Game 1 - Wednesday 10-23-2024 at Portland

[Zvaart]

So it begins.
We have the new team, a year older, and we have a lot of questions:
- Are we still too small?
- will the new additions be a valuable plus to the team?
- Will Moody and Kuminga make a leap?
- Will Podz and TJD continue to grow?
- Will Kerr play Moody now that he secured him?
- is Klay and CP out of the roster addition by substraction
- did Dray's head cool off?
- did we make a mistake not going all-in for a star?

Hopefully we will start on the right foot tonight.

[Crazy-Canuck]

Blazers might not be good, but they'll pose a problem with their size. They have a pretty good C rotation.

[Onus]

It's funny that the blazers are seen as a bad team when they actually have a decent roster

Scoot
Simons
Deni
Grant
Ayton

The only question mark really is Scoot.

Off the bench you got

Camara
Clingnan
Sharpe
Thybulle
Williams

These are legit players.

They're going to surprise some people

[clyde21]

yea, there are no easy games in the WC tbh, especially not early and teams are still hopeful. outside of Utah there are no bunnies in the West.

[Twinkie defense]

I'll be there!

[TB]

Problem with the Blazers is that Ayton, Grant, and Scott are all BAD for their role and/or price (Grant is a decent player, but should be more of a role player). And I think their front office knows that but is okay with it since they are more in the tank market than the win market.

If I was a blazer fan I’d be looking to see lots of minutes of Simons, Sharpe, Deni, Camara, Clingan while being a leader in the ping pong balls achieved category.

[Twinkie defense]

Blazers might not be good, but they'll pose a problem with their size.

Doubtful.

[Twinkie defense]

Problem with the Blazers is that Ayton, Grant, and Scott are all BAD for their role and/or price (Grant is a decent player, but should be more of a role player). And I think their front office knows that but is okay with it since they are more in the tank market than the win market.

If I was a blazer fan I’d be looking to see lots of minutes of Simons, Sharpe, Deni, Camara, Clingan while being a leader in the ping pong balls achieved category.

Blazers fans HATE Chauncey Billups.

[clyde21]

with a rotation of Ayton/Clingan at the 5 they are probably one of the bigger teams at center, should be a nice early test for our smaller front court.

[vvoland]

with a rotation of Ayton/Clingan at the 5 they are probably one of the bigger teams at center, should be a nice early test for our smaller front court.

Kerr talked to Tolbert on KNBR for the first time since last year and it certainly seems like he'll start a 5 next to Dray most nights. My guess is that we roll out a Steph/Moody/JK/Dray/Loon lineup with heavy minutes for Podz, Melton, Wigs, SloMo, & TJD. GP2, Waters, and the 2ways are DNP-CDs.

Ayton/Clingan are big on paper but I don't think anyone is that scared of Ayton inside and we've yet to see Clingan play a professional game. Welcome to the NBA, now guard Steph 35 feet from the basket. I would expect an easy win but if we come out with the same approach as we had last year, we'll be down 20 in the first half and will need to climb back to steal a tough one.

[clyde21]

with a rotation of Ayton/Clingan at the 5 they are probably one of the bigger teams at center, should be a nice early test for our smaller front court.

Kerr talked to Tolbert on KNBR for the first time since last year and it certainly seems like he'll start a 5 next to Dray most nights. My guess is that we roll out a Steph/Moody/JK/Dray/Loon lineup with heavy minutes for Podz, Melton, Wigs, SloMo, & TJD. GP2, Waters, and the 2ways are DNP-CDs.

Ayton/Clingan are big on paper but I don't think anyone is that scared of Ayton inside and we've yet to see Clingan play a professional game. Welcome to the NBA, now guard Steph 35 feet from the basket. I would expect an easy win but if we come out with the same approach as we had last year, we'll be down 20 in the first half and will need to climb back to steal a tough one.

well yea, I don't expect Dray to start at center lol...it'll be Loon or TJD at the 5 in most scenarios unless we specifically go small or go death lineup.

we're still pretty tiny overall in the front court especially against a time that will trot out two 7+ footers at the 5.

[vvoland]

with a rotation of Ayton/Clingan at the 5 they are probably one of the bigger teams at center, should be a nice early test for our smaller front court.

Kerr talked to Tolbert on KNBR for the first time since last year and it certainly seems like he'll start a 5 next to Dray most nights. My guess is that we roll out a Steph/Moody/JK/Dray/Loon lineup with heavy minutes for Podz, Melton, Wigs, SloMo, & TJD. GP2, Waters, and the 2ways are DNP-CDs.

Ayton/Clingan are big on paper but I don't think anyone is that scared of Ayton inside and we've yet to see Clingan play a professional game. Welcome to the NBA, now guard Steph 35 feet from the basket. I would expect an easy win but if we come out with the same approach as we had last year, we'll be down 20 in the first half and will need to climb back to steal a tough one.

well yea, I don't expect Dray to start at center lol...it'll be Loon or TJD at the 5 in most scenarios unless we specifically go small or go death lineup.

we're still pretty tiny overall in the front court especially against a time that will trot out two 7+ footers at the 5.

If portland wants to post up clingan or ayton, i'll put money on the warriors to cover without even looking at the point spread. I doubt they kill us on the glass considering how well we've rebounded the last few seasons and the additional bodies we've added.

