Game 8: Portland vs Cleveland 4:00pm Root/Root+

[Dame Lizard]

Rough loss. It's not surprising the team would be off to a bumpy start given the coaching change, but it's hard to see lots of winnable games end up in the loss column.

Remember according to olshey it wasnt the roster. Mr scapegoat built this perpetual “ good but not contending” roster

If there's any positive to the Blazers' performances this year, it's that it's solely on Olshey. He constructed this roster, he disgracefully threw Stotts under the bus and he hired Billups.

He made the bed, so he has no choice but to sleep in it.

Hopefully though, he gets woken up and sacked soon enough though....

[JasonStern]

On the bright side, the switch to Root/Root+ means I couldn't watch these games if I wanted to.

[mighty_duck]

Does Billups have the clout to subtly suggest to Dame, that if you're shooting 25% from 3's, maybe don't jack up 12 of them?
For the season, he's shooting 23%, on almost 10 attempts a night.

Work out your shooting woes in practice, not on the court. Until then, keep the attempts in the 3-4 range.
That alone would have given us another 2 wins.

[PDXKnight]

Does Billups have the clout to subtly suggest to Dame, that if you're shooting 25% from 3's, maybe don't jack up 12 of them?
For the season, he's shooting 23%, on almost 10 attempts a night.

Work out your shooting woes in practice, not on the court. Until then, keep the attempts in the 3-4 range.
That alone would have given us another 2 wins.

I have to disagree here. Dame is a proven vet superstar and he depends on rhythm. He’s won us a lot more games over his career shooting than he’s lost us, sometimes he starts 0-5 and finishes out strong, shooters like dame have to keep shooting the rock

[mighty_duck]

I have to disagree here. Dame is a proven vet superstar and he depends on rhythm. He’s won us a lot more games over his career shooting than he’s lost us, sometimes he starts 0-5 and finishes out strong, shooters like dame have to keep shooting the rock

I understand where you are coming from, and have nothing but respect for Dame.
I'm not saying to bench him or tell him he can't shoot.
It could be that he's hurt in some way. A true leader recognizes his own limitations, even if they're only temporary. What I'm suggesting, for the time being, is to avoid heavily contested shots, or shots early in the shot clock.
We have a rare case where there are 4 other rotation players shooting 3's at over 40% (CJ, Powell, Simons and, surprisingly, Nas), so it's not like we don't have options.

[Moonbeam]

Rough loss. It's not surprising the team would be off to a bumpy start given the coaching change, but it's hard to see lots of winnable games end up in the loss column.

Remember according to olshey it wasnt the roster. Mr scapegoat built this perpetual “ good but not contending” roster

Indeed. If this team doesn't improve significantly, particularly on defense (and I don't think it will), it's further evidence that there are problems with the roster of Olshey's making. I feel that far more of the blame for Portland's position the past several years should be on Olshey's shoulders than should have been on Stotts, but that's water under the bridge at this point.

[Wizenheimer]

Rough loss. It's not surprising the team would be off to a bumpy start given the coaching change, but it's hard to see lots of winnable games end up in the loss column.

Remember according to olshey it wasnt the roster. Mr scapegoat built this perpetual “ good but not contending” roster

If there's any positive to the Blazers' performances this year, it's that it's solely on Olshey. He constructed this roster, he disgracefully threw Stotts under the bus and he hired Billups.

He made the bed, so he has no choice but to sleep in it.

Hopefully though, he gets woken up and sacked soon enough though....

he's fully constructed every roster since Aldridge left...going on 7 seasons now. Blazers have averaged less than 46 wins and a 6th seed under Olshey. They have a 22-40 record in the playoffs and 4 of his teams have been swept. He's constructed a tax-paying roster that had a 35-39 record. In 2016 he gave out 343M in contracts and not an all-star in the group; honestly, only 1 legitimate starter in the group. He screwed up the 2017 draft about as bad as a GM can screw up a draft. in 10 seasons he's added one all-star player, over 9 years ago, and that was from a pick he was gifted, and the selection of that player was already baked into the equation before Olshey was hired. And that player, the best in franchise history, has already threatened to leave because he doesn't trust Olshey to build a contender

if Olshey hasn't been fired after compiling that failure of a resume...he ain't getting fired

[BNM]

Rough loss. It's not surprising the team would be off to a bumpy start given the coaching change, but it's hard to see lots of winnable games end up in the loss column.

Remember according to olshey it wasnt the roster. Mr scapegoat built this perpetual “ good but not contending” roster

Indeed. If this team doesn't improve significantly, particularly on defense (and I don't think it will), it's further evidence that there are problems with the roster of Olshey's making.

Not making excuses for Olshey, but POR is currently 15th in Def Rtg, up from 29th last season and 28th the season before. Sure, it's only been 10 games, but that seems like a pretty significant improvement on defense given the inherent limitations of a Dame/CJ backcourt. Part of that is a new coach/system, but a big part of it was replacing Kanter/Melo with Zeller/Nance on the 2nd unit.

Also, currently 9th in Net Rtg, which seems pretty damn amazing given our best player is off to an absolutely horrible start.

[Wizenheimer]

Not making excuses for Olshey, but POR is currently 15th in Def Rtg, up from 29th last season and 28th the season before. Sure, it's only been 10 games, but that seems like a pretty significant improvement on defense given the inherent limitations of a Dame/CJ backcourt. Part of that is a new coach/system, but a big part of it was replacing Kanter/Melo with Zeller/Nance on the 2nd unit.

Also, currently 9th in Net Rtg, which seems pretty damn amazing given our best player is off to an absolutely horrible start.

but they were 24th in def. rating and 15th in net rating after the Cleveland game....which also happened to be when Portland's road/home record was balanced. The upward movement all came from two games at home. And when you can move a season rating nearly 3 points in two games, it's a clear sign of sample size skew. The 4 game road trip starting tonight will likely move numbers the opposite direction (although if Dame keeps climbing out of his slump the offense will be better)

Those ratings numbers are pretty noisy till a team has 40-50 games completed

Portland's defense has obviously improved, but if the starting baseline was last season, the grading curve is busted. That was one of the worst defenses in NBA history. And while Billups may get credit for it, far too much blame for bad defense is landing on Stotts Olshey. When Olshey actually gave Stotts decent defenders on the roster, Stotts had decent defenses. His defenses, prior to the last 2 seasons, posted rankings of 8th, 10th, 16th (twice) & 20th. And that 8th ranking came with Dame/CJ as the starting guards