Game Thread GAME# 20: BLAZERS @ WIZARDS - FEBRUARY 2, 2021 - TUESDAY, 5:00, NBCSNW

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Predict the role that Stotts will give to Little when Derrick Jones comes back


  • Total voters
    39
  • Poll closed .
If the objective is for a big jump in defense, the best move would be to replace our below average on-ball defending perimeter players with above average ones.
Are Dame & CJ both below average on ball defensive player?
If we didn't have the injuries stand back and look at the assets we'd have for pulling of a trade for a defensive specialist, even though no guarantees we'd become contenders.
 
Is there any truth to, sometimes, the best defense is a better offense?
 
......turn us into the Twolves or Knicks over the last 15 seasons.....I don't want to watch 12 CJ Elleby's learning to play basketball for what remains of my life...we just need a healthy season...we have the team now. Blowing this team up is not going to move the needle...it's just going to chase away your all star calliber players and turn the Blazers into the Washington Generals

there is really only one all-star caliber player. A maybe-sorta-kinda-fringe all-star when everything breaks just right doesn't count
 
Not correct. I have no clue how this team would perform under a new coach. We have never seen Dame/CJ play under a different coach.

You don't feel your knowledge of the game is strong enough to determine if the players on the roster would be of championship caliber without seeing them play in a different system? In my opinion, you're selling yourself short if you think that.
 
Are Dame & CJ both below average on ball defensive player?
If we didn't have the injuries stand back and look at the assets we'd have for pulling of a trade for a defensive specialist, even though no guarantees we'd become contenders.

I think 100% yes. I think calling them below average might be a nice way of putting it. Dame is improving, I'll give him that.
 
You don't feel your knowledge of the game is strong enough to determine if the players on the roster would be of championship caliber without seeing them play in a different system? In my opinion, you're selling yourself short if you think that.

I think more than likely this team is being held back by the Dame/CJ pairing, but I'd still like to see what a different coach could do with this team.

Obviously there's some fundamental flaws in putting faith in Nurk and Collins being healthy.

Take Melo out, give Nas more minutes and bring in a coach that actually encourages defense and ball movement... who knows what could happen.
 
Because the Blazers don’t view this season as a lost cause. They know all of the injured guys except, probably, Collins will be back this season. They know that these games now against weaker teams will likely need to be wins because beating the top teams this short-handed is not likely to happen. They know that keeping in the mix for a decent playoff spot is essential in order to avoid having to make a crazy end-of-season push that leaves a team exhausted and stuck playing the best team in the league like they did last season. And they know that a team with Westbrook and Beal, even if their record stinks, is still a very dangerous team, especially for a road team on a back-to-back.

I remember last season... And even this season, homers saying "it's just one game", calm down. It's interesting, when I say that one game could be important later into the season, you guys saying it doesn't matter, it's just one game. And now, when we all know, we all know, bc it was obvious from the beging of this season, that this team can't play defence even if younger Camby was here along with Gary Payton and we not goin deep into playoffs without D, you saying Blazers want to stay in playoff run for decent spot to avoid crazy run? Are you even serious, man?
If we are going to play worst team in the league and Stotts message to youngs is "you stay home, you are useless" how does it exctly built the team for the future. Ask yourself what Pop would do.
The only opportunity for youngs to show under Stotts are injuries (and he works great with trying to injure Lillard) and games Stotts wants to lose - Denver - and even there he failed. In fact he has so little control of what's happening, he can not even lose the game when he wants to.
So, Lillard plays on one leg just to save Stotts and Olshey asses now. And they could be both on the hot seats, but injuries saved them, and saved them so good, they can drink champagne already, cos it's the beginning of the season and Olshey can write his afterseason speech already.

But, yeah, nothing happening, let's repeat the cycle that is internet meme already.
 
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I remember last season... And even this season, homers saying "it's just one game", calm down. It's interesting, when I say that one game could be important later into the season, you guys saying it doesn't matter, it's just one game. And now, when we all know, we all know, bc it was obvious from the beging of this season, that this team can't play defence even if younger Camby was here along with Gary Payton and we not goin deep into playoffs without D, you saying Blazers want to stay in playoff run for decent spot to avoid crazy run? Are you even serious, man?
If we are going to play worst team in the league and Stotts message to youngs is "you stay home, you are useless" how does it exctly built the team for the future. Ask yourself what Pop would do.
The only opportunity for youngs to show under Stotts are injuries (and he works great with trying to injure Lillard) and games Stotts wants to lose - Denver - and even there he failed. In fact he has so little control of what's happening, he can not even lose the game when he wants to.
So, Lillard plays on one leg just to save Stotts and Olshey asses now. And they could be both on the hot seats, but injuries saved them, and saved them so good, they can drink champagne already, cos it's the beginning of the season and Olshey can write his afterseason speech already.

