Game Thread Preseason Game #4 Blazers @ Warriors - October 15th 2021 - Friday - 7PM - RootTV- NBA TV

[BonesJones]

???

Well well well...

 

[BonesJones]

This team can’t play a lick of defence. I recognize it’s early but if they play like this during the regular season they won’t win 25 games this season.

More than anything this is an indictment of Neil Olshey - Mr It’s Not the Roster. The previous coach was clearly horrible but this roster is so thin on talent outside of the starters and he did less than zero in the off-season to address the talent gap.

You can officially start the Dame trade watch…

I love how people say we're thin on talent based in part on a meaningless game in which we didn't have our best player, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th guys.

 

[BonesJones]

All this time, I read it was our drop scheme that caused him to go off against us. Maybe that wasn't the reason after all?

Drop scheme gave him easier looks. For the most part we defended him well but he's a guy that can drop 40 no matter what you run. Also, our defense isn't fully dialed in yet at this point...

 

[BonesJones]

This is one of the worst benches we’ve had in a while.

Lack of talent.

This is 100% on Neil.

Our entire bench rotation didn't play...

 

[BonesJones]

Yeah and the only reason the Blazers lost the second quarter was because Steph is "Steph" so we might as well just expect that.
He got 41 points in just under 30 mins. You would think maybe they would have planned on trying to stop him?

Yeah man, the only reason Steph scores 40 is because teams don't try to stop him.

Glad you showed up.
Was just posting wondering where you two guys are?

Trying not to lose my sanity reading this forum.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

There are advantages of being on the East Coast and going to bed at halftime. I have a feeling I'm going to appreciate that a lot this season.

 

[bobf]

From what I can tell, the team has only a few players that are both A. good enough to be important components of a title contender and B. fit into the modern era of roster construction.

Those are Damian Lillard, Norm Powell, Larry Nance and Robert Covington.

CJ also could fit the bill, but probably not alongside Lillard. Nurkic doesn't make the cut for (B)...in any previous era, he could be a significant part of a winner, but he's not a good fit for this era. Unless you're truly special like Jokic or Embiid, big and lumbering centers are just too hard to integrate into a high level team defense. Zeller's like a whatever--sure, he could be on the bench for a good or bad team. I like him, but he's not a meaningful enough needle-mover to worry about. He's a good addition after you've done the hard work of building a top end starting unit, IMO.

Then why has our defense been empirically much better with Nurk on the floor?

 

[Fairly-Hard]

Yeah man, the only reason Steph scores 40 is because teams don't try to stop him.

You do understand why this was a terrible response right? Seriously? History is not on your side here.

 

[TBpup]

There is no way this is what they think is a finished roster.

Tough to tell as so many guys haven't played or are already battling nagging injuries.

HOWEVER,

Whomever happened to be on the floor for EITHER team, the opponents have looked like they are playing harder and with more effort to learn, adapt, or get in shape. That is what concerns me more than anything. It's not like we are the Lakers and have the talent and history to turn it on.

Just don't get the lack of effort or enthusiasm for a new coach like what happened when Nate came into ATL last year. It could all turn around in the regular season, but there are some signs for concern regardless that the pre-season means very little.

 

[Fairly-Hard]

More than one person I'm talking to are souring on Chauncey Billups.
Injuries or not this team is not engaged at this point. Not sure they really respect him as a coach. Seems to want to be everyone's friend. Too many times i see conversations that are way too casual between him and players.
There is an old rule to leading. Don't eat with your men and don't be buddies. Keep that barrier there between the coach and the player.

 

[brooklynballer]

I love how people say we're thin on talent based in part on a meaningless game in which we didn't have our best player, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th guys.

So are you going on record saying this team, as constructed, is talent rich? If so, you’re delusional, man.

 

[Fairly-Hard]

So are you going on record saying this team, as constructed, is talent rich? If so, you’re delusional, man.

Go watch their video. It's worse than you think? He's all about 2nd or 3rd seed and a contender?

 

[kjironman1]

Preseason absolutely didn't look great.
But boy is there some meltdown going on.

Might have to pull up the old "MELTDOWN" thread.

 

[Orion Bailey]

Tough to tell as so many guys haven't played or are already battling nagging injuries.

HOWEVER,

Whomever happened to be on the floor for EITHER team, the opponents have looked like they are playing harder and with more effort to learn, adapt, or get in shape. That is what concerns me more than anything. It's not like we are the Lakers and have the talent and history to turn it on.

