Game Thread GAME# 46: BLAZERS @ RAPTORS - MARCH 28, 2021 - SUNDAY, 4:00, NBCSNW

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Pick the 5 Blazers you want to close games with (for non-blowouts, obviously)


  • Total voters
    60
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Of course Stotts takes out his rim protector Nurk in the clutch when we need defense.

You can't make this stuff up. He's done this for so many years.

Nurk choked on a lay-up and then made a stupid foul. He deserved to be pulled.
He looked gassed
 
He didn't say that. He said he might as well have because he was going to lose the timeout anyway.

I said "great" he said "smart". Same idea. Hurd argued it was smart to challenge on the basis of timeouts, then later argued against that logic saying that in spite of the timeout, you still want to hang onto your challenge. He was right the second time.

"Which is a smart challenge..."
 
It’s so obvious what a difference maker Nurk is. He’s clearly the second most valuable player on this team, and in some ways he might be THE most valuable.

Yup. I think it would be a good idea to give this team a couple of weeks for Nurk to get in game shape and for Powell to get used to his team and role before making too much noise about how crappy the Blazers are. Oh, what am I thinking, this is an S2 game thread. The land of made up minds and snap decisions.
 
Well every win is good this type of year don't matter who we play. But our defense in the third quarter probably won us this game. CJ made big shots at the end but still was still had trouble with as was Dame. Powell got 13 points with 6 shots need find him more shots. Covington was also big filling up the stats sheets and Jones coming off the bench was huge. But the negative except from the 3rd our defense wasn't good and next thing giving up offense rebounds has to stop to minimum if we going have success the rest of the season.
 
Yup. I think it would be a good idea to give this team a couple of weeks for Nurk to get in game shape and for Powell to get used to his team and role before making too much noise about how crappy the Blazers are. Oh, what am I thinking, this is an S2 game thread. The land of made up minds and snap decisions.

There are some things that are encouraging. We know our 3 guards are pretty good, and either Jones or RoCo seem to be shooting better (But seldom both at the same time) We need Nurk to get in shape and play smart, and Little to stay healthy and get some playing time so he can
get some experience before the playoffs.
 
Portland's DNA has been pretty consistent over the last 7 seasons: Beat up on all the lottery and fringe playoff teams; struggle against the good teams. That's a formula for making the playoffs, but that's not a good formula for playoff success. I don't see much in this blazer team, yet, to make me think the formula is different this year
Yeah. We know.
 
Looks like we will squeak by another gargage team.

Nets - depleted roster (loss)
Heat - decimated roster (barely won)
Magic - decimated roster (struggled to win)
Raptors - weak roster with 7 undrafted players (barely win)

Glad we are getting wins...but we aren't playing well. Would like to see them start to improve and build towards the Playoffs. Now is the time.
Yep. Looks like unfortunately the team will win another game. It’s boring.
 
Portland's DNA has been pretty consistent over the last 7 seasons: Beat up on all the lottery and fringe playoff teams; struggle against the good teams. That's a formula for making the playoffs, but that's not a good formula for playoff success. I don't see much in this blazer team, yet, to make me think the formula is different this year
Not consistent at all. Swept in first round one year, made it to WCF the next. Can’t get to .500 the next year. There are a faction of people here who hate that our core reached the WCF in 2019 because it hurts their narrative that CJ/Olshey/Stotts suck and we never win in the playoffs.
 


I feel like there's a large contingent of fans who see the massive cliff that we're heading towards so every time we squeak out a win against a weak opponent we're thinking "that's great but when we run out of weak opponents to squeak by, it's going to be the end of the road." But then you have these other fans that are just happy that we're still driving, even though the road is rapidly running out ahead of us.
 
