Game Thread GAME# 23: PELICANS @ BLAZERS - DECEMBER 2, 2017 - SATURDAY, 7:00 (PST), NBCSNW

[Sinobas]

maybe, I dont know... theres just a lot of things I see that I dont like, you would never see those things in europe
for example, your team is losing and you are dancing, smilling at timeouts... I dont get, I would be fucked up like I always am when my teams are losing

fans booed Leonard and POR fans dont approve it, well, you should come to europe then, boos are piece of cake

all that show at timeouts and half time, its like circus or whatever, I dont get it and I hate it... you bring dogs to the court, I mean, what the fuck, whats wrong with these people... I know its all show for you Americans, but I cant understand it

I must be more European then, because I like to see intensity as well. I hate athletes that think they're doing everyone who paid hundreds to watch them play a favor for being able to witness them lolly-gag around the court.

Of course, not every team can be good, you have to have your bad/mediocre teams. But even those teams can be fun to watch if they play hard and have "upside", but this Blazers team doesn't really seem to have much upside.

 

[Jade Falcon]

Falcon, Stotts is a system coach. He's not a coach who will give you a certain amount of wins over the ability of a group of players. That's why he's always making players fill roles whether they can or not But Olshey couldn't give him the players he needs anyway because Portland doesn't exist in a market that allows quick player turnover. We are always looking for the replacement of a player who has either left or is going to leave. Stotts is overmatched, but I honestly don't know if another coach would be able to squeeze more wins out of this team.

And to that, I can't speak. I don't follow any other teams around the league, and I don't watch college basketball. I couldn't tell you who was the homeless man behind a dumpster at Safeway, and who is the head coach of Purdue.

So I can't say that anyone else would give us a better chance. But I do know what my eyes are telling me: that this team is not getting proper leadership from Stotts. It's basic things: poor screens, players out of positions, having the whole team on the other side of the court instead of picking up offensive rebounds, not adjusting to bad switches and mismatches, and absolutely no concept of what a time out is. Not to mention the seemingly non-existent changes at half time.

I HAVE to believe that there's another coach in this league who could do better. And if we cleaned up even half of those problems, I could easily see us being a 4th or 5th seed team, and possibly even the 2nd round.

But as of right now, if we win 40 games, I'll be surprised.

 

[GrandJury]

What's your suggested plan of action? Tanking? Who do you plan in drafting then and what attributes of theirs appeal to you? Flex that basketball knowledge you act like you have.

Unfortunately you have to blow it up. New direction all together. Honestly since LMA left I haven’t had a good feeling with the way this was being built.

I would wait till the all star break just to be extra sure and if we continue on this pace just start trading dame and Cj for lottery picks.

This team is trash and is wasting our time. I’d rather build it right and go the route philly did

 

[Sinobas]

We are losing games that we SHOULD be winning. At some point, a piece of paper isn't the reason for that. You have to look at the coach.

Olshey did a good job assembling a team after 4 of our 5 starters hit the bricks. It was, from what I gathered, supposed to be a temporary team. The problem, however, is that it became a permanent lineup, instead of adding better pieces and quality players through the draft and FA.

So yes, Olshey has a part to play in that. But ultimately, he's not the reason why we're losing games that we should win. And if you doubt that, then just take a look at Stott's body language during games and press conferences. He knows he's lost, and he knows that he's given up. The man doesn't even bother trying to call a proper time out, for fuck's sake.

That's not on Olshey. That's on Stotts.

Exactly this. I believe this team was indeed meant to be a hold over till the planned jackpot we were supposedly going to hit in FA + some high lotto picks.

But it seems that after the feel good season and the feel good playoff performance where we beat the Clippers bench in the 1st round, he over-estimated how good this group was.

So far he's been a good drafter though, just terrible in FA. He still has a chance to redeem himself...but where these bad contracts will come back to bite us is if we have to let our more productive role players go because we're paying 38 million per year to Myan Turnerless.

If I were Neil, I'd be looking to deal CJ.

 

[Sinobas]

I think Napier is a poor man's CJ. Honestly, the dropoff if he were to start next to Lillard wouldn't be that great. That's why I think we should trade CJ. Maybe for Butler, or Gordon/Vucevic.

 

[ripcityboy]

yep, is a joint effort, roster sucks for the payroll we have and it's difficult to trade because of so many bad contracts

I still see why Neil signed the players he had. Because the money was available in a cap window and there wouldn't be a surplus for a few more years. What was he supposed to do? Lose the few contracted players he had and maybe piss off his best players by not signing them to deserved extensions. Dame made sure he and all his guys got paid. The roster they had was the best they could do at the time. But somebody still has to explain to me who the prototype low risk free agent alternative to overpaying Evan Turner is? He only signed with us when we flashed the cash. Do we wait for free agency to be over in the hope that there might be some oft-injured center whose recovering from a ruptured Achillies or an alcoholic guard who's one DUI from being drummed out of the league? Yes our bad contracts are shitty, but so are the player acquisitions methods in a system that only works for a few teams. This has to change. And I think it will. One day, Silver will say, "Fuck the NCAA. Fuck the draft lottery. We are going to find the best way and most effective way to insure all our teams have trained professional ball players in the best possible system for success."

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

Don't know what is worse, this post, or that you found two clowns to click the LIKE button.

I was almost gonna like it; just for the raw anger there.

 

[BrunoSOC]

Terry's got his limitations but he's also got his strengths. I look at it this way, if he can't get our offensive our of regular slumps.... who the hell can? It's as much about the players as the coaching. I really believe we are a trade away from being a lot stronger, but Olshey, you have to do something!

