Game Thread 2022-23 Game #21 BLAZERS VS CLIPPERS - NOVEMBER 29, 2022 - TUESDAY - 7:00 PM (PDT) TNT

[MickZagger]

Tragic!

Was that what she said to you?

 

[Tince]

not at 17M/year. Ballmer isn't the Blazers owner

it doesn't fucking matter anyway, the Clippers trade was necessary to precede the CJ trade. It's a process and you can't just isolate one part of the process

Even after watching that game, I do the CJ/Norm/RoCo for Hart/Grant/Winslow swap.

Norm and Roco hated Billups, so it wasn't going to work anyway.

 

[B-Roy]

People don't want to admit it because of how much they like the guy, but Josh Hart turning into a complete nonfactor on offense is hurting the team drastically. If we need 80 points from Grant/Ant every night we are not going to win many games. I still don't understand how a guy that has historically been a pretty decent offensive player suddenly becomes a complete negative that is afraid to shoot. Give him some more creation opportunities or something.

 

[DDolla]

We still have a better record than Warriors and Mavs

Those 2 teams can just turn the switch and win like 5 straight. Not this Blazers

 

[KSF-ERIC]

1-6 last 7 games

1 win was in OT. Brunson could’ve won it in regulation.

 

[Strenuus]

I guess maybe the people who were saying Portland played better without Dame might need to re-think that

They were wrong to think it then.

 

[PCmor7]

TNT gang talking about how that Clippers team is loaded with talent and when they are healthy they are an absolute contender.
I agree.
Their role players are deeper and better than a bunch of teams.

They're OK. I didn't see anything special about them tonight except that the Blazers got a big lead and got complacent before finishing the job.

Norm Powell's a great third scorer. He's really tough going downhill and a streaky but dangerous 3-point shooter. Ant made Powell look like Prime Kyrie. The Blazers might have to live with the defense from Ant, as long as he tries ... I might have been more inclined to guard him with someone else, but I wasn't paying close enough attention as the lead was evaporating to see if maybe Hart was on him and they were running an action to switch Ant to Powell when he got hot.

The aggravating thing is we had a lot of guys on our bench who played with Powell, coached Powell, and it looked like no one figured out how to guard him. I just saw a tweet that said something like he scored the most points by a Clipper in the fourth quarter in 25 years and outscored the Blazers in the fourth quarter. That shouldn't happen when he's the Clippers' first option. We should have been able to make him work harder for his shots. He got good looks at will.

 

[wizenheimer]

I thought it was pretty clear he'd have lost that challenge. I can see that you think that maybe the 5% chance they'd overturn it was the Blazers' only hope, but, to me, that's like throwing away the challenge/time out.

I don't agree

sure, the chances are it would have been upheld. But Jackson did absolutely slide under Grant after Grant gathered and launched. So I think the chances were a hell of a lot higher than 5%

and if the call was overturned, Grant is still in the game and shooting 2 FT's. What the fuck good did it do to let the game conclude still holding that challenge?

 

[Quatro44]

It’s the end of the third quarters that seem to doom us, that is the time you step on their throats. I see the team rush shots or make lazy passes, etc. those are the moments you can’t give away. It’s up to the coach to figure a lineup that can close the third quarter and in some cases make adjustments to that lineup.

 

[Tince]

How do you expect him to do that when the moment he crossed half court they would blitz and double him. The defense had no concerns about the other guys on the court.

Agreed. The Clippers were switching everything while playing a full step or two off everyone else on the court (Hart, Winslow, Watford, Nurk) because none of them are above average shooters. Ant was put in a bad spot. If he wasn't getting cooked on the other end, there may not have been a need for him to make big scoring plays down the stretch, but that's a different story.

Team loss tonight. Players & coaches.

 

[PCmor7]

I don't agree

sure, the chances are it would have been upheld. But Jackson did absolutely slide under Grant after Grant gathered and launched. So I think the chances were a hell of a lot higher than 5%

and if the call was overturned, Grant is still in the game and shooting 2 FT's. What the fuck good did it do to let the game conclude still holding that challenge?

I respect that. I didn't see it that way and I didn't even think it was especially close, but, again, respect your opinion.

 

[Sean.ivity]

People don't want to admit it because of how much they like the guy, but Josh Hart turning into a complete nonfactor on offense is hurting the team drastically. If we need 80 points from Grant/Ant every night we are not going to win many games. I still don't understand how a guy that has historically been a pretty decent offensive player suddenly becomes a complete negative that is afraid to shoot. Give him some more creation opportunities or something.

Yeah, why is he so hesitant to shoot 3s this year? he shot 37% on 6.4 attempts last year and is currently sitting at 32% on 1.9 attempts this year. went from 19.9ppg (w/Portland) last year to 9.6 this year.

 

[B-Roy]

At that point, though, isn't your bluff called? I mean, don't you have to go with Sharpe just because he MIGHT score?

Or you hope to get stops with a better defensive unit and scrape by with enough points. Either door is a horrible choice. Chauncey just chose the one he was most comfortable with.

 

[Chris Craig]

This team has imploded.

 

[DDolla]

Are we tanking for Wembanyama ?

 

[Chris Craig]

Or you hope to get stops with a better defensive unit and scrape by with enough points. Either door is a horrible choice. Chauncey just chose the one he was most comfortable with.

And he lost. Winning takes risk.

 

[Chris Craig]

Are we tanking for Wembanyama ?

