Game Thread 2023-24 Game #24 - BLAZERS VS MAVERICKS - DECEMBER 16, 2023 - SATURDAY - 6:00 PM PST - ROOT

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Ant makes scoring look so effortless -- 33 pts on 22 shots. Also 8 reb, 6 assts, 2 stls, plus-4 in a loss. He's working hard on the defensive end even if he's not there yet. He looks like a future all-star.
When Scoot is getting the game, he looks great, too. I have no reason to think he can't be as good as Westbrook, or better. He won't average 10 reb a game, but I think his style of game and willingness to learn make him more the kind of player you see playing a key role on a championship team. His defense is ahead of where I thought it would be; big jump from just a few weeks ago. He's taking on guarding much taller, proven scorers and makes them work. His flashes are like something out of "Oppenheimer."
Shaedon needs to get more than 7 shots. He defers a little too much. Probably youth, but he seems so laid back that it might also be his personality.

All in all, not disappointed tonight. The Mavs are very good, they've put talent around Luka that fits really well together. We got way down and fought back and competed. Lot to feel good about.
 
Wow, it's amazing how the return of Anfernee and Jerami has just made Shaedon disappear... And a grand total of 5 shots for our maxed-out center.

You noticed that too, eh?
 
Doncic has a certain kind of magic power: he looks like he just makes people get out of his way as he waddles to the hoop. You have to think there's SOMEBODY who can make him work a little harder (or at least two somebodies, since he uses picks as much as any player ever).
 
Ayton doesn’t bother me. We won that trade. We didn’t give up anything to get him and we got Toumani.

I just want to see development this season. I don’t like that Scoot got 24 minutes. Especially since he was starting to play better. I don’t see the point in having Grant and Simons put up a bunch of shots in a loss. But oh well.

Need to trade Brogdon to free up some minutes.
 
That's what happens when there is no defense.

The quality of defense is part of it.

Portland shooting 22% from 3 had nothing to do with their defense. Reath, Thybulle, Camara, and Walker going 1-12 on potentially assisted 3's was costly. If those guy shoot 33% on wide open 3's, those 9 extra points changes the game.
 
They look much worse at home for some reason. They had an almost 5 game winning streak on the road, come home, and get blown out to Utah(missing half their players), and were never really in this game either.
 
Wow, it's amazing how the return of Anfernee and Jerami has just made Shaedon disappear... And a grand total of 5 shots for our maxed-out center.

Last year it was Dame (supposedly) making him disappear and now it's Grant/Ant. I think we might be closer to dialing in on what the real issue is.
 
Sharpe not getting shots isn't the problem. Grant and Simons scored 60 points on 44 attempts. That's really good. Sharpe was only 2-7.
 
Blazers only had 1 really bad quarter compared to 3 in the last game. That's a big improvement.
 
Damn didn’t see the game or anything but Shaedon needs to be an alpha and demand the ball. Regardless there’s to many shot takers on this team. Grant definitely needs to be traded and Malcolm too
 
Simons and Grant took all the shots....takes Shaedon out of things.

that appears to be true.

on the other hand, Simons and Grant were aggressive and efficient. Kind of hard to slam them for their offense when they shoot like that. And Sharpe is too deferential, IMO. On the other other hand, Portland had 17 assists on 47FG's. That's an assisted FG rate of 36.1%; they entered the game with an assisted FG rate of 57.1%. Last season, with Dame, their rate was 59.7%. So yeah, the Blazers, basically Ant and Grant, went overboard with one-on-one tonight
 
Nice to see Scoot have a few solid drives in the second half. I love it when he takes it hard to the basket.
He makes impact plays. Both good and bad. There is no middle ground. Whatever he does is either so terrible that he becomes unwatchable, or he's contributing towards a win with intangibles.
 
He makes impact plays. Both good and bad. There is no middle ground. Whatever he does is either so terrible that he becomes unwatchable, or he's contributing towards a win with intangibles.

And that's why he needs to play. He has to work through that stuff. He's not going to learn from the bench.
 
He makes impact plays. Both good and bad. There is no middle ground. Whatever he does is either so terrible that he becomes unwatchable, or he's contributing towards a win with intangibles.

Yeah, that's a great way to describe it. When he looks good you see the top pick potential. When he plays bad the mistakes are so bad it makes you question if he's ever played ball before.
 
Also:

The three guard lineups are awful and have no chance of stopping anyone. Getting killed in all the minutes with any 3 player combo of Ant/Brogdon/Scoot/Shae. So I guess in that sense it is the fault of some of the players coming back.

Camara/Thybulle/Walker had a lot to do with the defensive connectivity, and now it's usually just one of those on the floor at any time.
 
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The Blazers shot 7 of 32 on 3-pointers.

The Blazers shot 40 of 62 on 2-pointers, 64.5%.

If the Blazers had taken all of the 32 three-point attempts as 2-pointers instead, and made them at the same rate as their other 2-pointers, they would have scored 41 points on those shots (0,645 x 32 x 2).

They made 7 three-pointers, which is 21 points.

41 points minus 21 points = 20 more points they could have scored (theoretically).
 
Also:

The three guard lineups are awful and have no chance of stopping anyone. Getting killed in all the minutes with a 3 player combo of Ant/Brogdon/Scoot/Shae. So I guess in that sense it is the fault of some of the players coming back.

Camara/Thybulle/Walker had a lot to do with the defensive connectivity, and now it's usually just one of those on the floor at any time.

Yup. That's why our defense is shit now.
 

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