Just don't get the lack of effort or enthusiasm for a new coach like what happened when Nate came into ATL last year. It could all turn around in the regular season, but there are some signs for concern regardless that the pre-season means very little.

is it a lack of effort or is it confused hesitancy?

if one doesn't know their assignment they must think about it. This thinking causes a delay in reaction time which could look like slow, lazy play?

That is about the only counter i have on that. Lol.

 

[Cugel]

It’s gonna take 20 games with healthy players to learn anything about this team. I will TRY not to read much into preseason games. Need Zeller at 100 percent

 

[julius]

Tough to tell as so many guys haven't played or are already battling nagging injuries.

HOWEVER,

Whomever happened to be on the floor for EITHER team, the opponents have looked like they are playing harder and with more effort to learn, adapt, or get in shape. That is what concerns me more than anything. It's not like we are the Lakers and have the talent and history to turn it on.

Just don't get the lack of effort or enthusiasm for a new coach like what happened when Nate came into ATL last year. It could all turn around in the regular season, but there are some signs for concern regardless that the pre-season means very little.

Yeah, I got the same gut feeling. Other teams looked like they were serious about shit, and the Blazers were just like "pfft, we can turn on the switch".

The only saving grace is, imho, that Dame only played 42 minutes in 2 games and it's highly unlikely that he'll be average 15 points per game and average 2 assists a game.

But the two guys that were supposed to have bigger roles this year, Simons and Little, most definitely were underwhelming. And Nance didn't really show much, and Nurk looked like the coach didn't make a difference in how smart or hard he plays.

 

[Minstrel]

Then why has our defense been empirically much better with Nurk on the floor?

Because our backups have been trash. Nurkic has has good points, obviously, while his backups don't even have those. The constant complaints about the "drop coverage" and how Portland gets destroyed from three-point territory seem to not understand that with Nurkic, there's really not a lot of choice, since Nurkic can't switch on the perimeter, nor is he adept at hedging (and hedging brings its own negatives). A more mobile, switchable center would do significantly more for Portland's defense, IMO.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

This was in response to TBpups post; not sure how I fucked it up:

This is a concern for me also. Sure, Lillard and CJ saying the right things. But nobody talking about the new coach and system with enthusiasm. Nobody saying: I'm so glad we have a fresh voice and system. I love and enjoy playing this style so much. I think we will come out of this a much better team, on defense and offense.
Hopefully some of the guys who aren't quoted by the press as much are thinking this way. But we really need more zest from our leaders, L:illard and McCollum, and even Nurkic needs to come out and say: This is tough but I know it's making me better. I love the new coach.

 

[tykendo]

So are you going on record saying this team, as constructed, is talent rich? If so, you’re delusional, man.

They're not talent rich, but not talent poor either. They played guys Brown III & Watford who need at least 3 years of development. Not NBA talent right now at all IMO. McLemore doesn't look like a good pickup. They played with mostly a summer league lineup. The starters and key backups hardly played due to rest & injuries making for cautious usage. I feel tired legs from camp with all the extra defensive work led to poor shooting .

 

[brooklynballer]

Go watch their video. It's worse than you think? He's all about 2nd or 3rd seed and a contender?

lol … question answered in that case! I love the optimism, but man, you gotta be at least somewhat realistic in your expectations. I certainly hope I’m wrong but the body language of the team speaks volumes. Hopefully that improves over the course of the season but I’m still wholly in the “this team needs a second star” camp… and maybe a third. CJ and Nurkic, unfortunately, are not close to being stars.

 

[Tince]

So are you going on record saying this team, as constructed, is talent rich? If so, you’re delusional, man.

I kinda feel for the folks who were always banging the "coaching is holding back this talented roster" drum. Now they're trying to to find this sweet spot where they maintain that the roster is good, the scheme is good, but the (early) results just are the polar opposites of what we were told they would be. While I love the 180 from ultra negative to blindly positive, the spin has to be taxing.

I do believe Billups is doing an ok job and we're going to be fine in the regular season, but there has been almost nothing to celebrate at this point.

 

[tykendo]

I kinda feel for the folks who were always banging the "coaching is holding back this talented roster" drum. Now they're trying to to find this sweet spot where they maintain that the roster is good, the scheme is good, but the (early) results just are the polar opposites of what we told they would be. While I love the 180 from ultra negative to blindly positive, the spin has to be taxing.

