Impressions on preseason so far

[Natebishop3]

• Rodney looks very rusty, which was to be expected. I think it's going to take him a while to get back, so I can't really see him at more than maybe 10 minutes per game.
  
  
• Melo on the second unit is iso ball to the extreme. Not a huge fan.
  
  
• DJJ has been super impressive so far. I'm actually a little scared we're not going to be able to afford him if he opts out this summer. His defense is solid, he has been consistently hitting the three ball, and the guy is just pure energy. I love it. But it's in control energy, which isn't always the case with someone like GTJ.
  
  
• Giles seems to be a keeper. So far it really seems like it's going to be hard to not play him over Kanter. Again, I'm really concerned that we won't be able to keep him this summer.
  
  
• I know it's preseason but RoCo hasn't been as disruptive defensively as I had hoped he would. Jones has been more impressive. But RoCo might be coasting a bit because it's preseason. Hopefully things improve when the games start to matter.
  
  
• Elleby won't be seeing the floor at all this season.
  
  
• I'm still very concerned about the backup point guard role.

 

[Pinwheel1]

I am impressed with the 3t shooting from Jones and Covington. I knew Covington could shoot 3s but his range is better than I thought. Jones seems good enough to keep the D honest.

Giles is the biggest surprise. He will help.

Right now they need to find a rotation and get some chemistry.

 

[Natebishop3]

I am impressed with the 3t shooting from Jones and Covington. I knew Covington could shoot 3s but his range is better than I thought. Jones seems good enough to keep the D honest.

Giles is the biggest surprise. He will help.

Right now they need to find a rotation and get some chemistry.

Really hoping Terry plays the actual rotation for the last two games against Denver. We need to start working out some kinks.

 

[Tince]

Really hoping Terry plays the actual rotation for the last two games against Denver. We need to start working out some kinks.

After tonights game, he said he will.

 

[illmatic99]

Roco and DJ add so much to our attack on both ends. Can legit play Zone for an extended period. Roco is more than just a stand still shooter, and DJ can be a decent 3pt threat

Giles is absolutely perfect as a first big off the bench. Kanter will be third string.

Trent is getting PAID. He can score off the dribble now? Holy hell, we better retain him.

Need to rein in Melo and his gunning a bit.

We need a backup PG in some sort of capacity.

I don't want a consolidation trade yet. It's nice having depth and choice with style of play. We can go big/small/slow/fast/etc etc. Not many teams have this kinda versatility.

 

[blazerkor]

Jones is what I thought he was. I think his stroke is nice, he just needs to get shots up and be set to hit the three consistently. Outside of that he's a monster on defense and everyone knows he can jump out of the gym.

RoCo is a vet, I think about his inconsistencies in a pre-season game the same way I think about it with Dame or CJ. He's going to be really solid for us regardless of what we see in essentially our fourth practice.

Giles looks amazing but it's preseason so I don't know how big of a deal that is. The guy was a big time recruit and you can see why but he's played about 1500 minutes in the NBA (by comparison Zach has logged 2700). So his inexperience could really show in the regular season or he might play like a future all NBAer and make himself a ton of money.

If Jones and Giles are playing insanely good ball at the trade deadline, we might have to think about packaging them for a guy that is close to equal to what they are giving us at that point but is on a longer deal or an expiring that has bird rights.

Other than that everyone looks fine. Dame and CJ are going to be Dame and CJ which means no matter what RoCo, Jones, and even Gary can do we won't be an elite perimeter defense but they do make us one of the most potent offenses in the league.

If we can get Hoodie and Zach back healthy, keep everyone else healthy and Giles continues to ball out there is going to be some kind of crazy battle for minutes. That's a far better problem to have than dressing 6 legitimate rotation players in a playoff series.

 

[THE HCP]

Postgame tonight Coach Stotts said he’s been very impressed with Giles, but he won’t be getting any minutes over Nurk/Kanter or Melo.

 

[GDiama]

Postgame tonight Coach Stotts said he’s been very impressed with Giles, but he won’t be getting any minutes over Nurk/Kanter or Melo.

He said all that? He said he won't get any minutes over them? If yes so what's the point of playing well, rotations shouldn't be set on stone. If he is better he should play.

 

[TBpup]

Postgame tonight Coach Stotts said "he’s been very impressed with Giles, but he won’t be getting any minutes over Nurk/Kanter or Melo."

That is disturbing and/or just plain ridiculous.

What is the point of depth off the bench if Melo is just going to go Iso everytime?
If Giles is playing well, there is a lot more he can do on the floor than Melo can ar this point.
Passing, defense, hustle, blocks and steals are part of the game as well.

It's very early, but with Melo going to the bench, he has turned into Iso only and has to get his shots up regardless or who may be open around him.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

• Rodney looks very rusty, which was to be expected. I think it's going to take him a while to get back, so I can't really see him at more than maybe 10 minutes per game.
  
  
• Melo on the second unit is iso ball to the extreme. Not a huge fan.
  
