Game Thread 2025-26 GAME #53 BLAZERS VS GRIZZLIES - FEBRUARY 7, 2026 - SATURDAY - 7:00 PM - KUNP - BLAZERVISION

[2Fluffy4U]

When was the last time a center was on the floor for 36 minutes? Clingan really has heart. Following his last season conditioning - he sure did whatever he could to improve on that end.

 

[B-Roy]

I love Vit. Never makes mistakes. Always makes the right play.

 

[THE HCP]

The Blazers, for whatever reason, don't play well against teams lacking players. It's incredibly maddening.

Is it just me?

 

[KingSpeed]

If they were trying to make the playoffs would all those guys be OUT tonight? No. So tank and do it the right way. We still have people thinking they are trying to make the postseason.

If we get the 8 spot in the play-in, we are likely to make the playoffs. Gotta be healthy when you get there. We have a nice cushion over Dallas and Memphis to at least get the 10 spot. We are only 3 games behind the 8th place Warriors and we have the tiebreaker. We’ve tanked enough. Get over it.

 

[KingSpeed]

The Blazers, for whatever reason, don't play well against teams lacking players. It's incredibly maddening.

Teams are always lacking players. Sometimes we win, sometimes we don’t.

 

[KingSpeed]

I hope the new gm coach and owner are willing to wheel and deal. Make some decisions on some of our younger players that have peaked and package to make a difference. Detroit used to be a joke look where they are now. We need a gm that can blend the right talents that mesh. And oh defense wins championships

Detroit got there by developing their star PG and C and putting Grant/Jrue type vets around him. We’re doing just fine. If Giannis becomes an option, then of course you go get him. But Detroit this year could be us next year. Patience. Scoot is younger than Cade.

 

[KingSpeed]

Clingan is going to be a monster in a few years

I forget how young he is. He is on his way to becoming an All Star in a few years.

 

[KingSpeed]

I love Vit. Never makes mistakes. Always makes the right play.

Incredible pick up.

 

[Cugel]

You cut the turnovers in half or so and you have a different looking squad out there every night. In the off season these guys have to tighten things up a bunch. Hopefully that comes with experience. You can’t blame Splitter for, literally, making a pass right to a defender. It happens several times a game.

 

[Domihatin]

If we get the 8 spot in the play-in, we are likely to make the playoffs. Gotta be healthy when you get there. We have a nice cushion over Dallas and Memphis to at least get the 10 spot. We are only 3 games behind the 8th place Warriors and we have the tiebreaker. We’ve tanked enough. Get over it.

Spittin' straight facts!

 

[crandc]

Funny reading this thread. Team is awful, players suck, oh wait they won!

 

[julius]

Is it just me?

No, you're maddening for a whole different reason.

 

[kjironman1]

Game threads are a blast to read after the game is done. Bunch of ninny's clutching pearls and complaining about things that happen in every game being played in the NBA every single night.

All the crap Clingan just took while he was amassing a 20 and 19 night.
Jerami Grant puts 29 points out with 6-10 shooting from 3 and wow 5 rebounds and not a word.
Six players in double figures and our team didn't show until the last quarter?
Obviously when you play a team that has more players on the injured list a second or third string is going to have to score points for them but the Blazers are the one's that always let a "Scrub" score a season high. Dude got hot from 3. In this league you are okay with a bunch of threes being shot by a guy that doesn't usually make 7-8 from there.
The Blazers just beat a team twice in a row. Even the worst team in the league that is tough to do.

 

[kjironman1]

I’m so tired just watching Toumani

The guy guarded their best player all night. Played 34 mins and got a huge block in the 4th. Grabbed 7 rebounds and only committed 2 fouls. Without him they lose that game.

 

[wizenheimer]

it's kind of crazy that I've become one of Clingan's biggest supporters here. I didn't want Portland to draft him because of the issues with drop-coverage C's. Blazers also had Ayton although I was always praying they were going to dump Ayton asap. Anyway, if the Blazers were going to draft a C I was hoping for Ware. He wouldn't have been a bad choice, but I now like Clingan more

I think a pretty good case can be made that Clingan is the 2nd most impactful player on the team. If you track the top-9 players in the rotation (I'm excluding Timelord because of too limited amount of minutes), start with net rating (off-def):

Clingan +19
Camara +6
Deni +3
Jrue 0.0
Grant 0.0
Murray -3
Cissoko -8
Sharpe -9
Love -14

Clingan is 2nd in PER; 3rd in TS%; 3rd in FTr; 1st in every rebounding metric; 1st in blk rate; 1st in winshares; 1st in winshares/48; 3rd in BPM; 2nd in VORP

speaking of rebounding, how does Clingan rate in the entire NBA?

