Game Thread 2022-23 Game #44 - BLAZERS @ NUGGETS - JANUARY 17, 2023 - TUESDAY - 6:00 PM (PDT) ROOT

[wizenheimer]

Imagine having lengthy defenders that can close out on 3 point shooters.

McDaniels, Kyle Anderson, Prince to name a few of their lengthy wing defenders

Portland's perpetual length deficit at wing has become frustrating squared. Cronin took a step in addressing it by adding Grant. Then he signed 6'2 Payton. Hart works his ass off but he was measured at 6'3.75 at the combine. Nassir was measure at 6'4.5. Sharpe was measured at 6'4.25. All three of those guys are SG size, and they are routinely going up against 6'8-6'10 wings like Michael Porter, Aaron Gordon, Bandon Ingram, Kawhi, Markkanen, Vanderbilt, Kyle Anderson, Taurean Prince

Orlando beat Portland with a starting frontline of three guys 6'10, and we didn't even see Bol Bol or Issac

Toronto beat the Blazers because of this:

Scottie Barnes 6-9, OG Anunoby 6-7, Chris Boucher 6-9, Pascal Siakam 6-9, Thaddeus Young 6-8, Juancho Hernangómez 6-9, Precious Achiuwa 6-8
Otto Porter Jr. 6-8

Beside Jokic, Denver can put this on the floor:

Aaron Gordon 6-8, Zeke Nnaji 6-9, Vlatko Čančar 6-8, Michael Porter Jr. 6-10, Jeff Green 6-8

OKC has:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 6-6
Jalen Williams 6-6
Josh Giddey 6-8
Kenrich Williams 6-6
Aaron Wiggins 6-6
Mike Muscala 6-10
Aleksej Pokusevski 7-0
Darius Bazley 6-8
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl 6-9

it's just crazy that Blazer management allowed Olshey to build such a tiny roster; and that Portland isn't doing much at all to address it

 

[MickZagger]

Portland's perpetual length deficit at wing has become frustrating squared. Cronin took a step in addressing it by adding Grant. Then he signed 6'2 Payton. Hart works his ass off but he was measured at 6'3.75 at the combine. Nassir was measure at 6'4.5. Sharpe was measured at 6'4.25. All three of those guys are SG size, and they are routinely going up against 6'8-6'10 wings like Michael Porter, Aaron Gordon, Bandon Ingram, Kawhi, Markkanen, Vanderbilt, Kyle Anderson, Taurean Prince

Orlando beat Portland with a starting frontline of three guys 6'10, and we didn't even see Bol Bol or Issac

Toronto beat the Blazers because of this:

Scottie Barnes 6-9, OG Anunoby 6-7, Chris Boucher 6-9, Pascal Siakam 6-9, Thaddeus Young 6-8, Juancho Hernangómez 6-9, Precious Achiuwa 6-8
Otto Porter Jr. 6-8

Beside Jokic, Denver can put this on the floor:

Aaron Gordon 6-8, Zeke Nnaji 6-9, Vlatko Čančar 6-8, Michael Porter Jr. 6-10, Jeff Green 6-8

OKC has:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 6-6
Jalen Williams 6-6
Josh Giddey 6-8
Kenrich Williams 6-6
Aaron Wiggins 6-6
Mike Muscala 6-10
Aleksej Pokusevski 7-0
Darius Bazley 6-8
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl 6-9

it's just crazy that Blazer management allowed Olshey to build such a tiny roster; and that Portland isn't doing much at all to address it

Yep, 6’6” to 6’10” guys with long wingspans are a vital part to the construction of an NBA team these days. Yet, we never seem to address it while the top GM’s make it a focal point when drafting.

 

[blazerkor]

Yep, 6’6” to 6’10” guys with long wingspans are a vital part to the construction of an NBA team these days. Yet, we never seem to address it while the top GM’s make it a focal point when drafting.

Again, if our lack of size everywhere isn't addressed... right fucking now at the deadline, I will be disgusted but not surprised.

 

[Fairly-Hard]

Imagine having lengthy defenders that can close out on 3 point shooters.

