Game Thread GAME# 4: BLAZERS @ CLIPPERS - DECEMBER 30, 2020 - WEDNESDAY, 7:00 PM, NBATV & NBCSNW

[Labinot41]

RoCo on George and Derrick on Kawhi is what I like to see

 

[B-Roy]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

[RoseCityRebel]

More info

 

[THE HCP]

Melo is back baby!

 

[Darkwebs]

 

[bobf]

Guarantee you Melo is looking at these stats and wondering why he isn't starting over one of these guys.

"It's not like I'm coming off the bench because of basketball skill reasons or anything".

Actually Melo, that's exactly why you're coming off the bench. Says a lot when everyone is almost universally happy with DJJ/Cov even though their stats are absolute trash.

RoCo and DJJ both have much better scoring efficiency than Melo too. Wait till that actually starts happening... like a sweet cherry on top of their ice-cream defense. This is a nice lesson in defense is every bit as important as offense.

 

[DDolla]

Sh*t now GT is questionable ugh! I love to blow out the Clippers

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

I was hoping to go back and find out how consistent people have been in their feelings about Melo. Unfortunately both a 2011 poll about signing him (or acquiring) and a 2020 poll about re-signing him were the kind of polls that don't identify how people vote. Except for yourself. I was Hell, no, on the first and No on the second. Here are those two threads if you want to check on your self.
http://www.sportstwo.com/threads/after-hood-jones-should-we-resign-melo.360070/
http://www.sportstwo.com/threads/the-super-melo-to-portland-thread-the-big-blockbuster.178953/

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

I was hoping just to split the 4 game road trip. But if we can beat the Clips and split with the desperate Warriors...even better.

Hell, if we beat the Clips, I'll plan on sweeping the Warriors!

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

He has 8 stitches around his mouth I think I read...probably not playing

Who plays basketball with their mouth? I think he'll be playing.

 

[kjironman1]

Gary Trent out and Melo in
What could go wrong?

 

[B-Roy]

Harkless and Leonard started and played 3 and 2 minutes respectively before being pulled and never coming back in. That should be Melos leash with this team.

 

[BBert]

Who plays basketball with their mouth?

Gary Payton?

 

[Tince]

Harkless and Leonard started and played 3 and 2 minutes respectively before being pulled and never coming back in. That should be Melos leash with this team.

To be fair, Miami still got outscored by 37 when Meyers wasn't on the floor. Not like he was the big issue tonight.

 

[LayneStaley]

Who thinks Giles will get in any game on this trip?

 

[KSF-ERIC]

Harkless and Leonard started and played 3 and 2 minutes respectively before being pulled and never coming back in. That should be Melos leash with this team.

And Stotts was able to turn those guys into starters on a WCF team. You gotta appreciate what Stotts does with the talent he's given. He's an A-level coach who is underrated around here.

 

[KSF-ERIC]

To be fair, Miami still got outscored by 37 when Meyers wasn't on the floor. Not like he was the big issue tonight.

Math still says they played worse on when he was on the floor than when he wasn't on a per minute basis.

 

[BonesJones]

And Stotts was able to turn those guys into starters on a WCF team. You gotta appreciate what Stotts does with the talent he's given. He's an A-level coach who is underrated around here.

I love basing a coach based off of a piece of paper and personal feelings about the names on said paper and not what occurs out there on the court. Very smart way to do things.

 

[stampedehero]

2020-21 REGULAR SEASON RECORD
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
2 - 1
(1-0 Road)
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
2 - 1
(0-1 Home)


_____________________________
---------PROBABLE STARTERS---------

PG

DAMIAN LILLARD VS PATRICK BEVERLEY

SG

CJ McCOLLUM VS PAUL GEORGE

SF

DERRICK JONES Jr. VS KAWHI LEONARD

PF

ROBERT COVINGTON VS NICOLAS BATUM

C

JUSUF NURKIC VS SERGE IBAKA


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------- JERSEYS -------

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WHEN: 7:00 PM (PST), WEDNESDAY, 12/30/2020

WHERE: STAPLES CENTER, LOS ANGELES, CA

TV BROADCAST:

AND

RADIO BROADCAST:

​

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--------------BENCH--------------
- PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS -

SIMONS , TRENT Jr. , BLEVINS

ELLEBY , HOOD , LITTLE

ANTHONY , GILES , KANTER


- LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS-

JACKSON , WILLIAMS , KENNARD

MANN , COFFEY

MORRIS , PATTERSON

KABENGELE , OTURU , ZUBAC


INJURIES
TRAIL BLAZERS
Carmelo Anthony (health and safety protocols): DOUBTFUL
Nassir Little (illness): DOUBTFUL
Zach Collins (ankle): OUT
CLIPPERS
Kawhi Leonard (mouth): QUESTIONABLE
Marcus Morris (right knee): QUESTIONABLE
Jay Scrubb (foot surgery): OUT



HEAD COACHES

- VS –

TERRY STOTTS ------------ TYRONN LUE




OFFICIAL CLIPPERS' GAME NOTES
OFFICIAL BLAZERS' GAME NOTES ​

​

Damn... The worst hair trim I ever saw.

