GAME THREAD: 76ERS @ BLAZERS - JANUARY 4, 2014, SATURDAY, 7:00 PM, CSNNW

[illmatic99]

Our strong start gives us some leeway for a loss here and there. Today was a statistical anomaly for the most part. We went like 5-25 in the fourth and were awful from 3pt all night.

Give PHL credit for running our shooters off the 3pt line, but teams like LAC/OKC/IND etc did the same thing and we still came out on top. Gotta stick to our strengths and make sure our numbers regress to the mean.

But what we can control is defense, and it has been awful all season long. Perimeter players especially need to focus on keeping guys in front. Our opponent guards get into the lane way too easily.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

I don't know what some of you are bitching about, I'm the only who predicted we wouldn't lose a game this year. The rest of you predicted we would lose some games. This is one of the ones you predicted.

LOL

I'm the only one who has the right to bitch. The Blazers just broke my heart.

 

[Sinobas]

Bitching about the refs is for losers. Winners win, losers bitch.

And the Blazers lost because Give Me Mo Playin' Time Williams was +14 but only played 24 min.

Game.

That's also bullshit simplistic way of looking at it, because referees CAN decide the outcome of a game. Of course, to really analyze that accurately, you'd need to go back and review every call made or missed in the entire game. If the balance is >= the margin of victory, then yes, the refs did decide the game.

 

[Sinobas]

I just wish these guys would fucking get blown out rather than lose by 2.....why put me through armegeddeon, my poor dog hides in my closet shaking because I yell at the TV and slam stuff. But he's ok now, I gave him a big puppy hug.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Live by the three, die by the three!

13.6% <------------

The starters shot 1-15 from three.

 

[Natebishop3]

I don't know how you can blame the refs for this one.

We shot 6 more Free throws.

We could have tied on a free throw.

We played piss-poor defense, we shoot very poorly from the perimeter, and we gave up a pretty big little lead in the 4th quarter, and yet we still had a chance to win or tie. This one is on us.

 

[Strenuus]

I just wish these guys would fucking get blown out rather than lose by 2.....why put me through armegeddeon, my poor dog hides in my closet shaking because I yell at the TV and slam stuff. But he's ok now, I gave him a big puppy hug.

haha!

 

[Strenuus]

We're still 18 games over .500. No one really expected this. I'll take these anomalous games as long as it doesn't become a trend.

When we beat Indiana, SA, etc there was much excitement and were told it's just one game. This has to be viewed as the same, all of it is 1 game out of 82. Perspective is key.

All that said, for THIS game, we lost. It was our fault. Ah well. Again, 1 out of 82.

 

[Blazer Fanatic]

the blazers did deserve to lose. They came out flat, had many mental lapses, played horrible defense and relied too much on a shot that wasn't going down. Now while you may not feel that they deserved to lose, it doesn't give you the right to call those who express that opinion an "idiot".

You just respond to something that said "If you say (x), you are an idiot" and then proceeded to say (x). Brilliant.

Do I have brain control, or should I believe you when you label yourself by responding as you did?

 

[DUB]

Joel was too shattered by this to play more minutes.

I'm surprised he even suited up.

 

[rasheedfan2005]

During the first half mike and mike showed the steal of the game, which was a pair of pants, for 65 Fucking dollars. This loss was a karma bitch slap for an attempt at raping the fan bass. Thanks marketing team.

 

[Strenuus]

During the first half mike and mike showed the steal of the game, which was a pair of pants, for 65 Fucking dollars. This loss was a karma bitch slap for an attempt at raping the fan bass. Thanks marketing team.

Is the fan bass anything like that singing bass you can put up on your wall?

 

[TBpup]

Portland was 24-5 but have now lost 3 of their last 5. That seems like it is coming back down to earth at least a bit and certainly a change in trend. That doesn't make me an idiot but seems much more like simply reality.

I wish they had won, they should have won, they played horribly and I hope that changes. But the simple fact is they are not playing as well, not shooting as well and still playing very poor defense that the decline in shooting no longer covers.

 

[rasheedfan2005]

Is the fan bass anything like that singing bass you can put up on your wall?

I hate my phone. Don't change the subject. $65... FOR PANTS?

 

[yenniedn]

I hate my phone. Don't change the subject. $65... FOR PANTS?

$65 isn't expensive for pants; plenty of pants cost way more than that. Just a matter of the quality of those pants - which I couldn't tell from the pic. But $65 isn't outrageous.

 

[Blazer Fanatic]

Curious... when does shooting 36.4% from the field, and 13.6% from 3, equate to normal for the Blazers? You know - normal, back to reality, returning from fantasy… “coming back down to earth”.

It's use about tonight's game does seem rather misplaced, lazy, and even stupid. Maybe the need to project clairvoyance and deep philosophical understanding of causation in few words is what solicits such phrases.

Could some delicate genius, who can’t help themselves but vomit up dumb shit clichés after a Blazer loss, please articulate for the rest of us mere Blazer fans what the fantasy was prior to the Blazers returning to reality? And go.


