x3

Ballgame, the more losses this team takes the sooner they realize they need to tank, with Wemby going down the chances of POR ending up at #10 or worse is a distinct reality, not that Cronin cares though

[zzaj]

Blazers pretty much lost this one at the FT line...

And yeah, Simons was clearly hunted...especially in the second half. I never want to see a Scoot/Simons back court ever again.

Truly though, Grant is starting to look like an albatross.

The Blazers have 3 players who offer basically nothing if their shot isn't falling--Grant, Simons and Sharpe. This is why I'd be very hesitant adding a player like Ace Bailey...he similarly just disappears if his volume isn't falling.

[Walton1one]

That is an astute observation, I can’t say that I disagree, assuming POR was drafting at #3/#4, I would hope they lean towards Edgecombe or Jakucionas over Bailey

[Walton1one]

I cannot wait until Billups is sent packing. He is such an idiot, he is sitting here talking about the defense of DC not meeting his expectations, and yet he totally defends Grant’s abysmal night & says nothing about Simons, unbelievable, the guy is a total joke as an NBA coach

[Norm2953]

If only the NBA would bring back the amnesty clause for there would be lots of guys
whom teams would love to release to gain salary cap flexibility

They really should especially with the restrictive cap

Guys would still be paid but imagine the player movement if suddenly those apron teams had
some cap flexibility

[Case2012]

This game was a perfect example of how they are the worst ran team in the league. Worst owner, worst coach, worst gm. All the vets, playing like absolute trash while on giant deals, chucking up garbage, disinterested, while the lottery picks waste away on the bench not getting developed. All these vets needed to GO last summer, and then again at the deadline but Cronin was like "Skies the limit!" **** moron. On top of all that the arena is PACKED with lakers fans and the refs gave them the homecooking treatment. Why did we trade Dame? Why didn't we get him help? For this? Absolute trash at every level.

I disagree about Bailey, we clearly need an alpha scorer and I think he's going to be a 25+ ppg scorer in the league.

Trade Sharpe for as much as you can. Zero motor. Maybe we could get a second lottery pick for him? Idk. He's just not interested and I'm sure scouts notice this. I don't think he's in the league after his second deal.

[Pattycakes]

This game was a perfect example of how they are the worst ran team in the league. Worst owner, worst coach, worst gm. All the vets, playing like absolute trash while on giant deals, chucking up garbage, disinterested, while the lottery picks waste away on the bench not getting developed. All these vets needed to GO last summer, and then again at the deadline but Cronin was like "Skies the limit!" **** moron. On top of all that the arena is PACKED with lakers fans and the refs gave them the homecooking treatment. Why did we trade Dame? Why didn't we get him help? For this? Absolute trash at every level.

I disagree about Bailey, we clearly need an alpha scorer and I think he's going to be a 25+ ppg scorer in the league.

Trade Sharpe for as much as you can. Zero motor. Maybe we could get a second lottery pick for him? Idk. He's just not interested and I'm sure scouts notice this. I don't think he's in the league after his second deal.

Literally just Jerami Grant and Simons happened. Everything else is chill, plus an easy win bro.

[m0ng0]

Can Grant even play basketball anymore? The length of that contract looks worse and worse by the game...

Now we can only hope to be able to give him away for expirings.

Grant is absolutely a negative asset at this point. We would have to pay to get rid of him. And with his contract it’s frightening what we would have to give up to get rid of him.

But we made Dame happy, by signing him after we already knew Dame was gone.

[DaVoiceMaster]

Simons, Grant, and Sharpe all got the tank memo tonight.

The Blazers played so piss poor tonight and they still almost won. What does that say about the Lakers?

[Shem]

Simons, Grant, and Sharpe all got the tank memo tonight.

The Blazers played so piss poor tonight and they still almost won. What does that say about the Lakers?

We may have won had Luka played since he's not yet 100% and looking very sluggish in the games he's played thus far in a Lakers uniform.

[DaVoiceMaster]

What was Simon's deal tonight? Has he ever missedb3 free throws inba game before? Grant doesn't know how to pass the ball on a 3 on 1 fast break, instead running over someone for an offensive foul or just throwing the ball away. I know he was not a great player, but he wasn't this bad. I'm kind of ready to be done with Sharpe, as well. Is it too late to sell high on him? Frankly, I'm ready to move anyone not named Camara this summer.

[BlazersBroncos]

This is the most egregious game in terms of minute distribution of Billups hopefully short career. Undefendable.

