Game Thread 2024-25 GAME #71 - BLAZERS VS NUGGETS - MAR 21, 2025 - FRI - 7:00 PM - CHARGE - BLAZERVISION

[wizenheimer]

Suns have already beaten us in the head to head so the conference records won't come into play... if we're tied with them, they're playing in the play-in and we're staying at home.

not accurate. Season series is tied 2-2; next tiebreaker is conference record

Phoenix is 21-25
Portland is 17-30

the best the Blazers can do is 22-30. The worst the Sun can do 21-31. So there is an extremely small margin there for Portland to gain the advantage; Blazers would have to win all 5 of their remaining conference games & Suns would have to lose all 6. One win by Phoenix and the tiebreaker moves to next criteria

now the criteria says the next tiebreaker is record against playoff teams in own conference; it is also defined as: "Better winning percentage against teams eligible for the playoffs in own conference (including teams that finished the regular season tied for a playoff position)"

I'm taking that as meaning top-6 teams and not including play-in teams. But maybe that's wrong. If it isn't, by my count, both Portland and Phoenix have 4 wins against top-6 teams. Obviously, that could change. Phoenix has 3 games left against top-6 teams; Portland has 2

Phoenix has a brutal schedule left. Portland's is a little easier, but not by much

 

[Phatguysrule]

If only we could have both.

In what world could that be possible?

 

[julius]

That answered my questions.

Really wish they had not played that cheesy ass music instead of letting us hear the fans.

 

[Blazinaway]

Deni is awesome, gotta say I have been pleasantly surprised by Duop's improved play, especially on the defensive side

 

[wizenheimer]

Deni is awesome, gotta say I have been pleasantly surprised by Duop's improved play, especially on the defensive side

he's a bargain 'change-of-pace' C. He has enough 'big-man' impact that if he's hitting his three's he's pretty effective....in shorter stints obviously. At 2-3M/year, he's a worthy end of bench player. But not at 5-7M/year

 

[handiman]

Deni is awesome, gotta say I have been pleasantly surprised by Duop's improved play, especially on the defensive side

He's playing great around the basket on both ends, suddenly. Blocking shots and showing great touch in close are two things I didn't expect.

 

[blazerfan11]

Not a single vet we don’t want here played and we balled out

What a lot of people have been wanting ALL SEASON long.

 

[THE HCP]

Hey @THE HCP Westbrook was one turnover away from a double-double.

View attachment 72625

Saw my dawg in the back hallway about 15 minutes before tip….straight up looked at me like he didn’t remember me from SUBWAY….totally ruined my night.

 

[THE HCP]

View attachment 72626

What are the categories for this? Each fantasy league is completely different.

 

[wizenheimer]

Maybe Sharpe should just stop taking 3-pointers, or only take around 3 a game.

He shot 9 - 12 on 2-point shots, but 1-10 on 3-pointers. Sharpe is one of the best of the guards.

he should study Derozan's game. A 6 time all-star who has averaged less than two three point attempts a game

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Saw my dawg in the back hallway about 15 minutes before tip….straight up looked at me like he didn’t remember me from SUBWAY….totally ruined my night.

Who are you again?

 

[Natebishop3]

Who are you again?

Sly you make it really hard not to take the bait on old guy jokes…. Really hard.

 

[blazerfan11]

he should study Derozan's game. A 6 time all-star who has averaged less than two three's a game

Sharpe is leading the guards on 2-point percentage for the season (.555), even ahead of Avdija (.549), but is last place in 3-point percentage at an unacceptable level for someone taking 6 per game in 2025.

Sharpe for the season is shooting .309 on threes, and slightly better, but still well below the other guards and Avdija and Camara in 2025.
I would like to find 2-point percentage for each player in 2025 if anyone has that.

 

[blazerfan11]

Sharpe is leading the guards on 2-point percentage for the season (.555), even ahead of Avdija (.549), but is last place in 3-point percentage at an unacceptable level for someone taking 6 per game in 2025.

Sharpe for the season is shooting .309 on threes, and slightly better, but still well below the other guards and Avdija and Camara in 2025.
I would like to find 2-point percentage for each player in 2025 if anyone has that.

View attachment 72629

This isn't for all of 2025, but it paints the same picture. Why is Sharpe taking so many threes, when he's so good at making twos, seemingly the best option for twos?

 

[illmatic99]

Id rather he take threes this season and figure out a solution for his inconsistency.

Turning him into DeRozan who was severely limited in the playoffs because he couldn't shoot is a terrible idea.

Shaedon is 21. Far from a complete and developed player. Plenty of room to improve. Let him.

 

[illmatic99]

Scoot's 5 turns in less than 20 mins was driving me up the wall

 

[PCmor7]

Who are you again?

Who are you talking to? There's no one there.

 

[PCmor7]

This isn't for all of 2025, but it paints the same picture. Why is Sharpe taking so many threes, when he's so good at making twos, seemingly the best option for twos?

View attachment 72630

Because just getting the ball and shooting it almost immediately is a lot easier than navigating through defenders and teammates to get to the hoop or your spot on the floor for your shot. Takes a lot less energy.

 

[MickZagger]

Sharpe is leading the guards on 2-point percentage for the season (.555), even ahead of Avdija (.549), but is last place in 3-point percentage at an unacceptable level for someone taking 6 per game in 2025.

Sharpe for the season is shooting .309 on threes, and slightly better, but still well below the other guards and Avdija and Camara in 2025.
I would like to find 2-point percentage for each player in 2025 if anyone has that.

