Game 73: Portland vs Cleveland 7:00pm Chargetv and KUNP

[Brandon-Clyde]

Consolation GLB pics

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

[zzaj]

Helluva game up through about 3 minutes into the 4th. Blazers offensive execution just completely fell apart and they started resorting to 3s, I counted at least 11 in the 4th quarter.

Great to see Clingan get some extended run and end with 18/12/3.

Deni an Sharpe tanked their percentages in that 4th. Sharpe in particular has really got some growing up to do in terms of shot selection.

I haven't looked yet, but I'm sure the Blazers got killed in the paint.

Blazers 14-22 at the FT line. Yuck.

Blazers likely have to win the rest of their games in order to have a puncher's chance to make the Play-in...although Dallas lost tonight, too.

Regarding Lillard...blood clots are never good, and lower body DVTs are more serious than upper because of the chances of pulmonary embolism. They also tend to be more chronic. And yes, inactivity on flights is a huge cause of DVTs.

[Walton1one]

POR 17-52 from 3pt

1) that is a bad percentage if you actually want to win a game

2) that is way too many 3pt shots, and they got 7 of those from players not expected to shoot that well

3) this team doesn’t have even remotely the quality of players to attempt that many 3pt shots

[zzaj]

POR 17-52 from 3pt

1) that is a bad percentage if you actually want to win a game

2) that is way too many 3pt shots, and they got 7 of those from players not expected to shoot that well

3) this team doesn’t have even remotely the quality of players to attempt that many 3pt shots

Yeah...curious what they shot in the 4th. It wasn't good.

[Case2012]

I think that's how Kersey passed away. Blood clot in the same place that led to the embolism. I would be blown away if this is how Dame ends his career, really bummed for him.

[DaVoiceMaster]

Sharpe was responsible for about 3 minutes in a row of pure putrid basketball. The guy really pisses me off sometimes (often). Avdija had some poor moments, as well. What's with Thybulle since he returned. They should have pulled Sharpe and put Thybulle back in to hit a few more 3's.

Banton sucked A$$ tonight.

[PDXKnight]

I think that's how Kersey passed away. Blood clot in the same place that led to the embolism. I would be blown away if this is how Dame ends his career, really bummed for him.

I think we can pretty safely say we won the Dame trade now at least

[BlazersBroncos]

Sharpe is so frustrating. He has been outlandishly good at getting to the rim and finishing lately (Top in the league for some time at like 80%) but loves to settle for contested jumpers.

He just settles and lets himself play lazy. Alot of Rudy Gay in him IMO. Dripping with talent and the potential to be a Top-5 SG but likely to go the way of Rudy and just sort of coast off natural ability and have a meh career getting 17ppg on average efficiency and not putting the effort in on defense despite having the natural talent to be lockdown on that side of the ball (Like Rudy Gay was).

[dckingsfan]

Sharpe is so frustrating. He has been outlandishly good at getting to the rim and finishing lately (Top in the league for some time at like 80%) but loves to settle for contested jumpers.

He just settles and lets himself play lazy. Alot of Rudy Gay in him IMO. Dripping with talent and the potential to be a Top-5 SG but likely to go the way of Rudy and just sort of coast off natural ability and have a meh career getting 17ppg on average efficiency and not putting the effort in on defense despite having the natural talent to be lockdown on that side of the ball (Like Rudy Gay was).

This. He and tank commander Simons are tough to watch.

[JRoy]

I still like Sharpe but shot selection and outside shooting this season have been disappointing.

[Blazinaway]

Sharpe is so frustrating. He has been outlandishly good at getting to the rim and finishing lately (Top in the league for some time at like 80%) but loves to settle for contested jumpers.

He just settles and lets himself play lazy. Alot of Rudy Gay in him IMO. Dripping with talent and the potential to be a Top-5 SG but likely to go the way of Rudy and just sort of coast off natural ability and have a meh career getting 17ppg on average efficiency and not putting the effort in on defense despite having the natural talent to be lockdown on that side of the ball (Like Rudy Gay was).

This. He and tank commander Simons are tough to watch.

Yeah, Shae is very frustrating to watch, just oozes talent but lazy is correct. Will be interesting if he gets offered an extension and how much? I'd try to give him a "lowish" but not insulting offer and see what happens. Also, would not be adverse for trading him either in a package, perhaps even with our pick for a higher pick or a different young player/players.

[BlazersBroncos]

Also, would not be adverse for trading him either in a package, perhaps even with our pick for a higher pick or a different young player/players.

I agree - but its hard to find something that works.

No team is moving Cooper or Harper for Sharpe + a 8-12 FRP. After that, Ace has a ton of the same issues as Sharpe IMO. Tre is interesting, but not sure I like the value. VJ is not a great fit on this squad (And IMO he will end up measuring 2+ inches shorter than his listed 6'5 - kid looks small). Kasparas is falling off and Kon is a rich mans Luke Kennard IMO.

So trading him and the pick to move up isnt that appealing.

As for moving him and the pick for a youngster - not sure what works there either. A guy like Franz Wagner is not getting moved for that package.

A guy that might work would be Tre Murphy. He is going into his age 25 season and would give us a interesting jumbo 2-4 w/ Camara / Murphy / Deni. Locked up into a deal that actually may end up being a bargain (25 / 27 / 29 / 31) assuming he continues to be a 22+ ppg type. His archetype is an ideal fit with Scoot and company as a off ball shooter that has really improved his handle and FTr. If NO takes Ace with their FRP something like Sharpe + PDX FRP may work.

