2023 TRAIL BLAZERS TRAINING CAMP THREAD

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Im sorry River this leaves out a ton of context.
Dame was still on the roster and unknown if he would still be come training camp. Wemby wasn't replacing a franchise superstar.
Of course he got a bigger welcome than Scoot. We still didnt know if he would be traded before training camp to appease Dame, who was still on the roster.

Liek you said, context matters.
According to Dame himself, Ant is replacing the franchise superstar. Ant is the face on the Blazers homepage media first. I didn't make these decisions but there they are.
 
I'm not talking about where they're drafted...I'm talking about summer league hype. Nate McMillan thought Nolan Smith was a game changer....he wasn't. Lot of fans thought that too. I honestly hope Scoot is but let me see him play an NBA game before we make him the GOAT

Who is making Scoot the GOAT? (Answer: nobody) We're talking about Scoot being the better option at point guard over Anfernee Simons.

Where did Anfernee Simons rank among point guards last season? How has Anfernee Simons "earned" being a starting point guard?
 
According to Dame himself, Ant is replacing the franchise superstar. Ant is the face on the Blazers homepage media first. I didn't make these decisions but there they are.
Great. Going from one shooting point guard with poor defense and court vision who doesn't push the pace, to another.
 
Who is making Scoot the GOAT? (Answer: nobody) We're talking about Scoot being the better option at point guard over Anfernee Simons.

Where did Anfernee Simons rank among point guards last season? How has Anfernee Simons "earned" being a starting point guard?
Like everyone here, I'm speculating. Ant earned it by being Dame's protege' for 5 years. He earned it by having success with Dame off the court...not playing next to Dame. That was a bad pairing. I'm not a huge fan of Ant but I think he'll be the starting pt guard early this season. I think we've reached an impasse' on this topic. I'm not trying to be right to the point of arguing, I just offered my opinion on the starting roster.
 
I'm not talking about where they're drafted...I'm talking about summer league hype. Nate McMillan thought Nolan Smith was a game changer....he wasn't. Lot of fans thought that too. I honestly hope Scoot is but let me see him play an NBA game before we make him the GOAT
I know what you're saying, and I don't remember it being a similar situation as far as hype goes at all. I don't recall a lot of fans feeling that way about Smith. My recollection is a lot of people thought he was underwhelming with a low ceiling.
 

If anyone cares, I fixed the twitter link by re-typing it to this form below, you don't need to type the word media in caps and you get to use brackets! Everything is/can be lower case.

media=twitter within brackets, followed by the twitter number *only*, then /media within brackets



upload_2023-10-4_11-39-19.png
 
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but Adam Morrison was! Wes Mathews wasn't even drafted...it the numbers are supposed to guarantee production by draft position, they are often wrong. I'm not trying to buzzkill Scoot, I just think he's got a learning curve especially as a pt guard that could benefit from some mentoring from Ant and Brogdan.

Adam Morrison was considered a top 3 pick in a really bland draft.
 
According to Dame himself, Ant is replacing the franchise superstar. Ant is the face on the Blazers homepage media first. I didn't make these decisions but there they are.

I think we have seen enough of GM Lillard over the years to know that this is not the rousing endorsement some might make it to be.
 
I'm not talking about where they're drafted...I'm talking about summer league hype. Nate McMillan thought Nolan Smith was a game changer....he wasn't. Lot of fans thought that too. I honestly hope Scoot is but let me see him play an NBA game before we make him the GOAT
Compare this thread to when we drafted Scoot. I see no comparison with the fan hype.
http://www.sportstwo.com/threads/nolan-smith.189822/
 
I don't know. I know Blazers need more rebounding and I would like to see the best five out there. I don't think we have a really good choice at the 3 unless Grant moves there. I just want Billups to be open and try it.

In this scenario, how many minutes do you see him at PF, and how many at the backup center when DA is not on the floor?

