Game Thread 2022-23 Game #2 - BLAZERS VS SUNS - OCTOBER 21, 2022 - FRIDAY - 7:00 PM (PDT) ROOT

[julius]

I think there are a few issues at play here.

The last time the Blazers had a pick that was this talented, was Damian.

CJ didn't play much in his first 2 seasons, that's why Im not including him much.

But we're (as a fan base) so used to players coming in that are raw (Little, Simons), or show some signs of skill but way over think things and made the same mistakes year after year (Leonard), or where just there (Collins) or should have been a 2nd round pick at best (Swanigan), or were 2nd round picks (Layman, Connaughton, Crabbe).

We're not used to seeing a player drafted with a high level skill level or at least a high level athletic ability combined with effortless form.

So it makes sense that some of the forum are jumping the gun on him, but it doesn't make sense as to why people can't just realize that and not take what they say too seriously and react with a "told you so" type mentality.


Who am I kidding, the "told you so" mentality is what keeps this forum alive.

 

[SharpeScooterShooter]

That, my fine sir, is an inaccurate statement.

I have 59 predictions made by you.
9 as HispanicCausinPanic
50 as "THE" HCP

Granted they were all back in either 2008-2009 or 2009-2010 but you HAVE made predictions.

Bam!#factcheck.gramps!!!

 

[wizenheimer]

or scoring is most useless stat in basketball Sharpe 0-2 but had best plus minus on team. It’s all about perspective

my perspective is that perspective is loony-tunes....but I'm thinking you knew that in a green font kind of way

by the way, here's the advanced box score from last night's game. Pay special attention to the very last column which is Box Plus/Minus:



compare that to the wacky +/- stat, especially considering that the BPM marks really seem to reflect what happened in the game. I mean, why was Sharpe +7 in plus/minus but -23.9 in box plus/minus? It's also important to remember that when 4 players played over 40 minutes, another over 35, and a 6th player logged 24 minutes, any of these advanced metrics for players that logged well under 20 minutes are likely to be just noise

 

[SharpeScooterShooter]

Me too (on both accounts). He's exciting, and fun to watch. He'll make mistakes, be out of position, but you can see he learns and adapts as he plays. I'm sure he'll look significantly better by the end this (calendar) year, and by the end of the season he'll look significantly better too.

I don't know if he'll be a superstar, but he has most of the tools to be a very solid pro. He already has a decent muscle base, he seems to be a willing learner, athletic, good reach and good form on his shot/selection.

It doesn't appear that he's intimidated out there and clearly the team (coaches, players) have confidence in him.

Could he be a Kobe Bryant LIKE player? Sure. Could also be a Booker type player, or a Roy type player, or a 15 ppg type scorer. It's a big unknown. But he looks so effortless out there, that it's hard not to get excited about things.

This right here. Very apt assessment.

 

[SIeepwalker]

I smell what Shae is cooking !

 

[SIeepwalker]

my perspective is that perspective is loony-tunes....but I'm thinking you knew that in a green font kind of way

by the way, here's the advanced box score from last night's game. Pay special attention to the very last column which is Box Plus/Minus:

View attachment 50218

compare that to the wacky +/- stat, especially considering that the BPM marks really seem to reflect what happened in the game. I mean, why was Sharpe +7 in plus/minus but -23.9 in box plus/minus? It's also important to remember that when 4 players played over 40 minutes, another over 35, and a 6th player logged 24 minutes, any of these advanced metrics for players that logged well under 20 minutes are likely to be just noise

Seems like this tells the story quite well. Lillard popping off, Ant with the bad game, Nurk was good, Little with a great stint off the bench. Hart being negative seems a bit weird.
Shaedon missed a couple shot and wasn't too impactful, but I don't think he hurt the team to the point that over -20 is deserved. His defense is usually at least decent.

 

[BBert]

Speaking of Chris Paul purposely tripping Dame on his last shot in regulation, knowing the ref would be focused on looking for contact up top on the release, I hate that dirty piece of shit.

 

[Hoopguru]

I think there are a few issues at play here.

The last time the Blazers had a pick that was this talented, was Damian.

CJ didn't play much in his first 2 seasons, that's why Im not including him much.

