Game Thread 2022-23 Game #54 - TRAIL BLAZERS VS BUCKS - FEBRUARY 6, 2023 - MONDAY - 7:00 PM (PDT) ROOT, NBATV

[wizenheimer]

How many wives ago

divorced the first one about when Wicks & Petrie were starting their 2nd seasons (married too young like a fucking idiot)

divorced the 2nd wife during the season the Blazers won it all (married too soon after the first like a fucking idiot)

married the current wife the same month the Blazers drafted Bowie over Jordan (the marriage has worked out a lot better than the pick)

 

[Tince]

 

[illmatic99]

Are Hurd and Calabro really making excuses right now?

 

[MickZagger]

Work in progress is something you tell people to buy yourself more time in the public’s eye.

 

[illmatic99]

Yeah I fail to see Cronin’s vision with those trades last season. Then in the offseason we were all so sure that more changes would be made because of how imbalanced the roster was.

So what does he do? Goes out and overpays for another guard who is just not that good (GP2).

If you wanna fun read go read that thread where i had a near meltdown at that idiotic signing. Hate that I've been proven right

 

[MickZagger]

It’s true. Carter is probably just as good or better at being a pesky defender and isn’t an absolute non factor on offense like Payton is.

Hated that signing then. Hate it even more now.

 

[Ed O]

Yeah I fail to see Cronin’s vision with those trades last season. Then in the offseason we were all so sure that more changes would be made because of how imbalanced the roster was.

So what does he do? Goes out and overpays for another guard who is just not that good (GP2).

And our cap position isn't great partly due to the deals he gave to three of our starters (Dame's extention doesn't matter much yet, but..., and he seemingly bid against himself on Ant and Nurk).

And our other two starters are going to be unrestricted FAs.

And we have acquired no draft picks of consequence as we've gotten where we are.

This was all pretttttttyyyyyy obvious at the time, and there's no clear path to success on the court or through trades any time soon. I guess those of us not in denial just hold out hope in case something good finally happens.

 

[illmatic99]

Which is exactly what we're on pace to do. So why clear house?

Just venting. I know it wont happen. Tired of being so overmatched by any good team we play.

 

[MickZagger]

If you wanna fun read go read that thread where i had a near meltdown at that idiotic signing. Hate that I've been proven right

Oh I hated it too. Was not pleased one bit. And I hate it even more now.

 

[Ed O]

Did people really expect Cronin to clear all those bad contracts and Billups have a roster that could win 45+ games?

I didn't expect him to do anything. He had no track record of success as a GM, so I had low expectations.

Logically, though, treading water was the dumbest thing to do and that's what he's done. Other than Sharpe, we've done nothing to improve our situation since he took over.

 

[KingSpeed]

So I have to ask the people who wanted to fire Stotts and trade CJ, now what?

 

[MickZagger]

And our cap position isn't great partly due to the deals he gave to three of our starters (Dame's extention doesn't matter much yet, but..., and he seemingly bid against himself on Ant and Nurk).

And our other two starters are going to be unrestricted FAs.

And we have acquired no draft picks of consequence as we've gotten where we are.

This was all pretttttttyyyyyy obvious at the time, and there's no clear path to success on the court or through trades any time soon. I guess those of us not in denial just hold out hope in case something good finally happens.

Yep. Pretty much sums it up. I’ll always be a diehard Blazer fan. But I prefer that when we’re not good we are at least angling for an opportunity to be better down the line.

I’m thinking we’re going to be looking back at Lillard’s career thinking what it could have been had we a competent front office.

 

[DDolla]

Work in progress is something you tell people to buy yourself more time in the public’s eye.

Work in Progress until Dame is 35

 

[Tince]

I didn't expect him to do anything. He had no track record of success as a GM, so I had low expectations.

Logically, though, treading water was the dumbest thing to do and that's what he's done. Other than Sharpe, we've done nothing to improve our situation since he took over.

I'm surprised you're high on Sharpe.

 

[blazerkor]

So I have to ask the people who wanted to fire Stotts and trade CJ, now what?

Well I want the team to do everything they can to get a second star next to Dame. Big swings should be made between now and noon on Thursday. I don't have any faith that those trades will be made but that's what should happen.

 

[riverman]

over 4 minutes left in a game you should be fighting to close the gap...Chauncy seems to eager to waive the flag in my view especially for a home game....there's a reason the Bucks starters played the next two minutes before going to the bench...they wanted to win the game. If I didn't second guess it sure looked like tanking tonight from the cheap seats

 

[PCmor7]

Yuck. That was ugly.

No energy at the outset and seemed like there was no plan beyond "hope our 3s go in."

We missed so many uncontested or barely contested looks and played into Milwaukee's defense with bad decisions.

Didn't come out and compete. You can say all you want about road-trip hangovers and whatever, but this team didn't even really try tonight.

The Bucks actually kept the game competitive for 2 1/2 quarters by not really going hard either.

That's why the Blazers need to be really discerning about making some kind of big trade at the deadline. When this team is playing well, it's very, very good, but it's sooooooo inconsistent. It's not a serious contender this year and almost certainly not next. Don't make panic moves about Dame's timeline and eliminate any chance of him getting a sniff of a deep playoff run somewhere down the line.

 

[wizenheimer]

So I have to ask the people who wanted to fire Stotts and trade CJ, now what?