View attachment 72629

I’ve noticed that Sharpe tends to make 3’s when he’s defended and in rhythm off dribble. He misses the open looks. Especially when it’s not off of a dribble.

 

[PCmor7]

Scoot's 5 turns in less than 20 mins was driving me up the wall

He had that putback dunk and then all of a sudden got too excited, lost his poise, tried to follow it up with a couple of highlight plays and then couldn't even make simple passes. He'll learn. He did a lot of good things, too.

 

[PCmor7]

Id rather he take threes this season and figure out a solution for his inconsistency.

Turning him into DeRozan who was severely limited in the playoffs because he couldn't shoot is a terrible idea.

Shaedon is 21. Far from a complete and developed player. Plenty of room to improve. Let him.

I don't mind him taking the 3s, but I don't like it when I feel he settles for them. There are 2-4 times every game where I can tell he's made up his mind to fire it up before he's even gotten the ball.

I also agree with you that I think he'll figure it out. He's been a lot more locked in on defense each of the last few games, and that indicates to me he isn't allergic to coaching and hard work. His handle needs tightened up and I think he should be patterning his game more after Brandon Roy or SGA with the killer midrange and attacks to the bucket while sprinkling in a few 3s right now. I think he'll become even more consistent from the perimeter when he shows defenders he's going to impose his will on them to get to the elbow or rim and punish them. Make them back off like Scoot's done.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

People keep whining about us winning, but Dallas, Phoenix and San Antonio also won yesterday, so no harm done!

 

[wizenheimer]

Id rather he take threes this season and figure out a solution for his inconsistency.

Turning him into DeRozan who was severely limited in the playoffs because he couldn't shoot is a terrible idea.

Shaedon is 21. Far from a complete and developed player. Plenty of room to improve. Let him.

nobody said "turn him into DeRozan"...I sure didn't

what I said was that Sharpe should study DeRozan's game of using brush screens to get open 15' shots and finding creative ways to draw shooting fouls, DeRozan has average 8 points from the FT line for his career. He averaged over 10 points from the line in a couple of seasons. He was a master at small-window conversion rates and getting to the line. Derozan's career FT rate is .403; Sharpe's is .206. There's a lot for Sharpe to learn from DeRozan's style. And until Sharpe can improve dramatically from his 31% shooting on three's, he should DeRozan more and chuck less

 

[kjironman1]

Deni is an allstar, all NBA, franchise caliber player. The guy is amazing..and young on a great deal. Steal of the league and Toumani is right there with him on the steal level.

C'mon now. This dude is a decent role player making plays against sub par teams that aren't playing their best players and have broken lineups because they are resting their best players. Only All Star team he will ever sniff is if Israel decides to create one.
Certainly won't be making the NBA all star team. He got his numbers last night playing 38 mins against the Nuggets starters playing 30-32 mins. Yeah Murray played 35 mins I know.

 

[riverman]

C'mon now. This dude is a decent role player making plays against sub par teams that aren't playing their best players and have broken lineups because they are resting their best players. Only All Star team he will ever sniff is if Israel decides to create one.
Certainly won't be making the NBA all star team. He got his numbers last night playing 38 mins against the Nuggets starters playing 30-32 mins. Yeah Murray played 35 mins I know.

We disagree but also, Deni has more fans around the league than I think you're aware of when it comes to allstar votes but hey...we'll see. He's beasted against great players, not just scrubs.

 

[Phatguysrule]

he should study Derozan's game. A 6 time all-star who has averaged less than two three point attempts a game

He should just work on his three more. I definitely do not want him to stop taking threes.

If Sharpe is a three-level score that's better for everyone.

 

[kjironman1]

We disagree but also, Deni has more fans around the league than I think you're aware of when it comes to allstar votes but hey...we'll see. He's beasted against great players, not just scrubs.

I don’t know my man.
This guy is the epitome of a decent player putting up great numbers on a bad team. He wouldn’t start on a great team. He plays sparingly on the Celtics or Thunder.

 

[riverman]

I don’t know my man.
This guy is the epitome of a decent player putting up great numbers on a bad team. He wouldn’t start on a great team. He plays sparingly on the Celtics or Thunder.

right now I don't think the Thunder or Celtics want to face him ..he's gone toe to toe with a lot of great players ..to me it's his breakout season, not a Justin Minaya tankathon season. My biggest hope for the guy is that he improves free throw shooting..that's one flaw I see but I don't see many more...his handle could be tighter..he's what, 24?

 

[kjironman1]

right now I don't think the Thunder or Celtics want to face him ..he's gone toe to toe with a lot of great players ..to me it's his breakout season, not a Justin Minaya tankathon season. My biggest hope for the guy is that he improves free throw shooting..that's one flaw I see but I don't see many more...his handle could be tighter..he's what, 24?

Celtics Thunder Cavs Nuggets Rockets Knicks probably even the Lakers he doesn’t even get a starting spot.
Now I can agree he probably could help the Bucks Pacers and Grizzlies quite a bit but he wouldn’t start for the Warriors either. Every GOOD team he is a bench player. By the way all those teams I just mentioned actually have All Star players.

 

[blazerfan11]

right now I don't think the Thunder or Celtics want to face him ..he's gone toe to toe with a lot of great players ..to me it's his breakout season, not a Justin Minaya tankathon season. My biggest hope for the guy is that he improves free throw shooting..that's one flaw I see but I don't see many more...his handle could be tighter..he's what, 24?

Yes, just a couple months past 24 years old.

Toumani Camara was born May 8, 2000, so Camara is about 8 months older than Avdija.