Game 57: Portland vs Utah 6:00pm Chargetv and KUNP

[m0ng0]

Drrrrrrrr we won again...I hate this team

[BlazersBroncos]

aaaaaaaand, benched.

25 minutes is good enough for development. Clingan played well. It's nice to see he has more of his mobility back that he was lacking after his knee injury. Let's cross our figures he will stay healthy for the rest of the season. That means don't overplay him. Because I'm almost willing to bet we've seen the last of Ayton this season. Time Lord will continue to play sparingly and Walker will be the backup center. It's likely if Clingan stays healthy he will be starting at center for the rest of the season. 20-25 minutes will be fine.

Oh I get it, trust me. I wasn’t looking at the boxscore when Billups benched Clingan to end the game (w/about 8:30 left in the 4th), but it’s incredibly important for young players to get game reps in games/situations that matter.

Billups decided to go small, first with Grant/Deni guarding Utah’s Center and then he switched to Walker for a while.

Billups wants to win—I don’t blame him. He has his career to think about.

The plusses to this game were that Scoot had a decent game despite his 1:1 A/TO, Deni did Deni things, Camara continues to hit 3s, attack close outs and do Camara things, and Clingan did a decent job manning the paint defensively. I do wish he’d play more with Scoot.

Clingan needs to learn to rebound better—he treats rebounds in his area like rebounds that are out of his area. Right now it seems like he’s still playing like he relies on being the biggest guy on the floor. When his skill catches up with his size, he’ll be a problem. Gotta get him in A+ shape, though…

Of all the things for DC to work on I didnt expect to see rebounding listed.

He is at 17.9% ORB% and 27.4 DRB%. For comparison, these are the metrics for the Top-3 rebounders in the game -

1. Sabonis 12.6% ORB% / 32% DRB%
2. KAT 10.3% ORB% / 33.2% DRB%
3. Jokic 9.6% ORB% / 27.9 DRB%
4. Zubac 13.3% ORB% / 30.5 DRB%
5. Kessler 16.7% ORB% / 26.5 DRB%

Kessler is listed as the best ORB% guy in the league so basically Clingan, if he had the minutes to qualify, would be the best ORB% guy in the entire league. He really is already an elite rebounder and if given consistent 20-25mpg probably would be in the top 8, even top 5, in RPG in the whole league.

[zzaj]

25 minutes is good enough for development. Clingan played well. It's nice to see he has more of his mobility back that he was lacking after his knee injury. Let's cross our figures he will stay healthy for the rest of the season. That means don't overplay him. Because I'm almost willing to bet we've seen the last of Ayton this season. Time Lord will continue to play sparingly and Walker will be the backup center. It's likely if Clingan stays healthy he will be starting at center for the rest of the season. 20-25 minutes will be fine.

Oh I get it, trust me. I wasn’t looking at the boxscore when Billups benched Clingan to end the game (w/about 8:30 left in the 4th), but it’s incredibly important for young players to get game reps in games/situations that matter.

Billups decided to go small, first with Grant/Deni guarding Utah’s Center and then he switched to Walker for a while.

Billups wants to win—I don’t blame him. He has his career to think about.

The plusses to this game were that Scoot had a decent game despite his 1:1 A/TO, Deni did Deni things, Camara continues to hit 3s, attack close outs and do Camara things, and Clingan did a decent job manning the paint defensively. I do wish he’d play more with Scoot.

Clingan needs to learn to rebound better—he treats rebounds in his area like rebounds that are out of his area. Right now it seems like he’s still playing like he relies on being the biggest guy on the floor. When his skill catches up with his size, he’ll be a problem. Gotta get him in A+ shape, though…

Of all the things for DC to work on I didnt expect to see rebounding listed.

He is at 17.9% ORB% and 27.4 DRB%. For comparison, these are the metrics for the Top-3 rebounders in the game -

1. Sabonis 12.6% ORB% / 32% DRB%
2. KAT 10.3% ORB% / 33.2% DRB%
3. Jokic 9.6% ORB% / 27.9 DRB%
4. Zubac 13.3% ORB% / 30.5 DRB%
5. Kessler 16.7% ORB% / 26.5 DRB%

Kessler is listed as the best ORB% guy in the league so basically Clingan, if he had the minutes to qualify, would be the best ORB% guy in the entire league. He really is already an elite rebounder and if given consistent 20-25mpg probably would be in the top 8, even top 5, in RPG in the whole league.