[Blazinaway]

What was Simon's deal tonight? Has he ever missedb3 free throws inba game before? Grant doesn't know how to pass the ball on a 3 on 1 fast break, instead running over someone for an offensive foul or just throwing the ball away. I know he was not a great player, but he wasn't this bad. I'm kind of ready to be done with Sharpe, as well. Is it too late to sell high on him? Frankly, I'm ready to move anyone not named Camara this summer.

IMO you forgot Deni, he's a keeper as well and younger by 8 months than Camara, after that I agree

[zzaj]

One thing that the Blazers never solved...and come to think of it, have struggled against for the past decade...is the switching defense. Any team that has decent size and switchability (like the Lakers last night) apparently gives them trouble.

The team should have been able to force switch Hayes and then had alley-oop after alley-oop, but this team also may be the worst I've ever seen at knowing what to do and how to target mismatches. That's simply not part of the offensive design...

[Wizenheimer]

the Chauncey vs Sharpe vs Simons thing about defense is a twisted joke

Simons has consistently been the very worst defender on the Blazers since Chauncey was hired

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

2021-22

defensive rating:

Jusuf Nurkić 112
Robert Covington 113
Dennis Smith Jr. 114
Justise Winslow 114
Larry Nance Jr. 115
Trendon Watford 116
Cody Zeller 116
Drew Eubanks 116
Nassir Little 116
Josh Hart 117
CJ Elleby 117
Keon Johnson 118
CJ McCollum 119
Norman Powell 119
Ben McLemore 120
Tony Snell 120
Damian Lillard 120
Anfernee Simons 121

(Lillard only played 29 games before surgery)

DBPM:

Robert Covington 1.6
Dennis Smith Jr. 1.2
Larry Nance Jr. 0.6
Jusuf Nurkić 0.2
Trendon Watford -0.4
Nassir Little -0.6
Justise Winslow -0.7
Cody Zeller -1.0
Josh Hart -1.0
CJ Elleby -1.5
Norman Powell -1.6
CJ McCollum -1.7
Drew Eubanks -2.3
Keon Johnson -2.5
Damian Lillard -2.7
Anfernee Simons -2.7

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

2022-23

def rating:

Jusuf Nurkić 114
Drew Eubanks 115
Matisse Thybulle 116
Gary Payton II 116
Josh Hart 118
Justise Winslow 118
Trendon Watford 119
Keon Johnson 119
Jabari Walker 120
Jerami Grant 120
Nassir Little 120
Damian Lillard 121
Shaedon Sharpe 121
Anfernee Simons 123

DBPM:

Gary Payton II 1.4
Matisse Thybulle 1.1
Drew Eubanks 0.9
Josh Hart 0.7
Jusuf Nurkić 0.7
Justise Winslow 0.6
Trendon Watford -0.4
Damian Lillard -1.2
Jerami Grant -1.4
Nassir Little -1.4
Keon Johnson -1.6
Shaedon Sharpe -2.0
Jabari Walker -2.1
Anfernee Simons -2.5

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

2023-24

def rating:

Robert Williams 109
Matisse Thybulle 114
Deandre Ayton 114
Jabari Walker 116
Toumani Camara 117
Duop Reath 117
Dalano Banton 117
Kris Murray 118
Shaedon Sharpe 119
Jerami Grant 120
Malcolm Brogdon 120
Scoot Henderson 120
Anfernee Simons 121

DBPM:

Matisse Thybulle 3.4
Robert Williams 2.9
Toumani Camara 0.0
Kris Murray -0.2
Deandre Ayton -0.2
Duop Reath -0.7
Malcolm Brogdon -0.7
Dalano Banton -0.9
Shaedon Sharpe -0.9
Jabari Walker -0.9
Jerami Grant -1.1
Rayan Rupert -1.2
Scoot Henderson -2.3
Anfernee Simons -2.5

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

2024-25

def rating:

Robert Williams 109
Donovan Clingan 109
Jabari Walker 112
Deandre Ayton 113
Deni Avdija 115
Toumani Camara 116
Dalano Banton 116
Scoot Henderson 117
Jerami Grant 118
Kris Murray 119
Shaedon Sharpe 119
Anfernee Simons 120

DBPM:

Robert Williams 2.8
Donovan Clingan 1.1
Toumani Camara 0.4
Jabari Walker 0.3
Deni Avdija 0.3
Dalano Banton -0.3
Kris Murray -0.6
Scoot Henderson -0.7
Jerami Grant -0.7
Deandre Ayton -0.7
Shaedon Sharpe -1.8
Anfernee Simons -1.9

