Game 8: Portland vs Utah 6:00pm SNW

[zzaj]

Besides playing worse than I think many of us hoped at the start of the season, one thing I've been disappointed in is the lack of obvious progression by any Blazer over the summer. Despite what it looks like on the court, Lillard and CJ are playing right at their averages. Both made some strides last season--Lillard getting to and finishing at the rim at an elite level, CJ scoring more consistently overall.

I guess you could say, Davis and Aminu have progressed from last year but this is how they have looked when healthy...so it's more of a return to form.

Pat looks a little more like an NBA player, but he's not going to be consistently winning games for the team.

It's still a young season, but I don't think anyone here would argue it's been underwhelming for the Blazers overall so far.

[Soulyss]

4 - 4 is underwhelming, you are 10% of the way through the season, and I'm starting to have some concerns... The Offense just looks... out of sorts... no movement, lots of 1 on 3 with guys standing around. The Blazers needed to feast on the first quarter schedule, as the back-half looks absolutely brutal.

14 games until December... Blazers will basically be at the 1/4 point of the season... Given the heavy back half of the schedule, I feel like the Blazers need to go NO WORSE than 10-4 over the next 14 games to have a shot at the playoffs.

[PDXKnight]

4 - 4 is underwhelming, you are 10% of the way through the season, and I'm starting to have some concerns... The Offense just looks... out of sorts... no movement, lots of 1 on 3 with guys standing around. The Blazers needed to feast on the first quarter schedule, as the back-half looks absolutely brutal.

14 games until December... Blazers will basically be at the 1/4 point of the season... Given the heavy back half of the schedule, I feel like the Blazers need to go NO WORSE than 10-4 over the next 14 games to have a shot at the playoffs.

8 games in I'm not too worried. Also the Blazers tend to play down or up to their opponents so they blow games they shouldn't and win games they should lose. If we could do everything we've been doing only beat Most of the average to lower tier teams we could easily win 50-55 games a year but that's much easier said than done

[Masterfully]

The offense has no identity right now. The past few years the offense was running and attacking. It created lots of open 3’s. Now they walk the ball up and are facing constant double teams. I have to think this is directly connected to their newfound focus on defense. Sometimes you just need to be you. Portland is best when they are asserting themselves on offense and resting on defense.

So far, Portland’s performance is perfectly in line with preseason predictions. They were predicted to be an OK team, good enough to be around .500 and finish 9th or 10th in the West.

[Wizenheimer]

8 games into a 19 year old's career. Noted....

Good thing the Jazz dumped Gobert after his first 8 games. That 1.75 ppg on .286 FG% in 13mpg was the clear indicator of what he was going to do in the future.

I love how people get on a kid who's not even playing yet. A kid who's behind a solid rotation of big men. We'll talk in a couple of years.

first off, I hope people know I was joking, for the most part, with my crack about Mitchell and Donovan

now, the Gobert comparison is a good one in some ways, but a bad one in others, IMO. The good part is that Gobert didn't play much in his rookie season; of course he had an injury that kept him out for 20 games. Also, he was pretty obviously a project.

but one thing you left out in your stats was rebounds. Gobert averaged 5.1 rebounds in those 13 minutes. That would be 14 reb/36. So Gobert did show something he was capable of

it's also the case that Gobert definitely had a position and a role. He was going to be a C, and he was going to rely on defense as rebounding as his core skills. I really don't know what position Collins seems suited for, and I'm not sure what his core skills are going to be. I know his supporters are convinced about what he can do...but I'm not
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but more then that, for me, I'm getting tired of the "Blazers are one of the youngest teams" chatter. Portland may be one of the youngest teams but they sure aren't an inexperienced team, and it's inexperience, more then simple age, that offers the biggest potential for organic improvement

Portland is in a win-now mode. That's what Dame and CJ want; that's what Paul Allen wants. And I question how that cause is furthered by adding another project big man that will likely remain buried on the bench all season. Collins is obvously not ready to contribute much right now. Giving him till his 3rd season...guess what that means? it means Dame and CJ will be expiring contracts

now I don't know how many NBA-ready players there were at #10 or later last season. Obviously, Donovan Mitchell is NBA-ready; it looks like Malik Monk was too. Kyle Kuzma sure looks like an NBA-ready SF. John Collins is averaging, per36, 20 points and 14 rebounds for Atlanta. Of course, both of Mitchell and Monk play the Dame/CJ positions, but it sure looks to me like Mitchell is a ton better for Connaughton's minutes, and some of Turner's, then the Portland alternative. The Blazers already had 7' of dead weight on the bench in you know who; I really wonder how many wins Collins will add in the next couple of years

and again, players, coaches, and ownership are all in win now mode; and of course, Portland is in the luxury tax like a win-now team.
I think it may have been a questionable call to have 3 draft picks in the last draft and not to add a win-now player