3rd in total rebounds
2nd in rebounds/game
1st in offensive rebounds/game
1st in total rebound %
1st in offensive rebound %
8th in defensive rebound%

he's a monster in the paint, which is what Portland needs. I don't believe the defensive scheme is maximizing Clingan's strengths or minimizing his weaknesses. He's spending too much time chasing gaps in Portland's perimeter defense, and he's not good at that, and that's what some people are focusing on. I believe that chasing is the main reason his blocks/100-possessions have dropped from 4.0-->2.3; and his block rate has dropped from 7.5% to 4.4%

 

[1 Eye Jack]

I love Vit. Never makes mistakes. Always makes the right play.

Team is going to have to get use to him. Noticed several occasions he was wide open. They need to take advantage of having a shooter on the floor it will help everyone if coverage has to pay attention to him.

 

[BassPlaya]

Game threads are a blast to read after the game is done. Bunch of ninny's clutching pearls and complaining about things that happen in every game being played in the NBA every single night.

All the crap Clingan just took while he was amassing a 20 and 19 night.
Jerami Grant puts 29 points out with 6-10 shooting from 3 and wow 5 rebounds and not a word.
Six players in double figures and our team didn't show until the last quarter?
Obviously when you play a team that has more players on the injured list a second or third string is going to have to score points for them but the Blazers are the one's that always let a "Scrub" score a season high. Dude got hot from 3. In this league you are okay with a bunch of threes being shot by a guy that doesn't usually make 7-8 from there.
The Blazers just beat a team twice in a row. Even the worst team in the league that is tough to do.

That's why I never partake in the game thread while the game is on. It's so "What have you done for me in the last 30 seconds?"

 

[wizenheimer]

That's why I never partake in the game thread while the game is on. It's so "What have you done for me in the last 30 seconds?"

partake?

ok then, I challenge you to use 'partake', 'thus', and 'forsooth' in a single sentence talking about the Blazers. Bonus points for tossing in a 'resolve' and a 'dismay'

 

[kjironman1]

That's why I never partake in the game thread while the game is on. It's so "What have you done for me in the last 30 seconds?"

I used to a lot more but I found myself not watching the game well enough and reading comments that were obviously knee jerk reactions and then I also found that my comments were just as reactionary.
I’m not knocking the posts because I totally understand it. I feel so many of the exact same things people post when the game is going and I’m watching.

 

[kjironman1]

partake?

ok then, I challenge you to use 'partake', 'thus', and 'forsooth' in a single sentence talking about the Blazers. Bonus points for tossing in a 'resolve' and a 'dismay'

Man… I wish I would’ve read that response to “Partake” before I forsook and resolved on my comment that the dismay I feel was just as bad as the others that partake in the game thread!

 

[KingSpeed]

it's kind of crazy that I've become one of Clingan's biggest supporters here. I didn't want Portland to draft him because of the issues with drop-coverage C's. Blazers also had Ayton although I was always praying they were going to dump Ayton asap. Anyway, if the Blazers were going to draft a C I was hoping for Ware. He wouldn't have been a bad choice, but I now like Clingan more

I think a pretty good case can be made that Clingan is the 2nd most impactful player on the team. If you track the top-9 players in the rotation (I'm excluding Timelord because of too limited amount of minutes), start with net rating (off-def):

Clingan +19
Camara +6
Deni +3
Jrue 0.0
Grant 0.0
Murray -3
Cissoko -8
Sharpe -9
Love -14

Clingan is 2nd in PER; 3rd in TS%; 3rd in FTr; 1st in every rebounding metric; 1st in blk rate; 1st in winshares; 1st in winshares/48; 3rd in BPM; 2nd in VORP

speaking of rebounding, how does Clingan rate in the entire NBA?

