Game Two Forensic Fan Post-game

[BrianFromWA]

I'm not sure I've ever seen a Blazers win like that. Nic Batum leading off in the first with a quick 15 points. Dame taking over in the second with a cool 11 of his own. Wes owning the third quarter to seemingly put the game out of reach, and LMA with the Carl Lewis-anchoring-the-4x100 "I'll take it from here, gents" to send the hometown's hopeful homeward hungry for happiness.

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For a while before Wes went off in the 3rd, the game log was eerily reminiscent of last year's team. The Core Four were all sitting in double figures, and yet the bench had only 12 points, with questions abounding about the starters' ability to keep enough of their legs under them to hold Denver off. Then Wes happened, and it all seemed (to many) that the Blazers were well on their way to seeing multiple Meyers Leonar_ 3-point attempts in their future.

But then, Professor Andre Miller and Krypto-Nate Robinson happened. And what was once a robust and hearty 26-point lead on the Blazers' side of the ledger rapidly dwindled to seven...

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Wes hit a resuscitation 3, LMA grabbed a timely board and Stotts called for a Blazers' timeout. Since GM Neil Olshey had cruelly removed Coach's favorite secret crunch time weapon from the roster:

he was forced to promise LMA a double share of Halloween candy leftovers if he could pull the Blazers' collective keisters out of the combustion. And respond he did.

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At that point, it was all over but for the NBA debut of Allen Crabbe, and 82 seconds of stat-padding crunch time. BTW, Meyers is now averaging 72 rebounds per 36. So there.

I would be remiss, however, in bringing up the results that I'm sure all are awaiting with bated breath--how did J.J. Hickson fare in "Revenge of the Rebounder" adventure?

Uh, about a well as Ricky Roach fared in his smack-talking...

Though, to be fair, poor Robin Lopez...I don't think his response was as good as he thought it was. Keanu, can you take it from here?
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Takeaways:
It's kind of dumb to gripe about a large win on the road, where the team was in control seemingly from end to end. If the Blazers are in position every road game to have a 26-point lead dwindle, I'll take it. But there were some trends worth watching:

1) Only 7 of LMA's 26 shots were in the paint. His shooting % regressed from last game's 54% to a more LMA-like 46%, and without the flurry at the end would've looked more troubling. As shown throughout the last 3 years, LMA (and the team) are at their peak efficiency when he's taking about 50% of his shots from the paint. If he's spending 73% of the time on offense hovering in the high post, without having effective rebounding down low from Lopez/Robinson/Freeland, (and Wes' career-best yeoman 12-rebound effort on the boards that mirrored Batum's in PHX saved the Blazers' bacon multiple times), then on the nights when the Blazers aren't shooting the lights out from 3 (63% tonight!) it's going to get ugly, quickly. It also has a deleterious effect on FT disparity--the 34-15 advantage for DEN was less about the refs serving up home cooking for the Nuggets and more about their guards' willingness to drive, and their bigs' willingness to "scrap" for rebounds--and if the offense is going to give the opponents 60 possessions a game with shots from the high post or ThreePointLand, you're not going to get many FT opportunities, not get as many starters in foul trouble, not go as deep into the bench, and not have as many matchups to exploit. But again, small concern in a double-digit road win.

2) We have some absolute mad bombers on this team. Nic and Dame and Wes and Dorell put on a show from downtown, and if the trend of even 2 or 3 of them being hot on a given night continues, then this'll be a fun (and high-scoring) team to watch. Tonight's 14-22 showing, coupled with the 26 in the attempted comeback in PHX, probably portends a showing near the top of the league at the end of the year, but I'm intrigued to see LMA step out more.

3) Mo Williams concerns me a bit. I don't know if his shot is broken, he's a step slower, or what, but he seems tied with Lopez as the weak link in the rotation right now. At a position (combo guard with handles) where we seemed awfully deep a couple of months ago, Mo's ineffectiveness combined with CJ's injury means that there could be some long nights against teams equipped to exploit mistakes with the ball or weakness in rebounding. Mo's 22 shots in 49 minutes is MicroWave-esque, but he's gotta shoot better than 30% and cut down on the TOs to be the 6th Man of the Year/Bench Gunner candidate everyone wants him to be.

All in all, awesome game. Go Blazers.

 

[magnifier661]

Nice take, but the lma thing. He was on the low block a lot tonight. Those 10-12 footers still demand doubles and give his team good opportunities to rebound. It's only when he's hitting those 17-20 footers.

 

[HomerLovesKoolAid]

REALLY nice to see that kind of assertiveness from Batum. I can live with missed shots if he is decisive and shoots them in rhythm.

