Game Thread Game #57 - BLAZERS VS KNICKS - FEBRUARY 12, 2022 - SATURDAY - 2:00 PM (PDT) ROOT SPORTS

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Is it weird that this is a 2pm game in Portland?

  • Yes

    Votes: 6 27.3%

  • No

    Votes: 7 31.8%

  • Just like back in the day

    Votes: 5 22.7%

  • I thought we were playing in NY

    Votes: 4 18.2%
  • Total voters
    22
In Joe we trust?

that 4th quarter was the best basketball played this season - I don’t miss CJ, Nance, Powell nor RoCo!

Hart is special. Winslow is a stud. I’ll take these two over Powell and RoCo. Period.

And Chauncey’s offense is great!

Team defense like we’ve not seen in Portland in a decade!

imagine adding a really good PF to this squad and let Chauncey have a little time with them! Shoot, bring back Kanter Freedom. Maybe sign a big free agent like Ayton to play PF / C and share time with Nurkic? And draft a wing. With Dame…we might just be good already

go Blazers!
 
ANFERNEE SIMONS

On playing with Josh Hart…

“He’s pretty good. You can tell he’s a very smart player, knows what he can do best and gets out there and plays hard. Instantly, we can tell that there’s already a connection. On the defensive end he’s constantly communicating with us, and it can only get better from here.”

“He knows where to be. Obviously, he’s been in multiple situations, so he knows how to adapt to a new situation. He can shoot the ball, drive the ball, pass the ball, defend at a high level. You always need somebody like that on the team where they can do multiple things very well, so I’d say all and all, he’s a good player.”

On coming up in the fourth quarter and taking control…

“I think now the past two games I’ve been able to figure it out and be able to set the team up for big runs on the offensive end. Everybody else as a team did a great job getting stops in the third and fourth quarter to get us back in it and eventually win the game.”

On Simons’ response to the Knicks being so physical…

“I wouldn’t say, like, gaining 20 pounds. I think I been fine just handling the physicality and getting used to it. That’s one of the biggest things about playing all these minutes is getting used to the physicality each and every night. But other than that, I’ve been handling each and every game pretty well and just getting used to people trying to bump me and stuff like that.”

On not defending his dunk contest win this year at the All-Star game…

“It’s like a checklist—it was like, ‘Ok I won the dunk contest…what’s next?’”
 
JOSH HART

On his first game at Moda Center…

“It was exciting, entertaining. I wish it was a little less entertaining in that we didn’t get down 20, but it was fun, man. The team played great—they showed a lot of fight and Moda was rocking so it was a fun Game 1. We got to keep building.”

On how he will help the team…

“Just go out there and lead vocally and by example, give my all on both ends of the court. Energy—having attention to detail. I was talking to these young guys about certain things that I see out there and things that could help them on both sides of the court, you know, little tricks. That’s the biggest thing for me and I think that’s what Chauncey [Billups] and Joe [Cronin] were looking for me to do. I’m excited.”

On holding Knicks to 11 in the 4th quarter…

“That was news to me, sheesh. I think we did a great job in terms of our rotations, a great job of not fouling. Leading up to that, you see what they had: the first quarter was good; we had 30 points in the second and 39, almost 40, in the third. We put them on the line a lot, so I think we were a little more disciplined not fouling; and then on rotations we were real able to close out the shooters and make them shoot tougher shots than what they were doing. I think that’s what we did and it kind of pressured them a little bit. After that we were playing fast, running on stops and having fun.”
 
Well today was just about perfect. Our young guns play good defense and hustle and Ant has a very nice all around game. CJ meanwhile puts up huge numbers for the Pels, but the Pels can't defend and lose to San Antonio who was on the back half of a back to back. "Excellent Smithers!".
 
crandc said:
I had ballet tickets. Same starting time. Quick recap anyone?
Click to expand...

I wonder how many posters here have ever gone to a ballet. My wife has but I've never. I also have never been to an opera. I also have never shaved my head with a cheese grater while chewing on tin foil
 
SlyPokerDog said:
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS

On what he wants to take away from today’s game…

“Again, I just loved how hard we played. There was so much life out there. I mean, the fans were great. Even when we were down, we still played the right way, nobody got impatient, nobody forced anything. It was like okay, cool. Now we just chip away. And then we start chipping away and this building does what it does and it was very electric out there and that just gave us so much life to try and get over the hump. So I like everything about it. I like everything about how we played and it was fun. It was fun to be able to coach that.”
Click to expand...
Part of me wonders if this is a slam on some of the departed players....
 
But, yeah, Hart was destined to be a fan favorite.

Like someone else said, if you teach young guys to win, that's a lot more important than losing for the sake of a better draft pick in a draft with one or maybe two really star-level players and a lot of really even guys. The odds still are the Blazers won't get through the play-in round (even if they make it into that) and that they wouldn't win the No 1 overall pick either. The only thing bugging me now is that Pelicans being protected in the top four because that team looks flawed.

Heck, pretty much the whole NBA is flawed. On paper, the Lakers, Nets and Celtics are among your most-talented teams and they look like garbage. There's parity across the league. Teach your players how to defend, how to share the ball -- pros should be able to make open shots, so Chauncey's job is to get them open shots and keep the other team from getting them. Add a little more talent, get Dame back.

But building the proper culture is as important as having talented players. Look around the NBA right now and you can see it.
 
Call it what it is: when Dame comes back he’s gotta be a lot better defensively, because that’s the only way the pairing with Ant will work. Ant at least shows a want to and has more physical tools, especially when he’s defending point guards. So again for that pairing to work, Dame needs to be better. Luckily Billups prioritizes that end of the floor. And Dame has it in him, we’ve seen enough flashes of him defensively. And I trust he will buy in. But if he doesn’t...we gotta do what we gotta do. I actually wouldn’t be surprised if he leaned out this summer and came into camp next year in the *cliche* best shape of his life.
 
