Neil comments on the deadline

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OneSport3 said:
Couldn’t agree more. This should be it for Stotts. If he doesn’t perform with all the defensive upgrades, he should be let go in the summer.
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Biggest thing a coach can control with regards to defense is the lineups, and Stotts has always favored offense lineups. We will never be good defensively when Kanter/Melo are sharing the court for 20 minutes a game. Never.
 
B-Roy said:
Biggest thing a coach can control with regards to defense is the lineups, and Stotts has always favored offense lineups. We will never be good defensively when Kanter/Melo are sharing the court for 20 minutes a game. Never.
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I agree with this. Our best defensive lineup would be...?

Powell
DJJ
Roco
Collins
Nurk
 
Tince said:
I agree with this. Our best defensive lineup would be...?

Powell
DJJ
Roco
Collins
Nurk
Click to expand...

c'mon

there is such a thing called balance. Yeah, the roster has been poorly balanced for years. But there can be a compromise between offense and defense. Currently Blazers are 4.9 points better than the median on offense but 5.8 points worse than the median on defense. They need to make their defense at least a couple of points better while keeping their offense at the same level

there aren't a lot of options because of that poor balance I mentioned. One compromise that won't be popular, and Stotts would never do, is move CJ to the 6th man, move Powell to starting SG, and bring Nurkic off the bench. If Powell is the defender many here claim, then the Dame/Powell will improve the Blazer starting defense without dinging the offense much. You'd get CJ's scoring off the bench at the same time you're breaking up the Melo/Kanter vortex

Dame/Powell/Jones/RoCo/Kanter
CJ/Little/Melo/Nurkic

a 9 man mix & match rotation that might bring a little better 48 minute balance. Ant can jump in a lake
 
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B-Roy said:
https://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/...tland-trail-blazers-trade-deadline-prize.html


This just bugs me in the worst way.
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Yes, some of us are excited about.... next season. We're dreaming of a healthy Collins and a gone Carmelo. Imagine if all are healthy, and have a full offseason together:
Center:
Nurk/Collins

"Wings":
RoCo/DJJ/Nas/Giles

Guards:
Dame, CJ, Powell

Spot minutes for Kanter and CJ2 and Ant
New 2nd rounder with potential warming the bench

No Carmelo, No Blevins
 
I'll love this 4th qtr lineup:

Lillard
CJ
Norman
Melo
Nurk for defense or Kanter for offensive rebounds and buckets.

We don't win the Miami game without Kanter in the 4th...
 
We keep trying to plug square holes with round dowels. Losing LaMarshmallow for nothing set this team so far back at the 4, and we've never really recovered. We could have if Collins would have been able to stay healthy, but having to start RoCo at the 4 and play Melo at the 5 tells you all you need to know about how hurting we are in the frontcourt. A healthy Collins who can stay out of foul trouble fixes so many of those problems, but it just hasn't happened.

Go into the offseason and try to make a trade for an impact 4. I doubt we'll be able to draft one that can produce out of the box. At the worst, they can play behind Collins, but most likely, Collins will be the backup. If we start being able to play BIG (Nurk/Kanter at the 5, Collins and another true PF at the 4, and Roco, Melo and DJJ at the 3) we start giving teams all kinds of problems with our guards.
 
wizenheimer said:
c'mon

there is such a thing called balance. Yeah, the roster has been poorly balanced for years. But there can be a compromise between offense and defense. Currently Blazers are 4.9 points better than the median on offense but 5.8 points worse than the median on defense. They need to make their defense at least a couple of points better while keeping their offense at the same level

there aren't a lot of options because of that poor balance I mentioned. One compromise that won't be popular, and Stotts would never do, is move CJ to the 6th man, move Powell to starting SG, and bring Nurkic off the bench. If Powell is the defender many here claim, then the Dame/Powell will improve the Blazer starting defense without dinging the offense much. You'd get CJ's scoring off the bench at the same time you're breaking up the Melo/Kanter vortex

Dame/Powell/Jones/RoCo/Kanter
CJ/Little/Melo/Nurkic

a 9 man mix & match rotation that might bring a little better 48 minute balance. Ant can jump in a lake
Click to expand...

I didn't say this is the lineup we should ride all game, just what I thought was our best defensive group. I think it's worth noting that 3 of the 5 players listed have not been avaiable at all or for very few games.

I think having only 2 defensive liabilities on the floor gives you a small chance to be ok. Having only one, would significantly raise the teams defensive abilities.
 
The Melo hate is so ridiculous. Not only is he a great teammate and locker room presence, but how many games has he won us this year? To complain about the 6th/7th man on the roster, who is making the minimum, and putting up 14 points on 40% shooting from 3 is so out of touch. I think a lot of people forger he took less to stay in Portland and has happily accepted his role coming off the bench.

Who else is giving you his production at his salary?

I'm not saying he's without flaws, but really, who else is giving you what he gives on a minimum deal?

I'll GLADLY take another year of Melo as our 6th/7th man if he wants to come back. He was clutch in the Bubble last year and he's been clutch this year as well.
 
B-Roy said:
https://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/...tland-trail-blazers-trade-deadline-prize.html


This just bugs me in the worst way.
Click to expand...
The Melo nonsense is annoying but it's also unequivocally false that we didn't want a big/wing. Nearly every report mentioned we were in pursuit of Gordon, we just didn't have the movable pieces to land him.

“We just didn’t have a lot of draft capital,” Olshey said. “We don’t have a second in this year’s draft. So, we were behind the curve a little bit on some of the teams that were shedding high-level players but were prioritizing draft picks over either young players or established players under contract.”
 
