2021 Blazers Training Camp

[wizenheimer]

interesting arguments here

Nance vs Embiid? what does that show? that the Blazers will bench Nurkic when they face Philly? Need to see Nance defending Giannis or Durant or AD or Doncic or PG13. Those would be better gauges than him periodically harassing a C

and Powell? it sure looked to me like he was overrated as a defender when he arrived in Portland last year. He's more consistent on defense than Dame or CJ, but he sure isn't a lock-down defender. And he got blitzed by Michael Porter Jr.

Powell's biggest liability is he's a poor rebounder for a forward. The year Portland won 53 games and made it to the WCF, the Blazers led the league in offensive rebounding and were 9th in defensive rebounding. last season, Portland was 11th in offensive rebounding and 19th in defensive rebounding. And that's with the dominant rebounding of Kanter. At this point, I'm a lot more concerned with rebounding than I am with defense. That's not to say that a mediocre rebounding team can't be a contender, but usually, teams like that have some other elite attributes. I'm not seeing anywhere where Portland is really elite unless it all starts with Dame, as usual

 

[illmatic99]

I think people are missing the forest through the trees. I'm guilty of it too.

Chauncey and a lot of you guys are right that our lineup is fairly in line with some others in the west. And everyone is correct in that in the regular season, it's easy to come up with workarounds to mitigate this issue.

The point here is that ultimately we still have a primary wing defender who is 6'3 and we could use another swing guy who is like 6'8 with long arms who can move his feet and also physically be capable enough to throw on guys like Kawhi/Lebron/Luka for 15-20 mpg in a playoff game, without having a drop off on the other end (obviously, these guys aren't easy to find). While Nance was a very welcome addition (that I had fully supported getting before we did), he's not a guy who you can switch onto point guards if we were to play a switching defense. He can move his feet well but it's not sustainable.

Getting another player could allow Chauncey to play different kinds of defenses and remove yet another piece to hide on defense (while he's already doing that with Dame/CJ). I think that's the one piece that can elevate this team from having a ceiling in the 2nd round to potentially coming out of the west.

 

[blazedanugz]

Baze is two inches taller with the same wingspan and a wider base... when you're getting down under 6'4" those things matter. Do some in here have selective amnesia of the Nuggets forwards pulling up over Norm at will and hitting jumper after jumper in the mid to close range?

Yeah that’s fine but norm is a better defender. Same wingspan? I feel like it’s favor of norm considering he’s shorter than baze. I don’t consider baze a “good” defender. Melo is 6’8 and he’s the worst defender in the nba

 

[Wizard Mentor]

Early Prediction:

Early on, Blazers will beat nonplayoff teams, but struggle against playoff teams, but the team will play harder than they have in the past. We'll see a series of small mistakes every game.
The boards will rage.
Laker will play well - their 4th and 5th guys will be getting superstar calls
@HCP will tell everyone how smart he is.
Trade thread will dominate.
Everyone will ask "what's wrong with Lillard."
The team's defense will be around 14th, but where did the offense go?

Then, the team will start making fewer mistakes, and pick up some quality wins.
We'll have a win streak that will awaken the casuals.
Charles Barkley will predict that we win the championship.
The boards will insist that Ant and Nas should have been allstars, or at least be future allstars. Ditto with Dame and MVP, and Billups for COY.
We'll establish ourselves as one of the top teams in the league.

Then, the playoffs will start.
No more predictions. With the balance of quality in the league, what actually happens in the playoffs will be really health and matchup dependent.

#ThisShitisStraightOuttaHoosiersYoullSee

 

[blazerkor]

and some people have selective amnesia on just how much a teams collective defensive scheme plays a huge role?

We'll see, I really do hope you're right.

Edit: I actually hope we won't see because I'm still hoping we trade CJ+ for Simmons so we can have a balanced roster that makes sense.

 

[illmatic99]

Do some in here have selective amnesia of the Nuggets forwards pulling up over Norm at will and hitting jumper after jumper in the mid to close range?

Porter Jr. essentially got a max contract off his play against Powell. Dude averaged 19/7 on 54/42/92 splits against Norm, and that includes his stinker in Game 4 when he had just 3 pts.

 

[James lamphear]

Baze is two inches taller with the same wingspan and a wider base... when you're getting down under 6'4" those things matter. Do some in here have selective amnesia of the Nuggets forwards pulling up over Norm at will and hitting jumper after jumper in the mid to close range?

