Game 15: Portland vs New Orleans 5:00pm SNW/NBATV

[Roy The Natural]

I want to believe this team can come back but at times it feels like this is our reality this season. Between rookie inexperience and veterans who don’t play defense it feels like we are absolutely lost without a healthy Nurkic going forward at least when it comes to ever being a contender

It's not even about the defense. The defense has sucked, for sure. But I'm for more concerned about the offensive habits of this team.

Bazemore is constantly trying to do way more than he's capable of on offense.
Whiteside is for some reason spending large portions of the game being used like Nurkic as a passer from the high post, despite being completely horrible at it.
Hezonja is still allowed to take the ball up the court way too often.

These are issues that come back to scheme and coaching. For some reason, we're trying to plug new guys into the role's of guys who were here last year.

Bazemore should be a guy who's a spot up shooter, who only attacks off closeouts. He's acting like he's Dwayne Wade out there half the time. It's hideous to watch.

Whiteside needs to be forced to set good screens, and he needs to not be used as a passer, pretty much ever. He's a mismatch, or great deep position scorer only.

Hezonja shouldn't see the court anymore, and if he does, he DEFINITELY shouldn't be handling the ball and trying to run the offense.

CJ needs to be reigned in with his momentum killing tunnel-vision drives.

Skal needs to be like Vonleh. He needs to stop taking so many post shots.

Simons could proably stand to be more aggressive, but him and Little are the only ones outside of Lillard who's actually playing within themselves.

[PDXKnight]

Why on earth is Little not in this game? He was having a great night and was doing a lot of things at an extreme level of effectiveness.

I also think we might have the worst 3rd quarter team in the entire NBA it seems like every 3rd quarter we get outscored by 10+ at the minimum.

Anthony stole his starting spot by no merit of his own. Honestly if I see this melo experiment cost little development I may get sick Even if we do get a good pick out of this season

What's wrong with this starting lineup?

PG - Lillard
SG - CJ
SF - Little
PF - Melo
C - Whiteside

I am not sure why Stotts is obsessed with 3 guard lineups it seems like he wants 3 guards on the court 100% of the time almost.

That I don’t mind one bit! I think little could be our highest ceiling young player Perhaps a Jerome kersey ie (prime) gerald Wallace so I really think we need to maximize his development

[PDXKnight]

Only 23 mins For little who has been the defensive heart and glue of this team when he’s been on the floor.

I can’t believe we get this guy on a rookie deal for 4 years, he has the kind of heart you can’t teach and I feel very confident that he has the desire and the physical skills to be a very good player in this league.

[Roy The Natural]

One can have an idea what is expected, but still can't do it. Every teacher or coach knows that.

That doesn't explain why players are allowed to play roles on offense which they are clearly incapable of doing effectively.

If you want to play Hezonja for his below average defense, go ahead. But for damn sure you need to stop letting him take the ball up the court all the time. It turns into disaster FAR more than anything useful.

There's all sorts of these examples of guys doing things on the court that they are clearly not capable of being effective at, and it still continues.

[B0naf1d3]

I usually am pretty patient with the roster, but I don't think things are going to change unless there is change. This team needs defensive leaders/anchors, guys that make solid fundamental winning plays. Whiteside must go. Just taking a look at who may be available, the only guy I can find who fits the bill is Marc Gasol. Obvious ties to the team with his brother, maybe something can be worked out..

Gasol/RHJ
for
Whiteside/Trent jr + pick (lottery protected 1st? 2 seconds?)

I've seen enough though. There needs to be a move made.

[PDXKnight]

I usually am pretty patient with the roster, but I don't think things are going to change unless there is change. This team needs defensive leaders/anchors, guys that make solid fundamental winning plays. Whiteside must go. Just taking a look at who may be available, the only guy I can find who fits the bill is Marc Gasol. Obvious ties to the team with his brother, maybe something can be worked out..

Gasol/RHJ
for
Whiteside/Trent jr + pick (lottery protected 1st? 2 seconds?)

I've seen enough though. There needs to be a move made.