3rd in total rebounds
2nd in rebounds/game
1st in offensive rebounds/game
1st in total rebound %
1st in offensive rebound %
8th in defensive rebound%

he's a monster in the paint, which is what Portland needs. I don't believe the defensive scheme is maximizing Clingan's strengths or minimizing his weaknesses. He's spending too much time chasing gaps in Portland's perimeter defense, and he's not good at that, and that's what some people are focusing on. I believe that chasing is the main reason his blocks/100-possessions have dropped from 4.0-->2.3; and his block rate has dropped from 7.5% to 4.4%

I think the blocks are down because he’s going for rebounds instead. Hard to do both?

 

[BLAZINGGIANTS]

it's kind of crazy that I've become one of Clingan's biggest supporters here. I didn't want Portland to draft him because of the issues with drop-coverage C's. Blazers also had Ayton although I was always praying they were going to dump Ayton asap. Anyway, if the Blazers were going to draft a C I was hoping for Ware. He wouldn't have been a bad choice, but I now like Clingan more

I think a pretty good case can be made that Clingan is the 2nd most impactful player on the team. If you track the top-9 players in the rotation (I'm excluding Timelord because of too limited amount of minutes), start with net rating (off-def):

Clingan +19
Camara +6
Deni +3
Jrue 0.0
Grant 0.0
Murray -3
Cissoko -8
Sharpe -9
Love -14

Clingan is 2nd in PER; 3rd in TS%; 3rd in FTr; 1st in every rebounding metric; 1st in blk rate; 1st in winshares; 1st in winshares/48; 3rd in BPM; 2nd in VORP

speaking of rebounding, how does Clingan rate in the entire NBA?

3rd in total rebounds
2nd in rebounds/game
1st in offensive rebounds/game
1st in total rebound %
1st in offensive rebound %
8th in defensive rebound%

he's a monster in the paint, which is what Portland needs. I don't believe the defensive scheme is maximizing Clingan's strengths or minimizing his weaknesses. He's spending too much time chasing gaps in Portland's perimeter defense, and he's not good at that, and that's what some people are focusing on. I believe that chasing is the main reason his blocks/100-possessions have dropped from 4.0-->2.3; and his block rate has dropped from 7.5% to 4.4%

In the early-90’s, The Sunday Oregonian posted team stats. Portland was nearly always the leader in RPG and rebounding percentage. That was a strength of those teams and why Portland was so successful. They were tough. I enjoyed watching those teams. The game and the rules have changed. Clingan reminds me a bit of those times. And Pryz. DC can be a bit clunky at times, but I enjoyed watching him develop as a player.

 

[julius]

In the early-90’s, The Sunday Oregonian posted team stats. Portland was nearly always the leader in RPG and rebounding percentage. That was a strength of those teams and why Portland was so successful. They were tough. I enjoyed watching those teams. The game and the rules have changed. Clingan reminds me a bit of those times. And Pryz. DC can be a bit clunky at times, but I enjoyed watching him develop as a player.

I always loved it when they would post those stats.

 

[wizenheimer]

I think the blocks are down because he’s going for rebounds instead. Hard to do both?

his defensive reb/100-possessions has increased by 2.6%. His blocks have dropped 43%....so no, there's no correlation between the two

 

[kjironman1]

his defensive reb/100-possessions has increased by 2.6%. His blocks have dropped 43%....so no, there's no correlation between the two

No Correlation but some causation. He's boxing out better and that tends to be a step before the block motion.
However I kind of think it's probably more due to him understanding fouls are taking him off the court. Going for a block tends to get you called for more fouls. Not saying he is getting less fouls but he does play more minutes when he isn't in foul trouble.
I get what King is trying to say but I agree with you. He's just getting more experience.

 

[Chris Craig]

In the early-90’s, The Sunday Oregonian posted team stats. Portland was nearly always the leader in RPG and rebounding percentage. That was a strength of those teams and why Portland was so successful. They were tough. I enjoyed watching those teams. The game and the rules have changed. Clingan reminds me a bit of those times. And Pryz. DC can be a bit clunky at times, but I enjoyed watching him develop as a player.

Used to be a big mans league focused on getting the ball into dominant centers in the paint who threw it down no matter who was in their way. Also helped to pull defenders away from the perimeter to get shooters open.

The current league isn't made for 7'0 plus centers. Its made for two Way players. For speed and fast breaks off of defense. Guards crash the paint now and throw it out to other players on the perimeter. If your center can't shoot threes, you are in trouble. We see centers parked outside. They set screens and then stay on the perimeter I stead of moving inside. Less pick and rolls. Posting up has become a thing of antiquity.

Mostly just straight up attacking the paint and passing the ball around for threes.