But we're (as a fan base) so used to players coming in that are raw (Little, Simons), or show some signs of skill but way over think things and made the same mistakes year after year (Leonard), or where just there (Collins) or should have been a 2nd round pick at best (Swanigan), or were 2nd round picks (Layman, Connaughton, Crabbe).

We're not used to seeing a player drafted with a high level skill level or at least a high level athletic ability combined with effortless form.

So it makes sense that some of the forum are jumping the gun on him, but it doesn't make sense as to why people can't just realize that and not take what they say too seriously and react with a "told you so" type mentality.


Who am I kidding, the "told you so" mentality is what keeps this forum alive.

Having high a draft pick that comes in very composed and slow to speak that seems to have real natural talent, is exciting for reason you mention above. I think this group of players too, will help bring Rim Shae-dy along, bet he shows in practice.

 

[wizenheimer]

thinking about that game last night there were some very real contrasts between the teams:

Phoenix is 'well-oiled' and running smoothly. They knew what they wanted to do on both ends of the floor and executed well. On the other hand, Portland was ragged on offense and had lots of brain-fart defense. Portland fell behind by 10 five minutes into the game and spent the next 32 minutes of the game trying to catch up. Phoenix kept having answers for every Blazer mini-comeback. But Portland kept at it and finally got back even in the 4th Q

* so how did Portland win? To start with, they do have talent other than Dame...Nurk-Grant-Ant-Hart-Winslow are all veteran players who do some things really well. At the same time, the Blazers were giving maximum effort and sometimes, that's enough. It certainly was last night.

* I think Hart sets the tone and is becoming a Blazer glue-guy. He's a poor man's junkyard-dog version of John Havlicek. He's been out-hustling everybody else on the floor. He's been doing a little bit of everything...being a one-man fast break; playing good defense; getting his hands on the ball and giving Portland extra possessions. I think Portland would be 0-2 right now without him

* even though Portland has had some major defensive brain-farts, they are engaged on that end of the floor. They are working hard at contesting as many shots as they can, and I think it's pretty certain they will get better and reduce those 'what-happened?' moments

obviously, it's way premature to take a 2-0 start and project anything substantial about the season. Portland will probably be better than many imagined, but it's obvious, at least it is to me, that the Blazers have almost no margin for error and could sink into an extended losing streak at any time if they get out of sync, and that's an entirely possible outcome for a team with so many unfamiliar faces led by a coach who got a 'hey, we're just tanking' pass for last season

 

[Hoopguru]

thinking about that game last night there were some very real contrasts between the teams:

Phoenix is 'well-oiled' and running smoothly. They knew what they wanted to do on both ends of the floor and executed well. On the other hand, Portland was ragged on offense and had lots of brain-fart defense. Portland fell behind by 10 five minutes into the game and spent the next 32 minutes of the game trying to catch up. Phoenix kept having answers for every Blazer mini-comeback. But Portland kept at it and finally got back even in the 4th Q

* so how did Portland win? To start with, they do have talent other than Dame...Nurk-Grant-Ant-Hart-Winslow are all veteran players who do some things really well. At the same time, the Blazers were giving maximum effort and sometimes, that's enough. It certainly was last night.

* I think Hart sets the tone and is becoming a Blazer glue-guy. He's a poor man's junkyard version of John Havlicek. He's been out-hustling everybody else on the floor. He's been doing a little bit of everything...being a one-man fast break; playing good defense; getting his hands on the ball and giving Portland extra possessions. I think Portland would be 0-2 right now without him

* even though Portland has had some major defensive brain-farts, they are engaged on that end of the floor. They are working hard at contesting as many shots as they can, and I think it's pretty certain they will get better and reduce those 'what-happened?' moments

obviously, it's way premature to take a 2-0 start and project anything substantial about the season. Portland will probably be better than many imagined, but it's obvious, at least it is to me, that the Blazers have almost no margin for error and could sink into an extended losing streak at any time if they get out of sync, and that's an entirely possible outcome for a team with so many unfamiliar faces led by a coach who got a 'hey, we're just tanking' pass for last season

I thought Winslow came in and played tough, he and Hart really get after it. It's going to be nice to see how The Mitt also get after it. Gloves have fingers, Mitts don't.

