Game Thread 2023-24 Game #1 - BLAZERS @ CLIPPERS - OCTOBER 25, 2023 - WEDNESDAY - 7:30 PM PST - ROOT

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I don't think you can put everything on the coach, HOWEVER....

1-pass to a dunk on an inbound play should probably never happen, and it happened twice in one game - that's on the coach.
Getting backdoored should also rarely happen. It happened multiple times in that same game. That's also on the coach.

I hate to sound like the old man that I am, but the coach IS responsible for teaching #TheFundamentals.
 
Eastoff said:
Hey wait a minute... there's still nothing here
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Yeah, didn't have time. That is really for you guys if you have post game stuff you can post it and tag me and I will move it there.
 
Tince said:
How much worse are we trying to get?
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Well, I don't see any reason NOT to "get worse" if that means that we get much better in the future, which is to say we develop our young talent and get them used to playing with eachother, rather than guys who obviously will be gone before this core hits its stride. The only one that is questionable is Ant due to timeline. However, he just doesn't fit with the obvious need to feature Scoot and Sharpe and give Scoot the keys to running the team. So, if you want to win 35 games instead of 20 games and delay Scoot, Sharpe and Ayton's development and chemistry, then yeah keep giving shots and touches to Jerami Grant, Simons, and Brogdon. Are you actually wanting to win this season and still miss the play-in by a mile? Why would you want that?
 
Driew said:
Good luck with that Sun fans have been asking for him to do that for years.
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I think it's fair to want deandre to be a good player on the blazers. leopards don't change their spots but this leopard is 25 years old and makes over 30m. he could set a screen better, you know?
 
Idog1976 said:
Well, I don't see any reason NOT to "get worse" if that means that we get much better in the future, which is to say we develop our young talent and get them used to playing with eachother, rather than guys who obviously will be gone before this core hits its stride. The only one that is questionable is Ant due to timeline. However, he just doesn't fit with the obvious need to feature Scoot and Sharpe and give Scoot the keys to running the team. So, if you want to win 35 games instead of 20 games and delay Scoot, Sharpe and Ayton's development and chemistry, then yeah keep giving shots and touches to Jerami Grant, Simons, and Brogdon. Are you actually wanting to win this season and still miss the play-in by a mile? Why would you want that?
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If getting worse meant we were more likely to get better in the long run, I'm all for it. Technically, dumping Scoot/Sharpe for Mays/Murray would make us worse in the short-term, but I wouldn't that that is a good thing. At some point, I believe you can get SO bad that the gap between being awful and good becomes increasingly difficult. I think it's really hard with the new CBA to execute on any plan longer than 3-4 years. I'm already struggling to see this being a contending team in 4 years, so getting worse would not make me more confident.

To answer your question about wanting to win this season, it's not a clear yes or no. There is a scenario where Scoot/Sharpe earn 30mpg, play great, and the chemistry of the team is great; combined with bad injury luck for a couple other teams, they're near the play-in. That scenario would not discourage me. To me, that would be better than Scoot/Sharpe looking way over their heads and us only winning 15 games.

Of those two scenarios, would you still prefer the one where we lose more games?
 
Tince said:
If getting worse meant we were more likely to get better in the long run, I'm all for it. Technically, dumping Scoot/Sharpe for Mays/Murray would make us worse in the short-term, but I wouldn't that that is a good thing. At some point, I believe you can get SO bad that the gap between being awful and good becomes increasingly difficult. I think it's really hard with the new CBA to execute on any plan longer than 3-4 years. I'm already struggling to see this being a contending team in 4 years, so getting worse would not make me more confident.

To answer your question about wanting to win this season, it's not a clear yes or no. There is a scenario where Scoot/Sharpe earn 30mpg, play great, and the chemistry of the team is great; combined with bad injury luck for a couple other teams, they're near the play-in. That scenario would not discourage me. To me, that would be better than Scoot/Sharpe looking way over their heads and us only winning 15 games.