McDaniels, Kyle Anderson, Prince to name a few of their lengthy wing defenders

That would most certainly help but that simply was not the case in their shooting woes in the first half. They were simply missing open looks.
The second half the Nuggets woke up and hit their shots at about a 60% clip and ended the game shooting about 38% from three.
As a matter of fact the Blazers defended the three better overall in their game on the first of a B2B than the T-Wolves did in their game.
Blazers held Denver to 34.4% 3 pt shooting.

 

[MickZagger]

That would most certainly help but that simply was not the case in their shooting woes in the first half. They were simply missing open looks.
The second half the Nuggets woke up and hit their shots at about a 60% clip and ended the game shooting about 38% from three.
As a matter of fact the Blazers defended the three better overall in their game on the first of a B2B than the T-Wolves did in their game.
Blazers held Denver to 34.4% 3 pt shooting.

I watched nuggets/wolves game. They were closing out way better

 

[Pinwheel1]

I remember when some of us wanted to trade for the 6'8" Aaron Gordon....and others said no way because he was a tweener. That a 6'8" PF was too short and his outside shot was not consistent enough..........

 

[BBert]

I actually thought the Blazers looked pretty good in the first half of the game, maybe because the Denver D energy wasn't high but we were doing OK defensively and getting ball movement and good shots.

2nd half, as Gramps said, we started the "stand around at the 3 pt line shit" and go one-on-one. It's particularly bad when Ant is with the 2nd unit. He goes into dribble too much mode, seems to think all the scoring must come from him and the ball movement stops. It's a horrible, frustrating style of bball that is way too common in the NBA.

Sometimes I think I might smash my fucking TV if I see Nurkic stand out at the 3 pt arc for multiple possessions while Ant dribbles the air out of the ball.

Not to bash Nurk, he gets plenty of negative reviews. He started the game well and then like many other times as soon as some adversity comes his way, his mind is blown.
I think he has a poor mental game, always feeling persecuted by refs, gets some ticky tack calls but mostly dumb fouls. Why? I think he's gassed, overweight, out of shape, whatever you want to call it. He's slow to react, can't jump and has to gather with a clear path to dunk the ball. Ridiculous for a 7 footer. But still more of a mental thing to me. He can affect a game when he's aggressive and motivated, looking like he's engaged, anticipating and energetic. Doesn't happen enough. Weird dude, plays with blinders on and never seems to know who's next to him or behind him about to strip the ball. His poor touch around the rim is in part due to this as he gets surprised a lot by late double teams and rushes. He has terrible balance it seems, falls down more than any 280lb guy I've ever seen and ends up throwing the ball at the backboard. (might be euro soccer flopping) Seriously, he needs and ballet class or yoga or something because guys glance impact him and he falls down.

I appreciate the things Nurk brings when he's engaged. But boy is he frustrating sometimes. Twice he literally handed the ball to a Nuggets player. Just no awareness sometimes.

 

[blazerkor]

I appreciate the things Nurk brings when he's engaged. But boy is he frustrating sometimes. Twice he literally handed the ball to a Nuggets player. Just no awareness sometimes.

I'm almost completely over Nurk being on this team. The inconsistency seems like it will only be fixed by being traded. That no one in this comfort bubble he has here can get through to him that he doesn't need to finesse anything offensively and everything in basketball takes intention and can't be done lackadaisically, including swinging down with his arms on defense, getting stupid fouls... he's just not athletic enough to get away with this shit and too imposing physically to not use that to its fullest.

Again I hate the way Chauncey utilizes him defensively, with Nurk ending up looking incredible slow while defending in space or on the perimeter so often and us left with absolutely no one capable of protecting the paint because of the guys we have around Nurk and Nurk lacking the ability to recover from the perimter to the paint anywhere close to quickly enough.

 

[Fairly-Hard]

I watched nuggets/wolves game. They were closing out way better

Obviously not in the second half?
I agree length would help the Blazers.

