Playoffs Game 2 Rd 1 Portland vs Denver 7:00pm SNW/TNT

[DaVoiceMaster]

Jokic had a number of shots tonight that had no business going in and the way he reacted after throwing the ball at the rim, he didn't think they would go in either.

The Blazers switching killed them tonight. Why switch everything? There were many times they could have swapped back, but they simply do NOT look to do so.

[DaVoiceMaster]

Who was Jokic going off about? It looked like he was yelling in the direction of the Blazers bench or coaches.

[Village Idiot]

Aaron Gordon instead of Norman Powell would have helped

[Matt800]

Spoiler:

More energy? They are doing everything in their power to try to piss off the Blazers players Porter Jr. is a piece of **** that is dirty as ****. Their entire strategy is they can't win in a fair fight so play dirty.

They also have the largest home court advantage in the NBA, since in the USA there is no city that is anywhere close to the elevation of Denver.

The fans could literally not show up and it would still be the biggest natural advantage in all of sports.

I think the elevation advantage is exaggerated. People need to be somewhere for weeks to really acclimatize and see an advantage. NBA teams travel frequently so the Nuggets are not there for weeks at a time except preseason. The Nuggets might be slightly less affected by the altitude but its not like they are immune to it. A sport like football could be different where the Denver team could be at home for weeks. Salt Lake City is also over 4200 ft, about 1000 less than Denver. What would create an advantage is if players or teams trained at high altitude for months before the season like professional runners do. There are also setups you can put in your house to replicate altitude. I remember Gilbert Arenas supposedly slept in a high altitude training tent. So most nba players could do that and get a greater advantage than being in Denver would give.

So you are saying to get the advantage you have to live in Denver and never leave?

Umm okay I don't think that is how it works bro but whatever, they spend far more time in Denver and that should be enough. So if I spend 3 months straight in Denver but then spend a week in Portland I lose all the advantage that high elevation gave me?

It's a little complicated. The nuggets might have some benefit but it's not as extreme as it would be if the nuggets were always in denver, and were playing a team that is coming from sea level.

The nuggets main benefits would probably be mental from being more used to the adjustments, and if they were taught better habits like hydration and getting enough sleep. And they might acclimatize faster from going through that process a lot, but they would still most likely be going through something similar to what the visiting teams do.

There's different numbers but one source says 9+ days to acclimatize in denver. So coming in and out for a few days at a time might prime the body to acclimatize a little faster, but it isnt full acclimatization.

Another factor is that each person is different, some acclimatize faster than others, and some people have more problems at high altitude. So the advantage could really depend on what sort of people are on a team.

And then to go beyond that any player can train at high altitude in the off season, and use a high altitude sleeping set up to try and build up some benefit. So to some degree the physiological advantage can be countered.

That said I saw some article that says the Nuggets seem to have the biggest advantage at home of any franchise, so whatever the reason, mental or physiological, they seem to have an advantage in denver.

[Norm2953]

It's clear in game 3 CJ and Powell will have to step up for we all know Denver will continue to sell
out defensively on Dame. Dame will be forced to give up the ball and trust his team mates will be
able to may them pay.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

It's clear in game 3 CJ and Powell will have to step up for we all know Denver will continue to sell
out defensively on Dame. Dame will be forced to give up the ball and trust his team mates will be
able to may them pay.

Yup, and ball movement is essential when they take Dame out of the play, our team offense often gets too bogged down in those situations with Norm, CJ and Melo just getting their own.


I'm still seething over CJ not giving the ball back to Dame to end the second quarter and taking an iso shot from deep 2 point range. It's one play in the grand scheme of things but oh my god was that selfish.

[Norm2953]

It's clear in game 3 CJ and Powell will have to step up for we all know Denver will continue to sell
out defensively on Dame. Dame will be forced to give up the ball and trust his team mates will be
able to may them pay.

Yup, and ball movement is essential when they take Dame out of the play, our team offense often gets too bogged down in those situations with Norm, CJ and Melo just getting their own.


I'm still seething over CJ not giving the ball back to Dame to end the second quarter and taking an iso shot from deep 2 point range. It's one play in the grand scheme of things but oh my god was that selfish.

Main reason Stotts is going to get fired if Portland loses in the first round for we've seen this the past
every year since Dame became an all-star level player

[DeBlazerRiddem]

It's clear in game 3 CJ and Powell will have to step up for we all know Denver will continue to sell
out defensively on Dame. Dame will be forced to give up the ball and trust his team mates will be
able to may them pay.

Yup, and ball movement is essential when they take Dame out of the play, our team offense often gets too bogged down in those situations with Norm, CJ and Melo just getting their own.


I'm still seething over CJ not giving the ball back to Dame to end the second quarter and taking an iso shot from deep 2 point range. It's one play in the grand scheme of things but oh my god was that selfish.

Main reason Stotts is going to get fired if Portland loses in the first round for we've seen this the past
every year since Dame became an all-star level player

There is an inherent roster construction flaw when your best scorer is also your only real point guard, I've been saying this for years but it becomes laughably easy to shut down both a teams scoring and playmaking by selling out and focusing on that one player. I am not really sure how much blood Stotts could wring out of this stone with that limitation and CJ/Norm/Ant don't seem very capable of running a competent offense for very long in those type situations.