If that's happening we see if Billups adjust who defending taller guys. Powell going start and if he holding his own that game then he will stick with him at 3 but if he getting lit up then hopefully Billups will adjust by putting bigger out there.

 

[illmatic99]

interesting arguments here

Nance vs Embiid? what does that show? that the Blazers will bench Nurkic when they face Philly? Need to see Nance defending Giannis or Durant or AD or Doncic or PG13. Those would be better gauges than him periodically harassing a C

and Powell? it sure looked to me like he was overrated as a defender when he arrived in Portland last year. He's more consistent on defense than Dame or CJ, but he sure isn't a lock-down defender. And he got blitzed by Michael Porter Jr.

Powell's biggest liability is he's a poor rebounder for a forward. The year Portland won 53 games and made it to the WCF, the Blazers led the league in offensive rebounding and were 9th in defensive rebounding. last season, Portland was 11th in offensive rebounding and 19th in defensive rebounding. And that's with the dominant rebounding of Kanter. At this point, I'm a lot more concerned with rebounding than I am with defense. That's not to say that a mediocre rebounding team can't be a contender, but usually, teams like that have some other elite attributes. I'm not seeing anywhere where Portland is really elite unless it all starts with Dame, as usual

Yet another reason why Ben Simmons and his 8 rebounds a game would be super useful on this team.

 

[blazerkor]

interesting arguments here

Nance vs Embiid? what does that show? that the Blazers will bench Nurkic when they face Philly? Need to see Nance defending Giannis or Durant or AD or Doncic or PG13. Those would be better gauges than him periodically harassing a C

and Powell? it sure looked to me like he was overrated as a defender when he arrived in Portland last year. He's more consistent on defense than Dame or CJ, but he sure isn't a lock-down defender. And he got blitzed by Michael Porter Jr.

Powell's biggest liability is he's a poor rebounder for a forward. The year Portland won 53 games and made it to the WCF, the Blazers led the league in offensive rebounding and were 9th in defensive rebounding. last season, Portland was 11th in offensive rebounding and 19th in defensive rebounding. And that's with the dominant rebounding of Kanter. At this point, I'm a lot more concerned with rebounding than I am with defense. That's not to say that a mediocre rebounding team can't be a contender, but usually, teams like that have some other elite attributes. I'm not seeing anywhere where Portland is really elite unless it all starts with Dame, as usual

Powell is being sabotaged. He is a helluva defender but he's a really good defensive guard, not forward. The team is doing him a great disservice by playing him at a position that he should only have to switch onto for small bursts of time and sporadic plays instead of being his main assignment.

 

[riverman]

Porter Jr. essentially got a max contract off his play against Powell. Dude averaged 19/7 on 54/42/92 splits against Norm, and that includes his stinker in Game 4 when he had just 3 pts.

I don't believe this is the reason he got a max contract...he got the contract because he's worth it against any player he's matched up with....no need to throw Norm under the bus for that series...that kid is going to be a star...Norm is not...he's a solid piece but not a star...also our isolation defense is why we sucked against denver....not team defense...this is where we address that with a new coach...Dame and CJ weren't making Norm look good on defense either and they should be connected on that side of the court...I keep harping on how great defenses are 5 guys on a string...not individuals stopping players

 

[illmatic99]

I don't believe this is the reason he got a max contract...he got the contract because he's worth it against any player he's matched up with....no need to throw Norm under the bus for that series

im not blaming Norm as much I am Terry's use of him and Neil's roster construction. Norm was not put in a position to succeed. Billups can scheme around it all he wants, but it's a problem that will still remain if this roster is intact in the upcoming playoffs.

Porter Jr. went on to average 15/5 on 38/38/70 splits in the next series against Bridges/Crowder btw.

 

[julius]

We'll see, I really do hope you're right.

Edit: I actually hope we won't see because I'm still hoping we trade CJ+ for Simmons so we can have a balanced roster that makes sense.

I've come to accept that it ain't happening. :/

 

[DDolla]

Dame mentoring DSJ.

 

[Chris Craig]

We'll see, I really do hope you're right.

Edit: I actually hope we won't see because I'm still hoping we trade CJ+ for Simmons so we can have a balanced roster that makes sense.

