Disheartened after the 1-4 road trip. How to stay positive?

[Domihatin]

I know it's early in the year, but wow that was unexpected and hard to watch. After sticking it to the Nuggets and the Thunder and a couple other good wins, we are dropping a lot of games and not playing quite the same. Is it really the lack of Blake and Matisse? I don't know. It feels like we are burning out. The Mavs loss hit HARD. I thought we would have a good bounce back there.

Some things that get to me:

The coach using challenges poorly.

Players making poor decisions and not just driving to the hole when it's the best thing to do in the situation.

Not playing Hansen, when we could have played him, lost these games, but maybe won the development card in the process. If he could get some run and get over the hurdles and adjust, we could utilize his abilities. He needs NBA time, not G-League time.

Maybe we need Dillon James (isn't that his name?) to come in from the G-League and go nuts like Blake did to prove his worth? The team feels like it's dying and losing its heart.

It's sad.

Am I overreacting?

I guess the Suns game tomorrow will tell us a lot about what we can do.

I am not really excited about the 3 additional games I bought tickets for throughout this year. $1200.00 feels wasted in a way now. And I've already been to 2 games. One was free and one was about $600.00. I'm talking 2 tickets per game, of course.

 

[Kell]

Damn chicken little, it’s an 82 game season and more of a marathon than a sprint. Sure they lost a few but the games were fun to watch and weren’t bad basketball! The season is long and there will be growth along the way.

 

[Domihatin]

Damn chicken little, it’s an 82 game season and more of a marathon than a sprint. Sure they lost a few but the games were fun to watch and weren’t bad basketball! The season is long and there will be growth along the way.

Thanks for the encouragement, Cock Big.

 

[Chris Craig]

I know it's early in the year, but wow that was unexpected and hard to watch. After sticking it to the Nuggets and the Thunder and a couple other good wins, we are dropping a lot of games and not playing quite the same. Is it really the lack of Blake and Matisse? I don't know. It feels like we are burning out. The Mavs loss hit HARD. I thought we would have a good bounce back there.

Some things that get to me:

The coach using challenges poorly.

Players making poor decisions and not just driving to the hole when it's the best thing to do in the situation.

Not playing Hansen, when we could have played him, lost these games, but maybe won the development card in the process. If he could get some run and get over the hurdles and adjust, we could utilize his abilities. He needs NBA time, not G-League time.

Maybe we need Dillon James (isn't that his name?) to come in from the G-League and go nuts like Blake did to prove his worth? The team feels like it's dying and losing its heart.

It's sad.

Am I overreacting?

I guess the Suns game tomorrow will tell us a lot about what we can do.

I am not really excited about the 3 additional games I bought tickets for throughout this year. $1200.00 feels wasted in a way now. And I've already been to 2 games. One was free and one was about $600.00. I'm talking 2 tickets per game, of course.

Being shorthanded is killing the Blazers. The type of ball they play takes a lot of energy. Without good enough players to sub in to give guys a rest, it's not sustainable.

It's not just the coaching challenges. Tiago isn't head coach material. He just stands there and does rotations. Not much actual coaching. He doesn't know how to use time outs properly. A good coach uses them effectively to stop runs, give guys rest, reinspire the team, and challenge specific plays to gain advantage in the game.

Dillon Jones. Might as well give him a try at this point. We are basically wasting two roster spots with Yang on the remix and Rayan not developing. I'd waive Cooke, move Jones to his two way spot, and bring him up. What's it going to hurt. Cooke isn't going to do anything.

The team does feel like it lost its way, though it had barely found it to begin with.

As for the $1200 on tickets...ouch.

 

[Domihatin]

Being shorthanded is killing the Blazers. The type of ball they play takes a lot of energy. Without good enough players to sub in to give guys a rest, it's not sustainable.