The path he has gone in those situations is to play a conservative and low turnover brand of ISO type basketball which is a direct result of the players he has to work with as I'm just not sure our personnel we would look any better in a higher risk higher reward movement type offense that the Warriors run to avoid the same trap with Curry. Although with a passer like Nurkic and as many veteran players as we have we should still be better against these type defense than we are. When we do move the ball we look amazing so why that doesn't happen more often I don't know, probably too many turnovers.

[GEE]

After watching both games 1&2, I feel I'm watching the same movie over again.

Last year's game 1 against the Fakers looked eerily similar to this year's game 1 victory. We looked dominant because simply, we played the right way. In game 2, both last year and this one, both opponents dirtied things up as much as the refs would allow, and the Blazers, particularly Dame, lost focus and control of the game. Stotts could certainly do more to help, but it does begin and end with Dame on the court. The team feeds off of him, good and bad.

The Officiating was unfortunately a big factor IMO, and with multiple games remaining, the crap we saw in game 2 better not continue. Unwatchable was the feeling I too was getting, as the resulting point shaving, by the Association's refs, for their new Vegas friends... It's gonna get ugly soon with actual fights on the court. There is way to much money on the line for these players, to let Basketball Justice not be served.

[Matt800]

I'm watching the suns, lakers game. The suns have at least a few guys frequently being aggressive on defense. I like Payne's activity. reminds me of GTJ. I think the blazers miss having a guy like that now. Powell is decent but he's not one of those annoying high energy guys.

[Norm2953]

There is an immovable object for whoever wins this series for the Lakers are playing with
AD/Lebron and either Gasol/Drummond up front with KCP, Schroeder, Matthews in their
backcourt. That is a ton of size for any team to match up with and they will be a match
problem for everyone else. The rest of the league needs to pull for the Suns to win the
series.

[Norm2953]

Yup, and ball movement is essential when they take Dame out of the play, our team offense often gets too bogged down in those situations with Norm, CJ and Melo just getting their own.


I'm still seething over CJ not giving the ball back to Dame to end the second quarter and taking an iso shot from deep 2 point range. It's one play in the grand scheme of things but oh my god was that selfish.

Main reason Stotts is going to get fired if Portland loses in the first round for we've seen this the past
every year since Dame became an all-star level player

There is an inherent roster construction flaw when your best scorer is also your only real point guard, I've been saying this for years but it becomes laughably easy to shut down both a teams scoring and playmaking by selling out and focusing on that one player. I am not really sure how much blood Stotts could wring out of this stone with that limitation and CJ/Norm/Ant don't seem very capable of running a competent offense for very long in those type situations.

The path he has gone in those situations is to play a conservative and low turnover brand of ISO type basketball which is a direct result of the players he has to work with as I'm just not sure our personnel we would look any better in a higher risk higher reward movement type offense that the Warriors run to avoid the same trap with Curry. Although with a passer like Nurkic and as many veteran players as we have we should still be better against these type defense than we are. When we do move the ball we look amazing so why that doesn't happen more often I don't know, probably too many turnovers.

Interesting stat that TNT put up in that wherever CP3 goes, his new team wins. Makes you wonder if Portland had found
a way to trade for CP3, the impact of a second quality PG which we only saw when Seth Curry was here would have on
Dame/Portland.

[DaVoiceMaster]

Main reason Stotts is going to get fired if Portland loses in the first round for we've seen this the past
every year since Dame became an all-star level player

There is an inherent roster construction flaw when your best scorer is also your only real point guard, I've been saying this for years but it becomes laughably easy to shut down both a teams scoring and playmaking by selling out and focusing on that one player. I am not really sure how much blood Stotts could wring out of this stone with that limitation and CJ/Norm/Ant don't seem very capable of running a competent offense for very long in those type situations.

The path he has gone in those situations is to play a conservative and low turnover brand of ISO type basketball which is a direct result of the players he has to work with as I'm just not sure our personnel we would look any better in a higher risk higher reward movement type offense that the Warriors run to avoid the same trap with Curry. Although with a passer like Nurkic and as many veteran players as we have we should still be better against these type defense than we are. When we do move the ball we look amazing so why that doesn't happen more often I don't know, probably too many turnovers.

Interesting stat that TNT put up in that wherever CP3 goes, his new team wins. Makes you wonder if Portland had found
a way to trade for CP3, the impact of a second quality PG which we only saw when Seth Curry was here would have on
Dame/Portland.

Didnt the Blazers have an opportunity to draft him? I'm trying to remember that draft. Was it Martell Webster or Sebastian Telfare?

[Norm2953]

That was the Martell Webster 2005 draft. Portland passed on CP3 and Deron Williams. Martell played 10 seasons but that was a great draft with lots of guys who had solid careers but imagine the Hawks who needed a PG passing both CP3 and Deron Williams

[kumquat]

CJ needs to be benched, his ball hogging and lack of effort on D is unbelievable.

