Game Thread PLAYOFFS: ROUND 1, GAME 2: PELICANS @ BLAZERS - APRIL 17, 2018, TUESDAY, 7:30 PM (PDT), TNT & NBCSNW

[kjironman1]

Adjustments:

• Go under the pick with their point guard, be it Rondo or Jrue. If it becomes a three point/long two battle between their guards and our guards, we win it easily. Dare them to shoot. Crowd the paint. Besides, that's more bodies we can throw at AD.
• Play Collins more on AD when Nurk sits. He's got the length and foot speed to keep up with him. I really liked how we looked with Nurk guarding him. I think height is the key. Anthony Davis is so athletic and long that Chief really isn't a great option there, and really neither is Ed Davis. Collins may get pushed around some, but he'll at least eliminate lobs.
• Play Ed Davis more. Dude gobbled up 13 boards in 19 minutes. If we are going to miss all these shots, we better have somebody in there to grab rebounds.
• Less minutes for Patty. If Ed is playing more, and Aminu is playing more 3 (but the same overall minutes), then there's just no space left for him.

These are really good looks for adjustments. I'm really liking the clog the lane thing. I put in my writeup a twin towers thing. Make them shoot from outside.

 

[Gronk Brady]

Seems the only gut that could beat Davis and others off the dribble to the hoop was Shabazz. He creates a problem for them going to the hoop as he can pass off. If he's not hitting shots send him to the hoop. Neither Dame or CJ were quick enough last night.

Shabazz is garbage... he had 3 turnovers in 14 minutes last night and missed a couple wide open shots... he is shooting under 34% fg since all star break and you want him to play more. Wake up man... Baldwin should get all his minutes

 

[tykendo]

The Offense hasn't been there since the 13 Game winning streak. We Suck hard from 3 point Shooting

Dame was 45%, CJ 40. It was the 2pt. shooting that sucked balls lastnight (Blocks, altered, and just plain misfires)

 

[kjironman1]

Shabazz is garbage... he had 3 turnovers in 14 minutes last night and missed a couple wide open shots... he is shooting under 34% fg since all star break and you want him to play more. Wake up man... Baldwin should get all his minutes

I agree Baldwin should get a look but this whole "All his minutes" is unrealistic at best.

 

[Chris Craig]

Blazers should be tied to chairs have their eyelids taped open and be forced to watch every second of game 1 so that it never happens again.

 

[illmatic99]

Dame was 45%, CJ 40. It was the 2pt. shooting that sucked balls lastnight (Blocks, altered, and just plain misfires)

Dame was 2/14 on two point fgs. Crazy

 

[tykendo]

Blazers vs Pelicans -Game Two

As with all playoff series there will be adjustments to be made. On a series as closely matched as this one adjustments will probably be the deciding factor. Bunches of people scratching their heads about going for 2 when they needed three in game one. Fact is both of the plays they ran were run as 3's but the Pels left the slasher available so on the court the players decided to go for 2. These are quotes from Lillard and Stotts- "Portland coach Terry Stotts said Portland was going for a three-point attempt on both late attempts." "CJ popped to the strong side and Pat was flaring me to the weak-side corner," Lillard said. "He had an open slip to the basket and obviously I know (inbounder Evan Turner) was trying to find me on the play, we talked about it. But it was a wide open slip right underneath the basket. Jrue just made a big defensive play." This is why i try to stay away from blame in any one game or situation. Time to look at other issues because in all reality that game should never have been in that position.

I decided to go back to pure stats because watching the game was distracting. The Blazers missed way too many wide open looks. Yes the Pels were active but the missed shots were devastating. First thing that stood out was the Blazers played 11 players and it is listed as only 10. Maybe He wasn't in the game long but Meyers was there. Gentry on the other hand stayed with what was working and only really played 8 guys and Hill came in for 5 mins, 9 players total. Cannot blame Stotts for this IMO. He was looking for anyone who could make a shot and the team did indeed make a comeback to end the game.

Next thing i see is All the Pels starters except E'Twan Moore played 40 mins that game. Give or take a few seconds. That in my book is why the Blazers should be able to wear this team down and take late wins. Gentry has a good starting unit but the Blazers are deeper. Look for this to become a factor in the upcoming games. If i see it? So does Stotts.. Pound this team into submission. A much much more physical game will get them into foul trouble fast. And if there is a scuffle or something that gets a player thrown out the Blazers can handle that better than the Pelicans. Not to mention just amping up the energy to tire them out. New Orleans does have Okafor and Liggins to draw upon on their bench. Make Gentry play them.

