Game 4: Portland vs San Antonio 5:30pm SNW

[d-train]

Good effort by Tolliver.

[d-train]

Tolliver tried to carry the team over the finish line but dudes have to make some shots.

[Moonbeam]

Tolliver tried to carry the team over the finish line but dudes have to make some shots.

OK, I think this is enough Tolliver for the time being. More posts like this will be considered derailing.

[d-train]

Tolliver tried to carry the team over the finish line but dudes have to make some shots.

OK, I think this is enough Tolliver for the time being. More posts like this will be considered derailing.

Just trying to help some people notice what a good role player who doesn't pad his stats does to help his team win. It seems like a big problem around here.

[Roy The Natural]

Tolliver tried to carry the team over the finish line but dudes have to make some shots.

OK, I think this is enough Tolliver for the time being. More posts like this will be considered derailing.

It's literally trolling at this point.

[d-train]

Tolliver finished with a +8. I guess that's what lost us the game.

[Matt800]

I like this team. Health + more time together and they could be a very good playoff team. I don't think most of us would have guessed Skal could get 10 points, 6 rebounds, 1 blk in 13 minutes vs the spurs. And Simons is looking better at defense.

[Matt800]

Tolliver finished with a +8. I guess that's what lost us the game.

I liked a lot of his passing and that one drawn charge was really solid. Seems like he was able to disrupt guys driving by getting set in front of them repeatedly. He looks like he can be helpful in the right circumstances.

[Moonbeam]

Tolliver tried to carry the team over the finish line but dudes have to make some shots.

OK, I think this is enough Tolliver for the time being. More posts like this will be considered derailing.

Just trying to help some people notice what a good role player who doesn't pad his stats does to help his team win. It seems like a big problem around here.

I understand and appreciate the effort to shine a positive light on a player who seems to have found himself in the fan doghouse, but the previous page of this thread was almost entirely filled with your comments about him, and that can be considered a derailment of the thread.

Again, happy for you to point out what Tolliver does well, but it would come across better if it was done in a few posts rather than several in a row.

[d-train]

OK, I think this is enough Tolliver for the time being. More posts like this will be considered derailing.

Just trying to help some people notice what a good role player who doesn't pad his stats does to help his team win. It seems like a big problem around here.

I understand and appreciate the effort to shine a positive light on a player who seems to have found himself in the fan doghouse, but the previous page of this thread was almost entirely filled with your comments about him, and that can be considered a derailment of the thread.

Again, happy for you to point out what Tolliver does well, but it would come across better if it was done in a few posts rather than several in a row.

Or, maybe we can do without the fan doghouse. I don't notice anyone calling balls and strikes on unwarranted criticism.

[Roy The Natural]

Just trying to help some people notice what a good role player who doesn't pad his stats does to help his team win. It seems like a big problem around here.

I understand and appreciate the effort to shine a positive light on a player who seems to have found himself in the fan doghouse, but the previous page of this thread was almost entirely filled with your comments about him, and that can be considered a derailment of the thread.

Again, happy for you to point out what Tolliver does well, but it would come across better if it was done in a few posts rather than several in a row.

Or, maybe we can do without the fan doghouse. I don't notice anyone calling balls and strikes on unwarranted criticism.

Tolliver has had very few balls and a ton of strikes on his criticism. He's been awful for most of the 4 games. He was better today, but still wasn't making much of an impact. He was whooped on defense repeatedly, and continues to miss open shots.

It's pretty much all been warranted criticism, and running around white knighting for him doesn't change that hes mostly sucked to this point.

[d-train]

I understand and appreciate the effort to shine a positive light on a player who seems to have found himself in the fan doghouse, but the previous page of this thread was almost entirely filled with your comments about him, and that can be considered a derailment of the thread.

Again, happy for you to point out what Tolliver does well, but it would come across better if it was done in a few posts rather than several in a row.

Or, maybe we can do without the fan doghouse. I don't notice anyone calling balls and strikes on unwarranted criticism.

Tolliver has had very few balls and a ton of strikes on his criticism. He's been awful for most of the 4 games. He was better today, but still wasn't making much of an impact. He was whooped on defense repeatedly, and continues to miss open shots.

It's pretty much all been warranted criticism, and running around white knighting for him doesn't change that hes mostly sucked to this point.

