Preseason Game Tonight!!!

Epicurus · Post #21 » by **Epicurus** » Thu Oct 7, 2021 2:56 am

Umm, someone should review the Blazers' offensive efficiency in their last playoff series. I would also suggest a webdive into articles discussing playstyle and points per possession, the ultimate indicator of offensive performance ( certainly not assists/game).

Roy The Natural · Post #22 » by **Roy The Natural** » Thu Oct 7, 2021 5:44 am

Should we go over their efficiency in all the playoffs over the past 5 years? Or just their efficiency last year carried by Damian Lillard going supernova?

You're playing a stupid game of bull here and I'm not buying it.

Listen... Stotta is gone. Lounging in the list of unhired coaches. It's time to move on. I like this offense more. I like movement, versatility, and unpredictability more than the opposite. You can spout off all day about efficiency.... But we've seen the same song and dance a long time now. When the playoffs hit, the Blazers require supernova performances from their guards to score with opponents who spread the scoring around with easier and better shots.

It's not an argument worth having anyways as we don't have enough proof either way to understand yet where they'll be at the end of the year on offense this year. I simply stated I liked the offense more and think it bodes better results for the team in games that matter. You're the one who red herring'd a completely outlandish number of turnovers in game 1 of preseason as if it's a harbinger of future offensive expectations.

As if liking ball movement is somehow going to result in 10 more tov/g then the 2nd worst team in the NBA over the course of a season.

BlazersBroncos · Post #23 » by **BlazersBroncos** » Thu Oct 7, 2021 7:29 pm

He would have been gone by our FRP, but my god does Trey Murphy look like everything we have been wanting from a SF for years now. I can see him being that Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby type elite 4th option. Would just kill to have a role player of that level and shooting ability on this team.

Epicurus · Post #24 » by **Epicurus** » Thu Oct 7, 2021 9:14 pm

"It's not an argument worth having anyways as we don't have enough proof either way to understand yet where they'll be at the end of the year on offense this year." A point of agreement and the point I have been trying to make in reaction that more than median passing ipso facto means a better offensive playstyle. Whether you find such more aesthetically pleasing is very inconsequential and shown quite irrelevant. BTW, shot quality is also not related to your aesthetics nor indicated by wins/losses.

monopoman · Post #25 » by **monopoman** » Mon Oct 11, 2021 8:31 pm

I mean expecting night and day differences in the defense in game 1 of the pre-season, against a Warriors team that is looking to prove something and usually has a very good offense even with injuries is a bit much.

If fully healthy I would not be surprised to see the Warriors have the best offense in the NBA this year.

The pre-season is usually a time for teams that underperformed last season to make some noise, how often do we see **** like oh man the Timberwolves went undefeated in the pre-season they are set to be a top 8 team this year! The better teams don't give a **** about pre-season and use it more like glorified practices to get into game shape.

Dame Lizard · Post #26 » by **Dame Lizard** » Tue Oct 12, 2021 12:18 pm

I didn't watch the game, but Dennis Smith Jr put up another impressive stat line.

I really hope he gets a roster spot. He's much more of a PG than Simons or CJ......

How many roster spots do we have take up at the moment?

Case2012 · Post #27 » by **Case2012** » Tue Oct 12, 2021 4:49 pm

Dennis smith jr needs that roster spot. He’s at least a tier or 2 above everyone else.

BlazersBroncos · Post #28 » by **BlazersBroncos** » Tue Oct 12, 2021 6:53 pm

DSJ looked pretty good. I will say that once the rotation guys were on the bench and DSJ was given some room to freewheel, he looked much worse. He needs to be playing with guys that are clearly his betters, that seems to keep him playing smart.

Brown is interesting. I think he has the mobility to play SF, his body type reminds me of Hark. While Little is a sort of highly wound up power jumper, Brown just looks much more fluid and nimble.

Simons seems to be bigger, both in height and weight. Wouldnt be surprised if he is 6'4 at this point. His shot looks as effortless as ever. Here is to hoping he can add enough to his game to be a reliable 6th man rather than a designated shooter.

Nurk didnt put up great stats but his passing was great. Love the high key passes to cutters, might have seen that more last night than I did all year under Stotts (Hyperbolae).

I would give Chriss and DSJ those last 2 spots, but might be a risk since both have some knucklehead to them. Wouldnt be surprised to see Patterson steal a spot to inject another vet presence into this team.

JasonStern · Post #29 » by **JasonStern** » Wed Oct 13, 2021 4:02 pm

BlazersBroncos wrote:I would give Chriss and DSJ those last 2 spots, but might be a risk since both have some knucklehead to them. Wouldnt be surprised to see Patterson steal a spot to inject another vet presence into this team.

Blazers are over the tax, so I doubt the 15th roster spot gets filled. Insert some Olshey quote about it not being about them not willing to spend, but they like the flexibility keeping an open roster spot provides.

If the signing is merit based, DSJ seems to have earned the 14th spot. Plus at 23 there's some potential upside for a guy that you hope only sees the court in 20+ point blowouts. Blazers need depth at PG, which Smith provides. But also at the center due to Nurkić and Rory Zeller being injury prone. And we could still use an athletic wing, which we're obviously not going to get on a minimum contract. Time will tell.

BNM · Post #30 » by **BNM** » Wed Oct 13, 2021 4:42 pm

BlazersBroncos wrote:DSJ looked pretty good. I will say that once the rotation guys were on the bench and DSJ was given some room to freewheel, he looked much worse. He needs to be playing with guys that are clearly his betters, that seems to keep him playing smart.