 

[Public Defender]

One thing about Robin Lopez and rebounding that'll be interesting to watch is this: there were analysts saying at the time of the trade that Lopez' individual rebound numbers aren't what's important. They say that because of his fundamentals (boxing out ability, particularly), he elevates the rebounding numbers for his entire team more than for himself.

Tonight, the Blazers were even with the Nuggets in rebounding numbers. In Phoenix, the Suns won that battle.

If Portland can consistently outrebound opponents - while keeping opponents' field goal percentages down - I'll be inclined to think that Lopez has improved the Blazers' defense.

 

[Drttimmy]

I like these forensic reports, Brian, I hope you plan on doing one for most games. I have nothing original to say. Games look easier when you make your shots. It's a little disheartening to continue seeing guards break down our perimeter D and get easier little 12 footers. That's been an issue forever. Our transition defense was exposed a little tonight, too. Good bounce back win. Our resolve down the stretch was great to see. Remember when Aldridge "apparently" had 4th quarter yips? He's sorta put those to rest the last 2 years and was strong down the stretch.

 

[Natebishop3]

Brian I don't understand why you keep bringing up the bench. They had 12 points in the first half. They finished with 26 points for the game. That's not bad.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

These are so good! Thanks for the write up!

 

[HailBlazers]

Where did you find that? That is awesome, a young LaMonster.

Nice take, but the lma thing. He was on the low block a lot tonight. Those 10-12 footers still demand doubles and give his team good opportunities to rebound. It's only when he's hitting those 17-20 footers.

The Nuggets had no answer. He was Beastin in the post.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

That moment was so good. I cheered from my couch when I saw him say "Bitch" as he swished the free throw. So so good.

 

[WillG]

Such a contrast from the Phoenix game.
I was encouraged by how the team was playing to end the second quarter.
No easy baskets, and if you dared bring it at the rim there would be physical contact there to greet you.
Can't recall seeing LaMarcus protect & challenge like that. Good to see.

Batum was confident in his shot - and needed to be, because his shot selection was iffy - taking shots of a very high degree of difficulty.

I was really excited by the addition of Mo Williams, he certainly played well against us last season, but he has been dreadful. Just chucking.
Watching him, and his body language/interactions with other players - i believe there is an 'Alpha dog' thing going on with him and the rest of the team, and this is contributing to his chucking. If that pecking order gets sorted out, we may see Mo settle into his role a bit more.

 

[STOMP]

Nice take, but the lma thing. He was on the low block a lot tonight. Those 10-12 footers still demand doubles and give his team good opportunities to rebound.

yeah the never ending drum beating for him to primarily set up down low is tired & misguided. Brian acts like he's just drifting up top because he's lazy or something, but it's by design that he's on the high post and that won't change until some other Big shows themselves to be competent at it. I hold out hope that Freeland's game can evolve some more to be a passable option, but no way in hell do Lopez or Robinson have the sort of skills to operate from the top of the key which would allow LA to man the low block.

Awesome game last night

STOMP

 

[magnifier661]

yeah the never ending drum beating for him to primarily set up down low is tired & misguided. Brian acts like he's just drifting up top because he's lazy or something, but it's by design that he's on the high post and that won't change until some other Big shows themselves to be competent at it. I hold out hope that Freeland's game can evolve some more to be a passable option, but no way in hell do Lopez or Robinson have the sort of skills to operate from the top of the key which would allow LA to man the low block.

Awesome game last night

STOMP

That's the thing. If he's 10-15 from the basket, it really isn't a problem, since he's still career averaging them at an above 50% rate. And the reality is that threat from 20 still stretches the defense. It's like a stretch 4 offense, with that same forward able to abuse the paint.

It is pretty awesome hearing the other announcers praise Aldridge's shooting game. They just couldn't believe how impressive his range is.

 

[Jayps15]

That's the thing. If he's 10-15 from the basket, it really isn't a problem, since he's still career averaging them at an above 50% rate. And the reality is that threat from 20 still stretches the defense. It's like a stretch 4 offense, with that same forward able to abuse the paint.

It is pretty awesome hearing the other announcers praise Aldridge's shooting game. They just couldn't believe how impressive his range is.

http://www.basketball-reference.com...tat=&c3comp=ge&c3val=&order_by=fg#stats::none

Nope, 10-15 he shoots basically the same as he does for his career from 20ft. And like Brian and everybody else has pretty much said, a 42.5% 2pter with a very slim chance of drawing FTs is not a very efficient shot.

 

[Rhal]

Great game recap. Fun as all heck to read as well.