Game 12: Portland vs Indiana 7:00pm SNW

[Roy The Natural]

They say you’re not allowed to play tough defense and be physical but somehow Indian was able to tonight and still commit nearly only half the fouls Portland did. I main thing the more aggressive teams will get the calls but with this teams makeup they will never be the most physical team

Portland doesn't play defense.... they get beat and slap.... I mean I don't know what else to say. The rotations are horrific, the team looks utterly confused on the defensive side of the ball.. Gonna need a major trade/change to save the season IMO. It's whatever though, this is what happens when you don't take advantage of opportunities over the years to bring in elite talent and are instead okay trying to thread the needle and rely on a good bracket and timely injuries to opponents to actually be a competitor.

I mean... we're in the modern 3pt heavy NBA and almost every defensive possession has the majority of the team sitting in the key to help on drives giving up wide open shots from the 3pt line. We rely on things like 10ft closeouts from a guy like CJ on Otto Porter Jr. I'd imagine things are going to get extremely ugly this season as the team will likely now increase minutes to Melo, Hood, and Kanter.

[JasonStern]

Nurkic with a right wrist fracture.

Nurkić and Collins both out with injuries?!

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[Matt800]

I'd love to get Sabonis somehow. He belongs in PDX.

I think at this point blazers better be making calls to every team with a big man. This team is about to get abused inside

Javale Mcgee might be available. Maybe trade Collins for him.

[whatchaknow]

They say you’re not allowed to play tough defense and be physical but somehow Indian was able to tonight and still commit nearly only half the fouls Portland did. I main thing the more aggressive teams will get the calls but with this teams makeup they will never be the most physical team

Portland doesn't play defense.... they get beat and slap.... I mean I don't know what else to say. The rotations are horrific, the team looks utterly confused on the defensive side of the ball.. Gonna need a major trade/change to save the season IMO. It's whatever though, this is what happens when you don't take advantage of opportunities over the years to bring in elite talent and are instead okay trying to thread the needle and rely on a good bracket and timely injuries to opponents to actually be a competitor.

I mean... we're in the modern 3pt heavy NBA and almost every defensive possession has the majority of the team sitting in the key to help on drives giving up wide open shots from the 3pt line. We rely on things like 10ft closeouts from a guy like CJ on Otto Porter Jr. I'd imagine things are going to get extremely ugly this season as the team will likely now increase minutes to Melo, Hood, and Kanter.

Oh I agree for sure. It’s why they have the biggest swings of any team in the league. They rely on the other team to miss open shots and them to make contested, horrible horrible strategy lol. The alternative would be hard close outs which would lead to layup lines since we have a small, unathletic front court. It’s especially bad when our small front court can’t exploit that matchup on the other end. This team is extremely flawed and we will see it big time with nurk out

[Roy The Natural]

It honestly baffles me that Hood is still seeing the floor on a team that says it wants to be a competitor. He might be the worst rotation player in the NBA right now. Send him to the G-league until he gets some offensive rhythm at a minimum. He's honestly been worse than Hezonja was last year, and that's saying something. He's MUCH worse defensively than Hezonja was, and I don't think to this point you could reasonably make an argument that he's been better offensively. Smarter sure, but not really better.

[whatchaknow]

I'd love to get Sabonis somehow. He belongs in PDX.

I think at this point blazers better be making calls to every team with a big man. This team is about to get abused inside

Javale Mcgee might be available. Maybe trade Collins for him.

I know Marvin Bagley would be a guy instantly available with all the drama he’s had. I mean any sort of big body has to be taken into consideration. I actually think javale would be a good player for us

[JasonStern]

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[Roy The Natural]

They say you’re not allowed to play tough defense and be physical but somehow Indian was able to tonight and still commit nearly only half the fouls Portland did. I main thing the more aggressive teams will get the calls but with this teams makeup they will never be the most physical team

Portland doesn't play defense.... they get beat and slap.... I mean I don't know what else to say. The rotations are horrific, the team looks utterly confused on the defensive side of the ball.. Gonna need a major trade/change to save the season IMO. It's whatever though, this is what happens when you don't take advantage of opportunities over the years to bring in elite talent and are instead okay trying to thread the needle and rely on a good bracket and timely injuries to opponents to actually be a competitor.

