Game 18: Portland vs Philadelphia 4:00pm SNW

[zzaj]

Pbilly is looking like a bonafide contender lately

It's pretty amazing the impact Embiid and Simmons have had on this team on both ends of the floor. I'm jealous of their length. Once Fultz gets healthy they are going to be formidable in the East...it's all predicated on Embiid staying healthy, though.

[monopoman]

Pbilly is looking like a bonafide contender lately

It's pretty amazing the impact Embiid and Simmons have had on this team on both ends of the floor. I'm jealous of their length. Once Fultz gets healthy they are going to be formidable in the East...it's all predicated on Embiid staying healthy, though.

I wanted Simmons pretty badly when I saw him play for LSU, people were downplaying his skills somewhat when he didn't make LSU a top tier team but I knew he would be damn good in the NBA.

[The Sebastian Express]

Pbilly is looking like a bonafide contender lately

It's pretty amazing the impact Embiid and Simmons have had on this team on both ends of the floor. I'm jealous of their length. Once Fultz gets healthy they are going to be formidable in the East...it's all predicated on Embiid staying healthy, though.

I wanted Simmons pretty badly when I saw him play for LSU, people were downplaying his skills somewhat when he didn't make LSU a top tier team but I knew he would be damn good in the NBA.

Yes, this is the season I wanted to tank. Was so in love with him at LSU. And although that season turned out to be a surprise for us, the subsequent season was just a reminder of why I wanted to tank.

[baas9]

I've been pretty clear around here about my view of this team. I think it's a .500 level team that has been significantly mismanaged and poorly constructed. I want the GM fired and I wouldn't object to the coach being fired. I think the Blazers are way too comfortable and accepting of mediocrity. I've been talking about the easy schedule over the first 25 games since before the season started. Personally, I'd say if Portland isn't close to being 10 games over .500 over those first 25 games, they'll have a tough time being over .500 by the end of the season

I really have appreciated your levelheaded analytic analysis of the Blazers over the years Wiz, but I just can't understand where you are getting your HOPE from after all the observations you've made. Hope for what? That we will, by shear force of Will, squeak into a playoff spot again just to get knocked out early. All the while watching other teams grow and evolve around us until we are utterly demoralized and our "stars" value has decreased to the point of having to take what we can get like Phoenix did with Bledsoe?

I really don't understand why you don't think drastic changes are need top to bottom. No new GM or Coach will make this roster competitive. There is need for a rebuild.

[GreenRiddler]

Man Harkless is as bad on offense as Meyers is on defense, he is like the common denominator of all our offensive woes, sure Dame has struggled at times and CJ did tonight but man the extra pressure they face inside the paint cause the D refuses to defend him is mad. I remember Dame wanted us to keep him because he liked him but man careful what you wish for. Harkless was the guy Draymond was leaving open leading to a tougher time for Dame and you say that again tonight.

We are playing 4 on 5 on offense with Harkless. At least vonleh gets offensive rebounds and the occasional jumper, heck Turner dribbles gets to line makes mid-range shot passes. Harkless literally does nothing in the halfcourt. He might aswell stay on the otherside and be ready to play defense.

We could've got a Luc Mbah for the Bi Annual Exeption instead of a 4 year 40 million for Harkless. His contract is as bad as Meyers IMO.

When Aminu is healthy it's Harkless' spot he will be taking NOT Vonleh's. And good GOD can we use him.

[GreenRiddler]

OMG HAKRLESS IS COMPLAINING TO QUICK RIGHT NOW ABOUT HIS ROLE LIKE HE WASN"T LITERALLY GIVEN WIDE OPEN SHOTS ALL YEAR THAT HE BRICKED.

How do we run plays for a guy that can't even shoot open shots or dribble, we gotta trade him at this point. HELL PLAY LAYMAN AT THE STARTING SF.