  
• DJJ has been super impressive so far. I'm actually a little scared we're not going to be able to afford him if he opts out this summer. His defense is solid, he has been consistently hitting the three ball, and the guy is just pure energy. I love it. But it's in control energy, which isn't always the case with someone like GTJ.
  
  
• Giles seems to be a keeper. So far it really seems like it's going to be hard to not play him over Kanter. Again, I'm really concerned that we won't be able to keep him this summer.
  
  
• I know it's preseason but RoCo hasn't been as disruptive defensively as I had hoped he would. Jones has been more impressive. But RoCo might be coasting a bit because it's preseason. Hopefully things improve when the games start to matter.
  
  
• Elleby won't be seeing the floor at all this season.
  
  
• I'm still very concerned about the backup point guard role.

• 2 of Rodney's 4 shots were long, contested 2s Did his injury affect his brain?
  
• I like Melo gunning off the bench. Terrible defenders should shoot or ride the bench. It doesn't make sense to pass on offense and play bad defense on the other end.
• agreed on DJJ, but I'll worry about next offseason later.
• Agreed. Stotts is going to play Kanter over Giles initially. Hopefully, this doesn't last long.
• Agreed about RoCo coasting a bit, which is appropriate for a vet. I've already seen our number of deflections go way up, though.
• Elleby isn't and won't be comfortable for a while (maybe years!), but he has shown that he's a player.
• I'm not. Ant was out, and Dame and CJ hardly played. Take out the top 3 pgs on any team, and they'll struggle.

 

[THE HCP]

He said all that? He said he won't get any minutes over them? If yes so what's the point of playing well, rotations shouldn't be set on stone. If he is better he should play.

 

[Natebishop3]

Meh that's just coach political speak. Nothing really truthful was said.

 

[Pinwheel1]

It always surprises me a little when players and coaches are surprised by a young player.
I guess they just don't have as much time as we do to watch players on other teams.

 

[tester551]

It always surprises me a little when players and coaches are surprised by a young player.
I guess they just don't have as much time as we do to watch players on other teams.

The thing is Giles really isn't a 'young' player anymore. This is his 4th season... just like Collins.

 

[riverman]

To me we looked like a team that had been locked out of the practice facility over covid and only been on a court together a few times....it was like watching pickup basketball...guys got gassed early...didn't have flow with getting to their spots or passing with anticipation...lot of unfamiliarity so far which is to be expected....Melo will not be on the court with the rookie and Dame's cousin again......it was all for film and homework....build some target areas for the new guys to look at. Give the coaching staff some areas of development to focus on

 

[Natebishop3]

To me we looked like a team that had been locked out of the practice facility over covid and only been on a court together a few times....it was like watching pickup basketball...guys got gassed early...didn't have flow with getting to their spots or passing with anticipation...lot of unfamiliarity so far which is to be expected....Melo will not be on the court with the rookie and Dame's cousin again......it was all for film and homework....build some target areas for the new guys to look at. Give the coaching staff some areas of development to focus on

Yeah, the short preseason is really going to hurt some teams. We are trying to integrate a lot of new faces.

 

[HolyBackboard]

The team has been together less than a week, I think it's silly to get too high or too low with anything we've seen from two pre-season games, one in which our top players played less than 15 minutes in.

With that said, here's what I've liked and how I see it projecting onto the team over the course of the 72-game season:
- DJJ's jump shot looks pretty. If he's able to knock it down from 3 even at the league average, our Starting 5 is going to be impossible to defend.
- Speaking of DJJ, he's so instinctive on defense and uses his length to disrupt passing lanes. I think he's going to help increase Portland's fast break points.
- RoCo is such a smart defender. I'd never judge his performance based off of a box score, either. Given the options ahead of him, he's not going to be taking a ton of shots but his value lies in the threat of leaving him open and his versatility on defense.
- When this team locks in for the regular season, I think we're going to see a strong defensive squad. Last year I lost count of how many times players lost their rotations or failed t o communicate with one other. So far, that's not the case with only Blevins (2-way) and Elleby (SRP) looking lost on that end of the floor at times.
- I'm really struggling trying to find where Zach Collins fits in with this team. Even before the pre-season, he was the 5th big. And if Giles continues to emerge as he's currently doing, that drops Zach into DNP territory. Portland's problem is that both Nurk and Giles have injury history so the team needs a lot of insurance. Zach may just have to be our pinch hitter this year if injuries (praying none happen) or foul trouble takes place.
- GIVE IT TIME. I cannot stress this enough. Not only has our Starting 5 never played a minute of regular season ball together but a lot of our core rotation pieces haven't played with one another either if you think about ... Melo didn't get much run with Nurk or Hood last year and didn't play with Kanter in 19, Trent emerged in the bubble but didn't play much with Rodney, Kanter returned from 19 but Trent didn't play at all his rookie year and Melo wasn't on the squad. So while there's some continuity, there's not a lot of overlap with actual game time shared on the court. Factor in two new starters in RoCo and DJJ and it'll take a lot of time before this team clicks. I know they can't afford a slow start, but what we see in the winter should not be what we see in the spring.