It's not just the coaching challenges. Tiago isn't head coach material. He just stands there and does rotations. Not much actual coaching. He doesn't know how to use time outs properly. A good coach uses them effectively to stop runs, give guys rest, reinspire the team, and challenge specific plays to gain advantage in the game.

Dillon Jones. Might as well give him a try at this point. We are basically wasting two roster spots with Yang on the remix and Rayan not developing. I'd waive Cooke, move Jones to his two way spot, and bring him up. What's it going to hurt. Cooke isn't going to do anything.

The team does feel like it lost its way, though it had barely found it to begin with.

As for the $1200 on tickets...ouch.

Thanks for the reply and good read. Yes, Jones, I thought that I had the name wrong and I didn't have time to really be bothered to go and look. Well, the $1,200 isn't too bad when you figure it's decent seats spread for two people over three games. It's just I don't feel excited about the team that much anymore. I know it will probably pass when they start winning again, but I just hope that that comes soon. I hate losing games that are winnable. I think it's worse than getting blown out by a really good team.

I also need to remember that sometimes it's not about winning or losing but how you play the game. And I am glad that Shaedon is playing a lot better, although having some efficiency issues. I'm glad that Deni is still playing well apart from that bad decision. I would like to see Camara return to form. Saw some of that in the last game, so that's decent. Murray looked pretty decent surprisingly in the last game. I would like to see Donovan go out there and Donimate.

 

[THE HCP]

It almost looks like a team that is SUPPOSED to win 32 games. If the outcome of that roadtrip was “UNEXPECTED”, not sure what to say. I expected tough losses on the road when 2 of your best defenders are out for months and your starting PG wasn’t playing. So I’m not down on this team at all. Complete opposite. Playing above my expectations. Love what I’m seeing.

 

[Samuel]

they're the hospital blazers right now--it's as easy as that.

last year we talked a lot about organic wins/losses. this is what that looks like. clingan/tou/deni/sharpe are all playing heavy minutes and getting lots of experience.

 

[Chris Craig]

Thanks for the reply and good read. Yes, Jones, I thought that I had the name wrong and I didn't have time to really be bothered to go and look. Well, the $1,200 isn't too bad when you figure it's decent seats spread for two people over three games. It's just I don't feel excited about the team that much anymore. I know it will probably pass when they start winning again, but I just hope that that comes soon. I hate losing games that are winnable. I think it's worse than getting blown out by a really good team.

I also need to remember that sometimes it's not about winning or losing but how you play the game. And I am glad that Shaedon is playing a lot better, although having some efficiency issues. I'm glad that Deni is still playing well apart from that bad decision. I would like to see Camara return to form. Saw some of that in the last game, so that's decent. Murray looked pretty decent surprisingly in the last game. I would like to see Donovan go out there and Donimate.

Yeah, you can tell the ability and skillet is there for all these young guys. There is just a huge lack of experience. We need an experienced coach to show them the way. And I guess it comes with time. One just gets tired of waiting.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Not playing Hansen, when we could have played him, lost these games, but maybe won the development card in the process. If he could get some run and get over the hurdles and adjust, we could utilize his abilities. He needs NBA time, not G-League time.

I have no problem with Hansen bouncing back and forth throughout the season. He needs experience and confidence. His confidence was getting shattered in the NBA, and he wasn't getting much time on the court, AKA experience. Sounds like he is putting things together more in the G-League.

Maybe he can even learn to domihate in the G-league.

 

[1 Eye Jack]

It almost looks like a team that is SUPPOSED to win 32 games. If the outcome of that roadtrip was “UNEXPECTED”, not sure what to say. I expected tough losses on the road when 2 of your best defenders are out for months and your starting PG wasn’t playing. So I’m not down on this team at all. Complete opposite. Playing above my expectations. Love what I’m seeing.

I agree, can’t play how we want to with so many injured players. Killing us having one true PG and when he’s out tough to expect a win. Even when we play bad we are in every game.