 

[Fairly-Hard]

I'm almost completely over Nurk being on this team. The inconsistency seems like it will only be fixed by being traded. That no one in this comfort bubble he has here can get through to him that he doesn't need to finesse anything offensively and everything in basketball takes intention and can't be done lackadaisically, including swinging down with his arms on defense, getting stupid fouls... he's just not athletic enough to get away with this shit and too imposing physically to not use that to its fullest.

Watch out saying things like this? There are some around here that will say you have an agenda.

I agree wholeheartedly and no i don't have an agenda and it's not just a narrative.

 

[blazerkor]

Watch out saying things like this? There are some around here that will say you have an agenda.

I agree wholeheartedly and no i don't have an agenda and it's not just a narrative.

What agenda will they say I have besides getting a player that will help this team more than Nurk does? Therefore the agenda is for the team we all love being better.

 

[Fairly-Hard]

What agenda will they say I have besides getting a player that will help this team more than Nurk does? Therefore the agenda is for the team we all love being better.

I agree.

 

[THE HCP]

Again, if our lack of size everywhere isn't addressed... right fucking now at the deadline, I will be disgusted but not surprised.

How did you not realize the lack of size on this team back in September?

 

[THE HCP]

I remember when some of us wanted to trade for the 6'8" Aaron Gordon....and others said no way because he was a tweener. That a 6'8" PF was too short and his outside shot was not consistent enough..........

Is he really only 6’8? Man then Jerami must be 6’6?

 

[blazerkor]

How did you not realize the lack of size on this team back in September?

I've known about it since Joe had his preseason presser and said that this roster was not complete but he was done making moves and he would be watching, evaluating and then making moves both near the trade deadline and in the upcoming off season. I was complaining about not having a backup big.

I predicted 46 wins figuring we'd be around where we are right now and that we would make some big moves around the deadline that balanced the roster and moved players that didn't fit together for more complementary pieces. I understand that the talent we have right now is not where it needs to be to contend but I would like to see the roster composition make sense when it comes to skill sets being complementary and having the players with the right size and athleticism to run what Chauncey is trying to run.

If those moves are made then I think we're a 46 win team that will compete to make the playoffs without the play in and could even win their first round series, hell this year with how much parity there is we could end up making a run further into the playoffs than that but I wouldn't expect it.

 

[BBert]

What agenda will they say I have besides getting a player that will help this team more than Nurk does? Therefore the agenda is for the team we all love being better.

Just getting a long power forward who has the ability to guard in space, thereby moving Grant to SF and leaving Nurk to protect the paint, should help the team in so may ways.

 

[blazerkor]

Is he really only 6’8? Man then Jerami must be 6’6?

They were drafted in the same year and both had all of their measurements taken. Jerami was one inch shorter than Gordon both with shoes and without. I have no idea why Jerami is listed as the same height as Gordon.

 

[blazerkor]

Just getting a long power forward who has the ability to guard in space, thereby moving Grant to SF and leaving Nurk to protect the paint, should help the team in so may ways.

Unless Chauncey continues to ask everyone to switch everything. Then you will still have Nurk out in space... when you have the least mobile starting big in the league, you don't run a switch everything man to man and a zone that has him away from the hoop. I'm not saying Chauncey's defensive principles are wrong they're just not made for Nurk, in my opinion.

Obviously if the move is to get a bigger athletic starting PF by trading Ant we will be more balanced and the roster will make more sense but Nurk will continue to struggle. I'm also pretty frustrated that a change in coach hasn't changed the unacceptable nonsense Nurk pulls, like both too fancy and lazy passing and not taking the ball up strong but instead flipping it up there like he always has. When you're that big there just isn't ever a reason for the shit he pulls when he gets the ball in the restricted area.

 

[HomerLovesKoolAid]

Unless Chauncey continues to ask everyone to switch everything. Then you will still have Nurk out in space... when you have the least mobile starting big in the league, you don't run a switch everything man to man and a zone that has him away from the hoop. I'm not saying Chauncey's defensive principles are wrong they're just not made for Nurk, in my opinion.

They're made for guys like Sheed and John Salley.