Game Thread 2023-24 Game #7 - BLAZERS VS GRIZZLIES - NOVEMBER 5, 2023 - SUNDAY - 6:00 PM PST - ROOT

[BankTeller]

I think if he's not hurt, the Grizz would take him for Steve Adams and a FRP.

I’d rather just keep Williams. What is Adams going to do for us?

 

[blazerkor]

I’d rather just keep Williams. What is Adams going to do for us?

It's obviously about accruing another FRP.

 

[OneSport3]

Malcolm Brogdon to New Orleans makes too much sense. With CJ going down, they have no PG/playmaker. José Alvarado hasn’t played yet this season either. New Orleans has an abundance of picks as well.

 

[Natebishop3]

Billups said you can't control when you make shots and when you don't.

You can control taking an insane number of threes when we are not at all a good three point shooting team.

 

[Tince]

You can control taking an insane number of threes when we are not at all a good three point shooting team.

Exactly. If they'd just dunk it every time, they'd score like 150 points a game.

Run the dunk play!

 

[Natebishop3]

Exactly. If they'd just dunk it every time, they'd score like 150 points a game.

Run the dunk play!

Almost half our shots in this game were threes. We shot 31% from three. That’s….. not good. We also shot 20 fewer free throws in this game compared to last game.

 

[wizenheimer]

Losing rob is a gut punch

didn't see the game...what happened?

 

[Natebishop3]

These games are a lot more fun when I’m completely focused on developing Scoot and Shae. I don’t enjoy watching our vets Jack up shots.

 

[Whyachi]

Almost half our shots in this game were threes. We shot 31% from three. That’s….. not good. We also shot 20 fewer free throws in this game compared to last game.

offensive rebounding, it's a new Blazers weapon. 16 tonight. What does Portland do with it?? Kick it out, swing it, jack up triples.

 

[blazerfan11]

You can control taking an insane number of threes when we are not at all a good three point shooting team.

You can also control getting Ayton some open Aldridge mid-range jumpers, not something closer where he needs to adjust his shot.
The one I did see he put it in like a free throw, in the last game against Memphis. It looked like free points to me.
Ayton seems to be just as good or better shooting farther away from the hoop (out to a long/mid-range 2), which nobody on his team including the coach seems to know.

 

[Tince]

Almost half our shots in this game were threes. We shot 31% from three. That’s….. not good. We also shot 20 fewer free throws in this game compared to last game.

With the way defenses are going to scout us, I suspect we'll see a lot more teams packing the paint, and daring us to beat them outside.

While there are some alternatives, it can be real challenging to attack a defense who doesn't respect a teams outside shooting abilities. Contested 2's vs open 3's might be the decision we're forced to make.

 

[wizenheimer]

IIRC, didn't the Blazers set some kind of record last season for losing leads in the 4th Q? maybe it's a Billups trademark

 

[blazerkor]

didn't see the game...what happened?

Not much. Rob didn't twist the knee and it didn't buckle, he just hit the deck and I didn't even see him bang it. So to me given his history if what he did tore his meniscus that's really a bad sign for him. I think it's more likely a pinched meniscus or a bone bruise but both of those wouldn't necessarily keep him out of action but are pretty bad for him too because it just means that knee is has no cushion or in technical terms is very arthritic at 26 years old. Honestly we'll just have to wait to hear from the team but I'm betting the team will say he's fine and might just need a little rest.

 

[inconceivable]

Not much. Rob didn't twist the knee and it didn't buckle, he just hit the deck and I didn't even see him bang it. So to me given his history if what he did tore his meniscus that's really a bad sign for him. I think it's more likely a pinched meniscus or a bone bruise but both of those wouldn't necessarily keep him out of action but are pretty bad for him too because it just means that knee is has no cushion or in technical terms is very arthritic at 26 years old. Honestly we'll just have to wait to hear from the team but I'm betting the team will say he's fine and might just need a little rest.

I thought his knee collided with the defender

 

[cdub503]

I thought his knee collided with the defender

I feel like i never saw contact it felt more like a studder step he wasnt expecting type of thing.

 

[Natebishop3]

Rob’s health is why we should probably move him.

 

[Tince]

Rob’s health is why we should probably move him.

The rest of the league is obviously aware of his health issues and I'm sure our offers will be discounted accordingly.

Best case scenario with him and Brogdon is they stay healthy long enough some team may start to believe the injuries are less of a concern.

 

[cdub503]

watching it again... all im seeing contact wise is up top, it looks like his foot stops but his weight and his knee kept going with a slight twist to it and it pitches him back onto the ground with help of jacksons forearm

replay @ 1:28:30 on league pass if anyone cares to look at it

 

[blazerkor]

I thought his knee collided with the defender

I just rewatched it and JJJ's ass hit Rob's left thigh and Rob goes down, not awkwardly at all, like he was taking a charge. Then he grabbed that bad right knee. Rob was even in good guarding position with both knees bent. The only thing that could have hurt him on that play would have been the impact of JJJ's weight not against that knee but on Rob's body which is obviously supported by both legs.

Like I said, the fact that that hurt him doesn't bode well for him but everyone pretty much knows that knee isn't great. Hopefully some win now team will want him because he hasn't missed a lot of playoff games and is really useful off of the bench when he plays. I just think we need to cash him in for whatever we can get, assuming he's good enough to keep playing at the capacity he's been playing. I doubt he has a lot of seasons left in him and that means him helping a team win now is where his value is at not a team looking to the future like we are.