Or rather, what is the reality and the norm Portland returned to?

A normal 9 block a game team? A realistic 19 offensive rebounds a game team? A 26 assists on 36 makes team? A 7 steal a game team? Three players with double-doubles a game team? An 18 turnover a game team? A 36.4 FG% shooting team? A 13.6 3PT% shooting team? A team where Mo Williams shoots better from 2 and from 3 than Lillard, LA, Wes, and Batum? A tied for 2nd in the Western Conference and ½ game back from 1st having beaten that #1 team two times in two tries… team? Go on.


Portland had their worst shooting performance in 34 tries and got beat by 2 points on a night where the poor officiating was palatable. But by all means, don’t let me bog anyone down here. Someone was about to diagram the sky-is-falling, return to reality and normalcy taking place that did not occur a game ago, but is now, a definitive, and downward trending occurrence. This should be exciting.


The Blazers shot a terrible 36% one game and lost. Next up: Kings.

 

[oldmangrouch]

Curious... when does shooting 36.4% from the field, and 13.6% from 3, equate to normal for the Blazers? You know - normal, back to reality, returning from fantasy… “coming back down to earth”.

It's use about tonight's game does seem rather misplaced, lazy, and even stupid. Maybe the need to project clairvoyance and deep philosophical understanding of causation in few words is what solicits such phrases.

Could some delicate genius, who can’t help themselves but vomit up dumb shit clichés after a Blazer loss, please articulate for the rest of us mere Blazer fans what the fantasy was prior to the Blazers returning to reality? And go.


Or rather, what is the reality and the norm Portland returned to?

A normal 9 block a game team? A realistic 19 offensive rebounds a game team? A 26 assists on 36 makes team? A 7 steal a game team? Three players with double-doubles a game team? An 18 turnover a game team? A 36.4 FG% shooting team? A 13.6 3PT% shooting team? A team where Mo Williams shoots better from 2 and from 3 than Lillard, LA, Wes, and Batum? A tied for 2nd in the Western Conference and ½ game back from 1st having beaten that #1 team two times in two tries… team? Go on.


Portland had their worst shooting performance in 34 tries and got beat by 2 points on a night where the poor officiating was palatable. But by all means, don’t let me bog anyone down here. Someone was about to diagram the sky-is-falling, return to reality and normalcy taking place that did not occur a game ago, but is now, a definitive, and downward trending occurrence. This should be exciting.


The Blazers shot a terrible 36% one game and lost. Next up: Kings.

The short answer: over the last 10 games the Blazers are 6-4. Perfectly respectable, but not on par with their earlier hot streak. Hence the "returning to earth" comments. What is your prefered term - and are we really going to argue over semantics?

 

[BBert]

The short answer: over the last 10 games the Blazers are 6-4. Perfectly respectable, but not on par with their earlier hot streak. Hence the "returning to earth" comments. What is your prefered term - and are we really going to argue over semantics?

What do some people like to say: 'regressing to the mean'? Maybe 6-4 is a better reflection of the team's true abilities in relation to the league? That's pretty good, still. 6-4 will take us a long way in the playoffs. But I was getting spoiled by the 24-5 play, and I'd kinda like them to get back to that after this little hiccup.

 

[Blazer Fanatic]

The short answer: over the last 10 games the Blazers are 6-4. Perfectly respectable, but not on par with their earlier hot streak. Hence the "returning to earth" comments. What is your prefered term - and are we really going to argue over semantics?

Pick your snap shot I guess if that is what you personally are looking at. But here's the rub, Portland's "hot streak" happened. It wasn't a dream. They actually played and won all those games. In reality. Earth, in the phrase "come back to earth" means "reality" or the "norm". It's syntax, not semantics. What is the norm? If the "realists" who all projected 38-41 wins had anything to say about what the "norm" is, they still be living a nightmare, scrambling to discredit the Blazers and their success - which is exactly what people are saying when they use the lazy and misplaced cliche' "coming back to earth." If that's not what they want people to take away from their comment, they should use different syntax.

Were the Blazers on Earth the game before Philly? People pick an choose what fits their narrative and explanation for why thing happen, call themselves "realists" and then seek to bestow their "wisdom" and dose of reality to all Blazer fans. News flash: fans don't appreciate "realists" telling them their team sucks, their players suck, or that their team is headed for a worse record. And even less so when the "realist" have a 38 win pre-season prediction lodged in their rear.

I'm just a Blazer fan. What do I know?

 

[riverman]

It's called being human I think, I traveled extensively when I was young like these players and I performed night after night on the road (music) and almost every night was a back to back. For folks who've never done this, it's grueling and nobody is at the top of their game night in and night out. Put what these guys do in perspective and I say, cut them some slack when they lose a game or someone has a poor performance. Damian was one of the worst players on the court in this game but it's just one game. You can only come back from a big deficit so many times and win before you lose a few.