The guy has the gull to blame the coaches or insinuate we only run stuff for Dame CJ and Nurk. LIKE YOU ARE LITERAL GARBAGE MY MAN RUNNING PLAYS WON"T MAKE YOUR JUMPER GOOD. YOU ARE LUCKY DAME EVEN SAVED YOUR CAREER AFTER NO OTHER TEAM IN THE LEAGUE OFFERED YOU A CONTRACT.

I can't wait for Harkless to journeyman his way around the league and be gone before he is 30.

[GreenRiddler]

We should have given him a 2 year deal with a team option on the 3rd. The guy was garbage 2/3 of that year and only gave us a glimpse by being a place holder in the starting 5 when we went on that run with Plumlee and Aminu at the 4/5.

We game him a 40 mill contract after 30 games of him just being a part of a good lineup were he didn't put up any numbers.

he isn't even a good glue guy, he is lazy and unfocused he doesn't go 100% even though he spends no energy on offense. I thought that was gonna change after the Phx game but nope went right back on his BS the following game.

[GreenRiddler]

Like we are so much better than this on offense that is what is so frustrating. It is so easy to solve. A bad night from Dame or CJ shouldn't catapult our offense but without Aminu who can we play to make open shots which is literally what we are are generating and what we should be generating in this day and age from our offense.

This stings so much because we finally finally got that defensive monkey off our back. No though Harkless being in the starting 5 just ruins any shot at a consistent offense when you factor in Dame or CJ struggling from 3. It puts too much damn pressure on them to make 3s and shrinks the hell out of the court. No 1 on 1 drives and kickouts, and no space for Nurk to operate. It is what I feared coming into the year but we at least expected (and received) a good 3 point start fro Aminu, but since then our offense has taken a nose dive.

[GreenRiddler]

FWIW when Quick asked Stotts how he can justify playing Harkless (who does nothing o noffense and give the D an extra defender). He didn't answer the question. You can tell it bothers him and he might change the lineup the next game. Like just shoot 36% 36% and all of this goes away. You make your shots and/or the D respects you and it opens up more for our whole offense to operate. It is not much.

[GreenRiddler]

Harkless played during that almost 0 pt 2nd qrt VS Toronto from the 11min mark to the 3:46 mark.

[Roy The Natural]

OMG HAKRLESS IS COMPLAINING TO QUICK RIGHT NOW ABOUT HIS ROLE LIKE HE WASN"T LITERALLY GIVEN WIDE OPEN SHOTS ALL YEAR THAT HE BRICKED.

How do we run plays for a guy that can't even shoot open shots or dribble, we gotta trade him at this point. HELL PLAY LAYMAN AT THE STARTING SF.

The guy has the gull to blame the coaches or insinuate we only run stuff for Dame CJ and Nurk. LIKE YOU ARE LITERAL GARBAGE MY MAN RUNNING PLAYS WON"T MAKE YOUR JUMPER GOOD. YOU ARE LUCKY DAME EVEN SAVED YOUR CAREER AFTER NO OTHER TEAM IN THE LEAGUE OFFERED YOU A CONTRACT.

I can't wait for Harkless to journeyman his way around the league and be gone before he is 30.

Meh.... he's right though... this offense is a MAAAASSSSSIVVVEEE step back from previous years. It's basically buddy ball right now. Nothing is run for other players, there's no diversity in the offense.... it stinks. Yea... Harkless isn't great or anything, but in all honesty, he's also right. Does nobody else watch this offense and get the distinct notion that we're watching 3 guys taking turns jacking up and bricking bad shots, all the while getting free reign to do so? It's like we're playing with a bunch of Carmelo's on offense, it's gross.

[JasonStern]

Read on Twitter

[Soulyss]

I think one thing is very clear... this team is seriously missing Aminu.

They were infinitely worse without Aminu last year, so hopefully he's healed up and ready to go at some point on this trip.

[DaVoiceMaster]

4th quarter GLB pic

Spoiler:

You changed GLB's on us. It's your fault we lost!!!!!!!