For me this season is all about development as a team and hopefully watching young guys learning how to win. Do I want to win hell yes but also not nieve to expect anything different than what we are seeing so far this year. Some huge wins and some disappointing losses.

Definitely been entertaining, looking forward to watching every game.

 

[wizenheimer]

Blazers have played the Lakers two times when they were missing Doncic, Lebron, and Vincent; and once without Reaves
played OKC without Jalen Williams, Holmgren, Dort, and Caruso
played Miami without Adebayo and Herro
played Orlando without Suggs and Mo Wagner
played Dallas without AD, Kyrie, Exum, & Powell

not sure how viable it is for Blazers fans to be excusing play because of injuries

 

[Ed O]

It almost looks like a team that is SUPPOSED to win 32 games. If the outcome of that roadtrip was “UNEXPECTED”, not sure what to say. I expected tough losses on the road when 2 of your best defenders are out for months and your starting PG wasn’t playing. So I’m not down on this team at all. Complete opposite. Playing above my expectations. Love what I’m seeing.

It is definitely a matter of expectations and perspective. The team was expected to win, what, 32-36 games this year by ESPN and Vegas, while they are currently on pace for a 38 win season... so a bit above expected.

Of course, if the team wins 20% of its games the rest of the way, it will end up with 20 wins... which would be a disastrous underperformance, especially for the fans who expected this team to be at or above .500.

The Blazers rely on a short bench, they lots of guys with significant injury histories, and an effort to play fast/hard on defense is likely only to exacerbate dudes being out... but 20 wins would be rough (although probably better for the franchise because it might finally mean the end of Cronin in Portland).

 

[PCmor7]

Listen to music you like. Watch a movie you like. Spend time with friends you like. Do something you like that doesn't involve the Portland Trail Blazers.

I think also just be realistic about this team's chances and enjoy the good moments, because I think it's going in the right direction. Beating the great teams, IMO, is more indicative than the losses to the scrubs. But this team, I don't believe, was built to probably even be in the playoffs this year. Enjoy the progress, don't get ahead of yourself so that you can't do that and end up letting your expectations ruin the happy moments.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

Being shorthanded is killing the Blazers. The type of ball they play takes a lot of energy. Without good enough players to sub in to give guys a rest, it's not sustainable.

It's not just the coaching challenges. Tiago isn't head coach material. He just stands there and does rotations. Not much actual coaching. He doesn't know how to use time outs properly. A good coach uses them effectively to stop runs, give guys rest, reinspire the team, and challenge specific plays to gain advantage in the game.

Dillon Jones. Might as well give him a try at this point. We are basically wasting two roster spots with Yang on the remix and Rayan not developing. I'd waive Cooke, move Jones to his two way spot, and bring him up. What's it going to hurt. Cooke isn't going to do anything.

The team does feel like it lost its way, though it had barely found it to begin with.

As for the $1200 on tickets...ouch.

Splittter doesn't do much teaching, does he; like Billups used to do constantly?

 

[riverman]

When the schedule first came out I would have been thrilled to be a game under 500 after a dozen games. Come Xmas you'll know what the identity of this team really is. 25 games is a good parameter to judge by in my view. I see some improvement and some regression but there's no doubt that since Chauncey was arrested, this team has lost momentum. I don't think those things are disconnected. I think Tiago is under a ton of pressure he probably wasn't prepared to take on this early but I'll give him some rope. Chauncey had 4 years of it..I think next season will be the new Blazer era kicking in. Might have a whole new coaching staff and front office when new ownership takes over. We'll see. This season is about damage control and getting the draft picks up to NBA speed. Teams have all scouted our pressure defense and countered it with lots of slowing down half court and zone schemes.

 

[BigGameDamian]

Help is on the way!

 

[riverman]

Splittter doesn't do much teaching, does he; like Billups used to do constantly?

I think he does the teaching outside of the live game...he seems to like to let players play from tipoff without a lot of interuption.