I was talking in the pre game of game one about Rondo. Sad to say i was right about this. Davis was a beast no doubt but Rondo killed the Blazers. Listed as 17 assists but i'm sure there was more, 8 rebounds 6 points. The Blazers made Rondo shoot exactly ZERO free throws. Wade Baldwin played only just over 2 minutes. With ZERO fouls. This is a complete travesty. His energy alone would have ignited the crowd and possibly the team. You have got to play aggressive and get into Rondo's head. He starts to make mistakes with the ball when he goes off the game plan. Anyone who has watched the NBA over the last 10 years knows this to be true. Stotts of all people should know this. I'm pretty sure he was around during the problems between Rondo and Carlisle.

I am kind of wondering if the Blazers shouldn't play a twin towers type thing against the Pels? Always have Nurkic, Davis, Collins combination in the game? Ed Davis obviously played well to end that game. Nurkic was 5-5 from the line and Collins is quick enough to stay in step with AD. If your wings are going to go 4-17 from 3 point why not go big and stop Anthony Davis. You can't just WISH the shooting woes away. You have to respond and adjust. Right now small ball just isn't working. I'm thinking take AD away from them and make someone else score and put our best one on one defender on that guy. Feel free to give me a better option. At this point nothing would be looked at as wrong?

Mirotic had a huge game for them also. 16 points, 11 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 steals, 3 assists. This is just plain unacceptable. SMH......

Overall outlook is that the Blazers can play much better. They can also be coached better. That loss is on the whole team. Everybody stunk it up. No use in pointing fingers. Go out and get a dominating win in game two and set the record straight. Do not look past game two. Game three will be here soon enough. There is an old saying. The series doesn't really start until a team wins on the road. Well... This one just started.

Go Blazers!
Kjironman is a fan!!!

I like the idea of going big. Chief is REALLY struggling right now. I like the idea of Nurk and Zach playing in the starting 5, with Ed and Turner coming off the bench. Chief will find his shot(fingers crossed), and I feel the three guard lineup isn't working. ET running the offense makes it stagnant. Dame Must get the ball into Nurk as much as possible, and with Zach next to him I could see plenty of easier baskets at the hoop. Plus Zach's length would help with Mirotic. I don't want to see ET, CJ, and Dame in the same lineup anymore. It just clogs things.

 

[Chris Craig]

I like the idea of going big. Chief is REALLY struggling right now. I like the idea of Nurk and Zach playing in the starting 5, with Ed and Turner coming off the bench. Chief will find his shot(fingers crossed), and I feel the three guard lineup isn't working. ET running the offense makes it stagnant. Dame Must get the ball into Nurk as much as possible, and with Zach next to him I could see plenty of easier baskets at the hoop. Plus Zach's length would help with Mirotic. I don't want to see ET, CJ, and Dame in the same lineup anymore. It just clogs things.

I agree

 

[tykendo]

Dame was 2/14 on two point fgs. Crazy

Right! They were in his head on the twos. He was looking over his shoulder too much. If he just stops, rises up, Holiday would have went right by him, and he has as easy a 10 ft. look as he ever would get, but instead he looked to get the contact, and put up a clunker. Not like him.

 

[AFully22]

AD at the 5 really causes problems for us going forward. I was hoping we would see more Okafor in there for Nurk to beast on. Pelicans defended the PNR really well which takes away a lot of action that we use off of that. A lot of that opens back up if Dame and CJ are hitting shots though.

The positive spin is I think we saw NOP execute their game plan about as well as they could and who they were strategically last night is who they will be for the series, so it’s on us to find a counter punch and get them playing on their heels a bit. Whether Stotts and the guys can identify what that is and then get the players to execute it is the real question, the Clippers series from two years ago gives me hope we can and add that to Moe returning hopefully sooner rather than later there is reason to believe we can flip momentum.

 

[hoopsjock]

I agree Baldwin should get a look but this whole "All his minutes" is unrealistic at best.

Hopefully Baldwin learns from his mistakes but Jrue Holiday isn't a guy you want to get up in his face with on the perimeter. He just went right by Baldwin 3 plays in a row leading to easy baskets.

 

[KingSpeed]

Best case scenario now is going to game 7... Blazers not winning 2 games in New Orleans. And in a game 7 anything can happen... and they have the best player.

Pelicans aren't a very good home team. We can absolutely win there twice.

 

[BigGameDamian]

What happened to free throw guy?

 

[kjironman1]

Hopefully Baldwin learns from his mistakes but Jrue Holiday isn't a guy you want to get up in his face with on the perimeter. He just went right by Baldwin 3 plays in a row leading to easy baskets.

I would be more in line with Baldwin on Rondo. But yeah, there are players that will make Stotts pay dearly for playing Wade Baldwin. Rondo however isn't much of a scorer.

 

[kjironman1]

What happened to free throw guy?