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

sorry about the length of post....but do you see the trend?

individual defensive stats can be pretty noisy, but when the same stats consistently say the same thing over 4 seasons, that become rather credible. And in this case, they match the eyeball test of a vast majority of eyeballs paying attention

now, if Chauncey would have said he's demoting Sharpe to the bench because other Blazer players are better, that would have been justifiable within the limited context of BPA. But he didn't say that; he said he was benching Sharpe because of failing defense and we've all seen 4 years of Simons consistently failing at defense to the point right now he's one of the very worst defenders in the league

and if we can see that, it's certain that Sharpe and other players sitting on Portland's bench can see the failings of Simons on defense. So it's almost certain that the 'lesson' Chauncey is allegedly trying to teach Sharpe will have very little impact because of the conflict between Chauncey's words and the reality of Simons on defense

all that is not to say that Sharpe has definitely earned the starting role; he hasn't really improved in any significant fashion in nearly 3 years. He's made some progress in some areas but overall, he remains a disappointment for a 7th pick who has flashed the kind of athletic gifts he has

in any event, I think the Simons/Billups/Cronin combo is going to be as completely frustrating as the CJ/Sotts/Olshey triangle. Having a player that absolutely needs to be moved while having a coach who overplays him and a GM infatuated with talent nobody else can see

[dckingsfan]

Spoiler:

the Chauncey vs Sharpe vs Simons thing about defense is a twisted joke

Simons has consistently been the very worst defender on the Blazers since Chauncey was hired

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

2021-22

defensive rating:

Jusuf Nurkić 112
Robert Covington 113
Dennis Smith Jr. 114
Justise Winslow 114
Larry Nance Jr. 115
Trendon Watford 116
Cody Zeller 116
Drew Eubanks 116
Nassir Little 116
Josh Hart 117
CJ Elleby 117
Keon Johnson 118
CJ McCollum 119
Norman Powell 119
Ben McLemore 120
Tony Snell 120
Damian Lillard 120
Anfernee Simons 121

(Lillard only played 29 games before surgery)

DBPM:

Robert Covington 1.6
Dennis Smith Jr. 1.2
Larry Nance Jr. 0.6
Jusuf Nurkić 0.2
Trendon Watford -0.4
Nassir Little -0.6
Justise Winslow -0.7
Cody Zeller -1.0
Josh Hart -1.0
CJ Elleby -1.5
Norman Powell -1.6
CJ McCollum -1.7
Drew Eubanks -2.3
Keon Johnson -2.5
Damian Lillard -2.7
Anfernee Simons -2.7

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

2022-23

def rating:

Jusuf Nurkić 114
Drew Eubanks 115
Matisse Thybulle 116
Gary Payton II 116
Josh Hart 118
Justise Winslow 118
Trendon Watford 119
Keon Johnson 119
Jabari Walker 120
Jerami Grant 120
Nassir Little 120
Damian Lillard 121
Shaedon Sharpe 121
Anfernee Simons 123

DBPM:

Gary Payton II 1.4
Matisse Thybulle 1.1
Drew Eubanks 0.9
Josh Hart 0.7
Jusuf Nurkić 0.7
Justise Winslow 0.6
Trendon Watford -0.4
Damian Lillard -1.2
Jerami Grant -1.4
Nassir Little -1.4
Keon Johnson -1.6
Shaedon Sharpe -2.0
Jabari Walker -2.1
Anfernee Simons -2.5

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

2023-24

def rating:

Robert Williams 109
Matisse Thybulle 114
Deandre Ayton 114
Jabari Walker 116
Toumani Camara 117
Duop Reath 117
Dalano Banton 117
Kris Murray 118
Shaedon Sharpe 119
Jerami Grant 120
Malcolm Brogdon 120
Scoot Henderson 120
Anfernee Simons 121

DBPM:

Matisse Thybulle 3.4
Robert Williams 2.9
Toumani Camara 0.0
Kris Murray -0.2
Deandre Ayton -0.2
Duop Reath -0.7
Malcolm Brogdon -0.7
Dalano Banton -0.9
Shaedon Sharpe -0.9
Jabari Walker -0.9
Jerami Grant -1.1
Rayan Rupert -1.2
Scoot Henderson -2.3
Anfernee Simons -2.5

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

2024-25

def rating:

Robert Williams 109
Donovan Clingan 109
Jabari Walker 112
Deandre Ayton 113
Deni Avdija 115
Toumani Camara 116
Dalano Banton 116
Scoot Henderson 117
Jerami Grant 118
Kris Murray 119
Shaedon Sharpe 119
Anfernee Simons 120