Did he stand in a wind tunnel? Aftermath: We did 105-128!

 

[kjironman1]

I love basing a coach based off of a piece of paper and personal feelings about the names on said paper and not what occurs out there on the court. Very smart way to do things.

You have to admit it's not just Leonard and Harkless. For some uncanny reason players have performed better here than after they leave. Might be a Stotts? Could be Dame and CJ? Could be the system? Might be the overall organization including Olshey? Probably is a combination of all of it? Fact remains. Stotts does get more out of his players.

 

[BonesJones]

You have to admit it's not just Leonard and Harkless. For some uncanny reason players have performed better here than after they leave. Might be a Stotts? Could be Dame and CJ? Could be the system? Might be the overall organization including Olshey? Probably is a combination of all of it? Fact remains. Stotts does get more out of his players.

Harkless didn't outwork any worse last year than he did the years prior. Aminu hasn't even gotten much of a chance due to being hurt. Connaughton has been a bit better in Milwaukee. Turner was worse here than in Boston. Bazemore was worse here than in Atlanta. Hezonja didn't get better. Tolliver didn't get better. Whiteside didn't get better. Stauskas didn't get better. Curry was better after he left. Meyers isn't really any different for Miami than he was here.

I wouldn't say players on average are any better here than elsewhere. Sure, that may be the case with a couple players, but that's the case for almost any team.

This it's why I hate basing coaching off of a skewed view of names on a piece of paper. I can respect if someone likes specific things Stotts gets the team to do out on the court. (Example - @JDC)

The casual, surface level stuff is fine too, but if people are going to go that route, I think it's a bit ridiculous to them call out people for underrating him when those people are willing to go far deeper.

 

[kjironman1]

Harkless didn't outwork any worse last year than he did the years prior. Aminu hasn't even gotten much of a chance due to being hurt. Connaughton has been a bit better in Milwaukee. Turner was worse here than in Boston. Bazemore was worse here than in Atlanta. Hezonja didn't get better. Tolliver didn't get better. Whiteside didn't get better. Stauskas didn't get better. Curry was better after he left. Meyers isn't really any different for Miami than he was here.

I wouldn't say players on average are any better here than elsewhere. Sure, that may be the case with a couple players, but that's the case for almost any team.

This it's why I hate basing coaching off of a skewed view of names on a piece of paper. I can respect if someone likes specific things Stotts gets the team to do out on the court. (Example - @JDC)

The casual, surface level stuff is fine too, but if people are going to go that route, I think it's a bit ridiculous to them call out people for underrating him when those people are willing to go far deeper.

IDK? Harkless got a chance but in the end lost the start and was traded to the Knicks where he was given a bigger role and brought his numbers up. Then he ended up with Miami and he thus far has not done well at all? His points and possessions are down defensive metrics are down. Not sure he was all that great to begin with?
Aminu i'll give you has been injured but the numbers don't lie. the 18 games he played he was atrocious.
PatCon continued to grow as a player so yeah he did fit the role but his numbers are going in a downward trend since his first year with the Bucks. How they are using him might be the biggest factor but even 3 point shooting is dropping as well as efg%. The one thing that stands out is the assist rate went up but again i think that is due to the Freak feeding on set ups?
Turner being worse than in Boston? Again I'm just not so sure if you look at a numbers side of things? He certainly didn't get better here but look at the metrics. They are within 100th's of a percentage point. All but 3 point shooting which got better here. Fact is though he has gotten absolutely nothing since Portland.
Bazemore did well in Sac. Seems like everything went up. I think Stotts and the system was bad for him so that would fit "Didn't do better here" for sure.
Tolliver? Talking about his 12th season on his 10th team and second time in Portland? Really?
Whiteside absolutely got better in Portland when he left Miami and went in the tank so far being in Sacramento but it's way too early to get a good look just yet.
Stauskus? Is he in the league anymore? Best year was Philly but second best was here.
Seth Curry would have got those numbers or better here in that role and you know it as well as everyone else. Blazers have Lillard. If it was me and there was a way to keep that guy i would have done it. I'm betting you had many conversations about not being able to keep him. He's now in Philly. Maybe the Blazers can find a way to get him back. Would love to have him. He is gonna light it up in the east.
There are others we could talk about but in the end i agree with you.

This it's why I hate basing coaching off of a skewed view of names on a piece of paper. I can respect if someone likes specific things Stotts gets the team to do out on the court

You cannot make a judgement about a coach with what a player does in a different system. Same with a team when they beat the Lakers one game and now they are better than every team the Lakers have beat.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

This is a pretty good analysis of how Blazers were first team in a long time to come back against Lakers when trailing going into fourth. Lots of video.
Harrel's "assets are best applied against bench lineups that he can physically manhandle. Asking him to play in crunch time puts a target on his back. That was especially true on Monday, as Frank Vogel left him on the floor for more than 15 consecutive minutes of game time. By the time Portland realized how exploitable he was on defense, he was too tired to fight back. That, in essence, is what lost the Lakers this game. The Blazers hunted Harrell into extinction on pick-and-rolls.