I didn't give a shit about Stotts being fired. He had 9 years and mediocre success. He got some of the blame that should have been placed on Olshey, but he sure as hell didn't compile a great resume. He should have been fired after the Pelicans swept Portland in 2018

trading CJ was a case of good riddance...should have been gone 6 years earlier

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Dame’s playing the best ball of his career and this team is still on a treadmill.

The roster construction sucks and the lack of talent is the main issue imo.

Dame has no help.

 

[riverman]

Dame’s playing the best ball of his career and this team is still on a treadmill.

The roster construction sucks and the lack of talent is the main issue imo.

Dame has no help.

Against the Bucks defense which is near the top of the league and missing Nurk and Winslow....we were way too small and our only chance was to shoot lights out from deep...we shot 22.2% from 3 in the first half....Lopez could get whatever he wanted all night long...it was like he was playing with an 8 ft rim We went 7 minutes without scoring again at the end of the game...we went 9 minutes once before in another loss without a bucket and a few more where we went 5 or 6 minutes without a bucket...nobody wins with a clankfest.

 

[MickZagger]

Curious how many wins we have against teams with an over .500 record

 

[calvin natt]

Always funny and interesting when people complain about role players. 9/10 they are doing the their job and what they’ve always done. Josh Hart career 9/6. Now he’s 9/8. Grant is outperforming his career averages. Eubanks is too. Simons is at 22/4. Expected. Winslow is at 7/5. Career 8/5. The problem isn’t any of these guys. It’s not Lillard obviously. Maybe Nurkic? Other than that, the team is exactly where it should be. They a second superstar but have refused to do it. In a few days they’ll likely refuse to do it again.

 

[Strenuus]

So I have to ask the people who wanted to fire Stotts and trade CJ, now what?

Celebrate! Been doing it all year!

 

[Strenuus]

Always funny and interesting when people complain about role players. 9/10 they are doing the their job and what they’ve always done. Josh Hart career 9/6. Now he’s 9/8. Grant is outperforming his career averages. Eubanks is too. Simons is at 22/4. Expected. Winslow is at 7/5. Career 8/5. The problem isn’t any of these guys. It’s not Lillard obviously. Maybe Nurkic? Other than that, the team is exactly where it should be. They a second superstar but have refused to do it. In a few days they’ll likely refuse to do it again.

Have you heard every conversation the GM has done?

You haven't. Learn.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Blazers play hard and get all of us fans FREE CHICKEN McNUGGIES and you guys still complain.

 

[Bingo Bango]

Stotts’ record in his last season with the Blazers was 42-30. Anyone think Billups will beat that this year?

 

[MickZagger]

I didn't give a shit about Stotts being fired. He had 9 years and mediocre success. He got some of the blame that should have been placed on Olshey, but he sure as hell didn't compile a great resume. He should have been fired after the Pelicans swept Portland in 2017

trading CJ was a case of good riddance...should have been gone 6 years earlier

I agree. Said as much at the time. Losing to the Pelican’s in the fashion we did when we were clearly the better roster should have initiated major moves. We could’ve got a much larger return on CJ and strung along Stotts for years only to hire Olshey’s guy Billups several years later.

That series tilted me from loving CJ as a player to making me think maybe he was better suited as instant offense off the bench. Instead we signed him to a max extension

 

[MickZagger]

Against the Bucks defense which is near the top of the league and missing Nurk and Winslow....we were way too small and our only chance was to shoot lights out from deep...we shot 22.2% from 3 in the first half....Lopez could get whatever he wanted all night long...it was like he was playing with an 8 ft rim We went 7 minutes without scoring again at the end of the game...we went 9 minutes once before in another loss without a bucket and a few more where we went 5 or 6 minutes without a bucket...nobody wins with a clankfest.

We have no presence in the paint. Look at the rebounding discrepancy. Terribly flawed roster whether Nurk was playing or not. 1 single guy over 6’9”

 

[wizenheimer]

Bucks essentially doubled the Blazers in rebounds. The advantage of size

I don't think there was any Blazer fan who didn't know that Portland's roster needed to get a hell of a lot bigger and longer last summer. Other than the lack of high end talent, the length deficit was the most glaring problem

so Cronin decides to hard cap the team for 6'2 Gary Payton. It was a dumb decision. It made no sense at all at the time, and even less than that now.

Cronin was tasked with dismantling the idiot Olshey roster and abandoning the mistakes of the Olshey era. I thought he did a decent job at last year's trade deadline. But this summer, after making great trade for Grant, he bid against himself on the Ant and Nurk contracts (right out of the olshey playbook). Then he goes for more midget ball with Payton.

Cronin needs a dose of Will Rogers

 

[MickZagger]

Stotts’ record in his last season with the Blazers was 42-30. Anyone think Billups will beat that this year?[/

Always funny and interesting when people complain about role players. 9/10 they are doing the their job and what they’ve always done. Josh Hart career 9/6. Now he’s 9/8. Grant is outperforming his career averages. Eubanks is too. Simons is at 22/4. Expected. Winslow is at 7/5. Career 8/5. The problem isn’t any of these guys. It’s not Lillard obviously. Maybe Nurkic? Other than that, the team is exactly where it should be. They a second superstar but have refused to do it. In a few days they’ll likely refuse to do it again.

they don’t want to break up the guys. Too close of a clubhouse. Tight bonds.