Improvements you noticed last night

[Blazer4ever]

Yeah. Crabbe taking the dribble both before and after contact was really nice. He played under control and made smart decisions.

Turner, aside from his shooting, did a lot of the little things right to get people in the right spots. I think he is going to be a big net + here, and his shooting will just be something we will live with... especially if Crabbe does this on a consistent basis..

And Vonleh. That was beautiful. I've always been high on him from the day we got him... I will still wait for the consistency of it... but that is the Vonleh we only hope we can have most nights. With young players though, consistency is wavering... but we know what we COULD get from him. He may have to endure some Meyers' like consistency complaints from fans... but if he is like this, he is SO much more useful on this team than Meyers. Meyers is a decoy, Vonleh can actually do it.

Thought of liking this post until the last sentence. Meyers is the real deal. Noah may also be the real deal but it doesn't mean Meyers isn't. He's just getting back from the injury and I'm guessing his defense is still far from good (still haven't watched a game this year to really know) but Meyers is a vital part of the plan

 

[Voodoo]

Well if Mike Rice wasn't announcing anything, that is a huge plus! A negative though is that the Moda Center lost revenue from lost alcohol sales if he wasn't announcing.

 

[rasheedfan2005]

That only happened because Plumlee had 4 fouls in his 15 minutes, so attempted zero free throws.





His nickname should almost be haiku. "He's Iso Joe, but not Black Hole, shave and a haircut. Six bits."

Plumlee improved last year. ed davis was 100% from the stripe, even on such a small sample size, wowza has that ever happened?

 

[rasheedfan2005]

I liked hurd actually as color commentator. i miss the mikes but it sounded like hurd is already a fan. calabro is very professional but kind of boring i think they will improve as a team though.

 

[OneLifeToLive]

I liked hurd actually as color commentator. i miss the mikes but it sounded like hurd is already a fan. calabro is very professional but kind of boring i think they will improve as a team though.

There was a signature sound with the mikes when watching the Blazers that's currently missing with these two guys. It will take awhile for the fans to get used to them. But I like what I'm hearing from the two. I've always liked Calabro and Hurd is excited. That is a refreshing thing. Rice most of the time was going through the motions and throwing in fillers hoping it would stick. I feel he was burned out a long time ago.

 

[Strenuus]

Thought of liking this post until the last sentence. Meyers is the real deal. Noah may also be the real deal but it doesn't mean Meyers isn't. He's just getting back from the injury and I'm guessing his defense is still far from good (still haven't watched a game this year to really know) but Meyers is a vital part of the plan

Mkay. Until you watch games, you really can't say anything.

 

[Sinobas]

We had halfway decent Jazz trolls in here last night. Much better than that Golden State troll last year.

Mormons.....they just can't bring themselves to mean.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

He was on the floor with Meyers and Mason during the 3rd quarter when the Jazz made their run and took the lead. Johnson was scoring over Dame at will. Yes, Dame was excellent offensively, but he was also a big part of the worst defensive stretch of the game, so his +/- suffered.

He was guarded by Dame twice during Johnson's run; Harkless, Crabbe, Davis, Aminu, Turner, and Leonard all got burned by him too.

 

[BBert]

I did like the change up Stotts did after a crucial timeout. Next play Utah gets Dame switched on Joe but while Joe ran through the paint Dame switched off of Joe and Harkless took over. It was perfect change up to what they were doing before where Stotts would just leave Dame on Joe.

Strategic FTW

 

[Orion Bailey]

Well he did have 4 turnovers. He played well, but he has to take better care of the ball.

Are you basing that off the stat, or did you watch the game and know where and when those turnovers happened? Two were specific passes where the player he was passing to took off in the middle of the pass, so it went out of bounds. Some of that isn't better ball handling, but simply getting more familiar with the teammates and their tendencies.

 

[H.C.]

To me. the biggest improvement last night was Lillard. When your best player continues to get better and take it to a whole new level, that's HUGE for the success of your team. Yes, it's a one game sample size, but it's all we have right now. Dame's shot selection and scoring efficiency were the best I've ever seen. He created his own offense, created for others and took his shots within the flow of the offense.

As I said in the game thread, he was a hero without resorting to hero ball.

Remember when finishing at the rim was a weakness? Last night, he repeatedly took the ball right at Rudy Gobert, The Stifle Tower, The French Rejection, all 9'7" standing reach and 7'9" wingspan and repeatedly scored over and around him. It was so easy, it looked unfair.

He played within the flow of the offense, but when the game was on the lone, he put the team on his back and carried them to victory.

If he keeps this up, this could be the season he makes the lea from and all star level player to a bona fide superstar.

BNM

Hey now, slow your role.
Lillard isn't an All-Star. He only makes the team when the NBA needs replacement players for injuries.

 

[Boob-No-More]

Hey now, slow your role.
Lillard isn't an All-Star. He only makes the team when the NBA needs replacement players for injuries.

That's why I called him an "all star level performer" and not an all star. Covered my bases.

BNM