Game Thread GAME# 40: PELICANS @ BLAZERS - MARCH 18, 2021 - THURSDAY, 7:00, NBCSNW

[twobullz]

Trade him while his value is high!

I wonder if we could get a 2nd for him?

 

[kjironman1]

I wonder if we could get a 2nd for him?

There is no second Lillard?

 

[wizenheimer]

I mentioned this in the other thread but I noticed at the end of the game that Zach was still in a walking boot. He was limping too but that was probably just the boot

him returning by May 15, less than 2 months now, when the regular season ends seems pretty optimistic. But maybe wearing the boot is just being over-cautious

 

[OneSport3]

Noticed that Giles was suited up tonight. Is he cleared to play?

 

[Tince]

Noticed that Giles was suited up tonight. Is he cleared to play?

Yes he is

 

[KSF-ERIC]

Well, that was the best game of the season except maybe the Philly game. We played solid D throughout and the outcome was never in doubt. Solid solid win.

 

[KSF-ERIC]

Man Ball can pass with the best of them. Good defense too. I would love to have him in a Blazers uniform. I know he can't shoot but he makes up for it.

He's a fantastic shooter, what are you talking about?

He’s 39% on threes this year

And he's made more than Trae Young, I believe.

Trent and CJ a combined 4/24... lol

Absolute brick fest at SG

And it didn't matter. Obviously, all our focus was on D. Offense and shooting can suffer when you're giving it your all on the other side of the court. I'd much rather win like we did today than we did two nights ago. This is how you win in playoffs.

...unreal, the shooting % are atrocious too! How in the world is this a "W"

Because we played D. Did you not watch the game. We controlled the entire game. Shooting droughts and unfortunate turnovers did not matter because we were locked in on D. This is how you win in playoffs.

I love winning games on the defensive end

Me too. Best defensive game of the season.

 

[Haakzilla]

He's a fantastic shooter, what are you talking about?

And he's made more than Trae Young, I believe.



And it didn't matter. Obviously, all our focus was on D. Offense and shooting can suffer when you're giving it your all on the other side of the court. I'd much rather win like we did today than we did two nights ago. This is how you win in playoffs.



Because we played D. Did you not watch the game. We controlled the entire game. Shooting droughts and unfortunate turnovers did not matter because we were locked in on D. This is how you win in playoffs.


Me too. Best defensive game of the season.

...barely, I saw a few minutes at end of half and some more in the 4th at the end glad to know this is what "real" defense looks like!!

 

[stampedehero]

Pelicans vs. Trail Blazers - Box Score - March 18, 2021 - ESPN<<<<<<

 

[kjironman1]

This games pick is Kanter. If he can get some traction and get some calls he could make a difference. They need a better game from Enes Kanter.

They got it and it made a huge difference.

 

[Mr. Robot]

fuck off nurk

im pretty sure his teammates think the same, some fucking accountability would be nice, wouldnt it

 

[SIeepwalker]

Solid win.

But why is Hood taking minutes away from Nas ?

 

[kjironman1]

Solid win.

But why is Hood taking minutes away from Nas ?

Hood played 11 mins and Little played 15?
9 man rotation. I guess they could go down to an 8 man rotation?

 

[kjironman1]

Best defense after CJ comes back? Who woulda thought?

 

[mook]

Hood played 11 mins and Little played 15?
9 man rotation. I guess they could go down to an 8 man rotation?

The only argument for Hood over Little is ball handling/passing, and with CJ playing the backup PG role now I don't see that as much of an argument.

I mean JFC! Hood has logged 665 minutes this year, and has a PER of 5.0. That shit is just absurdly bad. He'd have to have superstar production from here on out just to bring that up to the league average.

If the coach doesn't want to play Little all his minutes, get Simons back out there. At least Simons is a legit shooting threat.

 

[SIeepwalker]

Hood played 11 mins and Little played 15?
9 man rotation. I guess they could go down to an 8 man rotation?

Why can't Little play all 27 of those minutes ?
Going to an 8 man rotation wouldn't change anything. 8 or 9 man we still have Dame playing around 40 minutes a game

 

[BonesJones]

He needs to get rid of the ball sooner. Dame can’t consistently beat his man 1:1

Huh?

 

[blazerkor]

Huh?

Yeah, I have to imagine that everyone knows that our best chance to score is when Dame is initiating the offense and making the decisions on how to initiate that offense. I do realize that he needs to get rid of the ball when a trap comes and do so at the right time. Then the rest of the team has to play with the urgency that will make the opponent pay for giving us a 4 on 3 situation. Other than that, I want the ball in Dame's hands as much as possible.

 

[kjironman1]

Why can't Little play all 27 of those minutes ?
Going to an 8 man rotation wouldn't change anything. 8 or 9 man we still have Dame playing around 40 minutes a game

That's what i was thinking. They could go 8 man? But it's not really a mid season move.
Maybe Hood needs minutes to continue to improve? Maybe Terry is trying to fit both of them in so both get a chance to improve?
I would also assume there will be match ups that favor Simons over Trent. Obviously Trent is struggling. But he is bringing defense. Ant brings more offense.
Stotts has to get all his players some time to grow so that as the Playoffs unfold they all can be used when adjustments come.
How is that for a spin? Sounds good right?

 

[crandc]

When the dust cleared, Blazers won both games. I'll take it.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Got to give some credit to the officiating last night. They will always make some bad calls, (i.e the potential 3 pt play that was challenged and won by Terry early in the 4th) but overall they let them play. Zion still shot 11 FTs and Kanter 10, but 19 fouls called on each team is not too bad.

