Game Thread GAME# 41: KNICKS @ BLAZERS - JANUARY 7, 2019 - MONDAY, 7:00 PM (PST), NBCSNW

[TBpup]

Yet on the season, he still averages fewer points, rebounds and assists then Meyers with the same average minutes per game played.

His efficiency has skyrocketed from last year even though his minutes have been on a yo-yo and he doesn't get plays called for him. At one point earlier in the season, his eFG% was at 70%. Insanely high for a perimeter player. That is unsustainable but there are few who can achieve that in the first place.

 

[wizenheimer]

Based off what? Weve been a good regular season team, bad playoff team. How does being 24-17 prove anything different...?

yep....going 24-17 in a half a season is a pretty insignificant achievement, especially considering that 23 of those games were at home. But I guess in the Olshey era, you have to celebrate the minor accomplishments because there's such a remote chance of any major accomplishment

 

[KingSpeed]

Based off what? Weve been a good regular season team, bad playoff team. How does being 24-17 prove anything different...?

From 41 wins to 49 wins to best start since 2014-15. We’ve been a decent playoff team. Last year was bad, yes but we didn’t have Nurk in 2017 and we were playing champs. In 2016, we won in first round without HCA. In 2015, different team, but Wes was hurt. 2014, we won without HCA and then lost to champs.

As for this year, you can’t judge our playoff ability cuz we haven’t played in playoffs yet.

 

[KingSpeed]

yep....going 24-17 in a half a season is a pretty insignificant achievement, especially considering that 23 of those games were at home. But I guess in the Olshey era, you have to celebrate the minor accomplishments because there's such a remote chance of any major accomplishment

41 wins to 49 wins and winning most competitive division was a major accomplishment regardless of how we played in playoffs.

 

[KingSpeed]

Yet on the season, he still averages fewer points, rebounds and assists then Meyers with the same average minutes per game played.

Meyers playing well too!

 

[riverman]

If the bench keeps scoring and can hold a lead, we can be a dangerous playoff team...if you write off the team on Jan 7th already, really what's the point then? Jake is better, Meyers is better, Chief is better, Nurk is better.Dame's defense and passing are way better....life is good even when CJ or Dame slumps...we have a good start going into the break. We won some ugly games and we beat some contenders over this stretch..not a lot of fluff games early on our schedule

 

[KingSpeed]

If the bench keeps scoring and can hold a lead, we can be a dangerous playoff team...if you write off the team on Jan 7th already, really what's the point then? Jake is better, Meyers is better, Chief is better, Nurk is better.Dame's defense and passing are way better....life is good even when CJ or Dame slumps...we have a good start going into the break.

Best post in this thread!

 

[twobullz]

UOTE="KingSpeed, post: 4628369, member: 20994"]Meyers playing well too![/QUOTE]

I agree, but if you go through and read these threads, about 90% of the posts about Meyers are criticizing him and Jake gets nothing but love and their stats are about equal, with Meyers having a little advantage in most of the stats. Just don't get it.

 

[wizenheimer]

41 wins to 49 wins and winning most competitive division was a major accomplishment regardless of how we played in playoffs.

this team has gone from 44 wins to 49 wins with a 41 win season in the middle. They've averaged under 45 wins the last 3 seasons. And they've lost 9 straight playoff games and 12 of their last 13. No matter how hard you work your sunny-skies angle, that's not an impressive record

 

[Darkwebs]

Meyers playing well too!

I agree, but if you go through and read these threads, about 90% of the posts about Meyers are criticizing him and Jake gets nothing but love and their stats are about equal, with Meyers having a little advantage in most of the stats. Just don't get it.

One factor may be their respective contracts. One player is vastly overpaid and the other is on a rookie-contract.

The other factor is experience. Leonard is in his 6th year, still often making rookie mistakes, while Jake is only in his sophomore year in the NBA, so he deserves a little more leeway and benefit of the doubt.

Leonard has been given ample opportunities in his career, but has never capitalized on them, nor has he earned a place in the regular rotation in those 6 years, despite being a (late) lottery pick. Layman was a 2nd-rounder, so not much was expected, but while not setting the world on fire, has shown enough flashes to get the fan base excited.

 

[TBpup]

Meyers has received much more in terms of regular minutes. Out of 41 games, Jake has 20 starts, 11 DNP's and played under 6 minutes another 5 times. That is ridiculous yo-yo minutes and what he has done in terms of efficiency in that time is nothing short of remarkable.

 

[ripcityboy]

He had a great life though playing all over the NBA...G league..Italy...Israel...I think he scored over 30 pts for the Miami Heat once...now he coaches NW Christian College hoops in Eugene and still lives in Creswell where he grew up. My son golfs with his brother...their wives are friends.

I thought he quit the job at NW Christian College? That's what I heard from Duck's fans.

 

[BonesJones]

From 41 wins to 49 wins to best start since 2014-15. We’ve been a decent playoff team. Last year was bad, yes but we didn’t have Nurk in 2017 and we were playing champs. In 2016, we won in first round without HCA. In 2015, different team, but Wes was hurt. 2014, we won without HCA and then lost to champs.

As for this year, you can’t judge our playoff ability cuz we haven’t played in playoffs yet.

We've been a bad playoff team for two straight years. 49 wins to get the 3 seed to get swept. Nothing says that's not gonna happen again, even if we get 60 wins. We need to perform in the playoffs.

YOU said "People say we haven't improved the past couple years". The past couple years we're 0-8 in the playoffs, with a 49-win season in there. We're on track for 48 wins. How does that show any improvement...? We need to show improvement in the playoffs, and then we can talk "improvement"... Not because we're on pace for 48 wins halfway through the season.

