Game Thread GAME# 4: BLAZERS @ MAGIC - OCTOBER 25, 2018 - THURSDAY, 4:00 PM (PDT), NBCSNW

[andalusian]

Everyone coming to watch him sit behind the bench in his suit

He still got his family and friends free tickets to an NBA game, even if he is not playing. Why not?

 

[KingSpeed]

Too bad Phoenix wouldn't do that, it would be an amazing trade for us.

No it wouldn't. There'd be no minutes for Chandler while Turner has been instrumental in making our new bench rotation work. He's averaging 10.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg, and 4.7 apg on 54% shooting. That's 6th Man of the Year level.

 

[hoopsjock]

No it wouldn't. There'd be no minutes for Chandler while Turner has been instrumental in making our new bench rotation work. He's averaging 10.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg, and 4.7 apg on 54% shooting. That's 6th Man of the Year level.

But that is completely ignoring the financial implications.

 

[THE HCP]

But that is completely ignoring the financial implications.

You honestly thought he would think of the big picture before firing off a response? Give it some time, you'll figure him out.

 

[hoopsjock]

You honestly thought he would think of the big picture before firing off a response? Give it some time, you'll figure him out.

When I respond it is more just for everyone to consider, not just him.

 

[BigGameDamian]

Too bad Phoenix wouldn't do that, it would be an amazing trade for us.

It happened on NBA2K19.

http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=yat9vmtp

 

[Strenuus]

It happened on NBA2K19.

http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=yat9vmtp

Phoenix is ran by a computer AI?

 

[Jade Falcon]

I hope we fucking decapitate Orlando tomorrow after losing to Washington.

Vucevic averages 18/12 against us? Nurk needs to put a stop to that.

 

[BonesJones]

No it wouldn't. There'd be no minutes for Chandler while Turner has been instrumental in making our new bench rotation work. He's averaging 10.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg, and 4.7 apg on 54% shooting. That's 6th Man of the Year level.

3 game sample size verse the rest of his career... which one do you think is more valid?

 

[hoopsjock]

It happened on NBA2K19.

http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=yat9vmtp

LMAO, I can read there buddy when you said it the first time.

Of course if it worked on 2K it will for sure happen in real life!

 

[Scalma]

3 game sample size verse the rest of his career... which one do you think is more valid?

It’s not a three game sample size. This is how he was used in Boston.

 

[BonesJones]

It’s not a three game sample size. This is how he was used in Boston.

He never shot 54% in Boston, let's just say that.

And so what? He was an average player in a system that makes role players look much better than they are.

 

[Driew]

Don't know if anyone else saw--but on Brooke's instagram stories Ant got his number retired at his "old" high school. LOL. It looked adorable haha

Edit: Never mind...was talked about a full page ago haha

 

[THE HCP]

Don't know if anyone else saw--but on Brooke's instagram stories Ant got his number retired at his "old" high school. LOL. It looked adorable haha

Edit: Never mind...was talked about a full page ago haha

C’mon Rook!

 

[Driew]

C’mon Rook!

I was deciding if I should just delete the post but you fucked that right up haha

 

[kjironman1]

Pregame

Blazers (2-1) vs Magic(2-2)

Figured i would start out with some stats. Today in Orlando it will be around 82 degrees with 80% humidity and thunderstorms. Tomorrow looks to be a bit better for @HCP and his bikini show with 87 and 20% humidity with clearing and mostly sunny.

Now on to Blazers news. Markieff Morris was indeed fined 15K for pulling on Seth Curry's shorts. Probably not worth doing again but they also missed the 6 men on the court call and a technical that would have meant the game.
Jody Allen has been named as the trustee in all of Paul Allen's dealings here is a link to the Seattle Times story on this. https://www.seattletimes.com/busine...executor-trustee-of-late-billionaires-estate/

Lets look at the Magic. This isn't a bad team at all this year but they have a total head scratching loss to Charlotte? It's like they were completely off on all fronts. They let Kemba Walker, Nic batum and MKG just walk all over them. Seems like it might have been kind of a trap game for them as they were on the first of a B2B before taking off to Philly playing a very tough game, and then going into Boston and beating the Celtics. This team obviously has hot and cold tendencies. They also have one of the best Big men in the game in Vucevic who just put up 24 and 12 against the Celtics. He totally dominated Al Horford which we all know isn't easy to do. The Celtics had no answer for him and it let to huge games from their entire starting five. They all ended up in double figures.

Not gonna trash on the Blazers for the last game. Tough games happen every year. It's how they bounce back that makes a difference. There is however starting to be a little insight into not only their strengths but their weaknesses again. Three players that the Blazers need to produce simply didn't show. Harkless and Curry both played about 18 mins and did nothing to speak of. Layman gets the start but only plays 12 mins and does very little to help the team. CJ and Dame shot a combined 3 of 19 from three point. How many times will that happen? Well if you start looking at CJ's numbers you might start to expect it. His combined shooting percentage is at 35% from the floor. His mid range game has been atrocious to this point. He has hit 36% from 3 point. But these are not the numbers this team needs from their starting SG. CJ through 3 games has a total of 7 assists. Not only is he not hitting shots he is forcing shots. It's time for CJ to have a big game and turn some of this around.

Nurk could very well be the deciding factor in this game. This is exactly the type of game he needs to play well in. The Blazers may be able to go small at times but only for short periods. You might see some Meyers in this game as he will be able to neutralize what the Magic like to do. Vucevic does shoot the three ball so look for him to try and stretch the floor a bit. The other look could be Collins at the 4 with either Meyers or Nurk on the floor? Collins against Johnathan Issac in a tough matchup. Aminu for sure will frustrate him but the Blazers could take this mismatch and exploit it. Lets see what Stotts does here? I'm interested in this part of the game.