Same as me. We need in my opinion a true SF scorer

 

[BrunoSOC]

My mood goes up and down with our W or L. This one really hurts me.

 

[rotary111]

Ed and Noah were ballin on both sides of the court.

Ed played 8 minutes.
Noah played 13 minutes.

Why???

 

[blue9]

Ed and Noah were ballin on both sides of the court.

Ed played 8 minutes.
Noah played 13 minutes.

Why???

And why even play Harkless 5m? If you're going to give him so few minutes, just give him a DNP. Fucking stupid.

 

[riverman]

Ed played 8 minutes.

I only saw some highlights of the game but Cousins was eating Ed alive in the post...Ed couldn't stop him..and Meyers got 17 2 3 in 16 minutes...7 of 9 shooting...2 for 2 from deep...Meyers was a better matchup at that point I'm guessing....Cousins is tough for Ed....

 

[tlongII]

We’re fine.

 

[blue9]

 

[Boob-No-More]

My optimism is waning

You can change your username to Pessimistic Bob and be the official board mascot.

BNM

 

[Spud147]

I only saw some highlights of the game but Cousins was eating Ed alive in the post...Ed couldn't stop him..and Meyers got 17 2 3 in 16 minutes...7 of 9 shooting...2 for 2 from deep...Meyers was a better matchup at that point I'm guessing....Cousins is tough for Ed....

Funny I watched most of the game and didn't see any highlights for the Blazers... ugh!

 

[Sinobas]

Ed and Noah were ballin on both sides of the court.

Ed played 8 minutes.
Noah played 13 minutes.

Why???

Leonard was productive for them, I don't think Ed or Noah would have changed the tide of that game. Pelicans shot over 50% from 3, and Stotts, again, allowed another team's star to flourish without giving him any extra attention defensively.

 

[calvin natt]

He’s like 80% if this forum

 

[BrunoSOC]

Last year we have a poor December month, our biggest win streak was 3 and after that we lost more than won for a while.

The point is we can avoid to have a 5 game losing streak if we win against wizards. Next games are rockets and GSW, count as L, even I believe we have a with little miracle chance to beat the rockets at home, for this happen we need to beat the wizards.

 

[Blazers Roy]

THE TIME HAS COME!

 

[Spud147]

Last year we have a poor December month, our biggest win streak was 3 and after that we lost more than won for a while.

The point is we can avoid to have a 5 game losing streak if we win against wizards. Next games are rockets and GSW, count as L, even I believe we have a with little miracle chance to beat the rockets at home, for this happen we need to beat the wizards.

This is definitely a must win for the sanity of this board!

 

[THE HCP]

Hcp told you so attitude.

I see...

No, looking at our team realistically and enjoying watching them play attitude.

 

[THE HCP]

You are, literally, the MOST unliked person on this board besides @GrandJury. Literally. Now I've never had a problem with you, HCP. And quite frankly, I pay zero attention to the hate you get on this board, and I give zero fucks about it too. But....with your status as such, I wouldn't be calling anyone here a clown. So do yourself a favor, and shut the fuck up.

Well this escalated quickly. I don't think I've ever read one of your posts to form an opinion of you, but you sure have a lot of hate towards me for some reason. Care to explain?

"The MOST unliked"......"Shut the fuck up"....... really?

 

[handiman]

Well this escalated quickly. I don't think I've ever read one of your posts to form an opinion of you, but you sure have a lot of hate towards me for some reason. Care to explain?

"The MOST unliked"......"Shut the fuck up"....... really?

I'm convinced that game threads should have an age requirement to participate in. Either a minimum age (e.g. maturity) to post, or a maximum age (e.g. patience) to read.

Of course, game threads would only be a page or two long and have like 20 views.

 

[THE HCP]

I'm convinced that game threads should have an age requirement to participate in. Either a minimum age (e.g. maturity) to post, or a maximum age (e.g. patience) to read.

Of course, game threads would only be a page or two long and have like 20 views.

The ups and downs of them are pretty entertaining for sure. Not sure where this all came from though. He's upset about something. And actually got the Bones guy to LIKE the post.

 

[Orion Bailey]

http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=y84892au

Regarding the thread question.......

 

[Sarni]

For the tank brigade, how do even tank from here? We will win 3o games minimum even if we play like crap, and that will be good for maybe 10th pick. Pointless.

We will probably make playoffs and even if we don't, we won't get a high pick. Utah are riding the same boat, have looked at their forum and they feel exactly the same way we feel about this team. Good enough to compete for playoffs but the ceiling to do anything better than maybe 5th seed is just not there. There are quite a few teams on the same page around the league, Raptors are another one.

 

[riverman]

the sanity of this board!

 

[Nate]

when you look it individually, I agree, his rebounding is disappointing, but the thing is POR was/is the best rebounding team in the NBA, so theres absolutely no problem with his rebounding... individual rebounding means nothing, team rebounding means everything... if we needed more Nurk rebounds, he would get them, its simple as that... when it comes to his offense, I do agree he doesnt look like in those 20 games, but I certainly wouldnt call that "disappointing", and weight loss certainly play the part in his offensive performances, but like himself said, he needs to figure out his body

@Jade Falcon put some of his stats out there, so there you go... I dont know, maybe you expect him tu put 20+ 15 every night

I was expecting better percentages and more than 7 rebounds. But, I’m just happy with where our defense is right now. I didn’t expect that.