Yep, he has a natural nose for where to be for rebounds, and clearly that's a focus of his when he's on the court. But his technique is pretty rough. He often doesn't go up strong (he has a bad habit of trying to tip rebounds to himself even in his area) and he doesn't secure the ball well...he often brings the ball down into defenders. Again, all classic examples of habits formed by being the biggest kid on the court...

I don't doubt that in a year or two he will be an elite defender and very elite rebounder. He seems to already have the knack and work ethic to improve.

[BlazersBroncos]

Oh I get it, trust me. I wasn’t looking at the boxscore when Billups benched Clingan to end the game (w/about 8:30 left in the 4th), but it’s incredibly important for young players to get game reps in games/situations that matter.

Billups decided to go small, first with Grant/Deni guarding Utah’s Center and then he switched to Walker for a while.

Billups wants to win—I don’t blame him. He has his career to think about.

The plusses to this game were that Scoot had a decent game despite his 1:1 A/TO, Deni did Deni things, Camara continues to hit 3s, attack close outs and do Camara things, and Clingan did a decent job manning the paint defensively. I do wish he’d play more with Scoot.

Clingan needs to learn to rebound better—he treats rebounds in his area like rebounds that are out of his area. Right now it seems like he’s still playing like he relies on being the biggest guy on the floor. When his skill catches up with his size, he’ll be a problem. Gotta get him in A+ shape, though…

Of all the things for DC to work on I didnt expect to see rebounding listed.

He is at 17.9% ORB% and 27.4 DRB%. For comparison, these are the metrics for the Top-3 rebounders in the game -

1. Sabonis 12.6% ORB% / 32% DRB%
2. KAT 10.3% ORB% / 33.2% DRB%
3. Jokic 9.6% ORB% / 27.9 DRB%
4. Zubac 13.3% ORB% / 30.5 DRB%
5. Kessler 16.7% ORB% / 26.5 DRB%

Kessler is listed as the best ORB% guy in the league so basically Clingan, if he had the minutes to qualify, would be the best ORB% guy in the entire league. He really is already an elite rebounder and if given consistent 20-25mpg probably would be in the top 8, even top 5, in RPG in the whole league.

Yep, he has a natural nose for where to be for rebounds, and clearly that's a focus of his when he's on the court. But his technique is pretty rough. He often doesn't go up strong (he has a bad habit of trying to tip rebounds to himself even in his area) and he doesn't secure the ball well...he often brings the ball down into defenders. Again, all classic examples of habits formed by being the biggest kid on the court...

I don't doubt that in a year or two he will be an elite defender and rebounder. He seems to already have the knack and work ethic to improve.

O ya, for sure has the bad habit of bringing the ball down. Notice this on offense alot when he gets ORB or the ball is passed to him when deep in the post. Thankfully its a bad habit that is very easily correctable.

[zzaj]

Speaking on last night's game...Flip had the game of his life. I watched half a dozen college games of his before the draft and was pretty unimpressed with how soooooft and slow he was.

Clearly, Utah is putting him in a position to succeed. His passing gives him a nice skillset for the NBA. Looks like he is on his way to uncovering his ceiling.

[JasonStern]

Flame suit on.
Maybe Chauncey didn't magically start coaching to save his job/coaching career.
Maybe the team took time to gel, and the recent wins were mostly against bottom tier teams.
Maybe the under 25 players are going to have bad games, due to life outside of the NBA, inexperience, bad match-ups, poor coaching decisions, etc.

Future GLB suggestions - Charlotte Vega (yeah, I have a type), and to break the trend, Shiva Negar.

[dckingsfan]

Another worthless win brought to you by our inept gm and his prized veterans the youngsters.

Just helping. Scoot, Clingan, Deni & Camara were the ones that showed up. Sharpe and Simons tried to sink the boat but couldn't.

[zzaj]

Another worthless win brought to you by our inept gm and his prized veterans the youngsters.

Just helping. Scoot, Clingan, Deni & Camara were the ones that showed up. Sharpe and Simons tried to sink the boat but couldn't.

Simons scored like 10 of his points in that 4th quarter. Without Simons the Blazers would have lost easily against Utah's starting bench unit. Grant suddenly decided to hit 3s again too...take Simons and Grant out and the Blazers lose this one by 20.

