Game Thread GAME# 81: BLAZERS @ NUGGETS - APRIL 9, 2018 - MONDAY, 6:00 PM (PST), NBCSNW

[blue9]

Regarding the poll question: PHILLY!

 

[kjironman1]

I get it. Man! Apologies to KJ, but he's been so "ooh they need rest, they need a binky", I figured he posted that. But I get the motivation now. I'm going to the game with my Blazer fan Daughter, and my best buddy Nugget Freak Dave. I want this one bad. That last one in Feb. was tough to take. Blazers can win this. They just need to buck up, follow their leader, and have some fun.

That post is long winded. I used to write them all the time. My writing skills are sub par so it's easy to mistake the take.

 

[blue9]

Worst poll of the season. There was no acceptable choice. It was like ,"how to you want to croak".

I can think of many ways to die that would be more enjoyable than seeing any of those teams winning the championship.

 

[THE HCP]

@Darkwebs Worst poll ever. @HCP needs to make game 82.
But I expect graphics/videos and to be blown away by them.

Speak on it brother......speak on it!

 

[THE HCP]

This team isn't tired. We are missing two of our best and most important players. Plain and simple.

 

[stampedehero]

I would only vote for "none of the above"

 

[stampedehero]

Talkin Ball pretty much agreed with quite a few on here. CJ is tired. Aminu is tired. Nurk is tired. Collins is tired. Pat is tired. Turner is tired. I can see it in every shot they take. Pretty much the whole team is burnt out. Front of the rim clankers and flat shooting all night.
I'm going with throw the end of the bench in against Denver and sit the starters. Get em home and win one against Utah if you can. Crazy thing about the whole situation is how many games they lost this year against teams they should have beat. Remember the Blake Griffin buzzer beater loss? How about the meltdown in Utah in OT? Then there was the Home loss to Memphis by a point. Home loss to Brooklyn in the last seconds. At Minny by one point. The Spurs beat them at home on a last second shot. How about that loss in Boston that they essentially gave away? Not to mention the loss to Boston here that they had also. Then there is the losses most recent to Memphis and Dallas.
Every team every year loses it's share but i swear this year has been riddled with close losses that could have gone the other way. It's a testament to the team for pretty much always being in a position to win (Defense does that), but it also kind of makes the situation they are in now all that much more difficult to accept.

This team when healthy has shown it can beat any team in the league. Not sure about winning a series at this point because of health issues. I don't like that they didn't have the luxury to sit Dame the rest of the way after rolling an ankle. They made a decision to pull Moe and get his surgery done. I still back that but almost immediately Davis and Lillard get hurt. Left the team reeling and because they had to rely so heavily on starters again this year they are now burnt to the point where a day off isn't enough.

When the regular season is over and all is said and done the NBA will schedule the playoffs. There is usually a little unrealized benefit in being a small market team. The Blazers usually do not get opening day billing to start the playoffs. They usually get second day and the benefit of an extended first round series because the NBA wants to have it's big names on the rolling schedule. With any luck the Blazers will again get this extra day before the start of the playoffs. And the 2 games in 5 days to start the playoffs.

One other nice thing about this years playoffs is that Dallas won't be in them and the Rockets and Spurs don't look to be a first round matchup at this point. I always have had a problem with the way the Spurs could spend essentially the entire month of April and even as much as the first two weeks of May in Texas when they pulled Dallas or the Rockets in the first and second rounds. Then even getting OKC in there is not really travel now is it? It would be even worse if the Clippers and Lakers were ever good at the same time and had to play each other. NBA needs to get a team back in Seattle ASAP. Travel most definitely has it's effect on the Blazers by the end of the season.

It has now been eleven days since Mo Harkless had his surgery. Two weeks when the season is done. He will get a few days before the start of playoffs. I'm wondering how he will respond? Game shape is elusive but he is young and i'm betting playoff atmosphere will carry him a bit. Getting home court would also help him stretch out that rehab time maybe? Can he make it back for a first round series? Sure could use him.
It's all Stotts fault.
Like i said to start this all off the team looks like it is playing very tired to me. Stotts doesn't seem to do rest schedules so i would bet he will continue to drive the team the way he always does. So the Denver game might be a real difficult game to watch as both CJ and Lillard try to hero their way to a win and Aminu keeps shooting them right out of it. Then look for limited minutes from guys with plenty of steam like Baldwin because that just seems to be the way Stotts does it.

