Game Thread GAME# 19: BLAZERS @ BUCKS - FEBRUARY 1, 2021 - MONDAY, 5:00 PM, NBCSNW

[UKRAINEFAN]

I think it's good that the questions are getting a little tougher. No one is asking why in the hell is Melo even on the team, but they are hinting at it. And Quick asked what a lot of us are always thinking; what kind of accountability is there for defensive mistakes that happen over and over, he was polite enough to word it more gently, but it definitely needs to be asked.
If I was there I would probably ask: "Coach, we're twenty games into the season, the pandemic has been going for 11 months, why can't you find a decent facemask? One that doesn't continuously slide down you nose and get sucked into your mouth every time you speak?" Then, because I am a smartass, I would ask: "Does this reflect on your lack of attention to detail?"

There, now that I have your (fellow posters) attention, I would like to note that earlier in the evening I blamed lack of acquisition of another big man on Stotts. I mis-spoke there; that was Olshey of course.

 

[kjironman1]

Damn Straight!
Blazers gonna win this one!

Boy that didn't age well now did it.
Glad Little got some run. He's been needing a game like that.

 

[Natebishop3]

Asking Terry at this point is pointless. He's standoffish and the guy is flat out clueless.

The questions need to start being pointed at Neil. Why the fuck does Terry still have a job?

 

[kjironman1]

Hey... Did we get McNuggets?

 

[kjironman1]

Man there are some funny comments on this thread. You guys are hilarious some times.

 

[blazerkor]

Dame with some real talk. You hear how genuinely he wants to improve. You think a guy like that would NOT want to be held accountable?

Did everyone here him say that he is not in charge of the big picture and that he's just one person? This guy is not trying to or actually controlling this franchise. Olshey or Jodi for that matter could fire or trade anyone they want and Dame will soldier on.

 

[blazerkor]

Asking Terry at this point is pointless. He's standoffish and the guy is flat out clueless.

The questions need to start being pointed at Neil. Why the fuck does Terry still have a job?

If you watch Dame's interview, it's so clear that there is no one coaching or leading this defense. It's just like the constant drumbeat of "we have to get better" with absolutely no direction.

 

[LayneStaley]

Terry sucks real bad. No reason we should be this bad on D, it’s half the fucking game and if it can’t be fixed then there’s a real problem with current management.

On another note once a slew of guys leave this offseason I feel confident these minutes are gonna help Nas and Ant. I really want Giles back too. Nas/Ant/Giles could be real quality bench players on very reasonable contracts. Honestly I like what Nas brings offensively a lot more than what DJJ offers.

 

[riverman]

If you watch Dame's interview, it's so clear that there is no one coaching or leading this defense. It's just like the constant drumbeat of "we have to get better" with absolutely no direction.

What he said is that he's playing with the 3rd string and they have a big learning curve to be a unit....and that we will be better with Nurk and Zach, DJ and CJ back and that they'll keep chipping away at defensive ratings best they can....it doesn't get any clearer ...he's saying....patience...you're not looking at our core here and this will help them grow into contributors like Gary and now Nas have...in Dame's words..."I'm not crazy"

 

[wizenheimer]

Little fill the the stat sheet tonight 30 point 6 rebounds 1 assist 2 blocks nice night. Simons 15/5 not bad.

Little had a really nice game. It was better than Ant's real nice game against OKC

Simons scored 15 points but it took him 15 shots to get there. In fact over his last 3 games he only has 37 points on 38 shots. That's bad. And 4 of his 5 assists came in garbage time. I want to see him get some assists when the game matters. Not sure he's capable though

 

[blazerkor]

What he said is that he's playing with the 3rd string and they have a big learning curve to be a unit....and that we will be better with Nurk and Zach, DJ and CJ back and that they'll keep chipping away at defensive ratings best they can....it doesn't get any clearer ...he's saying....patience...you're not looking at our core here and this will help them grow into contributors like Gary and now Nas have...in Dame's words..."I'm not crazy"

Right but he didn't identify anything they were targeting besides getting guys back, to get better at defense. With those guys we're still terrible at defending the three, unless you think Zach is the missing link from this team going from bad to great defensively.

Oh and so we're clear, just because we're still bad with CJ out doesn't make CJ any better at defense. We lost Nurk right around the same time and he is important as a backstop in this ill-conceived defensive scheme.

