Our "depth"

[TBpup]

This place. The Blazers played a crappy game last night on tired legs against a good Indiana team that was fresh and had a day to prep for Portland. The Blazers lost Nurk and it feels like the energy went with him. Now it's time to ignore the generally good start the team has had to this weird season and dump on Stotts and Olshey. I don't feel like playing, but enjoy yourselves.

Both Indy and Portland were playing their 3rd game in 4 nights....so pretty much a wash except Indy has been on the road the whole time for those games. Portland was down 23 in the first half before Nurk ever got hurt and have been down 20+ points FAR too often already this season. Yes, Indiana is a better team and we won 4 in a row (barely in some cases) against the lower end teams. Sadly, they have not looked good against the Playoff type teams (except that excellent game against the Lakers).

Losing Nurk hurts, but the disappointing reality is Nurk was not playing very well on the whole. Covington is at near career lows in all sorts of categories, and Jones has been reduced from the top slasher in the NBA to a guy who stands in the corner waiting for a kickout, and occasionaly get a rebound dunk or a far too rare lob.

Blazers can still win games when Dame/CJ go nuts, but good teams, especially later on in Playoff situations, have shown they can take at least one of those away or diminish the efficiency dramatically. Just haven't seen the growth we were hoping for either this season, or over the past many years. Yes it is early, but that didn't seem to bother a Pacer team who has a new coach, new defensive and offensive philosophy, new players, and were missing a large chunk of their roster after a trade.

Why can't we be the team that is having that type of success? Supposedly we have an offensive genius as a coach and the best player/leader in the NBA. Seems like it would be okay after all these year to expect a little more than being down 20 points so often....to no matter whom we are playing.

 

[e_blazer]

Both Indy and Portland were playing their 3rd game in 4 nights....so pretty much a wash except Indy has been on the road the whole time for those games. Portland was down 23 in the first half before Nurk ever got hurt and have been down 20+ points FAR too often already this season. Yes, Indiana is a better team and we won 4 in a row (barely in some cases) against the lower end teams. Sadly, they have not looked good against the Playoff type teams (except that excellent game against the Lakers).

Losing Nurk hurts, but the disappointing reality is Nurk was not playing very well on the whole. Covington is at near career lows in all sorts of categories, and Jones has been reduced from the top slasher in the NBA to a guy who stands in the corner waiting for a kickout, and occasionaly get a rebound dunk or a far too rare lob.

Blazers can still win games when Dame/CJ go nuts, but good teams, especially later on in Playoff situations, have shown they can take at least one of those away or diminish the efficiency dramatically. Just haven't seen the growth we were hoping for either this season, or over the past many years. Yes it is early, but that didn't seem to bother a Pacer team who has a new coach, new defensive and offensive philosophy, new players, and were missing a large chunk of their roster after a trade.

Why can't we be the team that is having that type of success? Supposedly we have an offensive genius as a coach and the best player/leader in the NBA. Seems like it would be okay after all these year to expect a little more than being down 20 points so often....to no matter whom we are playing.

First, let me make clear that the point of my post was NOT to say that all is right with the Blazers. That would be silly since we all know that they are not playing well on a lot of nights. My point was that some people blasting the team after a poor performance is the NORM around here. It drives me a little nuts when the same people do that over and over again and demand the same solutions (fire Stotts, fire Olshey, trade CJ) that simply aren't going to happen this early in the season when the team is achieving a record that places them in the middle of the playoff pack and within a couple of losses of the top teams. Those things may happen if the Blazers underachieve this season, but they would be a stupid overreaction this early in the season.

Regarding the loss to the Pacers, your point about 3 games in 4 nights, while accurate, IMO is off the mark as to impact on Friday's game. The Pacers played on Tuesday, flew to Portland and had a full day to prepare for the Blazers. The Blazers played a tough game against the Kings on Thursday where they had to fight for their lives and played their starters too many minutes. They flew back to Portland and had little prep time to play the Pacers on Friday night. That's a huge advantage to the Pacers, especially in the Covid environment where there is virtually no home court advantage because there is no crowd.

There's also a mistaken notion by a lot of folks around here that the Blazers are unique in their up and down performances. That's been the norm this season. The Lakers and Celtics have been the best this season, but they have 3 losses each and one of the Lakers' losses is at home to the Blazers. The Sixers have 4 losses, including an 18 pt loss to the Hawks and a 24 pt. loss to the Cavs. The Pacers have 4 losses, including one to the Knicks. The Nets have 6 losses, including the Thunder, Grizzlies (x2), Wizards and Hawks. The Clippers have 4 losses, including to the Warriors, Spurs, and the Mavs (by 51). The Jazz's 4 losses include headscratchers to the Knicks and T'wolves and a 34 point loss to the Nets. The Suns had a 21 point loss to the Wizards and they lost to the Pistons and Kings. Inconsistency is the only consistent thing we're seeing this season. It comes from too little pre-season prep time, a cramped schedule with little rest, and the weirdness of playing in empty arenas and dealing with Covid protocols.

The Blazers have to get better if they are going to have a shot later in the playoffs. They are going to have to avoid more injuries and losing players to Covid. A trade may be needed by the deadline. The loss of Nurk will hurt and the Blazers may make a move to add a player or even a trade to get a decent big to help out. They may find a small ball rotation that works well and that could work out for the best in the long run. I'm a fan and I keep hoping for the best.

 

[TBpup]

@e_blazer ...agree with most of that. The only thing I would have a small issue with is, "It drives me a little nuts when the same people do that over and over again and demand the same solutions (fire Stotts, fire Olshey, trade CJ) that simply aren't going to happen this early in the season when the team is achieving a record that places them in the middle of the playoff pack and within a couple of losses of the top teams. Those things may happen if the Blazers underachieve this season, but they would be a stupid overreaction this early in the season."

To me, that seems quite understandable, because it has been happening over and over and over again. They start out slow, lose to teams they shouldn't, then get hot at the end just to make the Playoff but often be in a horrible position from a 'seeding' standpoint and get pulverized. Or manage to be the higher seed, and still get swept. It's not like these are outlier instances, but much more the sad norm. So we are seeing something so sadly similar this year to previous seasons and most fans realize what it will cost the team later in the year. This little early winning streak against the NBA lower decks is nice, because you need to win those games. But they weren't playing well and when they came up against a team that has less talent but plays good defense, we were never even in the game. To lose is one thing, but to get blown out from almost the start and well before Nurk went down is the bigger picture some fans have an issue with that has been going on for years.

 

[tlongII]

RoCo:
-0.3 DBPM
-4.6 BPM
-0.2 VORP
-4.4 OBPM

He’s playing the worst basketball of his career.

Rodney Hood’s PER is comical: 1.0

NOWHERE TO GO BUT UP!

 

[Natebishop3]

some fans have an issue with that has been going on for years.

And years, and years, and years, and years and years....