Game 37: Portland vs Philadelphia 6:00pm SNW

[Shem]

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He picked the right night to sit out.

[DusterBuster]

Yikes. That was embarrassing. I get no Embiid, but damn...

[Soulyss]

Nice to be on the other side of a rout... Philly looked absolutely lost without Embiid....

[Brandon-Clyde]

Victory GLB pic

Spoiler:

[monopoman]

Yeah, nice game for the Blazers no Embiid while rough on them should not entail a beat-down this bad. I mean the 3rd string was in with like 10 minutes left in the 4th quarter.

Even with Embiid out there the way the Blazers handled themselves this likely still would have been a victory just maybe 10-15 points or something.

[zzaj]

Blazers did a good job attacking the rim and posting up tonight. 76ers didn't have anybody there to stop 'em...

This is one of those infuriating "why don't they play with that much energy all the time" games. Better effort on the defensive end too.

I was a little surprised at how ineffective both Simmons and Butler were...having one of Portland's best defenders in Aminu on Simmons really limited him.

I was doubtful of Baldwin from the beginning of his tenure as a Blazer, and he still (at least to my eyes) doesn't look like an NBA caliber PG. I was excited to see a little bit of Simons, but his misses were of the 'crack the backboard' variety...

[monopoman]

I am surprised we haven't sent Simons to the G-League he could use some more games against near NBA talent where he can start and play himself into the games. I think with enough time he could be at least on a CJ level or perhaps a bit better, but he needs some more game time.

[Norm2953]

Tonight's game was simply one of those nights each team in the league seems to have. Just an ugly
effort collectively as a team for Portland has two of these games already this season.

[Manuel Calavera]

pretty optimistic outlook from here on out, we have one of the easiest schedules to finish the season so we may get a top 3 seed if we can avoid injuries

[DeBlazerRiddem]

I don't even think the Blazers played particularly well, its just that Philadelphia was all out of sorts. Simmons is quite the talent but his lack of shooting means he needs a high level player next to him.

Simons had a pretty uninspiring game. Was excited to see him get a bit of run and he really did nothing, bad shots and bad defense. He is super quick though and has tools to work with, just still incredibly raw. Would be nice to see him make a jump similar to Fox, but I agree we ought to send him to the d-league and get him extended in-game minutes - he has ability but he needs experience to build his decision making as a scorer. That isn't really our coaching staffs MO though, we like to develop them more in secret.

[Wizenheimer]

pretty optimistic outlook from here on out, we have one of the easiest schedules to finish the season so we may get a top 3 seed if we can avoid injuries

I'd be pretty cautious about reading anything into those strength of schedule stats at this point of the season

for one thing, those SOS numbers don't differentiate between Home and Road games. Portland has played 3 more home games than road games. They have had the most home games of any WC playoff team (tied), and the fewest road games( tied). And at any point in time, those SOS numbers will simply be a cumulative total of opponent record, and that can be misleading. For instance, Portland has played the Lakers 3 times when they were 0-0, 3-5, & 7-6. Yet Portland's SOS credits them for 3 games against a 21-16 team. Portland played the 1-4 Houston team when they were playing horribly. Yet, SOS gives the Blazers credit for playing a 20-15 Houston team. The same type of skew is present for Portland's SOS when they played the Spurs

there's just too much noise in SOS numbers. And of course, now Portland has credit for playing a 23-14 Philly team but the SOS doesn't account for Philly without Embiid just like it doesn't account for that game being at the Moda

as for the remaining SOS, keep in mind the reality of the numbers. Portland's remaining games are against a teams with a cumulative .490 record. That ranks 26th. But Golden State ranks 12th at .503 and Minnesota ranks 3rd at .518

put into perspective, the average final records of remaining opponents:

Minny: 42-40 (3rd most difficult)
Warriors: 41-41 (12th most difficult)
Denver: 41-41(18th most difficult)
Blazers: 40-42 (26th most difficult)
Utah: 39-43 (29th most difficult)

there isn't really a significant difference, especially not after accounting for home/road skew.