 

[BIG Q]

I made the mistake of praising Grant and Brogdon today. Shocked that the offense is so bad that Billups is just running iso's for them. Completely disgusted with it. I would rather see them lose by 20 points but at least moving the ball around. Those two were pretty cold all day, but atrocious in the last three minutes. To make things worse, instead of trying to get the ball in Sharpe's hands earlier in the shot clock they were dumping it in his lap with little time to work with. Mays and Walker getting nine shots each is probably five each too many when they aren't hitting anything. I do not want to see Grant and Brogdon putting up 20+ shots each. Damn. Horrible to watch. Now the tough stretch begins. Back to reality. Hopefully less iso ball and chucking. Need to start running an actual offense.

 

[cdub503]

I just rewatched it and JJJ's ass hit Rob's left thigh and Rob goes down, not awkwardly at all, like he was taking a charge. Then he grabbed that bad right knee. Rob was even in good guarding position with both knees bent. The only thing that could have hurt him on that play would have been the impact of JJJ's weight not against that knee but on Rob's body which is obviously supported by both legs.

Like I said, the fact that that hurt him doesn't bode well for him but everyone pretty much knows that knee isn't great. Hopefully some win now team will want him because he hasn't missed a lot of playoff games and is really useful off of the bench when he plays. I just think we need to cash him in for whatever we can get, assuming he's good enough to keep playing at the capacity he's been playing. I doubt he has a lot of seasons left in him and that means him helping a team win now is where his value is at not a team looking to the future like we are.

Im seeing him moving into a plant position but his knee gives inwards and pitching him back along with jacksons forearm kinda looks like his shoe stuck a bit too much but not sure....

 

[blazerkor]

Im seeing him moving into a plant position but his knee gives inwards and pitching him back along with jacksons forearm kinda looks like his shoe stuck a bit too much but not sure....

Yeah, definitely no knee to knee contact, definitely no twisting or hyperextending. I actually don't see his knee give inward after watching it a bunch of times both from the front during the live action shot and the back from the replay but it's not exact. So if it was anything it would just be a little tweak. If that keeps him out for a while that's bad news, I doubt it will. Our next game isn't until Wednesday and then the one after that is Sunday... that gives him a lot of rest time so if there is some minor inflammation it should have time to calm down with treatment.

Rob can give good minutes off the bench but I don't know for how many more years that will be true. If he isn't hurt, the team should find out which win now team around the league would be interested in him and get the most value we can for him because the way he looks he won't be around when Scoot and Shae are leading this team back to the playoffs.

 

[BonesJones]

we didn't lose the game on the offensive end.

We scored 2 points in the final 8:22. We lost this game on both ends.

 

[BonesJones]

The Blazers have some crazy offensive lulls in the 4th quarter. In all three of Portland's home games:

vs. ORL - 4 points in the first 9 minutes of the 4th quarter
vs. MEM - 4 points in the first 7 minutes of the 4th quater
vs. MEM - 2 points in 5+the final 8:22 of game time

Problem is - This Blazers team had really bad 4th quarter lulls last season with a more talented offensive unit. So this problem seems to transcend rosters with a new squad this year.

So what's the common denominator? The offensive structure looks exactly the same as it did last year despite the difference in personnel. The common denominator is Chauncey.

 

[BonesJones]

I made the mistake of praising Grant and Brogdon today. Shocked that the offense is so bad that Billups is just running iso's for them. Completely disgusted with it. I would rather see them lose by 20 points but at least moving the ball around. Those two were pretty cold all day, but atrocious in the last three minutes. To make things worse, instead of trying to get the ball in Sharpe's hands earlier in the shot clock they were dumping it in his lap with little time to work with. Mays and Walker getting nine shots each is probably five each too many when they aren't hitting anything. I do not want to see Grant and Brogdon putting up 20+ shots each. Damn. Horrible to watch. Now the tough stretch begins. Back to reality. Hopefully less iso ball and chucking. Need to start running an actual offense.

What's funny is during media day there was a lot of veiled comments towards Chauncey "having his guys" now and being able to run a more team-oriented offense. But it's exactly the same.

I'm sure after we lose 50+ games this year it'll be "we need different guys" type of comments in the exit interviews, just like off-season.
And then it'll be "Chauncey has his guys now" on next year's Media Day. Just like it was when we had Justise Winslow and wanted to clone Josh Hart so we had a "Josh Hart at every position".

"Chauncey's guys" is a lame ass excuse, where Chauncey's inabilities to coach are pinned upon the roster, not him.

 

[inconceivable]

So what's the diagnosis of timelord's injury?

 

[Whyachi]

The Blazers have some crazy offensive lulls in the 4th quarter. In all three of Portland's home games:

vs. ORL - 4 points in the first 9 minutes of the 4th quarter
vs. MEM - 4 points in the first 7 minutes of the 4th quater
vs. MEM - 2 points in 5+the final 8:22 of game time

Problem is - This Blazers team had really bad 4th quarter lulls last season with a more talented offensive unit. So this problem seems to transcend rosters with a new squad this year.

So what's the common denominator? The offensive structure looks exactly the same as it did last year despite the difference in personnel. The common denominator is Chauncey.

Walker shot 28% from 3 last year. Why is he waaay out on the wing shooting 0-5 from deep? Jabari is much better at inside cutter, especially near the baseline. It's like you can't expect a young player to be good at something they're not.

 

[THE HCP]

Random thought. I wonder if the traveling teams stay at the new Ritz now

The Nines

 

[blazerfan11]

didn't see the game...what happened?

The Blazers had a 12-point lead, 98-86 , with 8 minutes left to go in the game.
They ended up losing 112-100.
100 minues 98 = 2 .
112 minues 86 = 26.

 

[inconceivable]

The Blazers had a 12-point lead, 98-86 , with 8 minutes left to go in the game.
They ended up losing 112-100.
100 minues 98 = 2 .
112 minues 86 = 26.

In other words, the Blazers took pity on the winless Grizzlies and allowed them to win