I feel like there's a large contingent of fans who see the massive cliff that we're heading towards so every time we squeak out a win against a weak opponent we're thinking "that's great but when we run out of weak opponents to squeak by, it's going to be the end of the road." But then you have these other fans that are just happy that we're still driving, even though the road is rapidly running out ahead of us.
Or they could lose these game and be the Celtics, Raptors, Spurs, and so on. I wonder if those teams would rather win these shitty games or lose them. The Celtics have two all stars, Kemba, and a solid bench and Brad Stevens. And they are .500.
 
Got to love what Simons showed us in the 4th. A 3 ptr, a pull-up mid-range jumper, followed by a runner in the lane.
Looks like he might not be so one-dimensional after all. I don't care who you are playing against, if he can master those three be will he though to stop.
 
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I feel like there's a large contingent of fans who see the massive cliff that we're heading towards so every time we squeak out a win against a weak opponent we're thinking "that's great but when we run out of weak opponents to squeak by, it's going to be the end of the road." But then you have these other fans that are just happy that we're still driving, even though the road is rapidly running out ahead of us.

I hear you and agree with you to some degree.

At the same time, we're 2/3 through the season and we're 10 games above .500, which is good , even when healthy.

Do I think this is a championship team/roster/coaching staff? No. I didn't think it was to start the season. I though it was about the 4th-6th team in the West when healthy. That means, if we go into the playoffs as the 6th seed, we probably shouldn't win a playoff series. Yes I'm frustrated we don't have a championship roster, but it doesn't prevent me from enjoying wins.
 
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Or they could lose these game and be the Celtics, Raptors, Spurs, and so on. I wonder if those teams would rather win these shitty games or lose them. The Celtics have two all stars, Kemba, and a solid bench and Brad Stevens. And they are .500.

Does it really matter if the end result is the same? If we get swept out of the first round again, who cares if we beat some mediocre teams during the regular season?

The reason why it's hard to enjoy these wins is because any time we take on one of the top teams, we tend to get completely obliterated. It doesn't bode well for the postseason.
 
Does it really matter if the end result is the same? If we get swept out of the first round again, who cares if we beat some mediocre teams during the regular season?

The reason why it's hard to enjoy these wins is because any time we take on one of the top teams, we tend to get completely obliterated. It doesn't bode well for the postseason.

WERE JUST HAPPY TO BE HERE MAN
 
Does it really matter if the end result is the same? If we get swept out of the first round again, who cares if we beat some mediocre teams during the regular season?

The reason why it's hard to enjoy these wins is because any time we take on one of the top teams, we tend to get completely obliterated. It doesn't bode well for the postseason.

What is your motivation to watch the regular season? You knew before the season started, the likely outcome of this season is a 1st-2nd round loss. If that's all that matters, what's the point of watching the 72 games prior to that?
 
What is your motivation to watch the regular season? You knew before the season started, the likely outcome of this season is a 1st-2nd round loss. If that's all that matters, what's the point of watching the 72 games prior to that?

Because it's not about one game or one season. It's about hopefully working towards winning a championship. I was significantly less frustrated with this team several years ago because Dame was younger and the team seemed to be in a better position to continue to grow.... but we have stagnated. Hell, the least stressful seasons are the ones where you know you're shit, but you have young players that are developing and a decent pick after the season. It's easy to forgive poor play and enjoy watching guys develop when you're clearly building towards something.

This team is no closer to winning a championship now than they were three or four years ago, meanwhile we're pissing away Dame's prime and we're continuing to hang our hopes on the foundation of Dame/CJ/Stotts. And how is that going to change? Fire Stotts? Trade CJ? Convince another star player to sign for the minimum? We're cemented in this rut until someone gives.

So yes, winning a game is great. I like to win. Winning is fun. And I like to watch Dame do what Dame does, but it's still bitter sweet because we know this team won't go far in the playoffs and there's really no clear hope for the future. Just the same thing over and over.
 
Does it really matter if the end result is the same? If we get swept out of the first round again, who cares if we beat some mediocre teams during the regular season?