 

[THE HCP]

Blazers have played the Lakers two times when they were missing Doncic, Lebron, and Vincent; and once without Reaves
played OKC without Jalen Williams, Holmgren, Dort, and Caruso
played Miami without Adebayo and Herro
played Orlando without Suggs and Mo Wagner
played Dallas without AD, Kyrie, Exum, & Powell

not sure how viable it is for Blazers fans to be excusing play because of injuries

Is it just me, or do we tend to play teams when they are missing key players?

 

[Domihatin]

Help is on the way!

A surge of hope swells somewhere within me. I know he may not be ready, but I want him to somehow magically click and have loads of confidence, swagger and let his abilities shine! I want him to come in and save the day! We are short on PG's? Let Hansen play Point CENTER and let's see what can happen! He's studied the Jokers game for years? Let's let him play how he plays best! A floor general. But will he even be allowed to play? They just have him warming a bench seat. It's sad.

 

[Domihatin]

Listen to music you like. Watch a movie you like. Spend time with friends you like. Do something you like that doesn't involve the Portland Trail Blazers.

I think also just be realistic about this team's chances and enjoy the good moments, because I think it's going in the right direction. Beating the great teams, IMO, is more indicative than the losses to the scrubs. But this team, I don't believe, was built to probably even be in the playoffs this year. Enjoy the progress, don't get ahead of yourself so that you can't do that and end up letting your expectations ruin the happy moments.

Appreciate the direct reply to my original post. Yes, I do those things. It helps. I just found myself getting disgusted at the game Sunday night. I wasn't really disgusted with the players, but more disgusted at the refereeing and bad calls and did want our guys to play with more smarts and more fire!

I will try to take my mind off the pain and watch Caligula 2 times back to back while simultaneously listening to the soundtrack to My Girl first in English then all the Spanish versions and I'll enjoy a parade of meals and desserts whisked to me surreptitiously by a cadre of unholy, pygmy acolytes---but also spend alternating minutes running naked on my treadmill to break even with the caloric assault!

 

[Domihatin]

I have no problem with Hansen bouncing back and forth throughout the season. He needs experience and confidence. His confidence was getting shattered in the NBA, and he wasn't getting much time on the court, AKA experience. Sounds like he is putting things together more in the G-League.

Maybe he can even learn to domihate in the G-league.

Domihate, haha. He could use some malice. Some disdain for all the underling little folk he could so easily manhandle and squash.

 

[Domihatin]

It almost looks like a team that is SUPPOSED to win 32 games. If the outcome of that roadtrip was “UNEXPECTED”, not sure what to say. I expected tough losses on the road when 2 of your best defenders are out for months and your starting PG wasn’t playing. So I’m not down on this team at all. Complete opposite. Playing above my expectations. Love what I’m seeing.

Appreciate your positive attitude here. It really did help.

I think it's just that the Blazers weren't expected to start off so well and it's been so long since we've seen such good play and had a lot of good games like that to start. It out such a hopeful and hyped outlook on me. So it was especially hard to take the blow of coming back down to Earth.

 

[riverman]

Is it just me, or do we tend to play teams when they are missing key players?

you mean key players like Damian Lillard, Scoot Hendersen, Jrue Holiday, Mattisse Thybulle and Blake Wesley? yeah, it's just you homeslice!

 

[1 Eye Jack]

Blazers have played the Lakers two times when they were missing Doncic, Lebron, and Vincent; and once without Reaves
played OKC without Jalen Williams, Holmgren, Dort, and Caruso
played Miami without Adebayo and Herro
played Orlando without Suggs and Mo Wagner
played Dallas without AD, Kyrie, Exum, & Powell

not sure how viable it is for Blazers fans to be excusing play because of injuries

And the other team still has more talent even without most of those teams stars. We have young team and it’s going to take some time to learn how to win these close games. Last couple of years team has been tough to watch. Now we are in every single game and have chance to win while our young guys are finally getting their chance. We have zero depth right now especially at PG.