[d-train]

Sixers played like a team that needs a new coach. They were not competing hard or playing defense. You can't win in the NBA without a focused hardworking team. They don't look like a 23-14 team that had an off night. Its just 1 game, but it looks like they have a problem.

[Roy The Natural]

pretty optimistic outlook from here on out, we have one of the easiest schedules to finish the season so we may get a top 3 seed if we can avoid injuries

I'd be pretty cautious about reading anything into those strength of schedule stats at this point of the season

for one thing, those SOS numbers don't differentiate between Home and Road games. Portland has played 3 more home games than road games. They have had the most home games of any WC playoff team (tied), and the fewest road games( tied). And at any point in time, those SOS numbers will simply be a cumulative total of opponent record, and that can be misleading. For instance, Portland has played the Lakers 3 times when they were 0-0, 3-5, & 7-6. Yet Portland's SOS credits them for 3 games against a 21-16 team. Portland played the 1-4 Houston team when they were playing horribly. Yet, SOS gives the Blazers credit for playing a 20-15 Houston team. The same type of skew is present for Portland's SOS when they played the Spurs.

there's just too much noise in SOS numbers. And of course, now Portland has credit for playing a 23-14 Philly team but the SOS doesn't account for Philly without Embiid just like it doesn't account for that game being at the Moda

as for the remaining SOS, keep in mind the reality of the numbers. Portland's remaining games are against a teams with a cumulative .490 record. That ranks 26th. But Golden State ranks 12th at .503 and Minnesota ranks 3rd at .518

put into perspective, the average final records of remaining opponents:

Minny: 42-40 (3rd most difficult)
Warriors: 41-41 (12th most difficult)
Denver: 41-41(18th most difficult)
Blazers: 40-42 (26th most difficult)
Utah: 39-43 (29th most difficult)

there isn't really a significant difference, especially not after accounting for home/road skew.

I hate these takes. It's no different than any other team in the league. Everyone gets breaks along the way. Many teams over the last month were credited well for playing a Portland team playing horribly. The 76ers have more than enough talent sabs Embiid to win a game over the Blazers. Portland was on a hard fought back to back... It's not their fault the 76ers decided not to show up.

I SOS isn't perfect, but it's certainly better than not taking anything into account.

[Shem]

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[d-train]

I think Seth Curry is going to be more of a factor in the 2nd half of the season. I have seen players like him before. His personality doesn't allow him to immediately assert himself into a new team. Especially, a team like the Blazers with an established pecking order. It looks like he is getting comfortable and we should start seeing a more assertive player.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

I think Seth Curry is going to be more of a factor in the 2nd half of the season. I have seen players like him before. His personality doesn't allow him to immediately assert himself into a new team. Especially, a team like the Blazers with an established pecking order. It looks like he is getting comfortable and we should start seeing a more assertive player.

OK, I couldn't figure this out but why was Stauskas bringing the ball up the floor against pressure when Curry was on the floor? Is Nik really the better ball handler? Philadelphia full court blitz'd us several times in the 4th and instead of having Curry initiate Stotts took him out of the game.

[d-train]

I think Seth Curry is going to be more of a factor in the 2nd half of the season. I have seen players like him before. His personality doesn't allow him to immediately assert himself into a new team. Especially, a team like the Blazers with an established pecking order. It looks like he is getting comfortable and we should start seeing a more assertive player.

OK, I couldn't figure this out but why was Stauskas bringing the ball up the floor against pressure when Curry was on the floor? Is Nik really the better ball handler? Philadelphia full court blitz'd us several times in the 4th and instead of having Curry initiate Stotts took him out of the game.

I think they are both good ball handlers. There could be lots of reasons why Stauskas brought the ball up instead of Curry. The best advantage we get from Lillard bringing the ball up is it forces the defense to engage further out and spreads the court. The same reason many teams have their shooting guard bring the ball up. Lillard is really a shooting guard playing the point.

I should ask, why do you think it would be better to have Curry bring the ball up? Maybe you have thought of something I haven't. I think both players are capable of initiating offense.