Game Thread GAME# 5: BLAZERS @ SUNS - NOVEMBER 2, 2016 - WEDNESDAY, 7:00 (PDT), CSNNW

[ripcityboy]

Obviously need to make some lineup changes. The current rotations aren't working.

 

[Blazer4ever]

You know that's not happening. You're starting to sound like @Blazer4ever.

A MF hits a few swish3s in garbage time and folks start to think they know more than Stotts.

Start Turner!

 

[BonesJones]

It's the same team. You guys. Last year, we had the same team and you all thought we'd win 25-30 games. Then we add Evan Turner and THAT is what convinces you we're a 50 win team?

Dude that's a lot more to it then that. Your selective reasoning is bullshit and dumb.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Basically nothing has changed since last season except the broadcast crew. I blame the former Sonic

 

[H.C.]

Game winning stepback three from Bledsoe... Okay just not Portlands night.
The points in the paint are concerning though.

 

[Sarni]

Game winning stepback three from Bledsoe... Okay just not Portlands night.
The points in the paint are concerning though.

Well we have one rim protector on the sidelines but he won't be back for a while. We need to trade for another one, and as soon as possible. Noel is available but will be out for 4-6 more weeks so we may as well wait until then and see if we have to give up Crabbe or someone else for him (by that time it will be possible to trade most our players).

If we are not going to give Vonleh a chance, we also need a true power forward. Aminu is fine as a stretch 4 but we need someone better for our frontcourt. I am fine letting Harkless play himself into form at 3, he's not even been that bad and I'd say let him develop because at 23 his upside is still huge. I don't think there's much upside for Aminu and Davis will be better off as a rotation player at 4 and 5, we will need 20-25 minutes from him every single game. I don't know who will be available at 4, maybe someone like Taj Gibson would be a good choice at this point. I don't really know but I fear that Aminu + Plumlee will not take us very far.

Ideally I'd like us to give Vonleh a go. Let him play 20-25 minutes a game and develop, he's got all the tools to become a very efficient power forward but he needs to spend time on the court to develop, not get scrub minutes when the game is done. He definitely has the most upside of all our 4s and I find it bizarre that we are not playing him.

On the plus side I liked what I saw from Meyers last night. He's not going to become a world class center but if he can consistently knock down points as a stretch 5, he could work quite well with Davis as our second string frontcourt. Davis will compensate for his weak defense and poor offensive rebounding. Vonleh + Nerlens Noel could be our main frontcourt, Noel's experience and great defense will compensate for any shortcoming Noah might initially have, and with them both being at the right age we could have our long term frontcourt right here. The frontcourt we have been using recently is not working and will IMO struggle to work in the long term. We would have likely been knocked out by Clippers last year because of our frontcourt deficiencies, and this was when Plumlee was playing at his absolute best. He cost us versus Warriors IMO.

 

[Sinobas]

Dude that's a lot more to it then that. Your selective reasoning is bullshit and dumb.

No, Kingspeed is right. This is all about expectations. This is the same team as last year. .500 is cool when you expect to win 20, but sucks when you think your team is going to elevate to one of the top teams in the conference. This team is mediocre.

How would you feel if you were facing Portland, you'd see that we have one star, a pretty good side kick scorer in cj who is undersized and a poor defender. But no one else would look that good. We're a one man show with very mediocre supporting talent. (that is now massively overpaid)

 

[Rastapopoulos]

It could be better - we could be Cubs fans.

 

[Blazers Roy]

The better team won.

 

[Blazers Roy]

You think the Blazers are elite? Not even close, this is a mediocre team, same as last year. It is what it is.

Yea, we took that 2nd round achievement too serious.
Blazers belong in that 3rd tier right now.

 

[SIeepwalker]

I don't get why Leonard played so much and Vonleh not a single minute.

And no he didn't play well are you kidding me ?

 

[rotary111]

I'm stunned Noah didn't play. We better be highlighting Myle for a trade! Seriously? DNP?

 

[Sinobas]

Yea, we took that 2nd round achievement too serious.
Blazers belong in that 3rd tier right now.

We played really well vs the Warriors, and did a fair job vs the Clippers, though the games we won, I thought were way too close for them having no Paul/Griffin. But in many years, 44 wins doesn't even get you into the playoffs in the West.

 

[Sarni]

We played really well vs the Warriors, and did a fair job vs the Clippers, though the games we won, I thought were way too close for them having no Paul/Griffin. But in many years, 44 wins doesn't even get you into the playoffs in the West.

Aye, it was the Warriors series that flattered to deceive more than Clippers series where they were without their two best players and still ran us close. Against Warriors we matched them in all but Game 1 but when you look at the way they were crushed by Thunder twice in the next series and lost the finals, that Warriors team was not really THAT special against top teams (though it certainly was very good) in the playoffs.

Our backcourt is fine but it cannot carry us forever. We have many role players, we have one or two young players who could still significantly develop, but this is ultimately not a potential championship winning team. We will have to draft well, trade well and develop for a few years before it becomes a realistic prospect.