I would give Chriss and DSJ those last 2 spots, but might be a risk since both have some knucklehead to them. Wouldnt be surprised to see Patterson steal a spot to inject another vet presence into this team.

JasonStern wrote:
BlazersBroncos wrote:I would give Chriss and DSJ those last 2 spots, but might be a risk since both have some knucklehead to them. Wouldnt be surprised to see Patterson steal a spot to inject another vet presence into this team.

If the signing is merit based, DSJ seems to have earned the 14th spot. Plus at 23 there's some potential upside for a guy that you hope only sees the court in 20+ point blowouts. Blazers need depth at PG, which Smith provides. But also at the center due to Nurkić and Rory Zeller being injury prone. And we could still use an athletic wing, which we're obviously not going to get on a minimum contract. Time will tell.

DSJ and Chriss are classic Olshey draft bust reclamation projects. Nether will ever live up to their draft positions, but Olshey likes to buy low on these types of players. Chriss put up good numbers for GSW in 2019-20, but otherwise has been absolute trash. That may have been a case of good numbers on an abysmal team. Both are similar in age, but DSJ has looked better and fills a need, so I'd like to see him get the 14th roster spot.

In addition to Nurk and Kobe Zeller, Nance can also play some small ball 5. He is actually very adept at guarding bigger centers, like Embiid and Jokic. He has great strength, defensive positioning and footwork and very active hands that allow him to guard bigger players.

So, if we are going to fill that 15th roster spot (we'd have until the last day of the season to get under the tax threshold), I suspect it will go to Patterson. He's a tried and true veteran who you can depend on and know what you will get every time he steps on the floor. As a rookie coach, I think Chauncey would prefer that kind of consistency and dependability over the potential of Chriss.

Case2012 · Post #31 » by **Case2012** » Wed Oct 13, 2021 11:30 pm

(Insert pronoun) your 21-22 Portland Trailblazer's!!!

I know it's just preseason but Jesus Christ... This ****ain't gonna work y'all. This is some ugly basketball. It's almost like hiring a first year head coach and not making any substantial changes to the roster wasn't a good a move?

Sinobas · Post #32 » by **Sinobas** » Thu Oct 14, 2021 12:18 am

I wanted us to hire D'Antoni, because at least we'd have a better offense, we know he brings SOMETHING to the table.

But they went for an inexperienced coach and didn't trade CJ. This could be a long season.

Dame Lizard · Post #33 » by **Dame Lizard** » Thu Oct 14, 2021 1:00 am

On a positive note, if the current Portland team implodes, this is solely on Neil Olshey.

Despite the disappointment for the franchise, I'd be lying if I said that I wouldn't take some pleasure seeing Olshey having to front up to the implosion, particularly given the way he threw Stotts under the bus (and his general obsession with CJ).

monopoman · Post #34 » by **monopoman** » Thu Oct 14, 2021 1:20 am

Meh, I'm not ready to give up on him the Suns were one of the best teams in the league last season only losing 1 game more than the #1 most winning team Utah.

I'm sure he will get fired quickly if this team comes out to an anemic start. Against the Kings we rested nearly every good player we had, the only one that saw any minutes was Nurkic.

Norm2953 · Post #35 » by **Norm2953** » Thu Oct 14, 2021 1:45 am

How long will it take before we start hearing the trade talk rumors again..

BNM · Post #36 » by **BNM** » Thu Oct 14, 2021 2:30 am

This is what happens when you shoot 30% from the field and 15% from 3-point range. Preseason, or not, that's not going to win you any games.

I know it's only preseason, but I'm hoping the general suckage will force Olshey to finally make a trade. If he thought getting a new coach and running it back with minor changes was going to solve the Blazers problems, so far he's being proven wrong.

At this point, he needs to go back to Morey and offer CJ, two protected FRPs and a pick swap, or two. As flawed as Simmons is, at least it's a different kind of flawed that what we're used to.

BNM · Post #37 » by **BNM** » Thu Oct 14, 2021 2:31 am

Norm2953 wrote:How long will it take before we start hearing the trade talk rumors again..

In my case, 45 minutes!

Case2012 · Post #38 » by **Case2012** » Thu Oct 14, 2021 2:41 am

I can definitely see what billups is trying to do, but I just think we don't have the personnel for it. In this case, it's roster construction problem. Simmons can see over the defense when we push it up and drive and kick out. He'd be perfect for both the offense and defense billups is trying to run imo. Kevin Love would work well too with his outlet passes if somehow he reached a buy out. But this roster doesn't work. It's too small and the bigger young . guys are way too raw... We need vets badly.

Napoleon7 · Post #39 » by **Napoleon7** » Thu Oct 14, 2021 5:20 am

Just embarrassing tonight…

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PDXKnight · Post #40 » by **PDXKnight** » Thu Oct 14, 2021 1:43 pm

Norm2953 wrote:How long will it take before we start hearing the trade talk rumors again..

I know we say this every year but it feels like this is the year we actually blow things up. Might take until the off season to do it but i just feel like we could be looking at a tank and a mid first round pick this year followed by an off season of absolute roster implosion.

If olshey even has a job (he shouldn’t) starting next season i think dame finally forces his hand to trade him to a team that actually can win. If olshey is gone maybe that’ll be easier for the next gm to finally pull the plug on this roster.

I’d say try to make it work with dame and move cj but i’d imagine we’ve tried and failed to net anything in return for cj so who knows