Jones despite shooting poorly had 4 blocks, 2 steals, and 5 RBs. I have no problem using his salary in a trade, but none-the-less I like the energy he brings on D.

 

[Pinwheel1]

After a quick skim, still pissing and moaning about Hood (who has been bad all year) & Melo (who was more than fine)

Melo is playing better than I had expected this year. The guy continues to hit big shots with the 2nd unit. You can always nitpick a shooter's shot selection, but I think his have been pretty good. The only times I have an issue is when the guards force-feed him the ball out high when he is well defended instead of swinging the ball to the other side to an open shooter. But that is not his fault

 

[Tince]

Melo is playing better than I had expected this year. The guy continues to hit big shots with the 2nd unit. You can always nitpick a shooter's shot selection, but I think his have been pretty good. The only times I have an issue is when the guards force-feed him the ball out high when he is well defended instead of swinging the ball to the other side to an open shooter. But that is not his fault

I agree. I was not excited about Melo joining last year, I do think his shot selection and defense are suspect at times. But for the minimum, he's providing a ton of a value for the team this year. He seems to be top 3 in reasons we're struggling for a lot of people, but he's nowhere close to that for me.

Considering his contract and what we gave up to get him (nothing), he might be one of Olshey's best moves the last couple years; which is scary as well.

 

[SIeepwalker]

That's what i was thinking. They could go 8 man? But it's not really a mid season move.
Maybe Hood needs minutes to continue to improve? Maybe Terry is trying to fit both of them in so both get a chance to improve?
I would also assume there will be match ups that favor Simons over Trent. Obviously Trent is struggling. But he is bringing defense. Ant brings more offense.
Stotts has to get all his players some time to grow so that as the Playoffs unfold they all can be used when adjustments come.
How is that for a spin? Sounds good right?

What I'm trying to say is that the main point of a larger rotation is to keep players fresher deep into the season and lighten the load by dividing the minutes into more players. But right now, Our 9th guy is only taking minutes from someone that would still be at less than 30 a game, so it defies this whole point.
And that someone happen to be a young guy with ton of potential that could really use the minutes to develop. I think there is a way bigger chance that Nas improves with playing time rather than the same happening to Hood.

 

[wizenheimer]

What I'm trying to say is that the main point of a larger rotation is to keep players fresher deep into the season and lighten the load by dividing the minutes into more players. But right now, Our 9th guy is only taking minutes from someone that would still be at less than 30 a game, so it defies this whole point.
And that someone happen to be a young guy with ton of potential that could really use the minutes to develop. I think there is a way bigger chance that Nas improves with playing time rather than the same happening to Hood.

could be that Portland is trying to convince some team to accept Hood in a trade

probably isn't working if that team watched Hood play

 

[Natebishop3]

Hood played 11 mins and Little played 15?
9 man rotation. I guess they could go down to an 8 man rotation?

Hmmmm

Dame
CJ
DJJ
RoCo
Kanter

Melo
Trent
Simons
Little
Giles (supposedly healthy again)

I would rather play Simons over Hood. He can at least hit a shot.

 

[PCmor7]

Where is this defense most games?

Seriously, nice game all around. Second games of these bundles usually are tricky. Blazers addressed shortcomings from Tuesday and led wire to wire, even though we got a lot less production from the two-guard spot than we'd normally expect.

But that defense ... the Blazers don't need to play that for 48 minutes, but they were aware of just the moments they had to lock down and who they had to lock down and they did it in the necessary stretches. I could live with that every game instead of the stretches when we play rec league defense.

 

[Darkwebs]

Lillard has moved up to 2nd in the MVP ladder/rankings on NBA.com.

https://www.nba.com/news/kia-mvp-ladder-march-19-edition

Maybe people will finally realize that “Dame Time” is a real thing. The man dropped a season-high 50 points Wednesday to help Portland rally from a 17-point, fourth-quarter deficit vs. New Orleans. The most eye-popping part of Lillard’s night was the fact he scored 50 points on a ridiculous 20 shots, which ranks No. 3 for the fewest field-goal attempts during a 50-point night in the shot-clock era (1954-55), according to Elias Sports Bureau. Lillard scored 36 points Thursday in another win against the Pelicans and poured in 15 of the team’s first 20 points.

 

[illmatic99]

Where is this defense most games?

Seriously, nice game all around. Second games of these bundles usually are tricky. Blazers addressed shortcomings from Tuesday and led wire to wire, even though we got a lot less production from the two-guard spot than we'd normally expect.

But that defense ... the Blazers don't need to play that for 48 minutes, but they were aware of just the moments they had to lock down and who they had to lock down and they did it in the necessary stretches. I could live with that every game instead of the stretches when we play rec league defense.

if we played like that for even half the game, our DRTG would be close to average in the league. Looks like Terry finally did some scouting and implemented a gameplan too, along with our improved communication and focus.

To all those who dismiss that we don't have the personnel---- that game was the perfect example to show you the exact opposite.

 

[kjironman1]

What I'm trying to say is that the main point of a larger rotation is to keep players fresher deep into the season and lighten the load by dividing the minutes into more players. But right now, Our 9th guy is only taking minutes from someone that would still be at less than 30 a game, so it defies this whole point.
And that someone happen to be a young guy with ton of potential that could really use the minutes to develop. I think there is a way bigger chance that Nas improves with playing time rather than the same happening to Hood.

Did you read the last line?

How is that for a spin? Sounds good right?

Doesn't matter. They are not going to an 8 man rotation in the middle of the season.
I would rather them go to 10. Also you will slowly see CJ's minutes go back to 36 so this hole conversation is pointless.
Little will be playing in the SF spot. I agree he is playing better than Hood at this point.