As i understand it he hit on some guys girlfriend and he got beat up pretty bad. Might be a rumor?

 

[H.C.]

@Darkwebs
Lillard & CJ didn't come to play in game 1 & AD did.
I'd say that's 100% the reason why we lost.

 

[hoopsjock]

I would be more in line with Baldwin on Rondo. But yeah, there are players that will make Stotts pay dearly for playing Wade Baldwin. Rondo however isn't much of a scorer.

I think we'd be wasting Baldwin's abilities if we put him on Rondo or Holiday because we WANT them to shoot outside. Maybe we should put him on Ian Clark. Fuck that guy! Why does he shoot like 99% in his career versus us?

 

[kjironman1]

Here is why Mike Rice ain't working the games any more.

 

[kjironman1]

I think we'd be wasting Baldwin's abilities if we put him on Rondo or Holiday because we WANT them to shoot outside. Maybe we should put him on Ian Clark. Fuck that guy! Why does he shoot like 99% in his career versus us?

You could be right on that. But my thinking is covering Rondo's length with Baldwin and just making him work harder. Rondo doesn't shoot well so jamming him and absolutely put him on the line more.
17 Assists is crazy.

 

[Hoopguru]

Shabazz is garbage... he had 3 turnovers in 14 minutes last night and missed a couple wide open shots... he is shooting under 34% fg since all star break and you want him to play more. Wake up man... Baldwin should get all his minutes

who was quickest to the hoop last night? Shabazz is the man!
Baldwin did nothing last night...

 

[BBert]

Yes careful passing. Be smart about it. Don't throw low to Nurk, he will fumble and loose the ball. Gotta go high or direct when he has position.

Nurk has a lot to work on this summer. Like basic moves in the paint WITHOUT putting the ball on the floor in traffic.

 

[deiondeion]

@Darkwebs
Lillard & CJ didn't come to play in game 1 & AD did.
I'd say that's 100% the reason why we lost.

I disagree. It's a matchup issue and I think that each game will be a little bit different. First, I think Harkless changes the series for the Blazers. The Pels have to respect him if he's out there unlike Turner so I hope he doesnt come back any time soon. Second, as I said yesterday, I expect to see more Aminu and Zach Collins (maybe even Meyers Leonard) because AD & Mirotic roam everywhere. And Nurkic cannot keep up. If I was yall, I'd toy with the idea of playing big, i.e. Dame, CJ, Aminu, Collins, and Nurkic/Meyers Leonard. Or something to that effect because it'll keep the Pels out of the lane and force them to beat you on the perimeter, which won't happen. Not only that but yall would control the offensive & defensive glass and neutralize the Pelicans fast pace.

Or you can go small and start 3 guards along with Collins (I was really impressed with that prepubescent teenager) & Aminu/Nurkic. But that might play into the Pelicans hands because it would neutralize a strength of yalls (rebounding) and force yall to play with the pace New Orleans likes.

Each game is going to be a chess match.

 

[AFully22]

I wouldn’t be against starting a 3 guard lineup with Baldwin or Napier in instead of ET until Moe is back. Our guards can match up with their SF and those looks ET was getting all night could go to an actual shooter or at the very least make the Pels have to guard on the perimeter opening it up more for Dame
And CJ. Or in Baldwin’s case putting him on Rondo and making it harder for them to execute their sets.

And I’m not saying ET had a particularly bad game I just think NOP is going to exploit his weaknesses on offense all series if he is playing that much with Dame and CJ. Which is ironic because Olshey signed him to try and achieve the opposite affect.

 

[deiondeion]

I wouldn’t be against starting a 3 guard lineup with Baldwin or Napier in instead of ET until Moe is back. Our guards can match up with their SF and those looks ET was getting all night could go to an actual shooter or at the very least make the Pels have to guard on the perimeter opening it up more for Dame
And CJ. Or in Baldwin’s case putting him on Rondo and making it harder for them to execute their sets.

And I’m not saying ET had a particularly bad game I just think NOP is going to exploit his weaknesses on offense all series if he is playing that much with Dame and CJ. Which is ironic because Olshey signed him to try and achieve the opposite affect.

exactly. that changes the entire game. Rondo/Moore/Jrue helped each other out a lot last night switching on Dame and CJ while leaving Turner. By sticking 3 guards out there, you counter that gameplan and add a threat in Bazz that cannot be ignored

 

[Chris Craig]

 

[SynTax]

Blazers need to win this game. I'm going to guess that the plan will be to bring Harkless back by game 3, at the earliest. If we can be 1-1 entering that game, I like our chances. Harkless is a big game changer for us. The system the Blazers run is SUPER dependent on 3 point shooting from the 3/4. Right now we have ET and Aminu at those positions. Aminu has been in an awful funk for a month, and ET was getting dared to shoot. The Pelicans were hardly even closing out on him.