I’m not sure what people expected to happen, were we just all of sudden going to be good, seems like most young teams take a few years.

Me personally I’m a realist I expected ups and downs but also love how hard we compete. Loving what I’ve seen so far from young guys Deni, Sharpe, Tou, and even Clingan. The older guys are also playing well.

Early analysis
1. Depth is killing us (some can be solved when players get healthy)
2. Clingan is playing well but for me personally I don’t think he’s a fit for the run and gun. When Big Rob comes in it completely changes us defensively and offensively
3. Grant is playing good but man his game bugs me he’s 100% a ball stopper
4. Offensively I like how we are playing although I think we need even more hard cuts and especially back door cuts.
5. Sharpe has had some rough shooting moments but I still see future star. Reminds me of Kobe some, Kobe first came in he jacked up some terrible shots and looked bad at Times but eventually he’ll find it. (Before everyone rips on me I don’t think he’s on Kobe’s level just saying I think he’s on similar path to finding his game)
6. Deni is also going I be great player he really has all the tools.
7. Scoot Scoot Scoot, we need to see him play lots so we know what we have

 

[wizenheimer]

And the other team still has more talent even without most of those teams stars. We have young team and it’s going to take some time to learn how to win these close games. Last couple of years team has been tough to watch. Now we are in every single game and have chance to win while our young guys are finally getting their chance. We have zero depth right now especially at PG.

I’m not sure what people expected to happen, were we just all of sudden going to be good, seems like most young teams take a few years.

Me personally I’m a realist I expected ups and downs but also love how hard we compete. Loving what I’ve seen so far from young guys Deni, Sharpe, Tou, and even Clingan. The older guys are also playing well.

Early analysis
1. Depth is killing us (some can be solved when players get healthy)
2. Clingan is playing well but for me personally I don’t think he’s a fit for the run and gun. When Big Rob comes in it completely changes us defensively and offensively
3. Grant is playing good but man his game bugs me he’s 100% a ball stopper
4. Offensively I like how we are playing although I think we need even more hard cuts and especially back door cuts.
5. Sharpe has had some rough shooting moments but I still see future star. Reminds me of Kobe some, Kobe first came in he jacked up some terrible shots and looked bad at Times but eventually he’ll find it. (Before everyone rips on me I don’t think he’s on Kobe’s level just saying I think he’s on similar path to finding his game)
6. Deni is also going I be great player he really has all the tools.
7. Scoot Scoot Scoot, we need to see him play lots so we know what we have

I did not comment on all those things you list

what I posted was a response to several posts focusing on Blazer injuries when other teams have had injuries too. Yeah, the Blazers are weirdly hard hit at PG but that's the risk they took when they signed Dame giving a spot to a guy that wasn't going to play this season. Also, over the last 6 seasons Jrue has missed an average of 18 games/year. So yeah, bad timing on injuries at PG but it was a thin-ice position on the roster. The ice broke early

 

[KingSpeed]

We’re fine. As I said before, we are beating the teams we’ll face in the postseason (GS, Denver, OKC). Wins against crappy teams will come. All 4 of our PGs are hurt. Heatles started 9-8 and made it to Finals. It’s way too early to worry about records. If we have a 10-1 stretch like we did last year, we’ll be right into the hunt for Top 6. Get excited about Scoot coming back. He is going to make a HUGE difference for us. Things could be much worse. We could be the Kings.

 

[Chris Craig]

And the other team still has more talent even without most of those teams stars. We have young team and it’s going to take some time to learn how to win these close games. Last couple of years team has been tough to watch. Now we are in every single game and have chance to win while our young guys are finally getting their chance. We have zero depth right now especially at PG.

I’m not sure what people expected to happen, were we just all of sudden going to be good, seems like most young teams take a few years.

Me personally I’m a realist I expected ups and downs but also love how hard we compete. Loving what I’ve seen so far from young guys Deni, Sharpe, Tou, and even Clingan. The older guys are also playing well.