[Blazinaway]

I think one thing is very clear... this team is seriously missing Aminu.

They were infinitely worse without Aminu last year, so hopefully he's healed up and ready to go at some point on this trip.

I like Chief and what he contributes but if we are really "seriously missing" him its just another reminder of this teams "averageness" and treadmill level

[Brandon-Clyde]

4th quarter GLB pic

Spoiler:

You changed GLB's on us. It's your fault we lost!!!!!!!

D'oh
I took the pic from Bing's group of Nathalie Kelley pics. They snuck in Nathalie Martinez

[Wizenheimer]

I've been pretty clear around here about my view of this team. I think it's a .500 level team that has been significantly mismanaged and poorly constructed. I want the GM fired and I wouldn't object to the coach being fired. I think the Blazers are way too comfortable and accepting of mediocrity. I've been talking about the easy schedule over the first 25 games since before the season started. Personally, I'd say if Portland isn't close to being 10 games over .500 over those first 25 games, they'll have a tough time being over .500 by the end of the season

I really have appreciated your levelheaded analytic analysis of the Blazers over the years Wiz, but I just can't understand where you are getting your HOPE from after all the observations you've made. Hope for what? That we will, by shear force of Will, squeak into a playoff spot again just to get knocked out early. All the while watching other teams grow and evolve around us until we are utterly demoralized and our "stars" value has decreased to the point of having to take what we can get like Phoenix did with Bledsoe?

I really don't understand why you don't think drastic changes are need top to bottom. No new GM or Coach will make this roster competitive. There is need for a rebuild.

can you please point out where it was I demonstrated a lot of "hope" for this team, as is?

all I said in this game thread is that last night was just one game....which it was. I also added that the trends we've seen so far this season aren't encouraging. That's not a hopeful combination. Mainly, it was me trying not to be completely negative in a game thread; I'm negative enough and for damn sure there's a more then sufficient supply of negativity in just about every game thread

I simply don't want Dame traded...that's out main disagreement. I have legitimate reasons for my view on that and have gone into them before.

I think Portland is a mess; it has mediocre talent overall and much of the talent it does have is mismatched and one-way.

and something else that has become kind of obvious....everybody has been talking about it too. That being the narrative that teams with length on the perimeter really bother the Blazers. Unfortunately, more and more teams are building more and more length; that is one primary way the league is evolving. And Portland's response, the only arrow they appear to have in their quiver, is to play Napier more...a player who is anti-length...a player who is 5'11 and has a 6'3.25 wingspan. A big reason for that is that Portland's two SF's, players with some length (and over 27M in salary) have been such absolute duds on offense. The result is that at key points in the game, Portland is running CJ and Connaughton at SF. That isn't a move to gain an advantage...it's a more to try and offset liabilities. The roster absolutely needs a major remodel and I doubt they have the management capable of it

there, maybe that was hopeless enough for you?

[Downtown]

As Yogi Berra once said, "it's Deja Vu all over again". I think it was a couple years or so ago when this team was on an early season Eastern road trip and got blown out in Philly and everyone here was pretty upset. The team overall didn't have a great season but I'm trying to remember if that was the year we beat Houston in the playoffs. Fast forward and it's looking the same but look where Houston has taken it's team versus where Portland has gone since then.

The Sixers are for real and they have such a good core, plus Fultz should help them even more in time. There's not much we can do but if Harkless starts to deflect blame for his poor play rather than take responsibility for it and accept any changes Stotts might make then that's absolute poison that can filter through the whole group and lays a negative vibe that's hard to come out of.

I also remember that Philly game back in the day put a bad mood on things as well.

[baas9]

there, maybe that was hopeless enough for you?

That's more like it!

Any ideas for a solution that keeps Lillard and puts us in a position to have a legitimate shot in the near-ish future?