I don't think it's coincidence that the Blazers started playing bad basketball when Harkless got injured. The guy took a huge step forward from February on despite playing with a sore knee, shooting the three 27/52 over eighteen games from February the fourth on. A healthy Hark changes the series.

 

[Lanny]

Blazers vs Pelicans -Game Two

As with all playoff series there will be adjustments to be made. On a series as closely matched as this one adjustments will probably be the deciding factor. Bunches of people scratching their heads about going for 2 when they needed three in game one. Fact is both of the plays they ran were run as 3's but the Pels left the slasher available so on the court the players decided to go for 2. These are quotes from Lillard and Stotts- "Portland coach Terry Stotts said Portland was going for a three-point attempt on both late attempts." "CJ popped to the strong side and Pat was flaring me to the weak-side corner," Lillard said. "He had an open slip to the basket and obviously I know (inbounder Evan Turner) was trying to find me on the play, we talked about it. But it was a wide open slip right underneath the basket. Jrue just made a big defensive play." This is why i try to stay away from blame in any one game or situation. Time to look at other issues because in all reality that game should never have been in that position.

I decided to go back to pure stats because watching the game was distracting. The Blazers missed way too many wide open looks. Yes the Pels were active but the missed shots were devastating. First thing that stood out was the Blazers played 11 players and it is listed as only 10. Maybe He wasn't in the game long but Meyers was there. Gentry on the other hand stayed with what was working and only really played 8 guys and Hill came in for 5 mins, 9 players total. Cannot blame Stotts for this IMO. He was looking for anyone who could make a shot and the team did indeed make a comeback to end the game.

Next thing i see is All the Pels starters except E'Twan Moore played 40 mins that game. Give or take a few seconds. That in my book is why the Blazers should be able to wear this team down and take late wins. Gentry has a good starting unit but the Blazers are deeper. Look for this to become a factor in the upcoming games. If i see it? So does Stotts.. Pound this team into submission. A much much more physical game will get them into foul trouble fast. And if there is a scuffle or something that gets a player thrown out the Blazers can handle that better than the Pelicans. Not to mention just amping up the energy to tire them out. New Orleans does have Okafor and Liggins to draw upon on their bench. Make Gentry play them.

I was talking in the pre game of game one about Rondo. Sad to say i was right about this. Davis was a beast no doubt but Rondo killed the Blazers. Listed as 17 assists but i'm sure there was more, 8 rebounds 6 points. The Blazers made Rondo shoot exactly ZERO free throws. Wade Baldwin played only just over 2 minutes. With ZERO fouls. This is a complete travesty. His energy alone would have ignited the crowd and possibly the team. You have got to play aggressive and get into Rondo's head. He starts to make mistakes with the ball when he goes off the game plan. Anyone who has watched the NBA over the last 10 years knows this to be true. Stotts of all people should know this. I'm pretty sure he was around during the problems between Rondo and Carlisle.

I am kind of wondering if the Blazers shouldn't play a twin towers type thing against the Pels? Always have Nurkic, Davis, Collins combination in the game? Ed Davis obviously played well to end that game. Nurkic was 5-5 from the line and Collins is quick enough to stay in step with AD. If your wings are going to go 4-17 from 3 point why not go big and stop Anthony Davis. You can't just WISH the shooting woes away. You have to respond and adjust. Right now small ball just isn't working. I'm thinking take AD away from them and make someone else score and put our best one on one defender on that guy. Feel free to give me a better option. At this point nothing would be looked at as wrong?

Mirotic had a huge game for them also. 16 points, 11 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 steals, 3 assists. This is just plain unacceptable. SMH......

Overall outlook is that the Blazers can play much better. They can also be coached better. That loss is on the whole team. Everybody stunk it up. No use in pointing fingers. Go out and get a dominating win in game two and set the record straight. Do not look past game two. Game three will be here soon enough. There is an old saying. The series doesn't really start until a team wins on the road. Well... This one just started.

Go Blazers!
Kjironman is a fan!!!

Is Rondo a bad free throw shooter?

 

[deiondeion]

Is Rondo a bad free throw shooter?

is water wet?

 

[SynTax]

Here's a little tidbit that might make people feel better going forward. Let's hope we hit our shots!

 

[Lanny]

Here's a little tidbit that might make people feel better going forward. Let's hope we hit our shots!

I was gonna say "No shit, Sherlock" but I got chewed out for saying that earlier so I'll refrain. And it wouldn't have been meant in a disrespectful manner. We used to say that as kids when we agreed completely with what someone else was saying. I guess some in here take it differently.