Game Thread Game #18 - BLAZERS VS NUGGETS - NOVEMBER 23, 2021 - TUESDAY - 7:00 PM (PDT) TNT

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Who should replace Neil Olshey if he's fired?

  • Danny Ainge

    Votes: 12 29.3%

  • Brent Barry

    Votes: 21 51.2%

  • Bill Branch

    Votes: 2 4.9%

  • Other (Specify)

    Votes: 4 9.8%

  • He shouldn't be fired

    Votes: 2 4.9%
  • Total voters
    41

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)
1 Eye Jack said:
Guess I’m in minority I like Zeller. Smart player who hustles and does all the little things that wins you games. I’m fine with him as backup. We jump on and off so much with players drives me crazy. He’s a backup guy who you can count on to make all the right plays, he’s not a starter and really 8-9th man off bench. Perfect come playoff time
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IMHO, we got Zeller to guard Jokic in the playoffs without getting backed into oblivion. I haven't seen this in action, but that's my theory. So, I guess I'm saying regular season doesn't matter as much with Zeller. However, he's been struggling lately.
 
UKRAINEFAN said:
I imagine Powell's defensive rating is affected by the guys he has to guard, bigger and stronger.
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I'd think defensive ratings fro each player aren't about individual match-ups as much as it is about rotations
 
Wizard Mentor said:
IMHO, we got Zeller to guard Jokic in the playoffs without getting backed into oblivion. I haven't seen this in action, but that's my theory. So, I guess I'm saying regular season doesn't matter as much with Zeller. However, he's been struggling lately.
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that might be part of it although if Portland is building their roster to beat Denver in the playoffs they are aiming low. They should be thinking about beating the Warriors and Suns. Zeller won't help with those teams. He might with Utah.
 
wizenheimer said:
And the three guys not named Dame are not real good at passing the ball. That issue has been worsened from Nukic's POV by the Blazers playing Dame off the ball more. If Dame doesn't have the ball, Nurkic's involvement will be less. A simple solution, at least a partial solution is to NOT play Dame off the ball when Nurkic is on the floor.
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OR: Trade CJ for Rubio!
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Scalma said:
drives me nuts.
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Serious question: was Billups wrong to go with Nance down the stretch?

Nurk is a good rebounder - but he is only a good defender in a narrow set of circumstances. He isn't mobile enough to be effective against many line-ups, and he isn't good enough to stop a really good center like Joker. (if Joker had played, we likely lose that game) He has his uses, but is hardly irreplaceable.
 
Buffalo Custard said:
Serious question: was Billups wrong to go with Nance down the stretch?

Nurk is a good rebounder - but he is only a good defender in a narrow set of circumstances. He isn't mobile enough to be effective against many line-ups, and he isn't good enough to stop a really good center like Joker. (if Joker had played, we likely lose that game) He has his uses, but is hardly irreplaceable.
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nurkic guarded jokic pretty well in the playoffs
 
wizenheimer said:
I'm not sure how you'd gauge it thru stats but I really wonder if Portland's biggest issue in defending three's is their lack of perimeter length. I really believe rotating to shooters with length will be more effective than with smaller, supposedly quicker players
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If they were shooting over our guards then I would agree. But for the most part, teams are moving the ball around the perimeter to open 3 pt shooters. By the 3rd pass, there is no defender close. Not saying there aren't some elite shooters who can shoot over a shorter guard (especially at the end of games) but for the vast majority, 3 pt shooters will pass the ball if someone is close. They might be taller but the ball is not always above their head.
 
Buffalo Custard said:
Nurk is a good rebounder - but he is only a good defender in a narrow set of circumstances. He isn't mobile enough to be effective against many line-ups, and he isn't good enough to stop a really good center like Joker. (if Joker had played, we likely lose that game) He has his uses, but is hardly irreplaceable.
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Lest we forget: in last season's Nuggets playoff series, Nurk had a positive plus/minus, Jokic had a negative one. The main thing that cost us that series was that Nurk was perpetually in foul trouble (something he's managing better this year, and perhaps the new rules help). If there were 10 fouls instead of 6 we might have won that series.
 
Buffalo Custard said:
I'm not all that impressed with Sexton, but Rubio would be an improvement over CJ for playmaking and defense. Kind of a blue-collar Ben Simmons!
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Is "blue collar" code for "short, white, unathletic, but can actually shoot"?

(Agree about Sexton, but I think he might make a chip for later and without him I think no Portland GM would have the nads to make that trade, despite CJ for Rubio actually being pretty fair.)
 
Rastapopoulos said:
Lest we forget: in last season's Nuggets playoff series, Nurk had a positive plus/minus, Jokic had a negative one. The main thing that cost us that series was that Nurk was perpetually in foul trouble (something he's managing better this year, and perhaps the new rules help). If there were 10 fouls instead of 6 we might have won that series.
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Isn't defending without fouling part of being a good defender? Can't blame everything on the refs.

