Game Thread GAME# 58: ROCKETS @ BLAZERS - FEBRUARY 25, 2016 - THURSDAY, 7:30 PM (PST), TNT

[Strenuus]

He grabbed 12 rebounds in 19 minutes. The real problem was too much Harkless and not enough Leonard who has always given the Rockets trouble. He was the only Blazer off the bench with a +. We have to go back to playing him consistent minutes. There is a reason Harkless was racking up DNPs earlier this season.

I don't think this one game marks the entirety of why he got DNP's. He sucked tonight beyond the first quarter, but this was a whole team collapse... from Dame on down. It was a WHOLE team collapse.

Shit happens. I'm not worried. Meyers wasn't the reason we lost, and I don't think playing him more minutes tonight would have helped us win. We were already getting pushed out to almost mid court most of that second half, I really don't understand how he could have helped there? It would have been even more clogged out there, IMO. It was Houston's D in the second half. Give them credit. I think Stotts was kind of screwed in his rotations, and that's why Meyers didnt see more minutes... Meyers MAIN asset offensively is to spread the floor... but if we're trapped on the perimiter... his body would have brang his man out there as well, clogging it more. Does Meyers maybe get those defensive rebounds? I'm not sure, but Davis/Hark/Aminu/et al couldn't grab them either, and Meyers has only shown flashes of getting those tough boards. (not to be confused with TOTAL boards)

I'm not even attacking Meyers because, again, the whole team was off-kilter the entire second half. Now it's time to respond. How that happens is why they get paid millions.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Second half Fez was like:

 

[blue32]

Yeah, we came out cold as a witches tit in the 2nd half. Damian was just weird. Threw up a ton of fucking long balls, tried to split doubles when his team mate was in the way.....couldn't get out of the trap to save his life....meh.

2nd chance points to Bev? /smh....

Harden will be Hardon so whatever, fuck his greasy neck beard.... no big shocker there.

but letting Ariza and the others abuse you, fuck that.

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

Can we stop with the rubbish that harden isn't a good player? He killed us last night and is a top 10 nba player.

That loss was sad, but you can't beat em all. On to the next one.

 

[Draco]

The Houston defense was great from half way through the third onward. The pace slowed which heavily favored them. We've been devastating effective with a fast pace since the winning streak started. It makes me wonder how much more successful that Houston team would be if they grinded out games Memphis Grizzles style instead of trying to play analytic uptempo Morey ball. They have some great half court defensive players but struggle in transition. Dwight is more effective with a slower tempo. They have a very effective half court offensive creator in Harden even if it's ugly to watch. When they switched Brewer and Ariza on our guards that caused a lot of problems defensively. I never though of putting Harden on Aminu and playing with no PG. It was so effective we might see more of that from other teams in the future, or a PG guard Aminu and I'm not sure he will be able to take advantage.

Houston was ice cold on threes in the first half and making everything in the second half. That's just how the ball bounces some games. When a team does that it lets them set their defense instead of giving up transition buckets. Thats why the NBA is a game of big runs. If you score its easier to stop the opponent, if you stop the opponent its easier to score. The nature of the game is one team will be on a run.

Some fans will blame the Blazers for 'losing focus' or 'becoming overconfident' or such; I disagree. We were unprepared for their defensive changes, it was a unique scheme we haven't faced this year. Harden put up a lot of points but he has the ball in his hands every single play for 46 minutes so he's obviously going to have big stats. I do really wished we could've won this game because the Rockets are the team I hate the most. But in an 82 game season, we've had more wins that I'd expect the last month so I'm still so excited with that. The loss is only one game so lets get the Bulls on Saturday.

Go Blazers!

 

[HomerLovesKoolAid]

What a fun game thread.

Bad game, BFD, and it's a blessing in disguise because it means we're going to get back to basics and win a lot of the road games.

 

[Blazers Roy]

Those IDIOTS with the MVP chants at the FIRST HALF!

Fucking IDIOTS!!

Good loss imo. Stotts needs to do his homework more,Aminu needs to understand his job starts and ends with easy open shots,D and Rebounds and Damien needs to get punished for taking bad shots.

 

[OSUBlazerfan]

How can someone honestly say harkless had a terrible game? WTF are you guys watching? Was it his shooting? (4-6 FG, 1-1 3pt, 2-2 FT). Was it his turnovers? (CJ and Plums had 4, aminu had 3, and harkless had 3)

Harkless was part of the problem, but not the reason we lost. We lost because we didn't make adjustments once Ariza went on Dame. Also, Crabbe was getting LIT up. I was hoping for Aminu to go on Harden at some point in the 4th...never happened. And CJ really really needs to get his TO's under control.

 

[KeepOnRollin]

How can someone honestly say harkless had a terrible game? WTF are you guys watching? Was it his shooting? (4-6 FG, 1-1 3pt, 2-2 FT). Was it his turnovers? (CJ and Plums had 4, aminu had 3, and harkless had 3)

Harkless was part of the problem, but not the reason we lost. We lost because we didn't make adjustments once Ariza went on Dame. Also, Crabbe was getting LIT up. I was hoping for Aminu to go on Harden at some point in the 4th...never happened. And CJ really really needs to get his TO's under control.

People who want Leonard to get more time are bagging on Harkless because they think Meyers' time can only come from benching Moe again.

 

[OSUBlazerfan]

People who want Leonard to get more time are bagging on Harkless because they think Meyers' time can only come from benching Moe again.

But Meyers sucks. He sucks so bad. He has flashes, but his negatives outweigh his positives. And I hope NO has Hark as a resign priority over that 7 ft waste of Meyers. Meyers is OLDER and has more NBA experience, for all those saying he still needs time to develop.

 

[KeepOnRollin]

But Meyers sucks. He sucks so bad. He has flashes, but his negatives outweigh his positives. And I hope NO has Hark as a resign priority over that 7 ft waste of Meyers. Meyers is OLDER and has more NBA experience, for all those saying he still needs time to develop.

I think there is a time and place for both (especially Meyers against true centers) but you don't have to convince me on Harkless. I love the guy. @PtldPlatypus and I have been driving the bandwagon on giving him more time the longest.

 

[Strenuus]

I think there is a time and place for both (especially Meyers against true centers) but you don't have to convince me on Harkless. I love the guy. @PtldPlatypus and I have been driving the bandwagon on giving him more time the longest.

Hey! I started from the preseason!

#hastobefirst

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Two things that drove me nuts tonight -

1. second chance points - they got a TON of them.

2. Our inability to adjust our offense once they switched Ariza on to Dame.

It was worse than that; they put Ariza on Dame AND Brewer on CJ. It was like when we switched Buck Williams on to James Worthy but x2! (BTW, how shitty of a coach is Pat Riley if he couldn't adjust to that!)

 

[illmatic99]

Dwight fired his agent Dan Fegen.

Hmm

 

[rasheedfan2005]

That second half was brutal. I hate the r*ckets more than the l*kers lately but props to their adjustments the defense gave us fits, made me laugh that beverly wasnt part of it at least. We saw what happens when all our shooters go cold and we play more iso over team ball. Lets go back to crisp passes, cuts, and screens and get the next one.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

I don't care what anyone says, we won that game!

 

[KingSpeed]

Lillard not enough. Sad.

 

[KingSpeed]

Oops wrong thread