Game Thread GAME# 81: TIMBERWOLVES @ BLAZERS - APRIL 9, 2016 - SATURDAY, 7:30 PM (PDT), CSNNW

[Tunchi]

Worst part is now I have to root for the Crappers to beat the Mavericks.

Takes love thy enemy to a whole new level.

Clippers are resting everybody Dallas is winning out


Be prepared for thunder that's our matchup

 

[Draco]

18th, 12th and 4th, those are team defensive efficiency ratings under Stevens. Benefit of the doubt? I'm not sure.

There was a period in the year where our defense was actually doing better, but then it regressed again, and to even worse numbers. What the heck?

Stevens teams have improved significantly the last few seasons. Doesn't that prove my point of giving a coach more years with less roster turnover?

 

[42N8Bounce]

Capable scoring bigs is this team achilles heel.

Perhaps that's why Olshey was targeting guys like Kanter and Monroe. I'm a fan of Kanter and think he would have been a good fit to this team.

There's not a lot of good scoring Bigs on the free agent market this summer. At this point, the draft is not an option, and even that wouldn't bear fruit for 3-4 years. Let's hope Vonleh can see a big jump up in productivity next year and fill some of that void. At some point, "potential" becomes a bad word.

 

[Draco]

Perhaps that's why Olshey was targeting guys like Kanter and Monroe. I'm a fan of Kanter and think he would have been a good fit to this team.

There's not a lot of good scoring Bigs on the free agent market this summer. At this point, the draft is not an option, and even that wouldn't bear fruit for 3-4 years. Let's hope Vonleh can see a big jump up in productivity next year and fill some of that void. At some point, "potential" becomes a bad word.

I read it as it's our defensive problem; not offense. Which I agree with, I'd rather have a defensive center here than Kanter or Monroe.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

I'm hoping for J. Okafor . . .

Defending capable scoring bigs is our problem.

Okafor doesn't help in that area.

 

[Draco]

It looks like we were trying to defend the 3. Did we know they were down 1?

 

[Tunchi]

It looks like we were trying to defend the 3. Did we know they were down 1?

God Towns is nice

 

[Tunchi]

This team doesn't look ready to compete in the playoffs. Barely beating the Thunder 2nd unit, now losing to the t-wolves at home.

I agree

 

[DUB]

I think our defense is only on Stotts in certain situations (like end game tonight).

For the most part, I think it's mix of the usual disrespect (on both ends of the court) towards Portland by the refs (the refs only treat Toronto worse than us); and effort by our players (especially our guards).

Look at Patty Mills for a comparison. He went from a poor defender with us, to a solid defender with the Spurs. He did this by changing teams (thus gaining more ref respect), improving his fitness to get quicker feet, and focusing his effort on defense ('cause Pops wouldn't give Patty court time if he didn't).

That should be a team stat: RR (ref respect).

I think that although there's nothing our players can do to gain RR, they can (and should) focus more effort on defense rather than offense.

I say this because we are a good offensive team, and have good offensive players. I think our offense would still be good if our players expended a little less effort on offense. I think our defense would be greatly improved if our players (especially our guards) expended a little more effort on defense.

I think that on an effort v reward scale, we would gain more (because of the skill sets of our players) by expending effort on defense, than we would by expending the same effort on offense.

Look at the gains we made by practicing, and focusing on defense during the All-Star break.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

I blame Mags.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

Why does he have to stop or why does he have to leave. I have never seen him attack other posters or insult other posters. I don't think he is even trying to incite other posters; they do that to themselves. I think it is absolutely wrong and authoritarian in nature to threaten to kick him out.

He insulted people in this thread...

 

[DUB]

Actually, the West is still the stronger of the two conferences with a win percentage of 0.506. Not as strong as last year (0.525), but still the stronger conference.

Seems to me that the top end of the East is still shallow, but the middle has greatly improved.

Meanwhile the top end of the West has gotten insanely good, but the middle has declined (thus our rise).

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Perhaps that's why Olshey was targeting guys like Kanter and Monroe. I'm a fan of Kanter and think he would have been a good fit to this team.