I'm not saying Nurk is a "bad" defender, but he and Zeller don't provide the mobility and versatility you ideally want in the current NBA.
 
wizenheimer said:
without Nurkic, the Blazers would likely be 30th in the NBA in defense again. Now, they are only 26th right now so that doesn't seem like much of an endorsement, but it means the Blazers would have a negative net differential without Nurk, and that would have them headed for the play-in, at best, or the lottery...
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Nurk Defense 2017-2021. Blazers allow -5.9 fewer points per 100 possessions with Nurk on the floor than off. That's pretty huge when you consider that when Nurk is ON it's usually vs starters and when OFF it's often 2nd unit.

Breaking down the source of that difference:
Fouling Less -1.7 pts/100 (surprisingly, even though Nurk fouls a lot Blazers foul less as a whole)
Shooting -1.6 pts/100 (opponents shoot worse from every distance, including 3's, but markedly so at the rim)
Turnovers -1.4 pts/100 (opponents turn the ball over more)
Rebounding -1.2 pts/100 (opponents get fewer points following an initial missed shot)

By Year
2017 -6.1
2018 -4.9
2019 +13.8 (injury year, small sample)
2020 -6.0
2021 -8.9
 
Buffalo Custard said:
Serious question: was Billups wrong to go with Nance down the stretch?

Nurk is a good rebounder - but he is only a good defender in a narrow set of circumstances. He isn't mobile enough to be effective against many line-ups, and he isn't good enough to stop a really good center like Joker. (if Joker had played, we likely lose that game) He has his uses, but is hardly irreplaceable.
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I disagree with pretty much everything you said, except the first question. The numbers say he isn’t very replaceable. So does the teams record/play without him. They are objectively better with him on the court. If you don’t like it or see it, oh well.
 
Scalma said:
I disagree with pretty much everything you said, except the first question. The numbers say he isn’t very replaceable. So does the teams record/play without him. They are objectively better with him on the court. If you don’t like it or see it, oh well.
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I notice you didn't actually answer the question. If you believe Nurk is not replaceable and that the team is better with him on the court, that would imply playing Nance is a mistake.

I would suggest that using Nance in place of Nurk in many situations is making the team better. If you don't like it or see it, oh well.
 
Buffalo Custard said:
Serious question: was Billups wrong to go with Nance down the stretch?

Nurk is a good rebounder - but he is only a good defender in a narrow set of circumstances. He isn't mobile enough to be effective against many line-ups, and he isn't good enough to stop a really good center like Joker. (if Joker had played, we likely lose that game) He has his uses, but is hardly irreplaceable.
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Nurk routinely defends every NBA team’s starting lineup where the Blazers hold those top lineups to fewer PPP then when Nurk is off the floor and opposition is weaker. He defends along side CJ and Dame, and undersized Powell. That’s a wide set of circumstances where Nurk defends quite well.

Despite Nurk being less mobile than others, opponents score less efficiently from every shot distance with Nurk on the floor vs off. Maybe his rim protection allows teammates to play the perimeter more aggressively.

We also rebound better, foul less, and create more turnovers with Nurk on the floor. So while Nurk has deficiencies you can point to, I believe these are more than offset by Nurk’s strengths. I believe the circumstances are few and far between where the Blazers would be better defensively with Nance in place of Nurk. Neither Nurk nor Nance can play 48 minutes though so you put in each when it’s most suited for them. It’s a nice luxury to have.
 
Nurk is far from my favorite player - but he is a very good defender - can't take that away from him. Unfortunately, until he becomes someone that you can actually play through on the block - he is a role player. A very good role player, but that's about what he is.

As for closing with LNJ when the situation requires it - that's just the modern NBA. When other teams go small, Nurk's defensive advantage is lessened. Not something I will hold against him - that's the definition of a role player. Star players make the opposing teams adjust. Role players come in and out as the situation requires. If having Nurk was an absolute terror in the post - you make the other team adjust and they can't play small. If they can - you replace him as the situation requires. It's really that simple.
 
Rastapopoulos said:
Orlando's not using RoLo, and he can probably be traded in December.
At this point we should consider waiving Zeller. Both parties can do better.
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I thought we were told this dude was a difference maker remember.
 
THE HCP said:
I thought we were told this dude was a difference maker remember.
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Told by Olshey but you can't trust anything that dude says and hopefully we won't have to listen to him much longer. Then again maybe he'll survive this, I guess we'll find out really soon.
 
BBert said:
Blazers are trying to become a defensive team. If we obtain a new player that player must be an average or better defender. Priority on better. Kanter is a no.
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i should have made my green font brighter. :)
 
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