Don’t think Toronto does this but I like it

Wouldn’t include little in any trade scenario unless we get an all star. Maybe overpriced but he’s a winner

[d-train]

I usually am pretty patient with the roster, but I don't think things are going to change unless there is change. This team needs defensive leaders/anchors, guys that make solid fundamental winning plays. Whiteside must go. Just taking a look at who may be available, the only guy I can find who fits the bill is Marc Gasol. Obvious ties to the team with his brother, maybe something can be worked out..

Gasol/RHJ
for
Whiteside/Trent jr + pick (lottery protected 1st? 2 seconds?)

I've seen enough though. There needs to be a move made.

I'm more unhappy with Hood. He can't be traded until Dec 15. The problem with trading is the only trades available are usually trades that make us worse. The solution if there is one, is with the players and coach we have.

[B0naf1d3]

I usually am pretty patient with the roster, but I don't think things are going to change unless there is change. This team needs defensive leaders/anchors, guys that make solid fundamental winning plays. Whiteside must go. Just taking a look at who may be available, the only guy I can find who fits the bill is Marc Gasol. Obvious ties to the team with his brother, maybe something can be worked out..

Gasol/RHJ
for
Whiteside/Trent jr + pick (lottery protected 1st? 2 seconds?)

I've seen enough though. There needs to be a move made.

Don’t think Toronto does this but I like it

Wouldn’t include little in any trade scenario unless we get an all star. Maybe overpriced but he’s a winner

It's desperation time. I just posted it on the trade board to see what people think.

[Wizenheimer]

well, that was kind of depressing

Little was about the only bright spot. I guess Simons flashed some game even though he shot poorly. But my god the defense is bad, the offense is not much better, and one of the best rebounding teams in the league last season has become one of the worst

after tonight, I'm not sure the Blazers will get another win on this road trip. Maybe if Dame comes back for Cleveland. Milwaukee will drill the Blazers, and I have no clue who Portland will try and defend Giannis with. That may be the biggest mismatch in years

[Epicurus]

One can have an idea what is expected, but still can't do it. Every teacher or coach knows that.

That doesn't explain why players are allowed to play roles on offense which they are clearly incapable of doing effectively.

If you want to play Hezonja for his below average defense, go ahead. But for damn sure you need to stop letting him take the ball up the court all the time. It turns into disaster FAR more than anything useful.

There's all sorts of these examples of guys doing things on the court that they are clearly not capable of being effective at, and it still continues.

Some heretofore have not shown much offensive capacity--middling to poor shooters, same with ball handling, same with passing, same with offensive rebounding; yet unless you wish to play only four guys for 48 minutes, you need one or more of such on the court during a game. I swear you don't fully grasp how your past criticisms of players negate any systemic problems you offer.

[Roy The Natural]

One can have an idea what is expected, but still can't do it. Every teacher or coach knows that.

That doesn't explain why players are allowed to play roles on offense which they are clearly incapable of doing effectively.

If you want to play Hezonja for his below average defense, go ahead. But for damn sure you need to stop letting him take the ball up the court all the time. It turns into disaster FAR more than anything useful.

There's all sorts of these examples of guys doing things on the court that they are clearly not capable of being effective at, and it still continues.

Some heretofore have not shown much offensive capacity--middling to poor shooters, same with ball handling, same with passing, same with offensive rebounding; yet unless you wish to play only four guys for 48 minutes, you need one or more of such on the court during a game. I swear you don't fully grasp how your past criticisms of players negate any systemic problems you offer.

Actually... I believe the opposite is happening. My past criticism of Stotts and the intrinsic issues of his "system" are all coming more to light. Stotts offense has for years had issues getting players good looks, now, with more dufus' on the team we can see how the Blazers offense has devolved into a complete mess of 2005 era hero-ball. For all of Stotts crappy system before, at least he had guys like Harkless and Turner who understood their limitations and didn't play out of character often.

But I digress, back to ignore with you. Where you belong.

[Blazinaway]

another ugly loss to a bad team, this is depressing, horrible basketball

[Epicurus]

Professional coaches should always remember that no matter the accolades they receive from their peers, they should never run their car over a fan's puppy. That is a sure way of being the recipient of irrational criticisms.