This is the one obsession of Olshey's that really worries me.

Let's look at how valuable Milwaukee and OKC are finding their prize FA acquisitions, shall we? I'm pretty sure one or both will be available in trade.

 

[BlazerDuckSeahawkFan94]

This is the one obsession of Olshey's that really worries me.

Let's look at how valuable Milwaukee and OKC are finding their prize FA acquisitions, shall we? I'm pretty sure one or both will be available in trade.

I don't think it's fair to point out Kanter and Monroe's struggles on their teams when you consider the context. Kanter plays with two top 5 players that LOVE the ball in their hands, Monroe plays on a team with practically no spacing. Now, defensively they aren't very good but offensively in our system they'd be very effective.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Perhaps that's why Olshey was targeting guys like Kanter and Monroe. I'm a fan of Kanter and think he would have been a good fit to this team.

Second comment: if guys like that do well against us, shouldn't we be getting somebody who STOPS guys like that? Or do we get the players themselves and say, "you'll do great when we play the Blazers!"

 

[HailBlazers]

It looks like we were trying to defend the 3. Did we know they were down 1?

how the heck did we not have a single big in the game?

 

[tester551]

I

how the heck did we not have a single big in the game?

I don't know. That was infuriating to me!

 

[riverman]

Missed the game due to work but looks like it was quite an ending....Lillard's 4 pt play was sweet...Minnesota has a lot of talent on the roster. Lot of upsets last night. Go Blazers!!

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

He insulted people in this thread...

I can't believe that I scrolled through this entire thread to find the insults, but anything in the interest of justice...

So, Tunchi called KS an idiot for saying the Lakers are good. Now actually I would say that stating that the Lakers are good is so outlandishly untrue that it could be considered a statement meant to incite, which would be what you would hear from a true troll.
But Mr. Gorilla, you are right, according to the rules it was an insult. Mr. Tunchi, what you needed to say is that it was the most idiotic assertion you have ever heard; that would be ok. Some of the other posters understand the rules, e.g., it is ok to label your posts as "bullshit" but it would not be ok to call you a "bullshitter". By the way, I think Tunchi not only adds to the post count with his posts and the replies to them, but most of the people on the board at any one time are only observers; I suspect many of them like a little bit of controversy, so Tunchi is actually an economic booster for the board.

 

[42N8Bounce]

This is the one obsession of Olshey's that really worries me.

Let's look at how valuable Milwaukee and OKC are finding their prize FA acquisitions, shall we? I'm pretty sure one or both will be available in trade.

I know it's not a popular opinion on this site, but I'd be happy to take either Kanter or Monroe. Especially Kanter. He's only 23 years old with room to grow. He has a PER of 24.5. He grabs 8.1 rebounds per game, which is 1.0 more than Ed Davis does in the same amount of minutes per game (and he's an excellent offensive rebounder). He shoots a very good percentage (0.629 TS% compared to Ed Davis 0.618). And he takes care of the ball (Turnover percentage of 12.0 compared to Ed Davis of 12.7 or Plumlee of 18.5.) Yes, I know he's not the defensive rim protector everyone desires. But I think his offensive skills outweigh his defensive deficiencies and would blend well with this team as constructed.

I think it's important to have a balanced scoring effort on a team. I love it that Dame and CJ are incredibly talented scorers. But there's a huge drop off after that. We need a third reliable scoring option, preferably at one of the Big positions.

 

[DreamKillah]

Defending capable scoring bigs is our problem.

Okafor doesn't help in that area.

At his best,Okafor is a decent rim-protector . . .

 

[BBert]

But for the love of god there's no reason we should give up an asset for nothing

Teams like Portland we need to build thru the draft.

I for one don't consider you a "troll" in the biblical sense and your posts don't bother me.

But when you keep posting things like this with one game left in the season and the Blazers fighting for the fifth seed in the playoffs it leads me to question the mental acuity of your posts.