Lol

We wouldn't get him anyway

 

[wizenheimer]

I respect that. I didn't see it that way and I didn't even think it was especially close, but, again, respect your opinion.

I watched the replay...it was clear, to me at least, and I rarely complain about officiating

 

[B-Roy]

Yeah, why is he so hesitant to shoot 3s this year? he shot 37% on 6.4 attempts last year and is currently sitting at 32% on 1.9 attempts this year. went from 19.9ppg to 9.6 this year.

He was the defacto 2nd option last year. Had the ball in his hands a lot and had a bunch of creation opportunities. Gets none of those this year. The team just spends half the shot clock trying to post up Jerami Grant or Jusuf Nurkic.

I think Chauncey SHOULD give him some more on the ball duties at least in games where one of our 3 offensive options is out, but I understand it's hard with a different roster, and 3 guys that need the ball in their hands a lot.

 

[Five Second Violation]

I don't get the challenge gripe. It was a charage. Had it been called a block, I think there would be enough evidence to overturn it and call it a charge. No way it was going to be conclusive evidence it was a block. It was a bad decision by Grant to go at a stationary Jackson. The Blazers bench surely had multiple coaches looking at a replay, knowing it was Grant's 6th foul. I think the fact that they didn't challenge should be confirmation how it was clearly the correct call on the floor.

It was a questionable call for sure. Jackson's feet were moving and at the very least it had a moderate chance to be overturned. And when your best player in the game fouls out on a call that has even a modest chance of getting overturned, in a close game with only 4 minutes left, you friggin challenge it without question.

Really inexplicable coaching decision there.

 

[Tince]

I don't agree

sure, the chances are it would have been upheld. But Jackson did absolutely slide under Grant after Grant gathered and launched. So I think the chances were a hell of a lot higher than 5%

and if the call was overturned, Grant is still in the game and shooting 2 FT's. What the fuck good did it do to let the game conclude still holding that challenge?

The problem with your theory is that you have the hindsight that we continued to meltdown and there was no other call that would warrant a challenge.

Billups had to assume it was going to be a tight finish and that timeout/challenge could have been very valuable. Had the multiple assistants looking at the replay thought it was a winnable challenge, they would've told Billups to review it, and I'm sure he would've.

 

[B-Roy]

And he lost. Winning takes risk.

My point is that both options give us roughly the same probability of winning, so debating it is pointless.

 

[Chris Craig]

Why is it a loss always seems to include an injury to a player.

 

[PCmor7]

How do you expect him to do that when the moment he crossed half court they would blitz and double him. The defense had no concerns about the other guys on the court.

Happens to very good offensive players all the time. Dame's been dealing with it even worse than Ant his entire career. If they're blitzing, then turn down the screen, or give it up when Batum and whoever else are in no man's land, then move without the ball to get it back. Heck, attack the switch defender while Batum isn't in position, draw contact.

Ant wasn't in an ideal situation, but the Clippers also seemed pretty aware that he's not in attack mode in that position. He's going to work laterally around the perimeter when he needed to be aggressive.

 

[Sean.ivity]

He was the defacto 2nd option last year. Had the ball in his hands a lot and had a bunch of creation opportunities. Gets none of those this year. The team just spends half the shot clock trying to post up Jerami Grant or Jusuf Nurkic.

I think Chauncey SHOULD give him some more on the ball duties at least in games where one of our 3 offensive options is out, but I understand it's hard with a different roster, and 3 guys that need the ball in their hands a lot.

I remember there as a big emphases on him being a primary secondary ball handler at the end of last season and through out the off season but that role seems to have gone to Winslow.

 

[HailBlazers]

Giving up 45 points in the last 14:47 is not something I saw coming.

Save Us GP2 you're our only hope.

 

[wizenheimer]

The problem with your theory is that you have the hindsight that we continued to meltdown and there was no other call that would warrant a challenge.

Billups had to assume it was going to be a tight finish and that timeout/challenge could have been very valuable. Had the multiple assistants looking at the replay thought it was a winnable challenge, they would've told Billups to review it, and I'm sure he would've.

and the problem with your rebuttal is that it was Grant's 6th foul and would have resulted in two FT's and Grant staying in the game. There was no hindsight to that. It was the reality at the time

 

[Tince]

It was a questionable call for sure. Jackson's feet were moving and at the very least it had a moderate chance to be overturned. And when your best player in the game fouls out on a call that has even a modest chance of getting overturned, in a close game with only 4 minutes left, you friggin challenge it without question.

Really inexplicable coaching decision there.

I give it less than a 5% chance of being overturned, probably less. It was a pretty easy call.

 

[BlazerBeav]

Man it was nice having hope for better things for one week.

That whole comeback was from the Clippers driving unimpeded to the rim, not them getting hot. And yet we chose to play neither of our post defenders. Nurk had 13 and 10 when he checked out late third.

 

[B-Roy]

Happens to very good offensive players all the time. Dame's been dealing with it even worse than Ant his entire career. If they're blitzing, then turn down the screen, or give it up when Batum and whoever else are in no man's land, then move without the ball to get it back. Heck, attack the switch defender while Batum isn't in position, draw contact.

Ant wasn't in an ideal situation, but the Clippers also seemed pretty aware that he's not in attack mode in that position. He's going to work laterally around the perimeter when he needed to be aggressive.

Call me crazy, but I think if you put Dame in that same position this game over Ant, he doesn't do much better. Maybe we win because he hits a bunch of 30 footers, but other than that I don't know if he would have done much better with 4 non-options flanking him.