Ostensibly, the Lakers decided on an aggressive pick-and-roll coverage against Damian Lillard to prevent him from dribbling into easy 3-pointers. This sort of trapping only works if the big defender hounds the ball-handler immediately off the screen, bothering him enough to allow the rest of the defense to rotate into place and perhaps force that ball-handler into panicking. Instead, Harrell got caught napping, not showing hard enough on Lillard to slow him down or dropping far enough back to do anything about Enes Kanter. He was in the middle of the play, yet he didn't affect either end of it. "
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/...d-reminded-the-lakers-of-their-true-identity/

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

This is a pretty good analysis of how Blazers were first team in a long time to come back against Lakers when trailing going into fourth. Lots of vidoe.
Harrel's "assets are best applied against bench lineups that he can physically manhandle. Asking him to play in crunch time puts a target on his back. That was especially true on Monday, as Frank Vogel left him on the floor for more than 15 consecutive minutes of game time. By the time Portland realized how exploitable he was on defense, he was too tired to fight back. That, in essence, is what lost the Lakers this game. The Blazers hunted Harrell into extinction on pick-and-rolls.

Ostensibly, the Lakers decided on an aggressive pick-and-roll coverage against Damian Lillard to prevent him from dribbling into easy 3-pointers. This sort of trapping only works if the big defender hounds the ball-handler immediately off the screen, bothering him enough to allow the rest of the defense to rotate into place and perhaps force that ball-handler into panicking. Instead, Harrell got caught napping, not showing hard enough on Lillard to slow him down or dropping far enough back to do anything about Enes Kanter. He was in the middle of the play, yet he didn't affect either end of it. "
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/...d-reminded-the-lakers-of-their-true-identity/

As the writer points out; this may have been an experiment and is easily fixable.

 

[Scalma]

This is a pretty good analysis of how Blazers were first team in a long time to come back against Lakers when trailing going into fourth. Lots of video.
Harrel's "assets are best applied against bench lineups that he can physically manhandle. Asking him to play in crunch time puts a target on his back. That was especially true on Monday, as Frank Vogel left him on the floor for more than 15 consecutive minutes of game time. By the time Portland realized how exploitable he was on defense, he was too tired to fight back. That, in essence, is what lost the Lakers this game. The Blazers hunted Harrell into extinction on pick-and-rolls.

Ostensibly, the Lakers decided on an aggressive pick-and-roll coverage against Damian Lillard to prevent him from dribbling into easy 3-pointers. This sort of trapping only works if the big defender hounds the ball-handler immediately off the screen, bothering him enough to allow the rest of the defense to rotate into place and perhaps force that ball-handler into panicking. Instead, Harrell got caught napping, not showing hard enough on Lillard to slow him down or dropping far enough back to do anything about Enes Kanter. He was in the middle of the play, yet he didn't affect either end of it. "
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/...d-reminded-the-lakers-of-their-true-identity/

Harrell has to be the worst “good” player in the league. His numbers are there on paper, but teams attack him defensively to the point where he essentially becomes a liability.

 

[e_blazer]

Just to save people from hyperventilating over Ant getting minutes tonight:

“GARY TRENT JR. TWEAKS CALF

During his 28-point performance at the Lakers, Trent noticeably began favoring his right leg. Turns out he strained his calf and is now listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game at the Clippers.


Losing Trent would likely mean more minutes for Anfernee Simons, who played just five minutes at the Lakers.”

https://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/...nel-how-to-watch-free-live-stream-online.html

 

[kjironman1]

Harrell has to be the worst “good” player in the league. His numbers are there on paper, but teams attack him defensively to the point where he essentially becomes a liability.

"Can't play Harrell" you say?

 

[Chris Craig]

Just to save people from hyperventilating over Ant getting minutes tonight:

“GARY TRENT JR. TWEAKS CALF

During his 28-point performance at the Lakers, Trent noticeably began favoring his right leg. Turns out he strained his calf and is now listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game at the Clippers.


Losing Trent would likely mean more minutes for Anfernee Simons, who played just five minutes at the Lakers.”

https://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/...nel-how-to-watch-free-live-stream-online.html

That sucks. Trent was why we beat the Lakers. Going to be tough without him against the Clippers. Especially with Melo back.

 

[B-Roy]

Harrell has to be the worst “good” player in the league. His numbers are there on paper, but teams attack him defensively to the point where he essentially becomes a liability.

He's no different than Enes Kanter...

 

[illmatic99]

Just to save people from hyperventilating over Ant getting minutes tonight:

“GARY TRENT JR. TWEAKS CALF

During his 28-point performance at the Lakers, Trent noticeably began favoring his right leg. Turns out he strained his calf and is now listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game at the Clippers.


Losing Trent would likely mean more minutes for Anfernee Simons, who played just five minutes at the Lakers.”

https://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/...nel-how-to-watch-free-live-stream-online.html

and this... is why im against consolidation trades for the immediate future. this is just starting. we aren't in the grueling part of the season yet-- depth will be vital