Side note: When you talk about the Warriors rings, you always bring up injuries. You bring up the Wes injury as the reason we got killed in 2015... So then why don't you bring up injuries in regards to us winning a series in 2016? Exactly.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

We've been a bad playoff team for two straight years. 49 wins to get the 3 seed to get swept. Nothing says that's not gonna happen again, even if we get 60 wins. We need to perform in the playoffs.

YOU said "People say we haven't improved the past couple years". The past couple years we're 0-8 in the playoffs, with a 49-win season in there. We're on track for 48 wins. How does that show any improvement...? We need to show improvement in the playoffs, and then we can talk "improvement"... Not because we're on pace for 48 wins halfway through the season.

Side note: When you talk about the Warriors rings, you always bring up injuries. You bring up the Wes injury as the reason we got killed in 2015... So then why don't you bring up injuries in regards to us winning a series in 2016? Exactly.

No small market team (since before 1980) has won a championship without Tim Duncan or LBJ (arguably the best in NBA history at their positions). The Blazers will not break that streak. It's all for naught. Maybe you should take up knitting?

 

[BonesJones]

No small market team (since before 1980) has won a championship without Tim Duncan or LBJ (arguably the best in NBA history at their positions). The Blazers will not break that streak. It's all for naught. Maybe you should take up knitting?

What is your point here?

 

[BonesJones]

If the bench keeps scoring and can hold a lead, we can be a dangerous playoff team...if you write off the team on Jan 7th already, really what's the point then? Jake is better, Meyers is better, Chief is better, Nurk is better.Dame's defense and passing are way better....life is good even when CJ or Dame slumps...we have a good start going into the break. We won some ugly games and we beat some contenders over this stretch..not a lot of fluff games early on our schedule

Who's writing off the team?

 

[BonesJones]

UOTE="KingSpeed, post: 4628369, member: 20994"]Meyers playing well too!

I agree, but if you go through and read these threads, about 90% of the posts about Meyers are criticizing him and Jake gets nothing but love and their stats are about equal, with Meyers having a little advantage in most of the stats. Just don't get it.[/QUOTE]
Meyers gets criticized because of
A.) Defense
B.) Terrible decision making
C.) Indecisiveness

None of those things are reflected based off per game stats... Meyers is also in his prime and had ample opportunities for years while Layman is getting yanked around in terms of his role and minutes and is still producing in the first year he's actually been (somewhat) given a chance.

 

[HailBlazers]

Dame talked about getting off to a better start. We've accomplished that, how's that not improvement? Hard to deny considering it was a stated goal. Oh that's right it's just luck, because only the Blazers face other teams with injuries.

 

[BonesJones]

Yet on the season, he still averages fewer points, rebounds and assists then Meyers with the same average minutes per game played.

Of course he's going to average less rebounds.

Less points and assists? Barely. And Meyers is a good offensive big and that's usually not the reason he's criticized (and if he is, it's because he's not using his skillest enough [i.e. shooting]). So having comparable stats to Meyers is a good thing, especially because Layman brings other things to the table.

 

[BonesJones]

Dame talked about getting off to a better start. We've accomplished that, how's that not improvement? Hard to deny considering it was a stated goal. Oh that's right it's just luck, because only the Blazers face other teams with injuries.

Yeah, better start, okay... We're still on pace to have a nearly identical regular season to last season. In regards to overall team success, I'm going to judge improvement based on how they do in the playoffs, because they've shown they can tear it up and have a great regular season, not being on pace to win one less game than last year.

 

[Labinot41]

Meyers needs to stay on the bench. This guy is hard to watch. I hate Terry for giving him playing time

 

[BonesJones]

Meyers needs to stay on the bench. This guy is hard to watch. I hate Terry for giving him playing time

Not talking about if he should play in general, just tonight...

9 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists tonight. Complaining about him after this game is strange. His defense was bad tonight, yes. But offensively? He had a good night.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

For HCP's thread review:

Carry the, gents.

 

[42N8Bounce]

Casey just tweeted our 24-17 is the best halfway point record since 2014-15

Here's a graphical look at how the seasons compare:



We're definitely ahead of the pace for the last few years, but quite a ways behind the 2014-15 mid-season pace. Keep in mind that that was the last year with Aldridge, Batum, Matthews, and Lopez. That team essentially played 500 ball the second half of the season.



I still thing we can beat that 2014-15 season ending mark of 51 wins!

 

[Labinot41]

9 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists tonight. Complaining about him is strange. His defense was bad tonight, yes. But offensively? He had a good night.

Bad Defense is an understatement imo. He's horrible in that area. Sure his stats looks ok, but he's still hard to watch

 

[hoopsjock]

His efficiency has skyrocketed from last year even though his minutes have been on a yo-yo and he doesn't get plays called for him. At one point earlier in the season, his eFG% was at 70%. Insanely high for a perimeter player. That is unsustainable but there are few who can achieve that in the first place.

That brings up an interesting question: Why the fuck wouldn't we call plays for him?

Run some curls, back doors, anything with Jake moving towards the basket has been money.

 

[Scalma]

That brings up an interesting question: Why the fuck wouldn't we call plays for him?

Run some curls, back doors, anything with Jake moving towards the basket has been money.

You know the answer

 

[hoopsjock]

You know the answer

Oh I know, silly me. Why on Earth would we want to get easier baskets when we can resort back to ISO ball in the playoffs.

 

[noknobs]

Good win, but...

Once this team learns how to shoot point blank lay-ins, watch out league.

 

[riverman]

To me Jake is so much better than Pat Connaughton.