Game 48: Portland vs Orlando 7:00pm Chargetv and KUNP

[zzaj]

WTH is with Billups' rotation tonight?

Yeah, the Blazers won by 29. WTF was he thinking?

I posted that about three quarters into the 2nd quarter. Billups had played 10 guys by then, which is very unusual...that's why I asked.

[dckingsfan]

Interesting. Maybe another way to look at it is age related, so a list from youngest to oldest.

Code: Select all

Rayan Rupert      Improved Slightly
Donovan Clingan   Significant Addition
Scoot Henderson   Significant Improvement
Shaedon Sharpe    Marginal Improvement
Jabari Walker     Declined
Deni Avdija       Significant Addition
Kris Murray       Marginal Improvement
Toumani Camara    Marginal Improvement
Dalano Banton     Marginal Improvement
Anfernee Simons   Same
Deandre Ayton     Same
Robert Williams   Too few minutes to matter
Matisse Thybulle  Too few minutes to matter
Duop Reath        Too few minutes to matter
Jerami Grant      Declined

My opinion - and just that, would be to be willing to move Simons, Ayton, Williams, Thybulle, Reath and Grant.

But, as others have pointed out, this FO seems to want to build around Simons, Ayton and Grant.

Fascinating.

[Walton1one]

The Blazers were 21-61 last year. It's called improvement. How's that for context? It's part of the rebuilding phase that went way over your head. But the moment you had to bring up their record instead of the recent stretch to try to discredit what is going on is the moment you lost any credibility of anything you just recently argued.

What it shows is you realize that your previous arguments have no merit thus you need to change the subject and try to throw the whole season in my face because you're mad that the Blazers have played this well without Sharpe in the starting lineup. Talk about having a stick up your f'ing ass. Reading your posts is like listen to Donald Trump ramble like the orange buffoon that he is.

No surprise from you, you lost the conversation so you revert to insults & profanity. I bet you pounded those keys extra hard when you wrote that. Pretty much sums up all of your insufferable posts. As for improvement:

3 years ago they were 27-55
2 years ago they were 33-49
1 year ago they were 21-61

How does that "improvement" look now in a bigger context? I think you are incapable\unwilling to acknowledge the bigger picture.

All you can provide are nonsensical talking points like "6-1 since Sharpe went to the bench" like it is something meaningful, which it isn't. All you are doing is regurgitating propaganda from an organization that has paper thin skin. Isn't that what shills like Danny Marang are for?

The EC conference this year BTW, has 42.7 win% vs the WC, which is statistically tied for the worst win% in the last 10 years,

and remind me again what part of a "rebuilding phase" has guys like Simons\Grant\Ayton, all of whom have no long term future on this team, all averaging 30+ minutes and taking 44% of all FG attempts?

This is the definition of winning the battle, but losing the war. It is like building a house on an incomplete foundation and then lamenting years later about the house falling apart. But I would not expect someone like you to have any understanding of that concept. Please feel free not to respond to my posts.

[DusterBuster]

Interesting. Maybe another way to look at it is age related, so a list from youngest to oldest.

Code: Select all

Rayan Rupert      Improved Slightly
Donovan Clingan   Significant Addition
Scoot Henderson   Significant Improvement
Shaedon Sharpe    Marginal Improvement
Jabari Walker     Declined
Deni Avdija       Significant Addition
Kris Murray       Marginal Improvement
Toumani Camara    Marginal Improvement
Dalano Banton     Marginal Improvement
Anfernee Simons   Same
Deandre Ayton     Same
Robert Williams   Too few minutes to matter
Matisse Thybulle  Too few minutes to matter
Duop Reath        Too few minutes to matter
Jerami Grant      Declined

My opinion - and just that, would be to be willing to move Simons, Ayton, Williams, Thybulle, Reath and Grant.

But, as others have pointed out, this FO seems to want to build around Simons, Ayton and Grant.

Fascinating.

I would argue Camara has taken a significant improvement.

[dckingsfan]

Interesting. Maybe another way to look at it is age related, so a list from youngest to oldest.

Code: Select all

Rayan Rupert      Improved Slightly
Donovan Clingan   Significant Addition
Scoot Henderson   Significant Improvement
Shaedon Sharpe    Marginal Improvement
Jabari Walker     Declined
Deni Avdija       Significant Addition
Kris Murray       Marginal Improvement
Toumani Camara    Marginal Improvement
Dalano Banton     Marginal Improvement
Anfernee Simons   Same
Deandre Ayton     Same
Robert Williams   Too few minutes to matter
Matisse Thybulle  Too few minutes to matter
Duop Reath        Too few minutes to matter
Jerami Grant      Declined

My opinion - and just that, would be to be willing to move Simons, Ayton, Williams, Thybulle, Reath and Grant.