If you don't think that it's time for Olshey to go at this point and have someone capable of doing more than selling excuses come in here and clean up this mess, I don't know what to tell you.

 

[wizenheimer]

Wes shot best in Portland
Nico shot best in Portland
Chief shot best in Portland
Layman shot best in Portland
Patty C I'm not sure
Alan Crabbe shot best in Portland
Harkless shot best in Portland......difference....these guys were here long enough to gel....the plug and trade guys aren't good examples....Tolliver was our backup center mostly...the new guys haven't even seen an Oregon winter yet...Nas had a career night tonight shooting

we're talking three's right?

Wesley tore his Achilles in Portland too. That changes the narrative a bit because he was a good enough shooter to carry that over in Dallas if he hadn't been injured

to continue...Seth Curry has shot better since he left Portland; Will Barton has shot a lot better since he left Portland; Layman has actually shot better in Minny than in Portland; big sample size difference though. Luke Babbitt shot better after he left Portland. Mo Williams shot better before he got to Portland; Dorrell Wright shot better before he came to Portland; Alonzo Gee had the worst shooting 'season' in his career in Portland; Gerald Henderson shot the same in Philly as he did the previous season in Portland.

that said, I really don't think coaching has much of an impact on three point shooting. I guess maybe if a coach has a green light for anybody open to take the shot that might help guys who lack confidence

 

[wizenheimer]

Dwight and Stotts getting into a nice pissing match in the post game conference. Both came across poorly.

Dwight Jaynes? He always comes across poorly. He was Canzano before Canzano

what was said? never mind

 

[TBpup]

Who has the Little highlights?

 

[calvin natt]

The Who shot better before or after being a blazer discussion is crazy to me.

 

[wizenheimer]

The Who shot better before or after being a blazer discussion is crazy to me.

that's such a sane post

 

[Labinot41]

I thought Jason Quick was the only one in Blazers Media who has the balls to ask critical questions to Terry Stotts. I was wrong, Dwight Jaynes is keeping it real. He describes Terrys "Defense" as "hope-they-miss" defense lmao so true

 

[BonesJones]

All those guys were/are dissapointing in Portland.

Only RoCo (to date) had his lowest 3pt % in Portland.

On the flip side: Aminu, Hood, Melo, and Matthews have all had their best 3pt % in Portland.

I'd expect a 50/50 split of better and worse if coaching has no affect. That's what it seems to be.

 

[BonesJones]

The excuse that our perimeter D sucks is because our guards are short has been an absurd topic for years.
Our perimeter D sucks because Terry has everyone leave their man to help out with players either attacking the basket or posting up.
That strategy only works when the other team can't shoot threes. Not many of those teams anymore.

Replaced CJ with Trent, perimeter defense still sucks. Now everyone is saying we need Nurkic back to help with our perimeter defense. Doesn't make sense.

 

[BonesJones]

Wes shot best in Portland
Nico shot best in Portland
Chief shot best in Portland
Layman shot best in Portland
Patty C I'm not sure
Alan Crabbe shot best in Portland
Harkless shot best in Portland......difference....these guys were here long enough to gel....the plug and trade guys aren't good examples....Tolliver was our backup center mostly...the new guys haven't even seen an Oregon winter yet...Nas had a career night tonight shooting

I was just bringing up the past 2 years! We can add to my list if we go back to his entire tenure here!

 

[James lamphear]

Little had a really nice game. It was better than Ant's real nice game against OKC

Simons scored 15 points but it took him 15 shots to get there. In fact over his last 3 games he only has 37 points on 38 shots. That's bad. And 4 of his 5 assists came in garbage time. I want to see him get some assists when the game matters. Not sure he's capable though

If build confidence in the kid I really don't care when he got them. Matter fact most of them went to Little so it show me he noticed the hot hand.

 

[James lamphear]

Will he get opportunities to play is the bigger question.

Your right about that.

 

[SIeepwalker]

Stotts sucks.

We had a stretch in the first half where there was 0 ball movement, and every possession was someone walking up the court and taking a contested 3. THAT'S WHEN YOU TAKE A TIMEOUT YOU FUCKING MORON

 

[Tince]

I'd expect a 50/50 split of better and worse if coaching has no affect. That's what it seems to be.

Seems reasonable to me. Glad you're slowly coming on board!

 

[Darkwebs]

Who has the Little highlights?