LordRiley wrote:zzaj wrote:Finally got around to watching...and yes, I take all preseason games with a grain of salt.
The big standout to me is that I see the continuity that the team had been building on both ends of the floor the past few years looks almost entirely gone.
If last night was any indication, the combination of lots of new players in the system, likely small system tweaks and a complete lack of actual ball handlers/facilitators on the team, will mean the Blazers will be near the top of the league in turnovers. With fast break points against reflecting accordingly. That is not a good sign.
I was pretty unimpressed with Whiteside. I never realized how TERRIBLE he is at boxing out. And as Shem (I think it was) said, he looks much more ground-bound than I remember him.
I liked Bazemore's defensive BBIQ, and he's more mobile than Turner and capable of hitting a 3pter now and again.
Collins looked basically the same to me, as did Simons...although Collins looked a little less hesitant to shoot.
It's early. I don't really want to judge anything until after Christmas...but IMO, the past few seasons the Blazers have threaded the success needle because of continuity and one of Lillard/Mccollum handling the scoring load, game after game. The former is likely gone, and the latter might have to be even more pronounced. The eye of the needle may have just gotten a bit smaller this season.
Lmao at being unimpressed by a someone playing 12 minutes in a meaningless game and not even playing hard, while being limited by an ankle injury. Yeah ok.
It was the first time he played in anything other than a scrimmage with his new team in front of fans in their actual arena. A huge amount of the year's success is going to hinge on how he fits with the other starters. You don't think his performance is going to get extra special notice?
What I AM impressed with is that a Heat fan would go through the trouble of posting on the Blazer board over a caveat filled post by a Blazer poster after a "meaningless game" that doesn't include the Heat. Have you always been a TROLL or were you just trolling and looking for anybody that might criticize one of your team's ex-players?
I'm sure Whiteside will be fine at certain things. I am sure he'll be motivated in a contract year. He's going to look different in the PnR than Nurkic and that's what I'm mostly gauging. I am hoping that he adds an athletic element to the short PnR that has been missing from the Blazers C position for many, many years. Ankle injury or no, I didn't see much to get super excited about in this game. It doesn't take much out of an ankle to put a body on somebody during a box out.