I do believe Billups is doing an ok job and we're going to be fine in the regular season, but there has been almost nothing to celebrate at this point.

It was a brutal preseason , for sure. The worst in a long time IMO. But i never saw the team play their starters less. And so many key backups banged up. But i like what i'm seeing from Nurk, other than his piss poor shooting. But i see that improving during the season. But he looks as agile and in shape as i've ever seen.

 

[wizenheimer]

They're not talent rich, but not talent poor either.

but that's the problem...that's where they have been for the entire Stolshey era....they have averaged a 6th seed, 45.8 wins for the 11th best record, and have been 22-40 in the playoffs. They have had a desperate need for more high end talent but it seems there is an institutional willingness to settle for the kind of mediocrity that generates those numbers

I feel tired legs from camp with all the extra defensive work led to poor shooting .

if the Blazers have 'tired legs' after a 4 game pre-season with one easy road trip and limited minutes for key players they are in deep trouble. Billups didn't run a boot camp with daily doubles, as far as I know. He's been there himself as a player. I guess we'll file tired legs in the excuse drawer right behind injured legs

 

[Tince]

It was a brutal preseason , for sure. The worst in a long time IMO. But i never saw the team play their starters less. And so many key backups banged up. But i like what i'm seeing from Nurk, other than his piss poor shooting. But i see that improving during the season. But he looks as agile and in shape as i've ever seen.

I agree with everything but the Nurk part.

While Nurk was allowed to do more this preseason, I think it confirmed why it was probably wise not to run a lot of our offense through him in the past. While he makes some great plays, he also makes a high rate of costly plays that appear to net out as a negative. I've always believed we need Nurk to be an all-star level player for us to being a real contender, but this preseason has pointed to that this is highly unlikely.

Edit: This doesn't mean I think Nurk is a pile of garbage, far from it.

 

[tykendo]

but that's the problem...that's where they have been for the entire Stolshey era....they have averaged a 6th seed, 45.8 wins for the 11th best record, and have been 22-40 in the playoffs. They have had a desperate need for more high end talent but it seems there is an institutional willingness to settle for the kind of mediocrity that generates those numbers



if the Blazers have 'tired legs' after a 4 game pre-season with one easy road trip and limited minutes for key players they are in deep trouble. Billups didn't run a boot camp with daily doubles, as far as I know. He's been there himself as a player. I guess we'll file tired legs in the excuse drawer right behind injured legs

If you go hard in camp, which i believe they have been, especially with all the focus on defense, you can get tired legs. The Blazers starters are much better shooters than they've shown this preseason.

 

[Chris Craig]

but that's the problem...that's where they have been for the entire Stolshey era....they have averaged a 6th seed, 45.8 wins for the 11th best record, and have been 22-40 in the playoffs. They have had a desperate need for more high end talent but it seems there is an institutional willingness to settle for the kind of mediocrity that generates those numbers



if the Blazers have 'tired legs' after a 4 game pre-season with one easy road trip and limited minutes for key players they are in deep trouble. Billups didn't run a boot camp with daily doubles, as far as I know. He's been there himself as a player. I guess we'll file tired legs in the excuse drawer right behind injured legs

The thing is, this isn't LA. We aren't going to get high end talent here.

 

[Tince]

The thing is, this isn't LA. We aren't going to get high end talent here.

We've draft and traded for high end talent here, just not under the last 8 years with Olshey.

 

[THE HCP]

Well well well...

Not sure what this means? Well,well,well?

 

[wizenheimer]

If you go hard in camp, which i believe they have been, especially with all the focus on defense, you can get tired legs. The Blazers starters are much better shooters than they've shown this preseason.

ok....but I haven't read any stuff about the Blazers going harder or longer at practices this year than other years. The season itself will certainly be a more taxing time than a pre-season with only 4 games. Dame shot 58% of FG's by the way; CJ shot 43%.

And, speaking of CJ, people were hoping that Billups would be imposing some discipline on CJ this year. The early results: whenever I tuned into the games I saw more MeJ than CJ. He averaged 25 shots per36 when he has averaged about 19 per36 over the last 4 seasons. In the two games he played with Dame he had 5 fewer minutes but 5 more FGA's. If Billups is going to put a damper on MeJ, it hasn't been installed yet

 

[wizenheimer]

Not sure what this means? Well,well,well?