DBPM:

Robert Williams 2.8
Donovan Clingan 1.1
Toumani Camara 0.4
Jabari Walker 0.3
Deni Avdija 0.3
Dalano Banton -0.3
Kris Murray -0.6
Scoot Henderson -0.7
Jerami Grant -0.7
Deandre Ayton -0.7
Shaedon Sharpe -1.8
Anfernee Simons -1.9

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

sorry about the length of post....but do you see the trend?

individual defensive stats can be pretty noisy, but when the same stats consistently say the same thing over 4 seasons, that become rather credible. And in this case, they match the eyeball test of a vast majority of eyeballs paying attention

now, if Chauncey would have said he's demoting Sharpe to the bench because other Blazer players are better, that would have been justifiable within the limited context of BPA. But he didn't say that; he said he was benching Sharpe because of failing defense and we've all seen 4 years of Simons consistently failing at defense to the point right now he's one of the very worst defenders in the league

and if we can see that, it's certain that Sharpe and other players sitting on Portland's bench can see the failings of Simons on defense. So it's almost certain that the 'lesson' Chauncey is allegedly trying to teach Sharpe will have very little impact because of the conflict between Chauncey's words and the reality of Simons on defense

all that is not to say that Sharpe has definitely earned the starting role; he hasn't really improved in any significant fashion in nearly 3 years. He's made some progress in some areas but overall, he remains a disappointment for a 7th pick who has flashed the kind of athletic gifts he has

in any event, I think the Simons/Billups/Cronin combo is going to be as completely frustrating as the CJ/Sotts/Olshey triangle. Having a player that absolutely needs to be moved while having a coach who overplays him and a GM infatuated with talent nobody else can see

And "kind of" piling on... and this one is more around minutes.

Clingan has been pretty darn good as a rookie and yet his minutes are, meh. Last night only 17... sigh. Don't get me wrong, Williams has been one of the best players statistically and if he had 31 minutes, yeah. But, he had 25 minutes.

I can't argue with the forward rotation, much. Avdija and Camara have been the best forwards but Grant is going to get his minutes as the 3rd best forward.

At guard, this has been an "interesting" season. Yes, playing Avdija at SG makes some sense. But, to say that Simons is anything but a disaster on defense - well, no words. BTW, if you ignore the first quarter of the season, Scoot has been better than Simons.

Having both Simons and Sharpe come off the bench is what should happen the rest of the season. Just don't see that happening. And this takes us to the draft - a guard please. A big guard please.

[PDXKnight]

the Chauncey vs Sharpe vs Simons thing about defense is a twisted joke

Simons has consistently been the very worst defender on the Blazers since Chauncey was hired

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

2021-22

defensive rating:

Jusuf Nurkić 112
Robert Covington 113
Dennis Smith Jr. 114
Justise Winslow 114
Larry Nance Jr. 115
Trendon Watford 116
Cody Zeller 116
Drew Eubanks 116
Nassir Little 116
Josh Hart 117
CJ Elleby 117
Keon Johnson 118
CJ McCollum 119
Norman Powell 119
Ben McLemore 120
Tony Snell 120
Damian Lillard 120
Anfernee Simons 121

(Lillard only played 29 games before surgery)

DBPM:

Robert Covington 1.6
Dennis Smith Jr. 1.2
Larry Nance Jr. 0.6
Jusuf Nurkić 0.2
Trendon Watford -0.4
Nassir Little -0.6
Justise Winslow -0.7
Cody Zeller -1.0
Josh Hart -1.0
CJ Elleby -1.5
Norman Powell -1.6
CJ McCollum -1.7
Drew Eubanks -2.3
Keon Johnson -2.5
Damian Lillard -2.7
Anfernee Simons -2.7

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

2022-23

def rating:

Jusuf Nurkić 114
Drew Eubanks 115
Matisse Thybulle 116
Gary Payton II 116
Josh Hart 118
Justise Winslow 118
Trendon Watford 119
Keon Johnson 119
Jabari Walker 120
Jerami Grant 120
Nassir Little 120
Damian Lillard 121
Shaedon Sharpe 121
Anfernee Simons 123

DBPM:

Gary Payton II 1.4
Matisse Thybulle 1.1
Drew Eubanks 0.9
Josh Hart 0.7
Jusuf Nurkić 0.7
Justise Winslow 0.6
Trendon Watford -0.4
Damian Lillard -1.2
Jerami Grant -1.4
Nassir Little -1.4
Keon Johnson -1.6
Shaedon Sharpe -2.0
Jabari Walker -2.1
Anfernee Simons -2.5