I mean... we're in the modern 3pt heavy NBA and almost every defensive possession has the majority of the team sitting in the key to help on drives giving up wide open shots from the 3pt line. We rely on things like 10ft closeouts from a guy like CJ on Otto Porter Jr. I'd imagine things are going to get extremely ugly this season as the team will likely now increase minutes to Melo, Hood, and Kanter.

Oh I agree for sure. It’s why they have the biggest swings of any team in the league. They rely on the other team to miss open shots and them to make contested, horrible horrible strategy lol. The alternative would be hard close outs which would lead to layup lines since we have a small, unathletic front court. It’s especially bad when our small front court can’t exploit that matchup on the other end. This team is extremely flawed and we will see it big time with nurk out

The funny thing is that wasn't even completely true. Covington is a mediocre man defender but one of the best help defenders in the NBA for his size. Nurkic is/was a pretty good rim deterrent. The team played good defense in spurts when the starting lineup was in, but the bench is a disaster, and there's been pretty much no change. They're still rolling out Kanter/Hood/Melo at the same time. Melo and Hood are fighting each other tooth and nail for the title of most negative rotation player in the NBA, and for all the positives of rebounding and inside scoring that Kanter brings, his defense is obviously sub-par.

Regardless of however the season goes, I find it unfathomable that the Blazers can continue to trot out that lineup much longer, it's been an absolute disaster. Hood doesn't belong in the NBA at this point in time, and Melo is mostly a 10th-12th man.

[HoopsFanAZ]

Giles, Covington, Jones, GTJ, McCollum, Lillard

Situational and limited: Kanter and not at the same time Melo
Hustle in limited minutes: Little
Limited and get in shape and in rhythm: Hood
Play him or trade him: Simons
Small ball.

Looking cooked.

[Roy The Natural]

Giles, Covington, Jones, GTJ, McCollum, Lillard

Situational and limited: Kanter and not at the same time Melo
Hustle in limited minutes: Little
Limited and get in shape and in rhythm: Hood
Play him or trade him: Simons
Small ball.

Looking cooked.

Yea.... Hood needs to be in the G-league until he looks like an NBA caliber player. Just put Little in there and ride with it.

[Wizenheimer]

* I guess the good news is with Nurk and Zach out, again, and Hood looking like he's done, the Blazers don't have to come up with new excuses for mediocrity. They can just recycle last year's excuses

* I like RoCo and Jones. But RoCo wasn't worth two 1sts and those two leave Portland in a deep hole offensively every night. Neither are anything close to two-way wings and a team that doesn't have one of those is at a big disadvantage. 14 points and 10 rebounds out of your starting forwards doesn't make for a contender

* Sabonis and Myles Turner. Two interchageable bigs who can put the ball on the floor, drive, and break down a defense. They can pass and shoot the three. And they can switch and guard the perimeter. They are only about 17 months older than Zach and about 2 years younger than Nurkic. What a luxury for Indiana

* by the way, the Pacers play with about twice the BBIQ as the Blazers

* the game turned at the start of the 2nd Q when both Dame and CJ sat. That was because of it being the 2nd of a B2B. But I was told the Blazers had incredible depth this season. Why did that depth fail so badly?

* TJ McConnell showed the value of a good backup PG. Olshey didn't notice

[Roy The Natural]

* I guess the good news is with Nurk and Zach out, again, and Hood looking like he's done, the Blazers don't have to come up with new excuses for mediocrity. They can just recycle last year's excuses

* I like RoCo and Jones. But RoCo wasn't worth two 1sts and those two leave Portland in a deep hole offensively every night. Neither are anything close to two-way wings and a team that doesn't have one of those is at a big disadvantage. 14 points and 10 rebounds out of your starting forwards doesn't make for a contender

* Sabonis and Myles Turner. Two interchageable bigs who can put the ball on the floor, drive, and break down a defense. They can pass and shoot the three. And they can switch and guard the perimeter. They are only about 17 months older than Zach and about 2 years younger than Nurkic. What a luxury for Indiana

* by the way, the Pacers play with about twice the BBIQ as the Blazers

* the game turned at the start of the 2nd Q when both Dame and CJ sat. That was because of it being the 2nd of a B2B. But I was told the Blazers had incredible depth this season. Why did that depth fail so badly?

* TJ McConnell showed the value of a good backup PG. Olshey didn't notice

Hard to know for sure whether it's BBIQ or just scheme/coaching. We have some really archaic schemes that put our players in really terrible positions defensively. The offense is only functional with an elite ball-handler/scorer. If Pop was coaching this team, I think we'd have a different view of the BBIQ. But that's just my opinion. Pacers play like a Nick Nurse type team - good modern schemes and a good understanding of what to do in each situation.