 

[THE HCP]

Same way Brandon Jennings got into it.

I'm saying that making ANY declarations based on a single game is dumb. If you look at Kobe's first 10 games, you'd think he'd be a bum.

I know you like to say things just to be against what some people say, but even you can't deny that there's something good about how Sharpe is playing and performs. I mean, you thought he'd barely sniff any playing time and the coach already has him one of the earliest guys off the bench.

Dude, CHauncy threw him out there to help his confidence. He will not continue to be one of the first guys off the bench once he gets scouted. I can promise you that if GP was available he’d be playing first. Billups wants to win now. Just like the Jazz are doing great shit. They haven’t been properly scouted. It all works itself out.Give this kid a few years like we did ANT.

 

[julius]

Dude, CHauncy threw him out there to help his confidence. He will not continue to be one of the first guys off the bench once he gets scouted. I can promise you that if GP was available he’d be playing first. Billups wants to win now. Just like the Jazz are doing great shit. They haven’t been properly scouted. It all works itself out.Give this kid a few years like we did ANT.

Simons was no where like this in his 1st and 2nd games.

Also, if he's about winning, why would he give a crap about Shaedons confidence?

 

[MickZagger]

Chauncey said last night in his postgame interview that he plans on giving Sharpe minutes on a situational basis. Sometimes more, sometimes less. He said at times he wants to give him minutes in meaningful games against quality opponents.

I like it. A vast difference from Stotts who seemed to keep his rotations based off what players were earning $$$ and outside of Lillard (he really had no option at the time) rarely played rookies except in garbage time.

 

[riverman]

Chauncey said last night in his postgame interview that he plans on giving Sharpe minutes on a situational basis. Sometimes more, sometimes less. He said at times he wants to give him minutes in meaningful games against quality opponents.

I like it. A vast difference from Stotts who seemed to keep his rotations based off what players were earning $$$ and outside of Lillard (he really had no option at the time) rarely played rookies except in garbage time.

Stotts played Dame from day one and had Noah Vonleh start .....I don't think he was shy about playing bench players or rookies at all...he just didn't have great bench players to sub in. Stotts was not our big problem as much as a lot of folks think he was. It was the roster. If anything he overachieved given the pieces he had to juggle. His last season with the team he tried out 19 different starting lineups trying to find chemistry and it didn't happen.....it was the roster. What Stotts did was figure out how to win with a poor bench season after season. ....Total he coached 179 players here. That's a lot of shakeup.

 

[BankTeller]

Stotts played Dame from day one and had Noah Vonleh start .....I don't think he was shy about playing bench players or rookies at all...he just didn't have great bench players to sub in. Stotts was not our big problem as much as a lot of folks think he was. It was the roster. If anything he overachieved given the pieces he had to juggle. His last season with the team he tried out 19 different starting lineups trying to find chemistry and it didn't happen.....it was the roster. What Stotts did was figure out how to win with a poor bench season after season. ....Total he coached 179 players here. That's a lot of shakeup.

Disagree with this. “Overachieving”, however true that may be, only gets you so far. Sure he overachieved in seasons like getting the 5th seed when we were expected to be in the lotto one year, but he also underachieved in seasons when given any expectations.

He’s pretty much Doc Rivers without the ring.

 

[andalusian]

I like it. A vast difference from Stotts who seemed to keep his rotations based off what players were earning $$$ and outside of Lillard (he really had no option at the time) rarely played rookies except in garbage time.

This is once again wrong. Terry played CJ in 38 of the 46 he was available for in his rookie year and CJ averaged 12.5 MPG that year.

When Terry had promising rookies that deserved playing time, they got it. It is just that since Dame and CJ, Portland's rookies were mostly not deserving of play time. (BTW, Meyers had played 69 games and averaged 17.5 MPG his rookie year, he regressed once the big man coach was removed, but he played as a rookie as well).

What rookies did you expect Terry to play? Swanigan? A very green Simons on a team that went to the WCF? Little who is always in and out of the lineup because he is injured? For the record, Little did play in 48 games as a rookie and averaged 12 MPG - so again, this is a myth that Terry did not play rookies. He played the ones that were deserving and available.