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

2023-24

def rating:

Robert Williams 109
Matisse Thybulle 114
Deandre Ayton 114
Jabari Walker 116
Toumani Camara 117
Duop Reath 117
Dalano Banton 117
Kris Murray 118
Shaedon Sharpe 119
Jerami Grant 120
Malcolm Brogdon 120
Scoot Henderson 120
Anfernee Simons 121

DBPM:

Matisse Thybulle 3.4
Robert Williams 2.9
Toumani Camara 0.0
Kris Murray -0.2
Deandre Ayton -0.2
Duop Reath -0.7
Malcolm Brogdon -0.7
Dalano Banton -0.9
Shaedon Sharpe -0.9
Jabari Walker -0.9
Jerami Grant -1.1
Rayan Rupert -1.2
Scoot Henderson -2.3
Anfernee Simons -2.5

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

2024-25

def rating:

Robert Williams 109
Donovan Clingan 109
Jabari Walker 112
Deandre Ayton 113
Deni Avdija 115
Toumani Camara 116
Dalano Banton 116
Scoot Henderson 117
Jerami Grant 118
Kris Murray 119
Shaedon Sharpe 119
Anfernee Simons 120

DBPM:

Robert Williams 2.8
Donovan Clingan 1.1
Toumani Camara 0.4
Jabari Walker 0.3
Deni Avdija 0.3
Dalano Banton -0.3
Kris Murray -0.6
Scoot Henderson -0.7
Jerami Grant -0.7
Deandre Ayton -0.7
Shaedon Sharpe -1.8
Anfernee Simons -1.9

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

sorry about the length of post....but do you see the trend?

individual defensive stats can be pretty noisy, but when the same stats consistently say the same thing over 4 seasons, that become rather credible. And in this case, they match the eyeball test of a vast majority of eyeballs paying attention

now, if Chauncey would have said he's demoting Sharpe to the bench because other Blazer players are better, that would have been justifiable within the limited context of BPA. But he didn't say that; he said he was benching Sharpe because of failing defense and we've all seen 4 years of Simons consistently failing at defense to the point right now he's one of the very worst defenders in the league

and if we can see that, it's certain that Sharpe and other players sitting on Portland's bench can see the failings of Simons on defense. So it's almost certain that the 'lesson' Chauncey is allegedly trying to teach Sharpe will have very little impact because of the conflict between Chauncey's words and the reality of Simons on defense

all that is not to say that Sharpe has definitely earned the starting role; he hasn't really improved in any significant fashion in nearly 3 years. He's made some progress in some areas but overall, he remains a disappointment for a 7th pick who has flashed the kind of athletic gifts he has

in any event, I think the Simons/Billups/Cronin combo is going to be as completely frustrating as the CJ/Sotts/Olshey triangle. Having a player that absolutely needs to be moved while having a coach who overplays him and a GM infatuated with talent nobody else can see

Great work here, those defensive stats are the type that are net negative unless you're Damian Lillard maybe.

I can't stand the hipocracy, calling out everyone but simons and grant defensively while both remain some of our biggest liabilities in that department (and neither will lose their starting spot regardless of what they show)

[DaVoiceMaster]

Do we really need to continue calling out Simons for piss poor defense? I think everyone knows that already.

What pisses me off is Sharpe now has the mentality he doesn't need to play defense. There was one play where the Lakers (maybe Reaves) had a 1 on 2 fast break. Simons and Sharpe were the two. Simons at least made a play, even if it was poorly done. Sharpe simply backed off and didn't even attempt to make a play. In history 1st season or two, he would have gone for the block. Now he doesn't even try. I'm kind of ready to be done with him. If this draft is so good, can we get a decent pick for him?

[DaVoiceMaster]

What was Simon's deal tonight? Has he ever missedb3 free throws inba game before? Grant doesn't know how to pass the ball on a 3 on 1 fast break, instead running over someone for an offensive foul or just throwing the ball away. I know he was not a great player, but he wasn't this bad. I'm kind of ready to be done with Sharpe, as well. Is it too late to sell high on him? Frankly, I'm ready to move anyone not named Camara this summer.

IMO you forgot Deni, he's a keeper as well and younger by 8 months than Camara, after that I agree

Didn't forget. He's probably number 2 on my list at this point. I just don't think he'd fetch enough in return to make up what the Blazers paid so I don't see him going anywhere. I'd consider moving him though for the right offer.