But, yeah, nothing happening, let's repeat the cycle that is internet meme already.

How do you explain the WCF run less than 2 years ago? Same bad defensive guards and scheme.

Saying it can't be done goes against recent history. Unlikely, maybe.
 
How do you explain the WCF run less than 2 years ago? Same bad defensive guards and scheme.

Saying it can't be done goes against recent history. Unlikely, maybe.

Easy.

The Thunder were trash. Westbrook is a fake superstar. They didn't double team Dame.

Denver was young and inexperienced. Realistically they should have won that series.

Golden State spanked us.

The league has also gone all-in on three point shooting in the past 2-3 years. Our three point defense has been completely exposed.
 
I agree with you on the defense issue. So do Dame, Stotts, Olshey and the rest of the team. I believe that they can improve, but it’s on them to do it. Still, right now it’s a matter of treading water until they get enough players back to make a surge. One thing about treading water: it beats drowning.

Not if reincarnation is guaranteed within 3 years by a reverse-order draft.
 
Easy.

The Thunder were trash. Westbrook is a fake superstar. They didn't double team Dame.

Denver was young and inexperienced. Realistically they should have won that series.

Golden State spanked us.

The league has also gone all-in on three point shooting in the past 2-3 years. Our three point defense has been completely exposed.

I don’t understand why ppl don’t get that. Thunder were having chemistry issues all that year and like you said they didn’t even do the classic get “dame out of his game” double team playoff teams always do on him. It’s the reason they blew that team up right after that..

Denver was literally just gaining experience and tasting the playoffs at the time, then of course we got swept like usual in the Warriors series.

I’m starting to think the worst thing to happen in a way to this franchise is make it to the western conference finals that year. It did nothing but prolong the inevitable that needs to happen with this team
 
D. Honest question, has a mid-season coaching change ever resulted in a team that was failing suddenly becoming a contender? I can't think of a case.

Heh heh. I sure can.

After my Sonic owner stupidly fired Head Coach Bill Russell, he replaced him with Russell's friend Bob Hopkins. Note the 4th line down.

1977-78 Seattle SuperSonics Roster and Stats
‹‹Previous Season Next Season››
Record:47-35, Finished 3rd in NBA Pacific Division
Coach: Bob Hopkins (5-17), Lenny Wilkens (42-18)

https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/SEA/1978.html

We started 5-17 (.227). Wilkens took us to 42-18 (.700). Look a few lines down.

Lost NBA Finals (3-4) versus Washington Bullets (Series Stats)

That was a fucking exciting season!!! We lost the championship only because owner Sam Schulman experimented in the Finals, playing in the brand new KingDome, which set attendance records, increased his profit, but lost us the home court advantage!! The players were comfortable in Seattle Center Coliseum, and uncomfortable with the sudden change of sheets hiding thousands of seats in the cavernous football stadium!! So we lost the Finals 4-3!!

Maybe there were other examples, but that's the one I experienced.

P.S. Don't get me started talking about history!! You wanna talk about 33 Wilt & Jerry wins in a row in my first season as a fan, and 2 Walton NCAA championships? You see why I've been fucking bored out my skull since Whitsitt left the Blazers?
 
Heh heh. I sure can.

After my Sonic owner stupidly fired Head Coach Bill Russell, he replaced him with Russell's friend Bob Hopkins. Note the 4th line down.



https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/SEA/1978.html

We started 5-17 (.227). Wilkens took us to 42-18 (.700). Look a few lines down.



That was a fucking exciting season!!! We lost the championship only because owner Sam Schulman experimented in the Finals, playing in the brand new KingDome, which set attendance records, increased his profit, but lost us the home court advantage!! The players were comfortable in Seattle Center Coliseum, and uncomfortable with the sudden change of sheets hiding thousands of seats in the cavernous football stadium!! So we lost the Finals 4-3!!

Maybe there were other examples, but that's the one I experienced.

P.S. Don't get me started talking about history!! You wanna talk about 33 Wilt & Jerry wins in a row in my first season as a fan, and 2 Walton NCAA championships? You see why I've been fucking bored out my skull since Whitsitt left the Blazers?
But what were you thinking when you traded Brian Grant for Kemp the druggie?
 
Easy.

The Thunder were trash. Westbrook is a fake superstar. They didn't double team Dame.

Denver was young and inexperienced. Realistically they should have won that series.

Golden State spanked us.

The league has also gone all-in on three point shooting in the past 2-3 years. Our three point defense has been completely exposed.

That disproves the entire theory that it can't happen; it did happen.

We, a flawed team, beat flawed teams. We also immediately turned over 50% of our roster two months after going on that run. So we got there with the scheme (not saying it a good one), changed the roster, and the results got worse.