But the real reason I came in here... At least all of the concern about not having any 3 point shooting with trading Crabbe can be put to rest a bit. Portland is 3rd in the league in 3pt %.

sure but:

Shabazz Napier .600
C.J. McCollum .500
Pat Connaughton .455
Al-Farouq Aminu .433

those 4 guys are bombing 14 three's a game and shooting percentages we know won't last

Oh, and Turner has got to go. It's not that he's playing terrible, he is negating our best weapon when he's out there. I cannot stand to see him handling the ball, and making Dame a SG. It really hurts the team, and I hope Olshey is willing to swallow his pride, and do whatever is necessary to find a better fit, and move Turner elsewhere.

preach brother

for sure, last season, Turner and Dame were a bad mesh; they just didn't work together and that's still the case this season. Now, it's looking like Turner and CJ have a bad mesh.

Turner is not a good player. His career has shown that. Olshey gambled that Turner would be a better fit on Portland then his generic skill level indicated. He crapped out. Problem is it isn't just a matter of swallowing pride. Turner will be very hard to trade

[Dame Lizard]

2) Relatedly, the Blazers are currently last (yes, you read that correctly) DEAD LAST in the NBA in fastbreak points. If you couple an NBA that is trending quicker with a Blazer offense that relies on 3pt jump shooting and two iso oriented guards that both work better in a halfcourt offense to win games?...that really doesn't bode well.

This is a good point. I've always been really frustrated at how Lillard doesn't push the fast break. He's a lightning quick guard but prefers the half-court game. Go figure.....

[Wizenheimer]

2) Relatedly, the Blazers are currently last (yes, you read that correctly) DEAD LAST in the NBA in fastbreak points. If you couple an NBA that is trending quicker with a Blazer offense that relies on 3pt jump shooting and two iso oriented guards that both work better in a halfcourt offense to win games?...that really doesn't bode well.

This is a good point. I've always been really frustrated at how Lillard doesn't push the fast break. He's a lightning quick guard but prefers the half-court game. Go figure.....

Lillard is coach-able by all reports so if the coaches wanted a faster tempo I'd think Lillard would push it more. And in order to have quick transition, the team can't always be looking for the PG to lead it when the team gains the ball. It would have to be other players then Lillard, and frankly, the only player in the rotation that seems to consistently push the pace is Aminu, and quite often that has a cringe-worthy result. By the way, Portland's pace has increased in each of the last 3 seasons (negligible but it has climbed). This isn't all on Lillard...he already carries a very heavy load. Other players would have to step up and I really don't think the Blazers have the personnel. Lillard certainly seems to get a lot of blame for what's wrong with Portland...

but there are a lot of things that go into fast break production, and the primary trigger for the fast break is forcing opponent turnovers. Portland was 25th in the NBA in opponent turnover % in 2015/16, 27th in 2016/17, and currently 24th. So, right off the bat they are at a disadvantage...actually 2 disadvantages because of this and personnel. Another trigger is strong defensive rebounding and quick outlet passing. Portland had a little above defensive rebounding the last 2 seasons, ranking 13th and 12th (5th this season), so part of the equation is ok, But I'd question what kind of outlet passers the Blazers have, and again, the coaches aren't having the rebounders look for those outlet passes

4 - 4 is underwhelming, you are 10% of the way through the season, and I'm starting to have some concerns... The Offense just looks... out of sorts... no movement, lots of 1 on 3 with guys standing around. The Blazers needed to feast on the first quarter schedule, as the back-half looks absolutely brutal.

14 games until December... Blazers will basically be at the 1/4 point of the season... Given the heavy back half of the schedule, I feel like the Blazers need to go NO WORSE than 10-4 over the next 14 games to have a shot at the playoffs.