It may be my weakness but I wasn't sure kerr wouldn't try dray at the 5 to start the season. We NEED to get off to a great start with how the schedule is shaping up and it may make sense to start Dray at the 5 early and then switch as we get into longer road trips, matchups, etc.

Our first 7 games look awesome but then we get to bos/cle/okc/dal/mem with the first 3 on the road. If Wigs actually looked decent this preseason, I wouldn't have minded an early experiment with dray at the 5 and moody/wigs/JK at the 2-4. This team really needs to bank wins early and hope to not only miss the play in and rest that entire week but also get a few games off late in the year. Would need to be comfortably in the 3-5 range for that and that would require a very good early record. Our first road B2B isn't until late Nov and we're playing both LAC and OKC twice before they get their current injured players back. We also play minnesota 3 times in 15 days in december, that's just a weird scheduling quirk that could be favorable. Finally, the two teams I don't want to play early in the year (LA and PHX) we only play once before christmas.

[floppymoose]

So excited for season start!

[CDM_Stats]

I think, since we're kinda transitioning out of the Steph era, we should bring back the sh*t talking game threads. Was a highlight for seasons that were otherwise tough, and this season might be tough

[CDM_Stats]

Problem with the Blazers is that Ayton, Grant, and Scott are all BAD for their role and/or price (Grant is a decent player, but should be more of a role player). And I think their front office knows that but is okay with it since they are more in the tank market than the win market.

If I was a blazer fan I’d be looking to see lots of minutes of Simons, Sharpe, Deni, Camara, Clingan while being a leader in the ping pong balls achieved category.

Blazers fans HATE Chauncey Billups.

Not just Blazer fans

I've heard he's an old school coach that despises anything involving statistical analysis.. fwiw, his track record as coach shows that

[giberish]

A bit dangerous as Portland won't have been beaten down by losing yet. Really a solid forward and center rotation but their backcourt is very poor. Scoot was bad last year, Simons can score but is Trae Young bad on defense, Sharpe didn't really improve last year and is out for this game anyways (I think). And while their forward/Center rotation is solid they don't have the type of front-court playmaking that can overcome weak guards.

[EvanZ]

with a rotation of Ayton/Clingan at the 5 they are probably one of the bigger teams at center, should be a nice early test for our smaller front court.

Kerr talked to Tolbert on KNBR for the first time since last year and it certainly seems like he'll start a 5 next to Dray most nights. My guess is that we roll out a Steph/Moody/JK/Dray/Loon lineup with heavy minutes for Podz, Melton, Wigs, SloMo, & TJD. GP2, Waters, and the 2ways are DNP-CDs.

Ayton/Clingan are big on paper but I don't think anyone is that scared of Ayton inside and we've yet to see Clingan play a professional game. Welcome to the NBA, now guard Steph 35 feet from the basket. I would expect an easy win but if we come out with the same approach as we had last year, we'll be down 20 in the first half and will need to climb back to steal a tough one.

If either of the bigs is starting it's pretty clearly TJD based on what we've seen in the preseason.

Here's what I think. Kuminga is going to start. It's a question of whether Kerr thinks he can be a 3 or 4. That will dictate the lineup decision.

In my mind it's super unfortunate that we are de facto building around Jonathan Kuminga while Steph has 2-3 years left, but here we are.

[Onus]

In my mind it's super unfortunate that we are de facto building around Jonathan Kuminga while Steph has 2-3 years left, but here we are.

This will probably be my biggest gripe all season. But I really wouldn't mind it if we got a legit stretch big somehow.

[CDM_Stats]

If either of the bigs is starting it's pretty clearly TJD based on what we've seen in the preseason.

Here's what I think. Kuminga is going to start. It's a question of whether Kerr thinks he can be a 3 or 4. That will dictate the lineup decision.

In my mind it's super unfortunate that we are de facto building around Jonathan Kuminga while Steph has 2-3 years left, but here we are.

The Warriors sure are a logical nightmare

Wiseman wasnt very good, was given a lot of minutes
JK wasn't very good, but was given a decent amount of minutes
TJD isn't very good, is being given a lot of minutes'
Moody might be in the rotation

Oh and Moody's the only one who got an extension

Does the team just roll dice on every decision? Flip a coin?

[Onus]

If either of the bigs is starting it's pretty clearly TJD based on what we've seen in the preseason.

Here's what I think. Kuminga is going to start. It's a question of whether Kerr thinks he can be a 3 or 4. That will dictate the lineup decision.

In my mind it's super unfortunate that we are de facto building around Jonathan Kuminga while Steph has 2-3 years left, but here we are.

The Warriors sure are a logical nightmare

Wiseman wasnt very good, was given a lot of minutes
JK wasn't very good, but was given a decent amount of minutes
TJD isn't very good, is being given a lot of minutes'
Moody might be in the rotation

Oh and Moody's the only one who got an extension

Does the team just roll dice on every decision? Flip a coin?

It just shows that there's a serious disconnect between the front office/analytic team and the coach.

Wiseman we understand was the no 2 pick so the front office wants to see what he can do.
JK was the no 7 pick so the front office wants to see what he can do
TJD (MDJ's brother) so maybe there's some allegiance there. This one is kind of baffling especially since he's not really young and doesn't have a ton of upside.
Moody getting an extension but may not be in the 10 man rotation. It's actually going to be really hard to get him in the rotation. If they start with
Curry/Wiggins/JK/Dray/TJD
Podz/Melton/Buddy/KA/Looney

Where does Moody fit in here? For Buddy? For Looney?