I don't know of any team that made a long playoff run without beating flawed teams. If the expectation is we beat 4 flawless teams on the way to the championship, we need to get rid of everyone... players and coaches.
 
D. Honest question, has a mid-season coaching change ever resulted in a team that was failing suddenly becoming a contender? I can't think of a case.

How about this one? We were .500, Bob Whitsitt hired the unknown coach of Rio Madrid, George Karl, who took us to .643! Good times!

1991-92 Seattle SuperSonics Roster and Stats
‹‹Previous Season Next Season››
Record:47-35, Finished 4th in NBA Pacific Division
Coach: K.C. Jones (18-18), Bob Kloppenburg (2-2), George Karl (27-15)
Executive: Bob Whitsitt

https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/SEA/1992.html
 
That disproves the entire theory that it can't happen; it did happen.

We, a flawed team, beat flawed teams. We also immediately turned over 50% of our roster two months after going on that run. So we got there with the scheme (not saying it a good one), changed the roster, and the results got worse.

I don't know of any team that made a long playoff run without beating flawed teams. If the expectation is we beat 4 flawless teams on the way to the championship, we need to get rid of everyone... players and coaches.

Eventually you run into a team that isn't moronic. Whether that's in the first round against the Lakers or Pelicans, or it's in the WCF against the Warriors.

The likelihood of us going through four teams that are all so completely inept that they can't figure out how to trap Dame or spread the floor and abuse our three point defense is so slim that it's not something you should ever count on.

Lillard is so good that he has covered for our sins for a long time, but as he starts to slowly decline, those sins will become more and more obvious. They pop up every time a smart team traps him and takes him out of the game. We just completely collapse. Stotts owes Dame a massive commission for all the money he has gotten in Portland because of Dame.
 
I don't know of any team that made a long playoff run without beating flawed teams. If the expectation is we beat 4 flawless teams on the way to the championship, we need to get rid of everyone... players and coaches.

When the Blazers won it all, Walton said the thing that made him the most proud was that they had gotten no shortcuts, the way it should be. They beat the best teams in the league, with no easy byes or mid-level teams all playoffs long.
 
How about this one? We were .500, Bob Whitsitt hired the unknown coach of Rio Madrid, George Karl, who took us to .643! Good times!



https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/SEA/1992.html
George Karl, who turned around and made an exciting season in dreaded Seattle for non other than the pride of the Sonics offense.....Teryy Stotts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I knew you were a Sonics fan....just the first time I've heard you mention it here....it was inevitable ...you need to bring the Wizards to Seattle!
 
George Karl, who turned around and made an exciting season in dreaded Seattle for non other than the pride of the Sonics offense.....Teryy Stotts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I knew you were a Sonics fan....just the first time I've heard you mention it here....it was inevitable ...you need to bring the Wizards to Seattle!

Dude, I was a Laker/UCLA fan till I moved to Bellingham in March 1974. And I tried to be a Vancouver fan later. For a year, I had 3 car radio buttons set on the Blazers, Sonics, and Grizzlies. It was my best radio, so I'd sit in the carport to listen. The Blazer reception faded in and out, like the free internet games I watch now.
 
there is really only one all-star caliber player. A maybe-sorta-kinda-fringe all-star when everything breaks just right doesn't count
I vote for 3 current Blazers to be all stars this season everyday.....CJ...Dame and Enes...Enes is having a career year and playing at that level....without winning they won't get votes but all 3 are deserving
 
Eventually you run into a team that isn't moronic. Whether that's in the first round against the Lakers or Pelicans, or it's in the WCF against the Warriors.

The likelihood of us going through four teams that are all so completely inept that they can't figure out how to trap Dame or spread the floor and abuse our three point defense is so slim that it's not something you should ever count on.

Lillard is so good that he has covered for our sins for a long time, but as he starts to slowly decline, those sins will become more and more obvious. They pop up every time a smart team traps him and takes him out of the game. We just completely collapse. Stotts owes Dame a massive commission for all the money he has gotten in Portland because of Dame.

I agree that as currently constructed, we are unlikely to play a team that isn't a superior matchup.

The statement I was responding to was someone saying we can't make a playoff run with the defensive scheme Stotts runs. My response was that we have, it's a fact.

Like the fact that no team with a bottom half defensive rating has won a championship, no roster without a 6'6' or taller all-star has won a championship. We are trying to be the first team that thinks they can overcome the schemes team use to limit elite players, without an elite player of size ourselves.

Point being, championship expectations with this roster are not realistic.
 
When the Blazers won it all, Walton said the thing that made him the most proud was that they had gotten no shortcuts, the way it should be. They beat the best teams in the league, with no easy byes or mid-level teams all playoffs long.

Would love to have the best 7'-0" in the league who can shoot, pass, rebound, and defend. Add that guy to this roster, I think things would be much different.
 

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