[BlazersBroncos]

Another worthless win brought to you by our inept gm and his prized veterans the youngsters.

Just helping. Scoot, Clingan, Deni & Camara were the ones that showed up. Sharpe and Simons tried to sink the boat but couldn't.

Ya the kids actually were the drivers to win that one.

Avdija +19
Clingan +16
Camara +14
Scoot +3

Grant was a +5 and Simons, in the tradition of giving as much as he is getting (28 points) managed a +0.

Sharpe continues to be pretty brutal in +/1 at -24.

His On/Off per 100 Possessions this year is easily the worse of any rotation player at -5.6. The next worse are Ayton (-3.4) and Simons (-3.1). Sharpe has never posted a positive On/Off per 100 or OnCourt per 100 in his 3 seasons.

On the good news side the 'core' youth, outside the disappointing Sharpe, are all posting our best On/Off per 100 Possessions of rotation guys this season -

Clingan +4.1
Camara +4.0
Henderson +3.8
Avdija +3.5

[dckingsfan]

Another worthless win brought to you by our inept gm and his prized veterans the youngsters.

Just helping. Scoot, Clingan, Deni & Camara were the ones that showed up. Sharpe and Simons tried to sink the boat but couldn't.

Simons scored like 10 of his points in that 4th quarter. Without Simons the Blazers would have lost easily against Utah's starting bench unit. Grant suddenly decided to hit 3s again too...take Simons and Grant out and the Blazers lose this one by 20.

Smh - Shmaybe. If some of those minutes to Grant & Simons go to other players and if those shots to go Camara, Scoot, Deni and Clingan - the 4th quarter might have been irrelevant.

Either way, the HEAVY lifting was done by the youngsters

[zzaj]

Just helping. Scoot, Clingan, Deni & Camara were the ones that showed up. Sharpe and Simons tried to sink the boat but couldn't.

Simons scored like 10 of his points in that 4th quarter. Without Simons the Blazers would have lost easily against Utah's starting bench unit. Grant suddenly decided to hit 3s again too...take Simons and Grant out and the Blazers lose this one by 20.

Smh - Shmaybe. If some of those minutes to Grant & Simons go to other players and if those shots to go Camara, Scoot, Deni and Clingan - the 4th quarter might have been irrelevant.

Either way, the HEAVY lifting was done by the youngsters

I like what Scoot, Clingan, Deni and Camara added to the game--obviously those players are the future for many of us fans...

But Grant and Simons scored 42% of Portland's points in the game. I don't think you can just redistribute the 38 shots that duo took among Deni, Camara, Sharpe, Clingan and a couple of bench players and assume that they would win. In all probability they would lose...especially if you consider Simons was basically the only player scoring in the 4th when the Jazz cut the lead down to almost nothing.

Now do I WISH they would have redistributed those shots? Absolutely. As I hinted at earlier in the game thread, young players playing important minutes in close games is incredibly valuable to their development, IMHO. I want nothing more for the Blazers than for Simons, Ayton, and Grant to be off the team. Unfortunately for many of us, all indicators point to Crolshey keeping those players on the team indefinitely, at the cost of major minutes for the younger players.

[dckingsfan]

Simons scored like 10 of his points in that 4th quarter. Without Simons the Blazers would have lost easily against Utah's starting bench unit. Grant suddenly decided to hit 3s again too...take Simons and Grant out and the Blazers lose this one by 20.

Smh - Shmaybe. If some of those minutes to Grant & Simons go to other players and if those shots to go Camara, Scoot, Deni and Clingan - the 4th quarter might have been irrelevant.

Either way, the HEAVY lifting was done by the youngsters

I like what Scoot, Clingan, Deni and Camara added to the game--obviously those players are the future for many of us fans...

But Grant and Simons scored 42% of Portland's points in the game. I don't think you can just redistribute the 38 shots that duo took among Deni, Camara, Sharpe, Clingan and a couple of bench players and assume that they would win. In all probability they would lose...especially if you consider Simons was basically the only player scoring in the 4th when the Jazz cut the lead down to almost nothing.

Now do I WISH they would have redistributed those shots? Absolutely. As I hinted at earlier in the game thread, young players playing important minutes in close games is incredibly valuable to their development, IMHO. I want nothing more for the Blazers than for Simons, Ayton, and Grant to be off the team. Unfortunately for many of us, all indicators point to Crolshey keeping those players on the team indefinitely, at the cost of major minutes for the younger players.