Scalma said:
Call it what it is: when Dame comes back he’s gotta be a lot better defensively, because that’s the only way the pairing with Ant will work. Ant at least shows a want to and has more physical tools, especially when he’s defending point guards. So again for that pairing to work, Dame needs to be better. Luckily Billups prioritizes that end of the floor. And Dame has it in him, we’ve seen enough flashes of him defensively. And I trust he will buy in. But if he doesn’t...we gotta do what we gotta do. I actually wouldn’t be surprised if he leaned out this summer and came into camp next year in the *cliche* best shape of his life.
Click to expand...
As long as dame doesn't have a massive load to carry offensively, motivation should not be an issue
 
BoomChakaLaka said:
In Joe we trust?

that 4th quarter was the best basketball played this season - I don’t miss CJ, Nance, Powell nor RoCo!

Hart is special. Winslow is a stud. I’ll take these two over Powell and RoCo. Period.

And Chauncey’s offense is great!

Team defense like we’ve not seen in Portland in a decade!

imagine adding a really good PF to this squad and let Chauncey have a little time with them! Shoot, bring back Kanter Freedom. Maybe sign a big free agent like Ayton to play PF / C and share time with Nurkic? And draft a wing. With Dame…we might just be good already

go Blazers!
Click to expand...
Like I've been saying all week...
Getting rid of Cj= ball movement,
Getting rid of RoCo and his boneheadness also opens up time for others who aren't so "bone headed" and who are hungry..
Getting rid of Norm who was a "hollow" player. undersized,..lack of impact plays, overrated on defense...Think Winslow, or Hart..or even Little...
ADDITION BY SUBTRACTION!!!!!!!
For the first time all year, it really is a great day to be a Blazer, this team is fun.
But these next few will most likely make the tankers happy.
 
wizenheimer said:
I wonder how many posters here have ever gone to a ballet. My wife has but I've never. I also have never been to an opera. I also have never shaved my head with a cheese grater while chewing on tin foil
Click to expand...
I’ve been in a ballet and several operas.
 
crandc said:
I have never shaved my head or chewed tin foil. Now, game recap?
Click to expand...

poor first half. Down 23 midway through 3rd. Suddenly the guys started hustling, defending, being hungry and not settling. Hart was good, Ant was great and in control, Winslow was wonderful and the team really played as a team. Great win and worth watching if you can find a replay.
 
It's nice having multiple wings that can dribble and pass again.

Opens up your transition game and really helps the flow offensively when you have more than 1-2 guys in the lineup that can attack an advantage and keep the play moving.

I've always been a Winslow fan. You have to build lineups around his skill set a bit and idk if he's a playoff player, but I'd hold on to him.
 
JDC said:
It's nice having multiple wings that can dribble and pass again.

Opens up your transition game and really helps the flow offensively when you have more than 1-2 guys in the lineup that can attack an advantage and keep the play moving.

I've always been a Winslow fan. You have to build lineups around his skillset a bit and idk if he's a playoff player, but I'd hold on to him.
Click to expand...

That has always been my desire. Both Winslow and Watford can help with that at PF. (off the bench) At times we can have 4 players on the floor that can push the pace.
 
crandc said:
I had ballet tickets. Same starting time. Quick recap anyone?
Click to expand...

Sure thing. There were some guys in tights and girls in tutus, or maybe the other way around, I forget, but it went our way in the end.
 
Knicks vs. Trail Blazers - Game Videos - February 12, 2022 - ESPN
ss_20220212_193625095_1887613_2.jpg
 
PCmor7 said:
But, yeah, Hart was destined to be a fan favorite.

Like someone else said, if you teach young guys to win, that's a lot more important than losing for the sake of a better draft pick in a draft with one or maybe two really star-level players and a lot of really even guys. The odds still are the Blazers won't get through the play-in round (even if they make it into that) and that they wouldn't win the No 1 overall pick either. The only thing bugging me now is that Pelicans being protected in the top four because that team looks flawed.

Heck, pretty much the whole NBA is flawed. On paper, the Lakers, Nets and Celtics are among your most-talented teams and they look like garbage. There's parity across the league. Teach your players how to defend, how to share the ball -- pros should be able to make open shots, so Chauncey's job is to get them open shots and keep the other team from getting them. Add a little more talent, get Dame back.

But building the proper culture is as important as having talented players. Look around the NBA right now and you can see it.
Click to expand...
Great players make great teams
 
Billups is starting to get players that play his way. Nothing against Powell or CJ but they were both me first guys on offense, neither liked passing the ball.

I know it’s one game in for Hart and Winslow but both play Billups/Old school type basketball. Get in your face on defense, unselfish on offense and just smart basketball.

Simmons is gaining so much confidence closing out games, taking and hitting big shots with defenses that are keying on him. This is so valuable and would never have happened with Dame and CJ playing.

While Nurk can be annoying to some his presence creates so much attention for other teams it really opens up the offensive end.

bad Juju, I’m no longer rooting for them to lose I just won’t be as upset when they do
 
Wade Garrett said:
Like I've been saying all week...
Getting rid of Cj= ball movement,
Getting rid of RoCo and his boneheadness also opens up time for others who aren't so "bone headed" and who are hungry..
Getting rid of Norm who was a "hollow" player. undersized,..lack of impact plays, overrated on defense...Think Winslow, or Hart..or even Little...
ADDITION BY SUBTRACTION!!!!!!!
For the first time all year, it really is a great day to be a Blazer, this team is fun.
But these next few will most likely make the tankers happy.
Click to expand...
That’s laying it in a little thick don’t you think?
 
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