In 4 games I have seen him make only 1 bad play. Tonight was the his first opportunity to play with our best lineups and he shined big time. He led the team in +/- and when he entered the game in crunch time Blazers were getting beat on the boards. Blazers finished the game beating Spurs in defensive rebound % and Whiteside on the bench. Tolliver was spectacular on defense and making smart plays on offense.

[zzaj]

A lot to like about this loss...

Team obviously seemed tired. Went through long stretches were the lid was on the rim. In the second and third quarters the Spurs seemed to be getting the whistles to fall their way.

Lillard did a valiant superman job there at the end, but you gotta make the one that counts. Was anybody else pissed when CJ took that penultimate possession? I get that he had been having a decent game, but in those situations you have to go with your star...especially if he's single-handedly bringing you back in the game.

Tolliver knows where to be on the plays and can play with some length and IQ, but he's not somebody the team should be counting on for consistent good play.

Spurs play great, focused team defense. I think we all knew that early lead was fools gold.

Man, in no way do I want Aldridge back on the Blazers. Yuck. I couldn't stand his game as a Blazer, and I can't stand it now.

I'm liking the additions of Bazemore and Mario more and more. While they don't have the defensive versatility that Aminu and Harkless had, they can put pressure on defenses by putting the ball on the floor. The combo of Hood, Baze, Mario all having dribble drive ability is really the new look for this team.

Anyhow, call it a moral victory and move on to the next one.

[Moonbeam]

Just trying to help some people notice what a good role player who doesn't pad his stats does to help his team win. It seems like a big problem around here.

I understand and appreciate the effort to shine a positive light on a player who seems to have found himself in the fan doghouse, but the previous page of this thread was almost entirely filled with your comments about him, and that can be considered a derailment of the thread.

Again, happy for you to point out what Tolliver does well, but it would come across better if it was done in a few posts rather than several in a row.

Or, maybe we can do without the fan doghouse. I don't notice anyone calling balls and strikes on unwarranted criticism.

If criticism gets to a point where it starts derailing a thread, I'm happy to step in as well.

As you know, the mods take a fairly laissez-faire approach in general. I'm not issuing any warnings or anything - just want to make sure this and other threads run smoothly with the diverse perspectives we collectively bring to the forum.

If you notice posts that you feel are derailing in their excessive criticism, feel free to report them.

[dunlop212]

Thanks MB.

[Sinobas]

Tolliver is 1-8 from 3 this year, including missing a wide open, potentially game winning shot. Drives me nuts when guys, whose only role is to be a shooting can't hit those wide open shots.

[BlazersBroncos]

Tolliver making some heady, veteran plays doesn't remove the fact that he is statistically atrocious so far posting an On/Off of -26.1.

I still strongly believe that we need to make a move for Gallo to take that step into the contending tier. With how wide the West is, adding him would be huge. I know many disagree though.

[DaVoiceMaster]

1 okay game (hardly spectacular) does not negate the 3 horrific games he's already played. Even if he plays okay, then the criticism dissipates (probably doesn't go away entirely), but he needs to show it more than one game playing with the starters, which he will not be doing once Collins comes back. I'll reserve changing my judgment of him until I see more "okay" play from him. Until then, he has still sucked for the most part this season. I hope he turns it around because they really need him to hit some shots off the bench.

[BlazersBroncos]

This Tolliver convo is pretty useless seeing as the one guy in his corner is a known contrarian of the highest order who makes it a goal to constantly argue against the grain.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Tolliver isn't great, although he looked better with our starters than with our bench, but we are down 3 big's so its probably smart to temper expectations.

Although, Olshey keeps doing this thing where he leaves a position with inadequate depth because he wants to force Stott's hand into playing them more. This year it is PF with him expecting big things from Collins.

I think that is acceptable positions 2-4, but I still believe you should always have adequate depth at PG and C. Hezonja is proving much more useful than I anticipated and with CJ and Lillard staggering their minutes and Simons looking OK for a second year guard I actually feel better about the PG position than I thought I would. And C is just racked with injuries at the moment so its hard to get too upset, once Gasol is playing I think Skal can see some more minutes at PF which makes me much more comfortable with our depth behind Collins.

Long story short, any team with multiple players injured at the same position is going to have issues. These issues should resolve themselves as people get healthy so lets temper the overreactions.