But, as others have pointed out, this FO seems to want to build around Simons, Ayton and Grant.

Fascinating.

I would argue Camara has taken a significant improvement.

Fair enough. This just isn't a measure of "significant" to me:

Code: Select all

Season   Age   MP      TS%     3P%   DRB%   AST%   STL%   BLK%   TOV%   USG%   Drtg  WS/48   VORP
2023-24   23   1739   0.547   0.337   14     7.2   1.9    1.7    14.9   13.8   117   0.055   -0.5
2024-25   24   1458   0.549   0.347   12     9.2   2.1    1.7    14.0   14.0   117   0.063    0.1

BTW, in other places I have stated that I think he is part of the core. I just don't think he has made a big jump this year.

[DusterBuster]

Interesting. Maybe another way to look at it is age related, so a list from youngest to oldest.

Code: Select all

Rayan Rupert      Improved Slightly
Donovan Clingan   Significant Addition
Scoot Henderson   Significant Improvement
Shaedon Sharpe    Marginal Improvement
Jabari Walker     Declined
Deni Avdija       Significant Addition
Kris Murray       Marginal Improvement
Toumani Camara    Marginal Improvement
Dalano Banton     Marginal Improvement
Anfernee Simons   Same
Deandre Ayton     Same
Robert Williams   Too few minutes to matter
Matisse Thybulle  Too few minutes to matter
Duop Reath        Too few minutes to matter
Jerami Grant      Declined

My opinion - and just that, would be to be willing to move Simons, Ayton, Williams, Thybulle, Reath and Grant.

But, as others have pointed out, this FO seems to want to build around Simons, Ayton and Grant.

Fascinating.

I would argue Camara has taken a significant improvement.

Fair enough. This just isn't a measure of "significant" to me:

Code: Select all

Season   Age   MP      TS%     3P%   DRB%   AST%   STL%   BLK%   TOV%   USG%   Drtg  WS/48   VORP
2023-24   23   1739   0.547   0.337   14     7.2   1.9    1.7    14.9   13.8   117   0.055   -0.5
2024-25   24   1458   0.549   0.347   12     9.2   2.1    1.7    14.0   14.0   117   0.063    0.1

BTW, in other places I have stated that I think he is part of the core. I just don't think he has made a big jump this year.

Agreed. That's why I said IMO. By stats, yes "marginal", but stats are never the full story. Eye test proves he's made a significant improvement. The feel for the game is incredibly better even if stats aren't showing it.

[Skybox]

YOU GUYS SUCK...


...at tanking!

[DusterBuster]

YOU GUYS SUCK...


...at tanking!

Yup.

[JRoy]

YOU GUYS SUCK...


...at tanking!

You guys suck at trading for Simons!

Fix it!

[dckingsfan]

I would argue Camara has taken a significant improvement.

Fair enough. This just isn't a measure of "significant" to me:

Code: Select all

Season   Age   MP      TS%     3P%   DRB%   AST%   STL%   BLK%   TOV%   USG%   Drtg  WS/48   VORP
2023-24   23   1739   0.547   0.337   14     7.2   1.9    1.7    14.9   13.8   117   0.055   -0.5
2024-25   24   1458   0.549   0.347   12     9.2   2.1    1.7    14.0   14.0   117   0.063    0.1

BTW, in other places I have stated that I think he is part of the core. I just don't think he has made a big jump this year.

Agreed. That's why I said IMO. By stats, yes "marginal", but stats are never the full story. Eye test proves he's made a significant improvement. The feel for the game is incredibly better even if stats aren't showing it.

Meh. Agree to disagree. Improvement, yep. Significant, nope. Eye test, footwear, defense, offense, statistics, et. al.

[DaVoiceMaster]

Oh good, another chance for Ant to shine against Orlando, hopefully he goes off big time. Although with Cronin it may make no difference even if Orlando was interested

What the he'll happened? Does Simons not wanna go home? 21 minutes and 8 points?

[DaVoiceMaster]

Maybe the Magic can still come back, but they are a lot farther away from that team on the rise than I expected. Franz and Paolo are such weird fits, they're so similar of player, almost feels like they'd be better off cashing out on one while their value is high and making the other the goto player for the team.

Fox would be amazing for them, but even Simons would do wonders.

That's what I thought, too. They are not a win now team. I thought WCJ was better than this. They need a center and a guard and for Suggs to get healthy. And then they need a bench. They need a lot.

[DaVoiceMaster]

Interesting. Maybe another way to look at it is age related, so a list from youngest to oldest.