[Epicurus]

another ugly loss to a bad team, this is depressing, horrible basketball

True, it shows how precious trust and chemistry (having a decent idea of who will do what, when, and where) is to even a professional team. Even a team like the post-Exodus (ALdridge et. al.) Blazers, with significant holes in talent can do well with trust and chemstry. Will this grouping gain it? Too early to tell, but right now they don't have it.

[d-train]

Desperation is never a good move. The Blazers need to resolve our issues with the players and coach we have. The best time to make changes is next off-season. In-season trades are good if we can take advantage of another team's desperation.

[Fitz303]

One can have an idea what is expected, but still can't do it. Every teacher or coach knows that.

That doesn't explain why players are allowed to play roles on offense which they are clearly incapable of doing effectively.

If you want to play Hezonja for his below average defense, go ahead. But for damn sure you need to stop letting him take the ball up the court all the time. It turns into disaster FAR more than anything useful.

There's all sorts of these examples of guys doing things on the court that they are clearly not capable of being effective at, and it still continues.

Some heretofore have not shown much offensive capacity--middling to poor shooters, same with ball handling, same with passing, same with offensive rebounding; yet unless you wish to play only four guys for 48 minutes, you need one or more of such on the court during a game. I swear you don't fully grasp how your past criticisms of players negate any systemic problems you offer.

Are you a relative of Stotts? Truly curious.. You were a Bucks fan for a long time, and considered there to be about the one and only Stotts fan on that forum. You then showed up on the Blazers forum, mainly just touting Stotts' greatness. Not a whole lot of team jumping coach fans, so I figure you're some sort of relative, but either way, Stotts is an alright coach, but I would not be surprised in the slightest to see him on his way out after this season, if they fail to reach the playoffs. Sure, you could get rid of Olshey, but much more likely that Olshey fires Stotts than Jody or Olshey fires Olshey.

[Epicurus]

I think you have not read many of my posts. Your summation of the extent of the topics is far too limited. BTW, I am open to any criticisms of my posts, regarding their accuracy or relevance. Ascribing motivations is not very mature (like my intentional childish reponse regarding anger of "puppy loss" to RtN).

[Fitz303]

I think you have not read many of my posts. Your summation of the extent of the topics is far too limited. BTW, I am open to any criticisms of my posts, regarding their accuracy or relevance. Ascribing motivations is not very mature (like my intentional childish reponse regarding anger of "puppy loss" to RtN).

I've read plenty of your posts. My summation of the extent of your topics is quite on point. I wasn't criticizing the accuracy or relevance of your posts either. I was simply asking a question as to the link between you and Stotts, as you're quite obviously fond of him. You've been called "Terry Stotts' number one fan" back when you were over at the Bucks forum, and since Stotts has come to Portland, have been in here with an overwhelming amount of posts regarding the coaching situation. There was a correlation, and a simple question, due to the fact that there are very few people out there who jump from being a fan of one team to being the fan of another team based on the coach. Nothing immature about it.

[d-train]

Stotts has a strange way of showing he liked chemistry with Aminu, Harkless, Kanter, Turner, and Layman based on how much he played them in the playoffs. Everyone lost minutes after OKC except for Turner who wasn't used much until the Warriors series. The chemistry issues with our current group are obvious, but I don't get the sudden love for chemistry last year.

[Epicurus]

I think you have not read many of my posts. Your summation of the extent of the topics is far too limited. BTW, I am open to any criticisms of my posts, regarding their accuracy or relevance. Ascribing motivations is not very mature (like my intentional childish reponse regarding anger of "puppy loss" to RtN).

I've read plenty of your posts. My summation of the extent of your topics is quite on point. I wasn't criticizing the accuracy or relevance of your posts either. I was simply asking a question as to the link between you and Stotts, as you're quite obviously fond of him. You've been called "Terry Stotts' number one fan" back when you were over at the Bucks forum, and since Stotts has come to Portland, have been in here with an overwhelming amount of posts regarding the coaching situation. There was a correlation, and a simple question, due to the fact that there are very few people out there who jump from being a fan of one team to being the fan of another team based on the coach. Nothing immature about it.

What does it matter, if the posts are accurate and relevant, or if they aren't?