The reason why it's hard to enjoy these wins is because any time we take on one of the top teams, we tend to get completely obliterated. It doesn't bode well for the postseason.
Two friends go out on the town one night, one meets a girl and they laugh and have fun and maybe even do the deed but when he wakes up she’s gone. The other went out and met no one and went home alone and woke up alone. Both are alone in the morning so that’s the same end result. ITS ABOUT THE JOURNEY! Life is short. Enjoy the wins, hope for the best and always bring the girl home with you. Or guy. Or both, for that matter.
 
Because it's not about one game or one season. It's about hopefully working towards winning a championship. I was significantly less frustrated with this team several years ago because Dame was younger and the team seemed to be in a better position to continue to grow.... but we have stagnated. Hell, the least stressful seasons are the ones where you know you're shit, but you have young players that are developing and a decent pick after the season. It's easy to forgive poor play and enjoy watching guys develop when you're clearly building towards something.

This team is no closer to winning a championship now than they were three or four years ago, meanwhile we're pissing away Dame's prime and we're continuing to hang our hopes on the foundation of Dame/CJ/Stotts. And how is that going to change? Fire Stotts? Trade CJ? Convince another star player to sign for the minimum? We're cemented in this rut until someone gives.

So yes, winning a game is great. I like to win. Winning is fun. And I like to watch Dame do what Dame does, but it's still bitter sweet because we know this team won't go far in the playoffs and there's really no clear hope for the future. Just the same thing over and over.

Appreciate the answer.

So now that you know this team isn't working towards winning a championship this year, what motivates you to watch for the rest of this season?

I ask not to be snarky, but because I personally would not continue to watch the games this year if it was championship or bust for me.
 
Two friends go out on the town one night, one meets a girl and they laugh and have fun and maybe even do the deed but when he wakes up she’s gone. The other went out and met no one and went home alone and woke up alone. Both are alone in the morning so that’s the same end result. ITS ABOUT THE JOURNEY! Life is short. Enjoy the wins, hope for the best and always bring the girl home with you. Or guy. Or both, for that matter.
I was never really into casual dating, so I guess that explains it :devilwink:
 
Appreciate the answer.

So now that you know this team isn't working towards winning a championship this year, what motivates you to watch for the rest of this season?

I ask not to be snarky, but because I personally would not continue to watch the games this year if it was championship or bust for me.

Dame. No other reason honestly. Or maybe the childish hope that something clicks and we miraculously put it all together.
 
Dame. No other reason honestly. Or maybe the childish hope that something clicks and we miraculously put it all together.

Appreciate that I disagree with you about 33% of the time and you never make your responses personal attacks. :smiley-beerchug:

Now would be a good time for me to bump the Worst Blazer Team Ever thread!
 
Appreciate that I disagree with you about 33% of the time and you never make your responses personal attacks. :smiley-beerchug:

Now would be a good time for me to bump the Worst Blazer Team Ever thread!
That thread doesn’t apply anymore because Rodney is gone. No longer the worst team.

you don’t attack me so I don’t attack you :grin:
 
They think that Powell and Nurk with their energy would magically change our Defense. This is no joke, the hope is that with the same schemes etc two players that are good on D, but no defensive geniuses or all nba defenders would just come in and change everything. This shows that the coaching stuff is not capable to change things by itself. Next thing now if Powell, Nurk doesn't work will be Zach cleared to play in playoffs and Olshey, Stotts will say how now this will change our defense.

Unfortunately we saw same issues today and the Raptors scored 117 points without their starting pointguard playing. I don't see how we can win a series against teams like Utah, Phoenix, Denver, Lakers or Clippers if we don't dramatically improve in that area. Defense is even more important during playoffs and it's not that you can turn on some switch just on time for that. And we will be more tired when we get there anyway because our D doesn't let us get some blowout wins and needed rest.

At least Powell shows he is indeed better than Trent and Hood, so we got better. Probably still not enough to avoid a 1st round exit.
 

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