In what bizarre alternative reality would the players buy in to losing games on purpose so management can replace one of them with a draft pick? There are too many things wrong with that idea to even waste time trying to explain them all. TANKING ON PURPOSE WAS NEVER AN OPTION.

Then there is the claim that our young, developing, over-achieving team will gain no tangible or positive benefit from the playoff experience they have earned this season and are poised to reep.

Balderdash! (HCP: That means bullshit.)

I've never played in the NBA playoffs myself, but I believe it's universally accepted that the experience gained in doing so is absolutely invaluable and utterly necessary for future playoff success. The players and the team are going to get that experience and that irreplaceable post season training one year early, further accelerating our rebuild. Yes, Victoria, there is a Santa Claus. This playoff exposure also allows management to evaluate our players and helps to determine needs, weaknesses, potential, and off-season moves.

I could go on, but I doubt anyone has even read this far.

Really though, if you aren't trolling, I'm concerned about your mental well-being. You seriously have got to stop dwelling on the past. In this case, the past that did not result in the Blazers getting a high draft pick this year. It's over. It's done. Your constant lament over a "lost" draft pick is not going to change anything. You can't change the past, only the future. And in this case, YOU CAN'T CHANGE ANYTHING Blazers related.

Please get over it.

 

[Tunchi]

I can't believe that I scrolled through this entire thread to find the insults, but anything in the interest of justice...

So, Tunchi called KS an idiot for saying the Lakers are good. Now actually I would say that stating that the Lakers are good is so outlandishly untrue that it could be considered a statement meant to incite, which would be what you would hear from a true troll.
But Mr. Gorilla, you are right, according to the rules it was an insult. Mr. Tunchi, what you needed to say is that it was the most idiotic assertion you have ever heard; that would be ok. Some of the other posters understand the rules, e.g., it is ok to label your posts as "bullshit" but it would not be ok to call you a "bullshitter". By the way, I think Tunchi not only adds to the post count with his posts and the replies to them, but most of the people on the board at any one time are only observers; I suspect many of them like a little bit of controversy, so Tunchi is actually an economic booster for the board.

Hahaha

Regarding the "insult", that was literally the first time I ever said anything of that nature to a poster. LITERALLY

But KS statement was so stupid I mean outlandish that it warranted such response. But my fault for hurting anybodies feelings. I got punished by the mods anyways (they know what they did)

All in all, once the season is over you guys will see a more homer Tunchi trust me. It just pisses me off we're losing an asset for nothing this year coming off a fantastic season. We really could have spent so much time and fun discussing draft picks like Valentine, Sabbas son, etc and seeing perhaps we can flip that pick and say Meyers for a rotational player. That's all I'm saying. We're not getting a big name free agent so I'm just wondering why the hell would we make our job harder by giving up assets when clearly our window doesn't start this year??

But again hey let's see what we do in the playoffs maybe we go all the way and you guys can say "I told you so" to me

 

[Tunchi]

I for one don't consider you a "troll" in the biblical sense and your posts don't bother me.

But when you keep posting things like this with one game left in the season and the Blazers fighting for the fifth seed in the playoffs it leads me to question the mental acuity of your posts.

In what bizarre alternative reality would the players buy in to losing games on purpose so management can replace one of them with a draft pick? There are too many things wrong with that idea to even waste time trying to explain them all. TANKING ON PURPOSE WAS NEVER AN OPTION.

Then there is the claim that our young, developing, over-achieving team will gain no tangible or positive benefit from the playoff experience they have earned this season and are poised to reep.

Balderdash! (HCP: That means bullshit.)

I've never played in the NBA playoffs myself, but I believe it's universally accepted that the experience gained in doing so is absolutely invaluable and utterly necessary for future playoff success. The players and the team are going to get that experience and that irreplaceable post season training one year early, further accelerating our rebuild. Yes, Victoria, there is a Santa Claus. This playoff exposure also allows management to evaluate our players and helps to determine needs, weaknesses, potential, and off-season moves.

I could go on, but I doubt anyone has even read this far.