Kjironman is a fan!!!

It's Stotts fault.

 

[SynTax]

Looks like we're getting Ed Davis back for this game. That should be a sizable boost for our second unit.

 

[THE HCP]

Looks like we're getting Ed Davis back for this game. That should be a sizable boost for our second unit.

LINK?

 

[Scalma]

This team isn't tired. We are missing two of our best and most important players. Plain and simple.

CJ looks tired. Most of his shots are hitting front rim. Not surprising considering how much he runs.

 

[SynTax]

LINK?

 

[TBpup]

Everyone is tired and every team has had injuries....some for many more games than the Blazers. They either are good enough to beat teams behind them when they need to or they are not. If not, the Playoff run will probably not be very long.

A couple of weeks ago I thought we had at least a shot of taking the 2nd round to a full 7 games and a punchers chance of winning. Now I'm worried about getting out of the first round.

 

[riverman]

CJ looks tired. Most of his shots are hitting front rim. Not surprising considering how much he runs.

I think Chief is as well...he puts a lot of energy into guarding the best of the best night in and night out...all his shots have been short

 

[riverman]

Everyone is tired and every team has had injuries....some for many more games than the Blazers. They either are good enough to beat teams behind them when they need to or they are not. If not, the Playoff run will probably not be very long.

A couple of weeks ago I thought we had at least a shot of taking the 2nd round to a full 7 games and a punchers chance of winning. Now I'm worried about getting out of the first round.

Ed Davis gives you the ball...gives you the screen...Mo Harkless guards 5 positions on the floor...these two guys are game changers...Ed is a great, smart screen setter....gives our guards space to shoot

 

[Scalma]

I think Chief is as well...he puts a lot of energy into guarding the best of the best night in and night out...all his shots have been short

Zach’s gotta be worn out as well, hes never played this many games. Man it would be really nice to lock in our spot before that final game. If we can at least lock in home court before, I’d rest everyone against Utah. I personally don’t care whether we play the pelicans, spurs, or thunder. They’re all pretty equal as a matchup to me.

 

[kjironman1]

This team isn't tired. We are missing two of our best and most important players. Plain and simple.

Because you are in a position to know more than me i will not say you are wrong. But there are indications that they are tired and they are multiple. I'm sure you are very busy as you watch the games but i wonder if you get a chance to sit and watch a game and look at things that happen like the rest of us. Do you ever go back and watch a game? If you get a chance to watch last nights game again count how many shots went short off the front of the rim. Classic tired legs look.

Again i'm honestly not being snarky here. I think maybe you are a bit busy during games to see these things. Watch Aminu, CJ and Turner in particular.

 

[kjironman1]

Zach’s gotta be worn out as well, hes never played this many games. Man it would be really nice to lock in our spot before that final game. If we can at least lock in home court before, I’d rest everyone against Utah. I personally don’t care whether we play the pelicans, spurs, or thunder. They’re all pretty equal as a matchup to me.

Totally agree. Just get a win.
Zach is in his first season. there is no way that kid is playing 100% right now. He was shooting way better after All-Star break.

 

[stampedehero]

Looks like we're getting Ed Davis back for this game. That should be a sizable boost for our second unit.

If Stotts is smart he keeps him fresh for the last 4thQ minutes as that is our weakness after the past week Texas chainsaw massacre.

 

[kjironman1]

It's Stotts fault.

It's Stotts fault they are in the 3rd seed and very close to locking it up then also. There are 3 sides to every story. Positively good, Negatively bad, and the truth somewhere in the middle. Find yours?

 

[kjironman1]

If Stotts is smart he keeps him fresh for the last 4thQ minutes as that is our weakness after the past week Texas chainsaw massacre.