Of those two scenarios, would you still prefer the one where we lose more games?
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I'd prefer the one where we develop our best talent and therefore our chances of winning a championship in the future, rather than having them languish on the bench because Billups, like you, doesn't prioritize long term development. Unlike you, Billups might fear if the loses X number of games because he plays Sharpe and Scoot too much, he might be out of a job. That makes your position even more baffling than Billups.
 
Idog1976 said:
I'd prefer the one where we develop our best talent and therefore our chances of winning a championship in the future, rather than having them languish on the bench because Billups, like you, doesn't prioritize long term development. Unlike you, Billups might fear if the loses X number of games because he plays Sharpe and Scoot too much, he might be out of a job. That makes your position even more baffling than Billups.
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So far, neither Scoot or Sharpe have languished on the bench. Both have been given minutes and given plenty of rope to succeed or fail. I suspect that will continue.
 
Tince said:
So far, neither Scoot or Sharpe have languished on the bench. Both have been given minutes and given plenty of rope to succeed or fail. I suspect that will continue.
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Context is everything, they are used wrong in many of those minutes because less talented, but more established veterans are taking not just minutes but responsibilities from them. E.g. Scoot playing off ball last night. Also, a ton of those minutes were in garbage time, not helpful. Sharpe should have definitely had more minutes than Grant based on impact, yet he didn't. Sharpe should be playing Lillard minutes, which means starting and closing. Sharpe also got a ton of his minute in garbage time. Scoot played a ton in garbage time where his role was correct and then he flourished. He played a ton of empty minutes in the first half being misused off ball, again due to Ant.
 
blazerkor said:
Shaedon seems to have come a long long way on both ends of the court in the last year. Ant is light years ahead of where he was when Chauncey took over, both as a scorer obviously but even though he sucks on defense he is out of position far less often.

If you're not seeing the development then you're not looking. Chauncey hasn't been given the personnel at any point since he's been here to put in place systems that would look good. Completely unbalanced rosters and now a youth rebuild with a few vet holdovers who just need to maintain their value until they're traded.

I'll be looking to see Shaedon take the same kind of huge leap forward this season he did last season. I'll be looking to see Scoot make huge huge gains from where we just saw him to the end of the season. I also want to see Ayton playing the best he's ever played and not regressing. I'd like to see some of our young forwards make big gains too but I don't have as good of an idea of what they (Kris, Toumani, Jabari and Rayan) are capable of. I've got a pretty good idea for what Shaedon and Ayton can do but what I think Scoot is capable of is absolutely just an assumption, it's just a far more educated assumption than what I can even make for our young forwards.
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I'm not going to disagree that certain individuals have grown. However, seeing individual growth is entirely separate from having a coherent (or even having a non-coherent) strategy or game plan with respect to the team as a whole. No obvious offensive scheme other than go out there, have guys stand around the edges (just like they did with Dame) and hope someone drives and either makes a shot or passes it out to someone else who will hopefully make a shot. No movement, no scheme.

Defensively we were getting killed. Yes, the Clippers have some very good players but still, there didn't seem to be an overall defensive scheme other than some zone defense which consistently allowed easy dunks.

This is not about the individual, this is about being able to coach a team.
 
Wizard Mentor said:
I don't think you can put everything on the coach, HOWEVER....

1-pass to a dunk on an inbound play should probably never happen, and it happened twice in one game - that's on the coach.
Getting backdoored should also rarely happen. It happened multiple times in that same game. That's also on the coach.

I hate to sound like the old man that I am, but the coach IS responsible for teaching #TheFundamentals.
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We used to do this once a game.

 
Idog1976 said:
Context is everything, they are used wrong in many of those minutes because less talented, but more established veterans are taking not just minutes but responsibilities from them. E.g. Scoot playing off ball last night. Also, a ton of those minutes were in garbage time, not helpful. Sharpe should have definitely had more minutes than Grant based on impact, yet he didn't. Sharpe should be playing Lillard minutes, which means starting and closing. Sharpe also got a ton of his minute in garbage time. Scoot played a ton in garbage time where his role was correct and then he flourished. He played a ton of empty minutes in the first half being misused off ball, again due to Ant.
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I hear you... While I don't agree everything should revolve around Scoot/Sharpe blindly, I do think putting all players in the best position to succeed would be valuable. I've been on record many times I did not thinkgBillups was going to be a signficant upgrade based of his lack of experience/resume, so please don't take my stance as me saying Billups is a genius coach.