Can't disagree with your conclusion. And that is really the most important point.

My point is that if Grant and Simons were not in the game, those shots would have been redistributed. Additionally, more defense would have been played (IMO). I think the game would have been more lopsided in the Blazers favor. Note, just an opinion.

But this is if, dog, rabbit logic on my side, so I will give you that...

[zzaj]

Smh - Shmaybe. If some of those minutes to Grant & Simons go to other players and if those shots to go Camara, Scoot, Deni and Clingan - the 4th quarter might have been irrelevant.

Either way, the HEAVY lifting was done by the youngsters

I like what Scoot, Clingan, Deni and Camara added to the game--obviously those players are the future for many of us fans...

But Grant and Simons scored 42% of Portland's points in the game. I don't think you can just redistribute the 38 shots that duo took among Deni, Camara, Sharpe, Clingan and a couple of bench players and assume that they would win. In all probability they would lose...especially if you consider Simons was basically the only player scoring in the 4th when the Jazz cut the lead down to almost nothing.

Now do I WISH they would have redistributed those shots? Absolutely. As I hinted at earlier in the game thread, young players playing important minutes in close games is incredibly valuable to their development, IMHO. I want nothing more for the Blazers than for Simons, Ayton, and Grant to be off the team. Unfortunately for many of us, all indicators point to Crolshey keeping those players on the team indefinitely, at the cost of major minutes for the younger players.

Can't disagree with your conclusion. And that is really the most important point.

My point is that if Grant and Simons were not in the game, those shots would have been redistributed. Additionally, more defense would have been played (IMO). I think the game would have been more lopsided in the Blazers favor. Note, just an opinion.

But this is if, dog, rabbit logic on my side, so I will give you that...

Totally...who really knows if a starting lineup of:

Scoot
Sharpe
Camara
Deni
Clingan

could outplay the "vets" starting lineup:

Simons
Camara
Deni
Grant
Ayton

...but it likely doesn't matter. Based on lineup data, that first 5 man group won't be playing together as a whole anytime in the forseeable future--at least as long as Billups is the coach.

[dunlop212]

A lot of DC's ORBs are putbacks of his own missed shots. But yeah, give him the minutes.

Hard to understand how SS goes into a contract year looking at the probability of generational wealth and regresses. Minus 24 against a D League team says it all. I wonder what he's smoking.

[PDXKnight]

A lot of DC's ORBs are putbacks of his own missed shots. But yeah, give him the minutes.

Hard to understand how SS goes into a contract year looking at the probability of generational wealth and regresses. Minus 24 against a D League team says it all. I wonder what he's smoking.

Ayton rebounds a lot of his own misses as well. White Jordan has a lot of heart, I'm definitely down to play the kid as much as he can handle. 25 mpg and a starting role seems reasonable.

Not sure what shaedons deal is. Wish I could magically give him 10 percent of john starks's energy for those of us who like throwbacks (already at 35 I'm feeling old)

[DaVoiceMaster]

Utah knows how to tank... playing one of the worst teams in the league, they pull all 5 starters.

[Walton1one]

Utah knows how to tank... playing one of the worst teams in the league, they pull all 5 starters.

and they (POR) still almost lost, which is more of an indictment of this POR team, not UTA

[Case2012]

Sharpe just doesn't care. When he has he ever shown he really gave a crap? His interviews were a dead give away. licking his lips staring off into space and playing with his face while saying 3 words.. derr basketball good. He's braindead for 1 and 2 he's just checked out. No heart. He didn't play his freshman year and just coasted to the NBA, and he just expected to become a starter, he said as much in his exit interview after his first season. Without any thoughts to the fact he would be taking someone's role. He got paid, he wants to get paid more, and he cant seem to rub his 2 braincells together to figure out he needs to actually try? I can't stand this kid. Knowing Crolshey he'll probably max him out. Man, i wish we took Daniels instead. We'd have the best defensive wings in the NBA. What do you think the market would be for him? If we trade him now, we'll probably be getting a low return. If he picks it up, then cronin will give him a big extension... not sure what to do. I bet we could get at least one first for him from brooklyn. Maybe the phoenix pick?