So you are looking for minutes restriction?

 

[stampedehero]

It's Stotts fault they are in the 3rd seed and very close to locking it up then also. There are 3 sides to every story. Positively good, Negatively bad, and the truth somewhere in the middle. Find yours?

We as fans expect Results now. The coaching in the 4thQ is all on his shoulders. Always blame the guy in charge. Players execute and coaches find the right player to do that depending on the opponent situation.

 

[kjironman1]

We as fans expect Results now. The coaching in the 4thQ is all on his shoulders. Always blame the guy in charge. Players execute and coaches find the right player to do that depending on the opponent situation.

Got to be in a position to win. Stotts has done that consistently. If they are, the players must then execute. That is the only thing a coach can do.

 

[stampedehero]

So you are looking for minutes restriction?

Ed is coming back so his acclimation will depend on his endurance,who he is playing with, what critical times of the game he can assert himself and if he has the lungs to rebound in the critical 4thQ.

 

[Chris Craig]

It's Stotts fault they are in the 3rd seed and very close to locking it up then also. There are 3 sides to every story. Positively good, Negatively bad, and the truth somewhere in the middle. Find yours?

Dammit Stotts, 3rd? What were you thinking?

 

[stampedehero]

Got to be in a position to win. Stotts has done that consistently. If they are, the players must then execute. That is the only thing a coach can do.

From his experience and what he sees in practice along with game tempo, Stotts should decide what chemistry works. Double teaming at the right time to create turnovers is better for team morale rather than ridiculous mistakes that morph into one turnover after another. The end of the SA game clearly was a coaching dilemma. We were in the game throughout until 6 minutes left.

 

[KingSpeed]

From his experience and what he sees in practice along with game tempo, Stotts should decide what chemistry works. Double teaming at the right time to create turnovers is better for team morale rather than ridiculous mistakes that morph into one turnover after another. The end of the SA game clearly was a coaching dilemma. We were in the game until Manu made a bunch of shots

It was a throwback effort. We had no chance at the end. Just have to tip your hat to him and make him do it over the course of a series if we end up playing them.

 

[HolyBackboard]

I get that we're missing two of our top 6-7 players and our regular rotation players are tired, but I can't get over the fact we blew two major chances against Memphis and Dallas. Had we won those, our guys could be resting right now with the 3rd seed locked up.

 

[kjironman1]

From his experience and what he sees in practice along with game tempo, Stotts should decide what chemistry works. Double teaming at the right time to create turnovers is better for team morale rather than ridiculous mistakes that morph into one turnover after another. The end of the SA game clearly was a coaching dilemma. We were in the game throughout until 6 minutes left.

Manu lit them up. It was on their home court and they are still fighting to make the playoffs. They didn't want to lose that game. Something tells me if the Blazers had Harkless to guard Manu he doesn't have that kind of impact.

 

[THE HCP]

Because you are in a position to know more than me i will not say you are wrong. But there are indications that they are tired and they are multiple. I'm sure you are very busy as you watch the games but i wonder if you get a chance to sit and watch a game and look at things that happen like the rest of us. Do you ever go back and watch a game? If you get a chance to watch last nights game again count how many shots went short off the front of the rim. Classic tired legs look.

Again i'm honestly not being snarky here. I think maybe you are a bit busy during games to see these things. Watch Aminu, CJ and Turner in particular.

I am actually too busy to ever watch the game. I really never know the score or time. I can just tell who is having a good game by how many times I have typed their name. I'm sure they are beat, it's a long season. But I truly believe we are just missing two of our main guys. A lot less talent out there the past 10 days. As far s getting a chance to watch, If it was a special game, I'll watch on the plane.

 

[THE HCP]

I get that we're missing two of our top 6-7 players and our regular rotation players are tired, but I can't get over the fact we blew two major chances against Memphis and Dallas. Had we won those, our guys could be resting right now with the 3rd seed locked up.

It evens itself out podcast boy. There have been a handful of games this season we stole that we didn't have any right winning. Sucks we lost those games, but it goes both ways FAMS!