HolyBackboard said:
The Melo hate is so ridiculous. Not only is he a great teammate and locker room presence, but how many games has he won us this year? To complain about the 6th/7th man on the roster, who is making the minimum, and putting up 14 points on 40% shooting from 3 is so out of touch. I think a lot of people forger he took less to stay in Portland and has happily accepted his role coming off the bench.

Who else is giving you his production at his salary?

I'm not saying he's without flaws, but really, who else is giving you what he gives on a minimum deal?

I'll GLADLY take another year of Melo as our 6th/7th man if he wants to come back. He was clutch in the Bubble last year and he's been clutch this year as well.
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I dont like melos game actually, taking bad long twos, not passing the ball, iso heavy. But he can get you a bucket anytime and he's been clutch and without him we would be worse for sure
 
HolyBackboard said:
The Melo hate is so ridiculous. Not only is he a great teammate and locker room presence, but how many games has he won us this year? To complain about the 6th/7th man on the roster, who is making the minimum, and putting up 14 points on 40% shooting from 3 is so out of touch. I think a lot of people forger he took less to stay in Portland and has happily accepted his role coming off the bench.

Who else is giving you his production at his salary?

I'm not saying he's without flaws, but really, who else is giving you what he gives on a minimum deal?

I'll GLADLY take another year of Melo as our 6th/7th man if he wants to come back. He was clutch in the Bubble last year and he's been clutch this year as well.
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Think we're all fine with Melo in the right role (catch and shoot guy who can get ultra hot). But when he's begging for post ups and jacking contested fadeaway 20 footers while not playing an ounce of defense, I just wish he'd get the hook from the coach. But Terry treats him like the 3rd guy, not the 7th and I think that's why Melo gets hate.

It's just not necessary. Melo can earn his leash and PT based on his merit, not his resume.
 
We're 29th in Dtrg (closer to 30th than 28th).
Until I find out differently, I'm blaming Melo and Kanter.

This may be wrong, but, if so, please set me straight. Why are we so bad at defense?
 
Blazinaway said:
One VERY interesting observation is how many TOR fans have posted that Powell's performance as a starter in night and day better than when he's used off the bench - wonder if he might start here at SF? or we get the "worse Powell" off the bench
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I think he will come off the bench but during the game he will line either CJ and Dame and sometimes maybe both. I believe there going Little ever chance to backup that SF position.
 
HolyBackboard said:
The Melo hate is so ridiculous. Not only is he a great teammate and locker room presence, but how many games has he won us this year? To complain about the 6th/7th man on the roster, who is making the minimum, and putting up 14 points on 40% shooting from 3 is so out of touch. I think a lot of people forger he took less to stay in Portland and has happily accepted his role coming off the bench.

Who else is giving you his production at his salary?

I'm not saying he's without flaws, but really, who else is giving you what he gives on a minimum deal?

I'll GLADLY take another year of Melo as our 6th/7th man if he wants to come back. He was clutch in the Bubble last year and he's been clutch this year as well.
Click to expand...
Actually Melo defense stats been pretty decent and made big defense stops when we needed it I have know problem him back neither he has except his role coming banch and has been doing pretty good at it right now. But the problem is when to play him not to play him and that's what Stotts has problem with some of his players.
 
Wizard Mentor said:
We're 29th in Dtrg (closer to 30th than 28th).
Until I find out differently, I'm blaming Melo and Kanter.

This may be wrong, but, if so, please set me straight. Why are we so bad at defense?
Click to expand...

We freely let opponents drain 3’s in our eye. I think it’s a lot of schematics and a little bit of an effort issue.

If I had a nickel for every Blazer opponent who had a career night from 3 on us, I’d be rich
 
illmatic99 said:
The Melo nonsense is annoying but it's also unequivocally false that we didn't want a big/wing. Nearly every report mentioned we were in pursuit of Gordon, we just didn't have the movable pieces to land him.

“We just didn’t have a lot of draft capital,” Olshey said. “We don’t have a second in this year’s draft. So, we were behind the curve a little bit on some of the teams that were shedding high-level players but were prioritizing draft picks over either young players or established players under contract.”
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I’m glad we didn’t land him. Way overrated.
 
MickZagger said:
We freely let opponents drain 3’s in our eye. I think it’s a lot of schematics and a little bit of an effort issue.

If I had a nickel for every Blazer opponent who had a career night from 3 on us, I’d be rich
Click to expand...

At the same time, if Dame put as much effort into becoming a good defender as he does being a sniper from halfcourt, I have to think he'd be pretty decent.
 
Natebishop3 said:
At the same time, if Dame put as much effort into becoming a good defender as he does being a sniper from halfcourt, I have to think he'd be pretty decent.
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Very true. Hard to cover for his flaws defensively when you have CJ as his back court mate. Having Nurk’s shot blocking abilities back is going to help with the easy drives by the opponents. But not us getting our ass handed to us from outside.
 
MickZagger said:
Very true. Hard to cover for his flaws defensively when you have CJ as his back court mate. Having Nurk’s shot blocking abilities back is going to help with the easy drives by the opponents. But not us getting our ass handed to us from outside.
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Yup. Nurk can't do much about corner threes.
 
UKRAINEFAN said:
Again, we can only hope that Olshey is aiming for next year and that Melo will not be here then.
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what is he aiming for....signing a punter?

upload_2021-3-26_15-1-10.png

Powell and Jones could both opt-out, go elsewhere and the Blazers would still be over the cap with only 7 players under contract. So they'd have to sign 7 players and they'd only have 25M in room under the tax line

or both Powell and Jones opt-in and the Blazers would need to sign 5 players with less than 5M of room under the tax line. Good luck with all that
 
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