8 games in I'm not too worried. Also the Blazers tend to play down or up to their opponents so they blow games they shouldn't and win games they should lose. If we could do everything we've been doing only beat Most of the average to lower tier teams we could easily win 50-55 games a year but that's much easier said than done

I think that's unrealistic because, let's face it, Portland is an average team themselves so no way are they always going to beat other average teams.

if you go back to the break-up of the Aldridge team and count regular season and playoffs, the Blazers are 94-93. And I'd say a 187 game sample size is an excellent gauge. Portland is a .500 team since the beginning of the 2015/16 season. They are .500 right now

I know a lot of people got all giddy about that 20 game stretch with Nurkic last season. But I thought there was more into the record over that stretch then just Nurkic's greatness. That was the 2nd year in the row that Portland got hot in the 2nd half of the season. The year before last, they were even hotter in their run but it didn't carry over. I think both hot stretches were just a fortunate set of circumstances coming together for a while.

I don't think Nurkic is nearly as good as he appeared to be last season when he joined Portland. I also think he's better then he has shown so far this year, But going by that stretch of Nurkic fever last season and predicting 50-55 wins seems unrealistic to me. In the previous 3 seasons, on average, only 8 teams have won 50 games while only 4 teams have hit the 55 win plateau. Portland is not one of the 8 best teams, and considering them one of the 4 best teams seems a bit loopy...and I know you weren't suggesting that. I just think people assume that 50 win mark is pretty easy to reach...it's really not. Further, there sure appears to be more parity right now and for a team like Portland, that means more losses, not more wins, IMO

[monopoman]

I agree there seems to be more parity when you take out the top 2-3 teams in the league, I mean look at the Suns they lost their first 3 games 2 of those games by huge margins, then they switch coaches and the team is now 4-1 with their only loss being on the road against the Blazers. When a team like that is supposed to be "damn bad" and they can go 4-1 with a coaching change you know that there is a lot of parity outside of the very top of the league.

For even more parity look at the Cavaliers they are getting wrecked posting a 3-5 record while they have had a pretty damn easy schedule in the early going and they were supposed to be a "top team". Obviously the Cavs lost Kyrie and don't have Thomas back yet but even still a team with LBJ, Love and some other reasonable role-players should be able to be 1 or 2 games above .500 with the schedule they have had.

If the parity remains close and we see a lot of west teams beat each other up, and making the like 6-12th place very very close.

[a_sensei]

Utah 112 Portland 103 OT
The Blazers let a very winnable game get away. Costly turnovers in the second half. Once again struggled with defensive length. The Rubio/Mitchell/Sefolosha/Ingles/Gobert lineup was really mucking things up. Some nice things including Lillard and Nurkic getting back on track offensively, and a pretty good defensive effort holding the Jazz to 37.8% and only 16 assists in an overtime game.

There are definitely some worries about the offense. It continues to be poorly spaced and stagnant at times.

Player Grades:
Damian Lillard
B+
Good to see Lillard with back to back games having success getting to the hole. Great line 33/10/8 but five turnovers and 11 missed threes.

Jusuf Nurkic
B+
Maybe Nurkic’s best game this year. He looked comfortable finishing against Gobert throughout the game, had 11 rebounds and protected the rim.

Al-Farouq Aminu
B
Chief was playing a solid game, clearly the Blazers defender when he was on the floor. Team high +14. Hopefully Aminu’s ankle injury will not keep him out too long.

Ed Davis
B-
Davis was solid, if not spectacular, going for 7/4 along with two blocks in 18 minutes.

Evan Turner
C+
Turner was fairly quiet on the offensive end. He was up and down on the defensive end, coming up with four steals but, on several occasions, getting burned because of his aggression.

Noah Vonleh
C
Good to see Vonleh back in the lineup. Could be much needed if Aminu has extended absence. Had a nice and-1 dunk, but only one rebound in his 13 minutes.

Pat Connaughton
C-
Connaughton didn’t make any of his shots but generally did the right thing and had three really nice assists. Did not play particularly well on the defensive end during his time.

CJ McCollum
C-
McCollum had ten rebounds but many of his six turnovers came at inopportune times when Blazers were making a run and establishing a lead. 6-20 from the field.

Maurice Harkless
C-
Harkless had a nice first stint, left with foul trouble, and was pretty much invisible throughout the rest of the game. Blazers needed a more active Harkless with Aminu having to leave. Only two rebounds in 28 minutes. On one play in particular, late in the game, Nurkic came up with a nice block on a Sefolosha shot and Harkless ball watched as Gobert followed it in. I don’t know that Harkless could have gotten to the ball but he could have made Gobert sweat.