Code: Select all

Rayan Rupert      Improved Slightly
Donovan Clingan   Significant Addition
Scoot Henderson   Significant Improvement
Shaedon Sharpe    Marginal Improvement
Jabari Walker     Declined
Deni Avdija       Significant Addition
Kris Murray       Marginal Improvement
Toumani Camara    Marginal Improvement
Dalano Banton     Marginal Improvement
Anfernee Simons   Same
Deandre Ayton     Same
Robert Williams   Too few minutes to matter
Matisse Thybulle  Too few minutes to matter
Duop Reath        Too few minutes to matter
Jerami Grant      Declined

My opinion - and just that, would be to be willing to move Simons, Ayton, Williams, Thybulle, Reath and Grant.

But, as others have pointed out, this FO seems to want to build around Simons, Ayton and Grant.

Fascinating.

I would argue Camara has taken a significant improvement.

Camara is my favorite Blazers player this year. If he can continue to improve his offense, he could become a star.

[DusterBuster]

Maybe the Magic can still come back, but they are a lot farther away from that team on the rise than I expected. Franz and Paolo are such weird fits, they're so similar of player, almost feels like they'd be better off cashing out on one while their value is high and making the other the goto player for the team.

Fox would be amazing for them, but even Simons would do wonders.

That's what I thought, too. They are not a win now team. I thought WCJ was better than this. They need a center and a guard and for Suggs to get healthy. And then they need a bench. They need a lot.

Yeah, I remember WCJ being pretty widely regarded as a great prospect but he has not panned out at all.

[Shem]

Congrats on not direct quoting me in hopes I wouldn't see your reply. Trying hide now? Not wanting me to see a notification of a reply in hopes to get the last word? Damn, you're pathetic.

No surprise from you, you lost the conversation so you revert to insults & profanity.

What are you 5? "Mommy, Shem used a cuss word."

I bet you pounded those keys extra hard when you wrote that. Pretty much sums up all of your insufferable posts. As for improvement:

3 years ago they were 27-55
2 years ago they were 33-49
1 year ago they were 21-61

It's like you didn't realize that Dame was on the team 2 years or and 3 years now. If your head wasn't in your ass, you would have known that thus know that was an idiotic argument to make. Nor would you have know 2 and 3 years started off as trying to win.

3 years ago Dame was not 100% to start the season and was shut down after 29 games and the team tanked the rest of the year that netted us Sharpe.

2 years ago Dame only played 58 games and was shut down again for a draft that led to the 3rd pick that netted us Scoot.

The fact I had to explain any of this to you is very telling.

The 21-61 record was the official first full year of tanking and a restart to rebuild.

All you can provide are nonsensical talking points like "6-1 since Sharpe went to the bench" like it is something meaningful, which it isn't. All you are doing is regurgitating propaganda from an organization that has paper thin skin. Isn't that what shills like Danny Marang are for?

Oh, you're so smart that you should have Marang's job instead. Got it.

Why can't you just enjoy the fact that the Blazers are performing better than expected this season. Last year they were 40 games below .500 and only 10 games at this point nearing the all-star break.

Look, I still remember the 07-08 Blazers. They had a 13 game winning streak that year and finished 41-41 and missed the playoffs. But it was above the 32-50 the year before. And it set up their 54-28 season in the 2009 season and their first playoff appearance since 2003.

The Blazers during that streak of 6-1 have the best defense in the league during that stretch. Putting Deni and Camera in the starting lineup and benching Sharpe improved the defense (now that Deni got used to his new environment) and it shows. It has something to do with this recent stretch. It's not random. Especially since this is the best stretch of basketball since 2021.

This should give you hope that this could be the 2008 Blazers with their 13 game winning streak type vibes and hope it gets us to the next level next season and finally getting back to the playoffs in 2026.

I do expect the team to cool off, but this is good growth for these young guys. Deni and Camara are the future. Scoot's jumper looks so much better. His release and arc looks miles better than it did when he joined the team. And Scoot looks more relaxed and confident rather than being nervous and overthinking out there. Sharpe needs a motor like Deni, Camara and Scoot to go to the next level.

[Shem]

YOU GUYS SUCK...


...at tanking!

Yeah, we noticed. This team is doing better than I expected this season.

Simons would look good in a Magic uniform. He's in Scoot's way for development and you guys need offense and 3-point shooting. Plus, Simons is a Orlando native.

[Skybox]

YOU GUYS SUCK...


...at tanking!

Yeah, we noticed. This team is doing better than I expected this season.

Simons would look good in a Magic uniform. He's in Scoot's way for development and you guys need offense and 3-point shooting. Plus, Simons is a Orlando native.

Yep...we're definitely aware of his origin story...not too many "Anfernees" around (anywhere but ORL). Now if we can just find a kid named "Shaq"

[dckingsfan]

Maybe the Magic can still come back, but they are a lot farther away from that team on the rise than I expected. Franz and Paolo are such weird fits, they're so similar of player, almost feels like they'd be better off cashing out on one while their value is high and making the other the goto player for the team.

