Game 2: Portland vs Sacramento 7:00pm SNW

[Shem]

Watch on YouTube

[Moonbeam]

Only caught the last 8 minutes or so. It was nice seeing Dame catch fire and CJ hit some big shots.

Is Simons still looking very raw from a PG perspective? Seems like he can make a career as a scoring spark plug but improving his passing game could maybe make him more than that.

[Wizenheimer]

Is Simons still looking very raw from a PG perspective? Seems like he can make a career as a scoring spark plug but improving his passing game could maybe make him more than that.

who really know at this point but I'd be a bit surprised if he's got PG skills in him. Maybe he can be more of a PG than CJ is, but that's not really a high standard. He may become a really good SG though

[Matt800]

Is Simons still looking very raw from a PG perspective? Seems like he can make a career as a scoring spark plug but improving his passing game could maybe make him more than that.

who really know at this point but I'd be a bit surprised if he's got PG skills in him. Maybe he can be more of a PG than CJ is, but that's not really a high standard. He may become a really good SG though

When Lillard was out with a knee injury last season CJ got a triple double, 10 assists to 3 turnovers. Is he a great pg, probably not, but he has some things he can do well. I think to some extent what a player shows depends on the player's role and what opportunities the offense intends for them. Because CJ has on multiple occasions looked more like a point guard when Lillard has been out.

But yeah, I don't think Simons has shown a lot yet. He's made some good passes at times and made horrible ones other times. It seems like he has been a black hole this season so far. I don't hate that he's being aggressive, but it would be nice for him to see and make passes when someone has a better shot.

[GreenRiddler]

I don't mind the lack of vision from Simons. We need someone who can create something out of nothing in the 2nd unit. I don't expect him to be perfect this early on.

Everyone has areas to improve, don't know if he'll ever be a of but he will get better at passing.

[Wizenheimer]

When Lillard was out with a knee injury last season CJ got a triple double, 10 assists to 3 turnovers. Is he a great pg, probably not, but he has some things he can do well. I think to some extent what a player shows depends on the player's role and what opportunities the offense intends for them. Because CJ has on multiple occasions looked more like a point guard when Lillard has been out. .

Turner got two triple doubles in a row but that didn't make him a PG or mean he could consistently run the offense. Nurkic had a triple double, and did so when Dame was playing, but that doesn't make him a PG nor mean he can consistently run the offense. Nic Batum had several triple doubles playing with Dame but he couldn't consistently set the offense. Mason Plumlee averaged 4 assists for Portland in 2016-17 with an assist/turnover ratio of 2.5; that's more assists than CJ has averaged except for one year and CJ has never hit the 2.0 assist/turnover mark

CJ's role has been the same for the last 4 years. Over those 4 years, his assist numbers:

2015-16 - 4.3
2016-17 - 3.6
2017-18 - 3.4
2018-19 - 3.0

that isn't the kind of trend you see from a player who has PG skills, especially as their usage increases.

but more than any of that is how the Blazers have been bounced out of the playoffs for 4 straight years. In those close-out series, Portland is 1-16 against the Warriors and Pelicans (the 1 win coming when Curry was out), and have lost 14 games in a row and been swept 3 straight times. So far, no light at the end of that tunnel. Those teams employed the exact same simple strategy: sell out the defense to take the ball out of Dame's hands and force the rest of the Blazers to beat them. The result has been the Blazer offense stalls, over and over. That's the time when CJ would be running the offense and leading the Blazers....if he had that in him. But his instinct is to look for his own offense first, always, and his talent isn't inclined to be consistently initiating the offense.

this isn't a knock on CJ...he isn't a rebounder or a rim protector either. As you said, he has his role. Simons might have more of a PG skillset, but that's completely unknown at this point. Essentially, his career is only 4 games old

[d-train]

When Lillard was out with a knee injury last season CJ got a triple double, 10 assists to 3 turnovers. Is he a great pg, probably not, but he has some things he can do well. I think to some extent what a player shows depends on the player's role and what opportunities the offense intends for them. Because CJ has on multiple occasions looked more like a point guard when Lillard has been out. .

...

