RealGM

vs



Time: 4:00 pm
Place: Charlotte
TV: Root, Root+



GLB of the game Keke Palmer

Once this team figures out turnovers and can score effectively in transition the Blazers won't have to rely on last second heroics to win some of these games.

Bizarre fact of the game.
Portland is scoring 89.8 points per possession in transition WORST in the NBA
But is running 17.6 % of the time.
Tied for 9th... and they are still winning.

Goldbum wrote:Once this team figures out turnovers and can score effectively in transition the Blazers won't have to rely on last second heroics to win some of these games.

Bizarre fact of the game.
Portland is scoring 89.8 points per possession in transition WORST in the NBA
But is running 17.6 % of the time.
Tied for 9th... and they are still winning.

Any idea how that compares to last season?

I've seen this with now a couple generations of coaches, they come in and play up-tempo aggressive basketball their first few years and then slowly get more and more conservative with the offense in order to limit those turnovers. I'm not saying Billups will follow that same path but I'm saying inevitably while this brand of basketball is entertaining and aggressive it is also always going to be turnover prone... especially since we have a lot of guys that aren't savant level passers out there trying to push the ball up the court.

If we can play good defense and force turnovers on the other team then we can maybe neutralize some of that, unfortunately low-turnover basketball is playoff basketball, when everyone tightens up, so I wouldn't be surprised to see Billups develop similarly the next couple years here.

1st quarter GLB pic

Nurkic, Grant and Johnson all out with injuries. Going to need Watford and Walker to step up.

2nd quarter GLB pic

3rd quarter GLB pic

4th quarter GLB pic

Nice game. Blazers had some rough stretches this night and opponent is baldy shorthanded but I still like what I see from this team.

Rebounding appears to be a huge achilles heel though. It could be a big problem down the road when the opposition will start to adjust.

Ant is just not playing well tonight at all IMO. I wouldn't have minded if we kept Shaedon in here at the end.

Also we have truly struggled at the free throw line tonight.

TO's and poor rebounding w/o Nurk is not good

Nice finish, did what we needed to, Sharp is so fun to watch

So frustrating with the turnovers. Glad for the win, but it should not have been that difficult. What's with the free throws this season?

Is it just me or is this team trying to be too unselfish at times?

I see so many ill-advised passes that it's just unreal, especially from a team that in the Stotts era took care of the ball pretty well. Even when not being pressured by a tough defensive team they still love to throw passes that can easily be picked off or that are thrown between 2-3 defenders.

I have no problem with turnovers that are trying to push pace, or that are actually forced by good defense but tonight they made a trash team look good defensively by stupid passes.

monopoman wrote:Is it just me or is this team trying to be too unselfish at times?

I see so many ill-advised passes that it's just unreal, especially from a team that in the Stotts era took care of the ball pretty well..

Roster tonight was a pretty makeshift roster. Wouldn't use this one game as a strong indicator.

Fun to see the young players beasting. Walker gunning for Little's minutes, which is concerning as there was speculation that Little was part of the reason the Blazers didn't want to pay GTJ. But to be fair, there was speculation that GTJ wanted out. All speculation. Eubanks is winning me over, but that makes me a bit concerned about GB3's progress. Love Nurkić and all, but if you could get 8 Eubanks for the same price... Really hope his extension doesn't cost the Blazers one of Grant or Hart.

Crazy stat - Dame missed half of his free throws. When was the last time that happened?

What do you guys make of the Sharpe highlight of the night? Early in the 4th quarter, he swoops in from the left, gets airborne, looks for someone to pass to, and then shoots the ball. You can actually see his head go back and forth while he floats through the air.

JasonStern wrote:Crazy stat - Dame missed half of his free throws. When was the last time that happened?

It must be the city. Because I remember a game @Charlotte back in the 2009 season where another Blazer star struggled at the line named Brandon Roy who hit 3-10 from the stripe. Those 7 misses were big because the Blazers lost by 5.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200901170CHA.html

I think my memory is just too good at times.

dunlop212 wrote:What do you guys make of the Sharpe highlight of the night? Early in the 4th quarter, he swoops in from the left, gets airborne, looks for someone to pass to, and then shoots the ball. You can actually see his head go back and forth while he floats through the air.

Bold statements I repeat and will likely regret, but...

I was a Sharpe fan pre-draft, was excited when he was drafted, and nothing has changed that. His FLOOR is a guard version of Darius Miles without being a headcase. His ceiling is Dame's successor. Simons has been amazing. Total draft steal. But there's a good chance that he might not ever be the best player on a Blazers squad. As Dame declines, Sharpe might take the reigns.

In before Wizenheimer reminds me that I said similar things about Elliot Williams.

monopoman wrote:Is it just me or is this team trying to be too unselfish at times?

I see so many ill-advised passes that it's just unreal, especially from a team that in the Stotts era took care of the ball pretty well. Even when not being pressured by a tough defensive team they still love to throw passes that can easily be picked off or that are thrown between 2-3 defenders.

I have no problem with turnovers that are trying to push pace, or that are actually forced by good defense but tonight they made a trash team look good defensively by stupid passes.

I love the passing game. For years now, we've watch Lillard, CJ, and more recently Simons dribble the clock out and jack up shots. I don't mind seeing that here and there, but do not want to go back to seeing that for 48 minutes. However, there was a lot of mishandling the ball and simply throwing the ball to the other team. Turnovers are going to happen, but half the turnovers last night did not need to happen.