But then again, is that a good deal for PDX? I probably would try to get the lower of the NO / IND 2026 FRP in the deal as well to balance it a bit but assume NO would balk.

[dckingsfan]

Sharpe is so frustrating. He has been outlandishly good at getting to the rim and finishing lately (Top in the league for some time at like 80%) but loves to settle for contested jumpers.

He just settles and lets himself play lazy. Alot of Rudy Gay in him IMO. Dripping with talent and the potential to be a Top-5 SG but likely to go the way of Rudy and just sort of coast off natural ability and have a meh career getting 17ppg on average efficiency and not putting the effort in on defense despite having the natural talent to be lockdown on that side of the ball (Like Rudy Gay was).

This. He and tank commander Simons are tough to watch.

Yeah, Shae is very frustrating to watch, just oozes talent but lazy is correct. Will be interesting if he gets offered an extension and how much? I'd try to give him a "lowish" but not insulting offer and see what happens. Also, would not be adverse for trading him either in a package, perhaps even with our pick for a higher pick or a different young player/players.

That would work. It would be interesting to see if there was a team that would be interested. I can't think of one off the top of my head.

The guards above our draft position, Knueppel, Demim, Fears, Fland, Richardson, Johnson, Edgecombe and Harper (duh ) have higher ceilings at this point.

What is good is that one of them will drop to us but... you take BPA for sure.

Edit: Didn't see BlazersBroncos' post above. Also good points.

[zzaj]

Sharpe is so frustrating. He has been outlandishly good at getting to the rim and finishing lately (Top in the league for some time at like 80%) but loves to settle for contested jumpers.

He just settles and lets himself play lazy. Alot of Rudy Gay in him IMO. Dripping with talent and the potential to be a Top-5 SG but likely to go the way of Rudy and just sort of coast off natural ability and have a meh career getting 17ppg on average efficiency and not putting the effort in on defense despite having the natural talent to be lockdown on that side of the ball (Like Rudy Gay was).

Yeah, Sharpe is giving me flashes of Andrew Wiggins, too...ofc Wiggins despite unbelievably huge "next Kobe" hype coming in has now had a long and successful career.

One of Sharpe's main issues is he has no initial burst and only plays at one speed. Way too much dribble/hesi/dribble/hesi looking for his defender to make a mistake in order to get to the basket, where he's very good. He's like the exact opposite of Jeremiah Fears who is unbelievably good at setting up defenders to get to the rim 1:1 or in the PnR--easily the best I've ever seen at that specific skill, for his age.

[BlazersBroncos]

Yeah, Sharpe is giving me flashes of Andrew Wiggins, too...ofc Wiggins despite unbelievably huge "next Kobe" hype coming in has now had a long and successful career.

Ya, a Wiggins type trajectory for Sharpe would be an improvement over the current direction - primarily because Wiggins has shown far more as a defender. They are far off on that side of the ball, even at comparable ages.

[zzaj]

Yeah, Sharpe is giving me flashes of Andrew Wiggins, too...ofc Wiggins despite unbelievably huge "next Kobe" hype coming in has now had a long and successful career.

Ya, a Wiggins type trajectory for Sharpe would be an improvement over the current direction - primarily because Wiggins has shown far more as a defender. They are far off on that side of the ball, even at comparable ages.

Yep, that's a good point...Wiggins was always at least an average defender, if memory serves.

EDIT: Just went back and looked and they are actually pretty close at Sharpe's age/experience. Wiggins has him in 3pt%, but Sharpe is shooting 3x the attempts (not a good thing).
https://stathead.com/basketball/versus-finder.cgi?request=1&seasons_type=perchoice&player_id1=wiggian01&p1yrfrom=2017&p1yrto=2017&player_id2=sharpsh01&p2yrfrom=2025&p2yrto=2025

[Blazinaway]

Shae just takes/settles for way too many bad 3's, Billups needs to shut that part of his game down given his 3 pt percentage. Force him to be more selective

[JasonStern]

Digging Clingan's game. Hate the Joe Pryz-baller comparisons, as I see Cling-Kong as more of a late career Sabonis without the passing game. Fairly round skill set that doesn't overly rely on athleticism, which is a good thing given Portland's big man history.

Also great to see Thybulle back, as it seems like Sharpe and Banton are putting more effort in to avoid losing minutes. Will never understand the Sharpe hate. He's panning out well for a #7 pick. Should be a solid starter for years in the league. Other than Jalen Williams, I don't really see anyone in the 2022 draft that would have been a significantly better pick at #7.

Cleveland is clearly the much better team. So, I am not remotely surprised they pulled away at the end after basically toying with us for most of the game.

Man that sucks and I hope he gets better soon.

Whats with all these blood clots? Is the technology simply growing and able to catch stuff that previously was missed? I know processed foods are seen as a potential cause - wonder if the population as a whole is more susceptible based on our diets the past 50+ years.

Diet has a huge factor, but I think it's more advancements in diagnostics. We are capable of catching thinks quicker, which is great as early treatment is far less fatal.

[DaVoiceMaster]

Sharpe has a decent mid-range game. He just seems to be in love with the 3 point shot and he sucks at it.