Really though, if you aren't trolling, I'm concerned about your mental well-being. You seriously have got to stop dwelling on the past. In this case, the past that did not result in the Blazers getting a high draft pick this year. It's over. It's done. Your constant lament over a "lost" draft pick is not going to change anything. You can't change the past, only the future. And in this case, YOU CAN'T CHANGE ANYTHING Blazers related.

Please get over it.

Very fair. Your post really hit home now for me. You know what I think it's time for me to sit back and just see what you guys wanted to see in the playoffs. I'm ready to keep my mouth shut and just smile to see what everybody was talking about

 

[oldmangrouch]

I know it's not a popular opinion on this site, but I'd be happy to take either Kanter or Monroe. Especially Kanter. He's only 23 years old with room to grow. He has a PER of 24.5. He grabs 8.1 rebounds per game, which is 1.0 more than Ed Davis does in the same amount of minutes per game (and he's an excellent offensive rebounder). He shoots a very good percentage (0.629 TS% compared to Ed Davis 0.618). And he takes care of the ball (Turnover percentage of 12.0 compared to Ed Davis of 12.7 or Plumlee of 18.5.) Yes, I know he's not the defensive rim protector everyone desires. But I think his offensive skills outweigh his defensive deficiencies and would blend well with this team as constructed.

I think it's important to have a balanced scoring effort on a team. I love it that Dame and CJ are incredibly talented scorers. But there's a huge drop off after that. We need a third reliable scoring option, preferably at one of the Big positions.

There is a great deal of validity in what you are saying. If Monroe/Kanter gave an honest effort on "D" and just weren't very good - I would be more inclined to grit my teeth and accept it. My problem, is that both strike me as *lazy* defenders. For the type of money they are making, that is not acceptable.

 

[42N8Bounce]

Very fair. Your post really hit home now for me. You know what I think it's time for me to sit back and just see what you guys wanted to see in the playoffs. I'm ready to keep my mouth shut and just smile to see what everybody was talking about

I think the success of getting into the playoffs won't necessarily bear fruit in simply playoff wins this year. Yes, I'm hoping for a few wins and an overall competitive series. But just because we get bumped in the first round doesn't make it a bad result to the season. I'll be judging the long term affects of making the playoff this year by our success in bringing in some solid free agents this summer, and development of our young players into next year. We've built a winning culture here now. Players expect to win. As a fan of this team, that's what I want to see.

 

[bodyman5000 and 1]

how the heck did we not have a single big in the game?

Stotts wouldn't get a job coaching 5th grade girls if that was the only video in his application. It is a good thing I'm not Paul Allen, I'd have security escort him out of the building. Hell, I'd hire investigators to make sure he isn't a buddy of Pete Rose and Tim Donaghy.

 

[UncleCliffy'sDaddy]

This was such an unexpectedly successful and entertaining year that, at least as far as I'm concerned, we have absolutely nothing to whine about. Anything from here on out is gravy. I love this group. And meltdowns and screw ups aside by a young group learning to play together, they're only going to get better. Let's quit playing the "what if" game and revel in our overachievement. These guys rock!

 

[cardova08]

Just watched the replay after not being able to watch last night. Disappointing for sure but the T Wolves are going to be a problem in this league for the foreseeable future. They'll add another top 5 or so pick on top of what they have now, so they'll be a fun team to follow.
That Rubio, Levine, Prince, Wiggins, KAT lineup that really won the game late for them is one with a lot of length and athleticism. That's the type of defense that really is going to give the Blazers issues. They also have two guys in Wiggins and KAT that can get high percentage shots at any time because of their great length and athleticism.
I think the Blazers really missed Hendo late and pretty much throughout the whole game. I would have liked to have seen Vonleh get some run in the 2nd half as he was pretty active in the 1st. We really saw a pretty pedestrian performance from Harkless and that hurt as well.
I'm not sure if putting Aminu on a guy like KAT is ever a good idea. I think Stotts missed on that matchup and obviously it ended up losing the game.

 

[PDXFonz]

Should have pissed the Blazers off. Denver has a tough one ahead of them. Let's see how hard we can steamroll them and carry that momentum into the playoffs.