CJ's role has been the same for the last 4 years. Over those 4 years, his assist numbers:

2015-16 - 4.3
2016-17 - 3.6
2017-18 - 3.4
2018-19 - 3.0

that isn't the kind of trend you see from a player who has PG skills, especially as their usage increases.

but more than any of that is how the Blazers have been bounced out of the playoffs for 4 straight years. In those close-out series, Portland is 1-16 against the Warriors and Pelicans (the 1 win coming when Curry was out), and have lost 14 games in a row and been swept 3 straight times. So far, no light at the end of that tunnel. Those teams employed the exact same simple strategy: sell out the defense to take the ball out of Dame's hands and force the rest of the Blazers to beat them. The result has been the Blazer offense stalls, over and over. That's the time when CJ would be running the offense and leading the Blazers....if he had that in him. But his instinct is to look for his own offense first, always, and his talent isn't inclined to be consistently initiating the offense.

this isn't a knock on CJ...he isn't a rebounder or a rim protector either. As you said, he has his role. Simons might have more of a PG skillset, but that's completely unknown at this point. Essentially, his career is only 4 games old

How is Lillard's inability to use his teammates to beat defenses weighted to pressure the ball CJ's fault? Blazers have made several adjustments to help Lillard make better decisions under pressure defenses. One that worked well in the playoffs was to initiate the offense through CJ. This doesn't make CJ a better PG than Lillard, it's just one of many things Blazers do to combat pressure on the ball in absence of a true PG.

[Matt800]

When Lillard was out with a knee injury last season CJ got a triple double, 10 assists to 3 turnovers. Is he a great pg, probably not, but he has some things he can do well. I think to some extent what a player shows depends on the player's role and what opportunities the offense intends for them. Because CJ has on multiple occasions looked more like a point guard when Lillard has been out. .

Turner got two triple doubles in a row but that didn't make him a PG or mean he could consistently run the offense. Nurkic had a triple double, and did so when Dame was playing, but that doesn't make him a PG nor mean he can consistently run the offense. Nic Batum had several triple doubles playing with Dame but he couldn't consistently set the offense. Mason Plumlee averaged 4 assists for Portland in 2016-17 with an assist/turnover ratio of 2.5; that's more assists than CJ has averaged except for one year and CJ has never hit the 2.0 assist/turnover mark

CJ's role has been the same for the last 4 years. Over those 4 years, his assist numbers:

2015-16 - 4.3
2016-17 - 3.6
2017-18 - 3.4
2018-19 - 3.0

that isn't the kind of trend you see from a player who has PG skills, especially as their usage increases.

but more than any of that is how the Blazers have been bounced out of the playoffs for 4 straight years. In those close-out series, Portland is 1-16 against the Warriors and Pelicans (the 1 win coming when Curry was out), and have lost 14 games in a row and been swept 3 straight times. So far, no light at the end of that tunnel. Those teams employed the exact same simple strategy: sell out the defense to take the ball out of Dame's hands and force the rest of the Blazers to beat them. The result has been the Blazer offense stalls, over and over. That's the time when CJ would be running the offense and leading the Blazers....if he had that in him. But his instinct is to look for his own offense first, always, and his talent isn't inclined to be consistently initiating the offense.

this isn't a knock on CJ...he isn't a rebounder or a rim protector either. As you said, he has his role. Simons might have more of a PG skillset, but that's completely unknown at this point. Essentially, his career is only 4 games old

Yeah I largely agree about CJ as a PG and Simons being unproven. Everyone has a range of plays they can execute and a level of how cleanly they can do that. Someone like Nash has a lot of ability and effectiveness so he can get a lot out of even mediocre teammates. CJ has less he can do, but he can get consistent results with a capable offensive player like Nurkic. It's just been rare that CJ is in a lineup where he is with Nurkic and Lillard is out. Lillard has more ability than CJ so he gets that role first. Maybe we will see more of CJ playmaking when Nurkic comes back because potentially Whiteside or Nurkic will then be in lineups with CJ and without Lillard. Gasol could also be a guy CJ could run plays with. But I think so far Stotts has used CJ as an aggressive scorer to pressure the defense. It's not perfect but I think there is some logic to it.

[Wizenheimer]

How is Lillard's inability to use his teammates to beat defenses weighted to pressure the ball CJ's fault? .

I never said it was CJ's fault; we were just trying to gauge if Simons has any PG ability and CJ's game might be a fair gauge....even though we have almost nothing to go on

and LOL about "Lillard's inability to use his teammates to beat defenses"....yeah, when Dame was doubled and trapped, and passed the ball to Turner or Aminu or Harkless or CJ and they couldn't put together a cohesive enough offense to get even one win against that kind of defense, that's on Dame...

the problem is roster structure. It starts with the payoff for a team when they do sell out their defense to stop Dame.It's a handsome payoff because doing so is a 2 for 1: they take away Portland's best scorer, and they take away the only guy who can consistently run the offense. It's a great strategy

Portland's response has been to go all in on the Dame/CJ pairing. If Dame was paired with Paul George or Kawhi or Lebron or Giannis or Butler or one of several elite players, doubling Dame wouldn't work because the other guy could take over a game. Not only score but get other Blazers involved. Portland doesn't have that kind of talent and their best player, by far, is only 6'2, while their 2nd best player is injured. Good enough for the regular season but it ultimately runs into a wall in the playoffs