Not happening

Morey doesn't want to have to eat Crow

Simmons wants his own team

He will end up on the Twolves probably

 

[wizenheimer]

Powell is being sabotaged. He is a helluva defender but he's a really good defensive guard, not forward. The team is doing him a great disservice by playing him at a position that he should only have to switch onto for small bursts of time and sporadic plays instead of being his main assignment.

probably true, but when I've mentioned that in the past, I'm told "wingspan!"...I guess that's a magic word like abracadabra

 

[wizenheimer]

Dame mentoring DSJ.

Snell needs some espresso

 

[Wizard Mentor]

Powell is being sabotaged. He is a helluva defender but he's a really good defensive guard, not forward. The team is doing him a great disservice by playing him at a position that he should only have to switch onto for small bursts of time and sporadic plays instead of being his main assignment.

Agreed.
While I think he can guard SFs with little problem, IMHO actual SFs should be able to switch onto SGs and PFs. I don't love the idea of Powell switching onto PFs. I'm OK with him switching onto PGs. That makes him a SG, and a quality one at that.

 

[blazerkor]

Not happening

Morey doesn't want to have to eat Crow

Simmons wants his own team

He will end up on the Twolves probably

Well the Twolves are as much KAT's team as the Blazers are Dame's. You think Morey is dumb enough to think DLo is better for that team than CJ?

 

[Pinwheel1]

On a side note, how is it possible that Blazers.com still has not updated the roster on their website? Did they lay off their website team? If not maybe they should. Updates like that should be done immediately.

 

[Scalma]

On a side note, how is it possible that Blazers.com still has not updated the roster on their website? Did they lay off their website team? If not maybe they should. Updates like that should be done immediately.

Ok boomer.

 

[Buffalo Custard]

Not happening

Morey doesn't want to have to eat Crow

Simmons wants his own team

He will end up on the Twolves probably

Where he will probably be as content as Butler was.

 

[Natebishop3]

On a side note, how is it possible that Blazers.com still has not updated the roster on their website? Did they lay off their website team? If not maybe they should. Updates like that should be done immediately.

I haven't used their shit website in years. The layout is shit and it's not intuitive at all.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Ok boomer.

Thank you for reminding me to be proud to be a boomer.
That and I work for a website development company that prides itself on keeping their client's
sites updated in a timely manner.

 

[Scalma]

Thank you for reminding me to be proud to be a boomer.
That and I work for a website development company that prides itself on keeping their client's
sites updated in a timely manner.

ok boomer

 

[Mediocre Man]

HCP will take up spots 14-16.

Are these seat numbers?

 

[julius]

On a side note, how is it possible that Blazers.com still has not updated the roster on their website? Did they lay off their website team? If not maybe they should. Updates like that should be done immediately.

Blazers.com is pretty crappy now-a-days. Used to be easy to navigate and well thought out. Now if I want info, I go to basketball reference, and if I want videos I go to twitter, facebook or youtube. Not sure whats the point of blazers.com anymore

 

[illmatic99]

Blazers.com is pretty crappy now-a-days. Used to be easy to navigate and well thought out. Now if I want info, I go to basketball reference, and if I want videos I go to twitter, facebook or youtube. Not sure whats the point of blazers.com anymore

don't you want to read Casey's fluff pieces?

 

[julius]

don't you want to read Casey's fluff pieces?

Honestly, I've never read any of his work, cept what his tweets encompass.

 

[DDolla]

Do we see a Dame, CJ, Norm, Larry, Nurk starting?

How about Dame, Norm, RoCo, Larry and Nurk?

 

[SharpesTriumph]

Powell is being sabotaged. He is a helluva defender but he's a really good defensive guard, not forward. The team is doing him a great disservice by playing him at a position that he should only have to switch onto for small bursts of time and sporadic plays instead of being his main assignment.

This post sounds like we've already played 30 games in the season and seen Powell fail miserably.

Lets see at least a couple games of what position Powell plays and how the team looks. Maybe he only plays sporadic minutes at SF as you suggest to start and end halfs, with the bulk of his minutes staggered in the backcourt. Maybe the new defensive philosophies and switches make the height of the SF position irrelevant for 95% of the matchups.

It's great that we have the team emphasizing defense, two good defensive forwards and a coach willing to vary schemes. I want to see how it works on the court before making definitive judgements.