Fox would be amazing for them, but even Simons would do wonders.

That's what I thought, too. They are not a win now team. I thought WCJ was better than this. They need a center and a guard and for Suggs to get healthy. And then they need a bench. They need a lot.

Mo Wagner going down hurt them a lot. Suggs was playing better earlier in the season but no where near to where he played last year. I don't think Paolo and Franz are complete back up to snuff either.

But yeah to the rest...

[Walton1one]

Congrats on not direct quoting me in hopes I wouldn't see your reply. Trying hide now? Not wanting me to see a notification of a reply in hopes to get the last word? Damn, you're pathetic.

No surprise from you, you lost the conversation so you revert to insults & profanity.

What are you 5? "Mommy, Shem used a cuss word."

I bet you pounded those keys extra hard when you wrote that. Pretty much sums up all of your insufferable posts. As for improvement:

3 years ago they were 27-55
2 years ago they were 33-49
1 year ago they were 21-61

It's like you didn't realize that Dame was on the team 2 years or and 3 years now. If your head wasn't in your ass, you would have known that thus know that was an idiotic argument to make. Nor would you have know 2 and 3 years started off as trying to win.

3 years ago Dame was not 100% to start the season and was shut down after 29 games and the team tanked the rest of the year that netted us Sharpe.

2 years ago Dame only played 58 games and was shut down again for a draft that led to the 3rd pick that netted us Scoot.

The fact I had to explain any of this to you is very telling.

The 21-61 record was the official first full year of tanking and a restart to rebuild.

All you can provide are nonsensical talking points like "6-1 since Sharpe went to the bench" like it is something meaningful, which it isn't. All you are doing is regurgitating propaganda from an organization that has paper thin skin. Isn't that what shills like Danny Marang are for?

Oh, you're so smart that you should have Marang's job instead. Got it.

Why can't you just enjoy the fact that the Blazers are performing better than expected this season. Last year they were 40 games below .500 and only 10 games at this point nearing the all-star break.

Look, I still remember the 07-08 Blazers. They had a 13 game winning streak that year and finished 41-41 and missed the playoffs. But it was above the 32-50 the year before. And it set up their 54-28 season in the 2009 season and their first playoff appearance since 2003.

The Blazers during that streak of 6-1 have the best defense in the league during that stretch. Putting Deni and Camera in the starting lineup and benching Sharpe improved the defense (now that Deni got used to his new environment) and it shows. It has something to do with this recent stretch. It's not random. Especially since this is the best stretch of basketball since 2021.

This should give you hope that this could be the 2008 Blazers with their 13 game winning streak type vibes and hope it gets us to the next level next season and finally getting back to the playoffs in 2026.

I do expect the team to cool off, but this is good growth for these young guys. Deni and Camara are the future. Scoot's jumper looks so much better. His release and arc looks miles better than it did when he joined the team. And Scoot looks more relaxed and confident rather than being nervous and overthinking out there. Sharpe needs a motor like Deni, Camara and Scoot to go to the next level.

Oh boy, that is quite the diatribe.

I wish you had just responded with those last five paragraphs, instead of all the immature garbage that you posted before. We could have had a constructive conversation, however, since you clearly cannot control your emotions, it is probably better just not to converse with you at all anymore, which I think I just said before you posted this?

Look, I’ve been a fan a lot longer than you have, been to many more games than you, been going to games for 50+ years, no joke, and I am not trying to make this a contest, it’s just to let you know that I’ve seen a lot, and that the way this organization is run right now is among the worst ever.

If you want to take this minor streak & ignore relevant factors in order to make it appear to be more than what it is, then ok, it isn’t, but hey good for you, but I’m gonna give my unfiltered opinion about how ridiculous this organization\situation is and if you can’t handle that, then I will state it again since you clearly didn’t read it the first time m, feel free not to respond to my posts.

BTW, I don’t direct quote most large posts, for this exact reason, post of a post of a post is the most asinine thing in the world, it takes up an entire webpage, reading a bunch of crap no one wants to read again, it is pointless.

So, not hiding from you, I just don’t care for the BS

[dckingsfan]

Camara is my favorite Blazers player this year. If he can continue to improve his offense, he could become a star.

Yep, really likeable.

I think on offense he just needs to somehow get that 3-point percentage near .400 to really breakout on offense. He finishes just fine and isn't looked to set his teammates up on offense. He does turn the ball over a bit too much but it isn't a materially bad thing.

His on-ball defense isn't bad - but his defensive rebounding isn't all that - he rebounds like a guard and that needs to change if he wants to continue to play PF.

So, two things for Camara to breakout - defensive rebounding and shooting the 3-ball. Both of those things could definitely happen over the next two years.