 

[Orion Bailey]

Well that sucked major donkey doo....

 

[blue9]

Who guarded TJ Warren?

 

[illmatic99]

I don't get why Leonard played so much and Vonleh not a single minute.

And no he didn't play well are you kidding me ?

As a serial Meyers critic, I was shocked at his play last night. We were substantially better with Meyers at 5 than either Ed or Plums last night.

He was directing the offense, setting really good screens (had 7 ! screen assists), provide loads of spacing, while actually protecting the rim on offense. His problem was his teammates didn't clean up the O boards after he forced the initial miss.

Our game flows so much better when he's on there. It's time we try him at C for extended periods and let him make mistakes so he can get some confidence back.

 

[BBert]

Game winning stepback three from Bledsoe... Okay just not Portlands night.
The points in the paint are concerning though.

It shouldn't have come to that. If you don't want a scrub to beat you with a last second shot, play harder.

 

[blue9]

As a serial Meyers critic, I was shocked at his play last night. We were substantially better with Meyers at 5 than either Ed or Plums last night.

He was directing the offense, setting really good screens (had 7 ! screen assists), provide loads of spacing, while actually protecting the rim on offense. His problem was his teammates didn't clean up the O boards after he forced the initial miss.

Our game flows so much better when he's on there. It's time we try him at C for extended periods and let him make mistakes so he can get some confidence back.

I remember last season, even when Meyers himself wasn't playing well, the team generally played quite well while he was on the floor. He's a screener who can shoot and pass - that goes a long way towards opening up an offense.

 

[BBert]

As a serial Meyers critic, I was shocked at his play last night. We were substantially better with Meyers at 5 than either Ed or Plums last night.

He was directing the offense, setting really good screens (had 7 ! screen assists), provide loads of spacing, while actually protecting the rim on offense. His problem was his teammates didn't clean up the O boards after he forced the initial miss.

Our game flows so much better when he's on there. It's time we try him at C for extended periods and let him make mistakes so he can get some confidence back.

Definitely. Meyers is a center. It's about time Stotts starts using him like one. Keep him near the basket on defense and play him inside/out on offense. I'd like to see Meyers/Vonleh and Meyers/Davis lineups.

 

[Trackjack]

There 4 key thing you must due to a winning team.
1. Effective offense
2. Be able to play defense in the paint
3. Shoot well at the free throws
4. Rebound well
We do 2 things very well and 2 we don't do well. My concern also and Stotts has does this every year he take players out rotation and than put them back in the rotation and think these players going to excel. The thing is there not until they get regular playing time. Noah to me earn to back up at the 4. Now his mins. decrease and he can't get on the floor. Sometimes I think Stotts get over his head as head coach when he has to think on his feet. Stotts is very good offense coach but that about it really if you think about has his defense scheme really work since he been here it work half ass couple year ago. This team loose track of the ball that why they don't play good defense. Anyway they need to fix a lot of things for us to have successful season. Is it to late no it not but things do have to change.

 

[Trackjack]

When not try starting ML at center for the simple reason I really think they will try to trade Plum before the season ends.

 

[Boob-No-More]

I don't get why Leonard played so much and Vonleh not a single minute.

And no he didn't play well are you kidding me ?

Did you watch the game? Meyers was a difference maker last night - in a good way. Without his play in the 4th quarter, there would have been no overtime. And, I'm not just talking about the game tying layup at the end of regulation. He also had set some huge screens, made some great passes and kept Tyson Chandler off the glass. Chandler had 18 rebounds for the game, but only 2 in the 4th quarter.

Plumee, Aminu and Ed Davis all played worse than Meyers last night. Yeah, Meyers isn't perfect, but he earned his minutes with his play last night. If you want to give Vonleh minutes (and I agree with you on this), it should come at the expense of Aminu (at the 4) and Ed Davis.

BNM

 

[rotary111]

I TOLD YOU GUYS MEYERS WAS GONNA BE GREAT!!

 

[BlazerCaravan]

It was his right cheek but whatever.

 

[jlprk]

We started off bad last season too, we are breaking in a new rotation too. It's gonna take till Christmas to get this shit solid.

Last season, we started the year 4-9.

I still think it will take about 20 games to really have this team gel.

If this team still looks as flat and disjointed in 20 games then I think you can start to really worry.

Why? It's the same team as last year. Waiting 20 games made sense last year, with many new players. But it doesn't this year. We should be off to an early head start, but we've wasted our no-roster changes advantage which we should have over most teams. That advantage will last only a few more games, as the other teams learn how to play together.

Explain how we could be 2-3 in a good way...What's a good 2-3 look like?

If we had an all-new team like last year.

After starting out slowly last year, it's frustrating to see the team get out of the gates slowly once again, esp one that returned 90% of their minutes from the previous season.

Exactly.

 

[riverman]

Foul trouble has kept Plumlee off the court more this season than last as well

 

[illmatic99]

It was his right cheek but whatever.

He needs that Nelly bandaid that he rocked a few years back when he had a similar gash on his cheek.