[Epicurus]

Didn't the Pacers lust lose to the Kings? I guess their "modern schemes" (what does that even mean compared to say "archaic schemes)." My point, teams lose and teams win based on many factors, on given nights. It is iffy to project comparative inferences on a win or two. But losses are good times for axes wanting some grinding.

I have a hunch that the Blazers offensive and defensive playbooks are as large and detailed as those of other teams. But I don't have privy to those materials and the teaching/monitoring of them, as obviously several posters here have. I do know it is and always has been pretty much a monkey see, monkey do league, so I doubt if anyone is using worn-out "schemes" (the word that just say I want to comment but really don't know any specifics).

[Case2012]

We got to the western conference finals with Kanter, we can still sign a back up, repeater tax be damned. I think our real problem is back up pg. Please remove Simons from the roster and replace him with ANY reliable veteran pg, for the love of God, pleaseeee. All that being said, nurkic hasn't been great and we still had a 7-4 record so let's not $$$$ our pants just yet.

[Roy The Natural]

We got to the western conference finals with Kanter, we can still sign a back up, repeater tax be damned. I think our real problem is back up pg. Please remove Simons from the roster and replace him with ANY reliable veteran pg, for the love of God, pleaseeee. All that being said, nurkic hasn't been great and we still had a 7-4 record so let's not $$$$ our pants just yet.

I mean... sure. But some of that is surely matchups. Expecting that sort of success over the long-haul is probably a bridge too far. His matchups were Jokic and Adams. While both are good players, with Jokic being great, they're still not super mobile players. Let's also not forget that Jokic massacred Kanter, and the Blazers were basically playing .500 ball against a young good team.

[Roy The Natural]

Didn't the Pacers lust lose to the Kings? I guess their "modern schemes" (what does that even mean compared to say "archaic schemes)." My point, teams lose and teams win based on many factors, on given nights. It is iffy to project comparative inferences on a win or two. But losses are good times for axes wanting some grinding.

I have a hunch that the Blazers offensive and defensive playbooks are as large and detailed as those of other teams. But I don't have privy to those materials and the teaching/monitoring of them, as obviously several posters here have. I do know it is and always has been pretty much a monkey see, monkey do league, so I doubt if anyone is using worn-out "schemes" (the word that just say I want to comment but really don't know any specifics).

Real question here. Why don't you ever quote? It gives other posters a notification when you quote. Considering that you're often directly responding to a poster, it's just a weird quirk that I don't understand, why not notify the person that you're debating/providing an opposing viewpoint that you're doing so?

[Epicurus]

Because quoting is mechanical, whereas paraphrasing actually displays understanding. Oh, maybe you mean using the quote function? I do use it, but not when that to which I am addressing is not immediately above. But I think you don't really care. Rather it is a way to demean something or someone who does not share your views.

[PDXKnight]

Sucks to lose nurk again. At this point I doubt nurk gets a big contract when he hits fa. Dude can’t stay healthy.

Tough loss and once again looks like a mediocre blazer team.

[PDXKnight]

* I guess the good news is with Nurk and Zach out, again, and Hood looking like he's done, the Blazers don't have to come up with new excuses for mediocrity. They can just recycle last year's excuses

* I like RoCo and Jones. But RoCo wasn't worth two 1sts and those two leave Portland in a deep hole offensively every night. Neither are anything close to two-way wings and a team that doesn't have one of those is at a big disadvantage. 14 points and 10 rebounds out of your starting forwards doesn't make for a contender

* Sabonis and Myles Turner. Two interchageable bigs who can put the ball on the floor, drive, and break down a defense. They can pass and shoot the three. And they can switch and guard the perimeter. They are only about 17 months older than Zach and about 2 years younger than Nurkic. What a luxury for Indiana

* by the way, the Pacers play with about twice the BBIQ as the Blazers

* the game turned at the start of the 2nd Q when both Dame and CJ sat. That was because of it being the 2nd of a B2B. But I was told the Blazers had incredible depth this season. Why did that depth fail so badly?

* TJ McConnell showed the value of a good backup PG. Olshey didn't notice

Roco for 2 late lotto picks is still a steal imo. That future first is fairly heavily protected

[JasonStern]

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