Obviously Dame took the last shot against the Wiz. Many have seen that Sauce was open for an uncontested three. I hate picking apart a players decision with less than 2 seconds to go. Pretty sure when Dame got the ball with 5-6 seconds he made his head up that he was gonna take the shot and try to win that game. Great players do that. But i am also very sure he watched the same footage we all did. I would even venture a guess that he and Nik had a conversation about it. Both can see just like all of us. My bet is Dame has already addressed it and with 78 more games to play this season Sauce will get his chance to make that shot. Trusting and finding open players is part of his job. Dame will do just that.

I have two picks for this game. First is Nurkic. He always seems to get going for games against good big men from Europe.
Next is CJ. He is much smaller than Fournier. Not only is it time for CJ to have a huge game but he has the bigger slower SG to have it against. My thinking here is CJ will be too quick and will get open looks from the lane. Also the averages tend to even out eventually. Open looks and averages tell me he will drop 32-36 tonight.

Go Blazers!
Kjironman is a fan!!!

 

[Hoopguru]

Wow...many in here thought Stuaskus was nothing more than a scrub. You know who you are..

 

[Gronk Brady]

Wow...many in here thought Stuaskus was nothing more than a scrub. You know who you are..

I’ll admit I was wrong... I didn’t know he could put the ball on the floor like that... his dribble drive is great. Also, he seems to thrive in big moments... something he didn’t get a chance to show playing for bottom feeder teams in the past... I have to say, after Dame he is the most enjoyable player to watch so far this season... I get super excited anytime he has the ball in his hands, especially when he shoots a 3

 

[Hoopguru]

I’ll admit I was wrong... I didn’t know he could put the ball on the floor like that... his dribble drive is great. Also, he seems to thrive in big moments... something he didn’t get a chance to show playing for bottom feeder teams in the past... I have to say, after Dame he is the most enjoyable player to watch so far this season... I get super excited anytime he has the ball in his hands, especially when he shoots a 3

I mentioned he could dribble drive, but I also said he could slash to hoop, and I was run out of here. I know he not a slasher in the fullness since but he can get to the hoop as well as anyone on the team, including Dame & CJ.

 

[Hoopguru]

I’ll admit I was wrong... I didn’t know he could put the ball on the floor like that... his dribble drive is great. Also, he seems to thrive in big moments... something he didn’t get a chance to show playing for bottom feeder teams in the past... I have to say, after Dame he is the most enjoyable player to watch so far this season... I get super excited anytime he has the ball in his hands, especially when he shoots a 3

The Euro that Dallas drafted 1 games similar to NS's.

 

[riverman]

It's going to be a fun season...our bench can actually win us a game for a change. I knew Stauskas could shoot but he's got much more to his game. He's stronger than he looks too...not afraid to finish in traffic

 

[kjironman1]

 

[Scalma]

He never shot 54% in Boston, let's just say that.

And so what? He was an average player in a system that makes role players look much better than they are.

What does his shooting percentage have to do with his role?

As for system making players looks better than they are? Everyone in the NBA is talented (minus the couple of 7 ft stiffs that are just in the league because of their size) but not everyone is on a team that maximizes those talents. That’s what makes Stevens a top coach. He tries to take advantage of each players strengths instead of having a specific system that players have to fit into. The way Boston plays now is different than the way they played with Turner. Stevens’ system is that he has no system.

Turners game has only been utilized properly in Boston, and finally after two seasons, in Portland. It’s not a coincidence or luck that he’s looked effective this season. Stauskas is another good example. The only difference with him is you’d have to go back to college for an example of his skillset being utilized properly, making the hesitation to buy in on his early success more understandable.

 

[THE HCP]

A member of the S2 FAMS @Shaboid is going to come visit The HCP in the TV Truck this afternoon. If you don’t hear from me after tonight, he probably kidnapped me and using me as gator bait. Updates to follow.........

 

[Labinot41]

CJ's Assist Prediction Over/Under: 2.5

 

[Shaboid]

A member of the S2 FAMS @Shaboid is going to come visit The HCP in the TV Truck this afternoon. If you don’t hear from me after tonight, he probably kidnapped me and using me as gator bait. Updates to follow.........

Should be cool. My brother is currently studying show production so he's really stoked to see how things work behind the scenes, up-close. That's the main reason for the visit. I'll let everyone know if @HCP is in fact as cool in person as he's tells everyone on here and also which players name he's rocking on the back of his Laker jersey tonight.

 

[TBpup]

CJ's Assist Prediction Over/Under: 2.5

CJ sometimes gets assists. It's just often combined with equal turnovers. Right now his Asst/TO ratio is 2.3/2.0. Not exactly finding teammates efficiently....especially for as many times as he draws 2-3 defenders.

 

[DameLill379]

CJ gotta score more than 8 f*cking points on 33 minutes. That was disgusting.

 

[James lamphear]

CJ is one worst passing player on this team. Something he said he was going work in the off season. Just don't see it so far.

 

[Scalma]

CJ sometimes gets assists. It's just often combined with equal turnovers. Right now his Asst/TO ratio is 2.3/2.0. Not exactly finding teammates efficiently....especially for as many times as he draws 2-3 defenders.

That attention he gets is what makes it hard to justify taking 25 shots when they’re not falling. The worst part is when you watch him with the ball, you don’t even get the sense that he’s looking at creating for others. When he’s ISO’d, he’s shooting, period. If that’s his ceiling ok, but my frustration comes because I know he’s smarter than that. He could be so much better. He needs to be checked. Stotts cant keep allowing him to play like that. I don’t know why he’s above a benching. He’s useless when he’s not scoring anyway.