[Wizenheimer]

OMG HAKRLESS IS COMPLAINING TO QUICK RIGHT NOW ABOUT HIS ROLE LIKE HE WASN"T LITERALLY GIVEN WIDE OPEN SHOTS ALL YEAR THAT HE BRICKED.

How do we run plays for a guy that can't even shoot open shots or dribble, we gotta trade him at this point. HELL PLAY LAYMAN AT THE STARTING SF.

The guy has the gull to blame the coaches or insinuate we only run stuff for Dame CJ and Nurk. LIKE YOU ARE LITERAL GARBAGE MY MAN RUNNING PLAYS WON"T MAKE YOUR JUMPER GOOD. YOU ARE LUCKY DAME EVEN SAVED YOUR CAREER AFTER NO OTHER TEAM IN THE LEAGUE OFFERED YOU A CONTRACT.

I can't wait for Harkless to journeyman his way around the league and be gone before he is 30.

Meh.... he's right though... this offense is a MAAAASSSSSIVVVEEE step back from previous years. It's basically buddy ball right now. Nothing is run for other players, there's no diversity in the offense.... it stinks. Yea... Harkless isn't great or anything, but in all honesty, he's also right. Does nobody else watch this offense and get the distinct notion that we're watching 3 guys taking turns jacking up and bricking bad shots, all the while getting free reign to do so? It's like we're playing with a bunch of Carmelo's on offense, it's gross.

There's not much we can do but if Harkless starts to deflect blame for his poor play rather than take responsibility for it and accept any changes Stotts might make then that's absolute poison that can filter through the whole group and lays a negative vibe that's hard to come out of.

I read the article and I didn't get the vibe that Harkless was deflecting all blame for his play. I tend to agree with RTN that Harkless is mainly trying figure out what his role is in the offense because there's been some significant changes from last season, and none of them appear to be changes for the better

* Portland ranks 28th in opponent turnovers a game

* Portland is dead last in fast break points/game:

26 Utah 8.0
27 Cleveland 8.0
28 Chicago 7.9
29 New York 6.4
30 Portland 4.5

last season Portland was 22nd at 11.3 points/game. That's a massive drop of nearly 7 points a game in a season in which 6 of 8 losses have been by less then 7 points

* Portland is dead last in FG% at the rim:

26 Los Angeles Clippers .607
27 Phoenix Suns .603
28 Chicago Bulls .602
29 Boston Celtics .582
30 Portland Trail Blazers .561

the gaps in those two stats above between 30th place Portland and the 29th place teams are sizable.

* last season, Portland ranked 11th in the NBA in offensive rating at 110.3 (points/100-possessions). This season, they rank 21st at 104.8. Again, that's a huge drop in offensive efficiency.

* and, perhaps most important, Portland's assists/game numbers have cratered. Last season, they ranked 23rd at 21.1 assists/game. This season, once again, they rank dead last at 17.6. Their assisted FG rate on 2ptFG's has dropped from .444 to .413; and on 3ptFG's it's dropped massively from .789 to .713.

it's become and even heavier iso-one-on-one-hero-ball offense then it was last season and it's easily argued that it was too heavy last season

now, I'd think the common wisdom would be that adding a low post big-man who has mobility and passing ability would help ball movement, assist rates, and open shot opportunities. But that sure hasn't happened for Portland. And with significantly reduced ball movement and assist rates, a player like Harkless is going to have difficulty finding his offense role. That has obviously happened

all that's not to excuse Harkless completely. But everywhere you look statistically you can see a marked difference between last year and now. His usage rate has dropped from 15.2% too 11.6% and his FGA's have dropped from 8.1 to 5.6. You can even see it on the glass: his defensive rebounding rate has improved from 10.8% to 11.9%, but his offensive rebounding rate has fallen from 6.2% to 3.7%. In other words, his def reb rate indicates the effort is there, but his off reb rate indicates he's lost in the offensive flow, what little flow there is