 

[twobullz]

My biggest concern is that the Blazers have so many scorers now that it might bog down the offense because they know once the pass the rock it most likely won't make it back to them again. With lots of guys playing for their next contract could see some guys worrying about stats and shots.

 

[oldfisherman]

Tons of great comments in this thread.

I believe the key to how far this roster goes in the playoffs, is how far they get away from iso ball, and play more of a team game.

This roster is loaded with talent and versatility. Iso ball kills those advantages.

 

[Scalma]

Postgame tonight Coach Stotts said "he’s been very impressed with Giles, but he won’t be getting any minutes over Nurk/Kanter or Melo."

That is disturbing and/or just plain ridiculous.

That’s really not what he said, especially if you’re going to put it into quotations.

He pretty much just suggested that it’s gonna take more than two preseason games to take minutes away from more established players. He didn’t close the book on the possibility though. He said the minutes will play itself out, he likes the way Giles is playing and he’s “impressing people.” I think that’s fair.

 

[B-Roy]

On Giles vs Kanter: it's 18 minutes per game at the backup center. It's not likely going to make too big of a difference considering Kanter does a good amount on the floor as well, even if Giles is a bit better. Giles will get his chances with the inevitable injuries/COVID cases.

I'm more worried about how the 2nd unit is going to run offensively and defensively. CJ/Trent/Hood/Melo/Kanter are 5 guys who are all great......at getting their own shot. I'm very worried that collectively they're going to much less than the sum of their parts in terms of talent level because outside of Trent, those are mostly offense only players, and not playmakers. So even though the talent is there, we may get killed on the defensive end and on offense just take turns playing iso-ball which is not very efficient.

Most excited about the starting lineup. Dame/CJ/DJJ/RoCo/Nurk has a chance to be a better version of the 18-19 team, and we can kill teams on both ends.

 

[tlongII]

I don't see what other people are seeing. I think Collins is a significantly better option at the 4 than Giles assuming he's healthy.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

I don't see what other people are seeing. I think Collins is a significantly better option at the 4 than Giles assuming he's healthy.

Why? What has Collins shown to support that belief?

 

[tlongII]

Why? What has Collins shown to support that belief?

A nice looking stoke and excellent defense. And this is in games that actually count.

 

[riverman]

I think the way we get jobbed by refs we'll need Collins and Giles ...Collins has a tendency to pick up fouls in bunches

 

[blazerkor]

• 2 of Rodney's 4 shots were long, contested 2s Did his injury affect his brain?
  
• I like Melo gunning off the bench. Terrible defenders should shoot or ride the bench. It doesn't make sense to pass on offense and play bad defense on the other end.
• agreed on DJJ, but I'll worry about next offseason later.
• Agreed. Stotts is going to play Kanter over Giles initially. Hopefully, this doesn't last long.
• Agreed about RoCo coasting a bit, which is appropriate for a vet. I've already seen our number of deflections go way up, though.
• Elleby isn't and won't be comfortable for a while (maybe years!), but he has shown that he's a player.
• I'm not. Ant was out, and Dame and CJ hardly played. Take out the top 3 pgs on any team, and they'll struggle.

I'm with everything you said except the idea that bad decision making doesn't point to having not played competitively in a year. It would stand to reason that as Hoodie plays more he should become more locked into the games both physically and mentally.

 

[Scalma]

A nice looking stoke and excellent defense. And this is in games that actually count.

Ok let’s look at the games that count, their mpg are close enough to be able to compare their stats imo (14 v 17)

PER: Giles
VORP: Giles
BPM: Giles
DBPM: Giles
TS %: Giles
REB %: Giles
AST %: Giles
STL %: Giles
BLK %: Collins
TOV%: Giles
WS/48: Giles

Zach is also older and more experienced, so not sure the “ceiling” argument could be made either, especially when you consider how highly rated Giles was coming out of high school.

Collins to me is a rim protecting center. He can play the four, but probably shouldn’t as it isn’t the best utilization of his skillset. Giles seems the better fit at the four, even though he may not be as good of a shooter. His playmaking ability offsets that.

 

[tlongII]

Ok let’s look at the games that count, their mpg is close enough to be able to compare their stats imo (14 v 17)

PER: Giles
VORP: Giles
BPM: Giles
DBPM: Giles
TS %: Giles
REB %: Giles
AST %: Giles
STL %: Giles
BLK %: Collins
TOV%: Giles
WS/48: Giles

Zach is also older and more experienced, so not sure the “ceiling” argument could be made either, especially when you consider how highly rated Giles was coming out of high school.

Let's see what the coaches think. I think they'll agree with me.

 

[Blazers Roy]

Kanter was unplayable in some games for Boston, but Stotts is no Brad Stevens. He has one plan and one plan only.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

The thing is Giles really isn't a 'young' player anymore. This is his 4th season... just like Collins.

Actually it's his 3rd year, and he only played 58 and 43 games in those seasons. He's 22.