Chauncy told you exactly why he is playing "we lost a lot of games to get Sharpe". It is obvious he will play and just like Dame and CJ and Meyers played when they they deserved for Terry, Sharpe will play now and I assure you that if this team was still being coached by Terry, he would have played under him as well.

 

[riverman]

Disagree with this. “Overachieving”, however true that may be, only gets you so far. Sure he overachieved in seasons like getting the 5th seed when we were expected to be in the lotto one year, but he also underachieved in seasons when given any expectations.

He’s pretty much Doc Rivers without the ring.

Fair enough but Terry got a ring with the Mavs and got a hobbled bench squad to the WCF and beat Denver in 4 OT games with Dame hobbled. That’s overachieving in my book I was always a fan of Terry and hope Chauncey keeps improving and has even more success.

 

[wizenheimer]

thanks for the memories? (which way do you mean?)
*********************************

Hart is a hard-nosed defender:

 

[Pinwheel1]

It does not sound like many liked the uniforms last night.......but I did.

 

[ehizzy3]

We need to resign Hart. He reminds me of Wes Mathews

 

[riverman]

It does not sound like many liked the uniforms last night.......but I did.

I liked them a lot more than I thought I would....and now they're Dame's 41 pt game jerseys...so maybe lucky uni for Dame!

 

[Pinwheel1]

We need to resign Hart. He reminds me of Wes Mathews

Maybe with their toughness and fire. But I never felt comfortable with Wes attacking the basket. Hart is more athletic IMO and
can dribble the length of the court and finish. Wes was a great 3 pt shooter for us though.

 

[blazerfan11]

Maybe with their toughness and fire. But I never felt comfortable with Wes attacking the basket. Hart is more athletic IMO and
can dribble the length of the court and finish. Wes was a great 3 pt shooter for us though.

Hart is a much better ball handler than Wes. I can't see Wes playing backup PG like Hart does sometimes.

 

[BankTeller]

Maybe with their toughness and fire. But I never felt comfortable with Wes attacking the basket. Hart is more athletic IMO and
can dribble the length of the court and finish. Wes was a great 3 pt shooter for us though.

Agree on your assessment. Hart is the far superior player. Wes was a really good shooter and was a good defender, but more due to his hustle than his actual ability. Wes started getting really good posting up during his last year here before the achilles, but that was the extent of his offensive game. Hart pretty much does everything well and is more athletic, plus it isn’t like Hart is far behind Wes with his shooting.

 

[riverman]

Hart is a much better ball handler than Wes. I can't see Wes playing backup PG like Hart does sometimes.

Wes had a chest high dribble and wasn't great at finishing at the rim or fast breaks.....Josh is one of the best in the league at finishing at the rim. Transition buckets is something we haven't seen in ages in Portland...this team like to get out and run

 

[BankTeller]

We need to resign Hart. He reminds me of Wes Mathews

With Sharpe and Nas needing minutes, Dame and Ant starting, GPII coming back, combined with the fact that Hart will likely be making $20m/yr with the way he’s playing, how would we possibly be able to keep him?

If the Bulls feel like they got a real shot and offer PatWill and our 1st back as a starting offer for Hart, would that deal too good to pass up for you?

 

[SharpeScooterShooter]

It does not sound like many liked the uniforms last night.......but I did.

Loved em.

 

[THE HCP]

Disagree with this. “Overachieving”, however true that may be, only gets you so far. Sure he overachieved in seasons like getting the 5th seed when we were expected to be in the lotto one year, but he also underachieved in seasons when given any expectations.

He’s pretty much Doc Rivers without the ring.

WHOSE expectations!?! Nutjobs on HERE that expected 60 wins a season, please bro!

 

[illmatic99]

WHOSE expectations!?! Nutjobs on HERE that expected 60 wins a season, please bro!

literally no one said that. the average win prediction here with 25 predictions was 41.7 wins.

but keep beating that drum

 

[riverman]

WHOSE expectations!?! Nutjobs on HERE that expected 60 wins a season, please bro!

I agree.....54 wins is my prediction! For the record I never said I "expect" anything. I just predict...the team has to make me right one of these seasons!