I'm comfortable betting Scoot/Sharpe will averge a combined 60mpg this year. That's a lot for two young guys. Hopefully they are able to maximize the opportunities they are given and for the staff to give them even more chances.
 
Tince said:
I hear you... While I don't agree everything should revolve around Scoot/Sharpe blindly, I do think putting all players in the best position to succeed would be valuable. I've been on record many times I did not thinkgBillups was going to be a signficant upgrade based of his lack of experience/resume, so please don't take my stance as me saying Billups is a genius coach.

I'm comfortable betting Scoot/Sharpe will averge a combined 60mpg this year. That's a lot for two young guys. Hopefully they are able to maximize the opportunities they are given and for the staff to give them even more chances.
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I think this is an excellent resolution to our debate. Thank you.
 
bxb said:
Chauncey Billups won a championship ring as a starting PG, was an all-star.. He's proven... Nowadays I'm sure he wouldnt want prove you wrong, he'd want his players to... Chauncey will score 0 points this season he retired decades ago..

but in the same vein...


CHAUNCEY CAN DRAW THE GREATEST OUT OF BOUNDS PLAY OF ALL TIME.. and the inbounds passer can botch the pass.. n so the play looks botched.. but it seems to me the negative nancies round here would promptly call the greatest out of bounds play of all time a bad play because the player didnt execute it --- n thats where it becomes foolish n unrealistic, which is why i bring up the idiom --- trying to squeeze blood from a stone..
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Just because you're a good player it doesn't mean you're going to be a good owner, or broadcaster, or in this case, coach. Billups is far from "proven".
 
noknobs said:
Just because you're a good player it doesn't mean you're going to be a good owner, or broadcaster, or in this case, coach. Billups is far from "proven".
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As a coach so far, what he has "proven" would indicate (in player terms), that he should go play overseas or perhaps the G-League.
 
Cugel said:
Ayton didn't get any touches. WTF is he supposed to do? He took 4 shots and made two. That is on his teammates and Billups, especially Billups.
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DA called the game "confusing".
Welcome to Billups ball Ayton. When opponents D-up and make things uncomfortable for Portland, the X pattern Delta hodgepodge Scott Brooks offense leaves no one back to defend. Except maybe Anfernee, which is never a good thing.

 
Whyachi said:
DA called the game "confusing".
Welcome to Billups ball Ayton. When opponents D-up and make things uncomfortable for Portland, the X pattern Delta hodgepodge Scott Brooks offense leaves no one back to defend. Except maybe Anfernee, which is never a good thing.

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To be fair, all he is talking about in the clip is the officiating.
 
Whyachi said:
DA called the game "confusing".
Welcome to Billups ball Ayton. When opponents D-up and make things uncomfortable for Portland, the X pattern Delta hodgepodge Scott Brooks offense leaves no one back to defend. Except maybe Anfernee, which is never a good thing.

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I think he was discovering the difference between playing for a larger (comparatively speaking) market that is a championship contender, vs. Portland a deep lottery team. I am sure he felt confused by our lack of an offense, but I think it was mostly him being frustrated by biased reffing of an extreme level.
 
Whyachi said:
DA called the game "confusing".
Welcome to Billups ball Ayton. When opponents D-up and make things uncomfortable for Portland, the X pattern Delta hodgepodge Scott Brooks offense leaves no one back to defend. Except maybe Anfernee, which is never a good thing.

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I'm OK with the struggle. Two things that annoy me, and probably will the whole season:
1) Getting backdoored and giving up wide open dunks - i.e. bad fundamentals on defense.
2) This idiot reporter.
 
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