Early analysis
1. Depth is killing us (some can be solved when players get healthy)
2. Clingan is playing well but for me personally I don’t think he’s a fit for the run and gun. When Big Rob comes in it completely changes us defensively and offensively
3. Grant is playing good but man his game bugs me he’s 100% a ball stopper
4. Offensively I like how we are playing although I think we need even more hard cuts and especially back door cuts.
5. Sharpe has had some rough shooting moments but I still see future star. Reminds me of Kobe some, Kobe first came in he jacked up some terrible shots and looked bad at Times but eventually he’ll find it. (Before everyone rips on me I don’t think he’s on Kobe’s level just saying I think he’s on similar path to finding his game)
6. Deni is also going I be great player he really has all the tools.
7. Scoot Scoot Scoot, we need to see him play lots so we know what we have

I think most of the depth issues outside of center are solved when everyone returns.

I wish Rayan could be another high energy defensive guy off the bench like Wesley, that can attack the rim or shoot threes. He's just not coming along though.

It hurts having that spot go unutilized with so many guys out.

Clingan needs to play in the paint more. He's outside the arc way to much. I get setting screens, but he needs to pick in roll some, but really just get inside and use his size and get fed the ball for buckets. Maybe with development he can get there. Just not sure coaches are using him right.

I like that Rob is so mobile. He can run and gun with the other guys. He can get to the arc quick to help and contest shots. I wish we had two of him.

Yang is still far away from being the player he can be in this league. He also offers more mobility.

But, until more development happens between him and Donovan, the center spot is weak.

Grant is playing better this year. His iso and ball hogging annoy the hell out of me sometimes. Especially, when the offense is stuck for several possessions and the opponent takes advantage. He still throws the ball up crazy at the basket, but he has gotten better. I see him going after his own boards to put it back up more and more so that's good.

I think we have played so hard defensively this season, it has thrown off our offense. We don't have a lot of great three point shooters and we often attempt too many threes, especially when they aren't falling. Need to attack more and ask questions later.

Sharp is young. You can certainly see he has the whole package. He just has to find himself. He often moves so quickly to the basket or to take shots that he doesn't have the balance to finish. The game will slow down for him and he will continue to hone his skills. Sky is the limit for that kid. Hell, as high he jumps, the Sky might not even be it.

Deni is fantastic. He is a star player without the star player calls. He flies to the ground and stays there a bit too long complaining when a whistle isn't blown allowing the opponents to get an easy advantage on the other end.

A coach needs to tell him go for the basket, not the foul. If you get the whistle, you get it, if you don't you don't. Carry on. Don't focus on the refs. Get back and get the ball back. He also gets down on himself a lot. Needs to let go of that habit.

Can't wait to see Scoot make his debut this season. I keep hearing how he is this totally different player and has developed a lot on both ends. We could really use him.

 

[sheed30]

Blazers have played the Lakers two times when they were missing Doncic, Lebron, and Vincent; and once without Reaves
played OKC without Jalen Williams, Holmgren, Dort, and Caruso
played Miami without Adebayo and Herro
played Orlando without Suggs and Mo Wagner
played Dallas without AD, Kyrie, Exum, & Powell

not sure how viable it is for Blazers fans to be excusing play because of injuries

we also beat a fully healthy team in GSW with Curry, Dray and Butler and also beat a fully healthy Denver team with Joker and crew.

Nice way to put a negative spin just like everything you post.

You guys are so fickle in here lol. Get way too high when we were winning early and now too low when we had some bad games.

It's good to be in the middle and not get too high or too low,, it's a nice place to be you guys should try it sometime.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Stay positive by understanding our team is a 35-40 win team. They still have miss matched parts and have been pretty fucking competitive in most every game

 

[kjironman1]

Lotto team. They are not deep enough to withstand injuries and they will happen just like every team will have them.
It's another building year. By New Years they will be thinking about draft position.