From Chauncey's answer on the video, it sounds like he understands that starting him is not an option, but that playing them together when needed..... is an option. That makes the most sense to me as well. I don't think Williams is a 30+ minute-a-night guy. So what's your breakdown.... minutes-wise
 
Compare this thread to when we drafted Scoot. I see no comparison with the fan hype.
http://www.sportstwo.com/threads/nolan-smith.189822/
2011 I wasn't a member here but you're right...Pappa G sure didn't like him nor many posters I don't even know..I was a member of Iamatrailblazerfan.com during that season with Casey and Sarah Hecht and Dustin Hawes as mods. You're right about the S2 crowd...they didn't seem too high on Nolan nose picking Smith.
 
I think Vegas had us at 23 wins the year Stotts won 50 some games. When have the Blazers not been underrated in the preseason? People think Chauncey will tank but I don't think he wants to lose his job and I think he wants to coach in the playoffs. I think we'll surprise some teams.

2013-14 - o/u 38.5--->54-28 (+15.5)
2014-15 - o/u 49--->51-31 (+2)
2015-16 - o/u 28.5--->44-38 (+15.5)
2016-17 - o/u 45.5--->41-41 (-3.5)
2017-18 - o/u 42.5--->49-33 (+6.5)
2018-19 - o/u 42--->53-29 (+11)
2019-20 - o/u 46.5--->35-39 (bubble year; lotsa-injuries; busted schedule = o/u of 42; so -7)
2020-21 - o/u 40.5--->42-30 (+1.5)
2021-22 - o/u 44.5--->27-55 (-17.5; Billups was 11 under .500 when trades happened, Dame injured)
2022-23 - o/u 39.5--->33-49 (-6.5)

https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2023_preseason_odds.html

whatever you think about Stotts, one thing he could do fairly consistently was lead an overachieving team (based upon projections). Obviously, a lot of that was Dame putting the team on his shoulders and carrying them into the playoffs, but still Stotts was in charge when the team exceeded expectations

Billups, on the other hand, has underachieved. He did that when Dame was injured; and he did it when Dame was healthy, having the best season of his career. Tanking had a little to do with that, but in both seasons, the Blazers were well under the pre-season O/U pace when the tanks begin.

Billups may lead the Blazers to a surprising record thei season. But there is nothing in his first two seasons suggesting he will
 
Can we see a lineup of Scoot, Ant, Grant, Ayton and Rob?
 
2013-14 - o/u 38.5--->54-28 (+15.5)
2014-15 - o/u 49--->51-31 (+2)
2015-16 - o/u 28.5--->44-38 (+15.5)
2016-17 - o/u 45.5--->41-41 (-3.5)
2017-18 - o/u 42.5--->49-33 (+6.5)
2018-19 - o/u 42--->53-29 (+11)
2019-20 - o/u 46.5--->35-39 (bubble year; lotsa-injuries; busted schedule = o/u of 42; so -7)
2020-21 - o/u 40.5--->42-30 (+1.5)
2021-22 - o/u 44.5--->27-55 (-17.5; Billups was 11 under .500 when trades happened, Dame injured)
2022-23 - o/u 39.5--->33-49 (-6.5)

https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2023_preseason_odds.html

whatever you think about Stotts, one thing he could do fairly consistently was lead an overachieving team (based upon projections). Obviously, a lot of that was Dame putting the team on his shoulders and carrying them into the playoffs, but still Stotts was in charge when the team exceeded expectations

Billups, on the other hand, has underachieved. He did that when Dame was injured; and he did it when Dame was healthy, having the best season of his career. Tanking had a little to do with that, but in both seasons, the Blazers were well under the pre-season O/U pace when the tanks begin.

Billups may lead the Blazers to a surprising record thei season. But there is nothing in his first two seasons suggesting he will
I'm a big Stotts fan....it was HCP that predicted 23 wins now that I think about it! Thanks for the list..interesting
 
looking at the pictures, this current Blazer team may have more hair than any Blazer team since the 70's
Have we ever had a team without a "white" player on it before? I can't remember a squad without a Joe Klein or Meyers Leonard or Steve Blake. Not that it matters at all I just thought it was a change from the Blazers history of rosters.
 

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