[JRoy]

There is an inherent roster construction flaw when your best scorer is also your only real point guard, I've been saying this for years but it becomes laughably easy to shut down both a teams scoring and playmaking by selling out and focusing on that one player. I am not really sure how much blood Stotts could wring out of this stone with that limitation and CJ/Norm/Ant don't seem very capable of running a competent offense for very long in those type situations.

The path he has gone in those situations is to play a conservative and low turnover brand of ISO type basketball which is a direct result of the players he has to work with as I'm just not sure our personnel we would look any better in a higher risk higher reward movement type offense that the Warriors run to avoid the same trap with Curry. Although with a passer like Nurkic and as many veteran players as we have we should still be better against these type defense than we are. When we do move the ball we look amazing so why that doesn't happen more often I don't know, probably too many turnovers.

Interesting stat that TNT put up in that wherever CP3 goes, his new team wins. Makes you wonder if Portland had found
a way to trade for CP3, the impact of a second quality PG which we only saw when Seth Curry was here would have on
Dame/Portland.

Didnt the Blazers have an opportunity to draft him? I'm trying to remember that draft. Was it Martell Webster or Sebastian Telfare?

We had drafted our “pg of the future” in Sebastian Telfair

[JasonStern]

There is an inherent roster construction flaw when your best scorer is also your only real point guard, I've been saying this for years but it becomes laughably easy to shut down both a teams scoring and playmaking by selling out and focusing on that one player. I am not really sure how much blood Stotts could wring out of this stone with that limitation and CJ/Norm/Ant don't seem very capable of running a competent offense for very long in those type situations.

The path he has gone in those situations is to play a conservative and low turnover brand of ISO type basketball which is a direct result of the players he has to work with as I'm just not sure our personnel we would look any better in a higher risk higher reward movement type offense that the Warriors run to avoid the same trap with Curry. Although with a passer like Nurkic and as many veteran players as we have we should still be better against these type defense than we are. When we do move the ball we look amazing so why that doesn't happen more often I don't know, probably too many turnovers.

Was hoping as I read this thread that someone would point this out. The lack of ball movement is fine, as it lead to the Blazers having the lowest turnover rate in the league:

https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/stat/turnovers-per-game

...which is a big reason why the team is #3 in the league in offensive efficiency:

https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/stat/offensive-efficiency

In game 2, they did try to move the ball more - at least compared to their season average. The result was 21 turnovers, as CJ had an uncharacteristically bad night and the rest of the team (other than maybe Powell, Simons, and Nurkić) really aren't great ball handlers. (The lack of a true backup point guard definitely hurts here, although Simons does show flashes of being an above average player. So I understand why he gets minutes over a theoretical veteran's minimum backup point guard. But the counterpoint there is that Dame plays well off ball, so you're hindering the ability to do that.)

Where the team fell apart offensively in game 2 was an over-reliance on Dame early causing him to wear down. The Nuggets then made the halftime adjustment to put the bigger, more physical Aaron Gordon on Dame. The result of this was Dame limited to 10 second half points, with less slashing and more difficult jumpers being taken. But if Gordon is defending Dame, then you have Campazzo/Rivers on CJ/Powell and Porter on Covington. Those are huge mismatches that Portland failed to exploit. And what's crazy about that was CJ went 9-12 and Powell went 5-9 - so it's not like they were having bad shooting nights. Covington going 1-3 with Porter defending him is just baffling. Denver in its current form is not an elite defensive team, and if they're focusing their defensive efforts on Dame, other players need to step up.

[Case2012]

Main reason Stotts is going to get fired if Portland loses in the first round for we've seen this the past
every year since Dame became an all-star level player

There is an inherent roster construction flaw when your best scorer is also your only real point guard, I've been saying this for years but it becomes laughably easy to shut down both a teams scoring and playmaking by selling out and focusing on that one player. I am not really sure how much blood Stotts could wring out of this stone with that limitation and CJ/Norm/Ant don't seem very capable of running a competent offense for very long in those type situations.

The path he has gone in those situations is to play a conservative and low turnover brand of ISO type basketball which is a direct result of the players he has to work with as I'm just not sure our personnel we would look any better in a higher risk higher reward movement type offense that the Warriors run to avoid the same trap with Curry. Although with a passer like Nurkic and as many veteran players as we have we should still be better against these type defense than we are. When we do move the ball we look amazing so why that doesn't happen more often I don't know, probably too many turnovers.

Interesting stat that TNT put up in that wherever CP3 goes, his new team wins. Makes you wonder if Portland had found
a way to trade for CP3, the impact of a second quality PG which we only saw when Seth Curry was here would have on
Dame/Portland.

That’s why i lobbied for Rondo so hard last season. It would be interesting to see Dame play more like steph off ball with a real PG handling the ball in stretches instead of “fade away against 3 players with an open man under the basket CJ” as the second ball handler.

[Norm2953]

I do wonder if the addition of another strong personality would impact Dame's control of this team.