S2 post game analysis: vs Thunder 10.28

[riverman]

Let me put it in a different way:
Who wins in a hypothetical 4-on-4:
Blake, CJ, Leonard, Kaman
vs.
Blake, Barton, TRob, Kaman?

Stotts thinks our 2nd unit should be the former. I think it should be the Latter.
If you agree with me, a mere fan, we need another coach.

Leonard was out last night sick by the way

 

[Blazer4ever]

If we play a 9 man rotation of our starters + Blake, Barton, TRob, Kaman, with the others being used situationally or in case of injuries, we're an elite team even with Stotts.
If Robinson and Barton enter the game only in garbage time, we're just good, and what's more frustrating: not nearly as good as we can be.

 

[Boob-No-More]

Didn't watch the game.
Judging by the posts here and the box-score, Kaman and Blake were our bench. Barton and Robinson didn't play until garbage time. Our team won because we're more talented, played against 9 players, not because we played harder or looked like a team. We need a new coach

The whole 9 player thing is a lame excuse. Most teams don't go more than 9 deep, except at garbage time anyway.

How do you know what we looked like of you didn't watch the game? We had good ball movement throughout, but couldn't hit our open 3-pointers in the first half. Once Lillard, Batum and Matthews got in a rhythm and started making their 3-pointers, we blew them out. The 3-pointer is an integral part of our offense. With Aldridge and Kaman, we are not totally reliant on the 3-pointer, but when they are going in, it sure does make everything else a whole lot easier. We have some very good 3-point shooters, and sooner, or later, those shots will start falling. At the half, Lillard and Batum hadn't made a single 3-pointer between them and only had 4 total points (4 for Batum, 0 for Lillard). You knew that wouldn't last. It didn't and we won. End of story.

It's a bit too early to be calling for the head of the coach that led this team to 54 wins and the second round last season, especially after a 17-point win. You might want to wait until we actually lose a game before you start your official petition to fire Stotts.

BNM

 

[magnifier661]

Okay so here is my take. I will try and summarize everything I saw during the game.

Damien Lillard
I saw a very timid Dame vs. Westbrook. It wasn't even funny either. It seemed like Westbrook was bulldozing Dame on every possession. It was like Westbrook was egging Dame on to try and score. In order for Dame to take the next step to superstardom, he needs to step up to these types of challenges. He needs to punish players of Westbrook's caliber when they challenge him like that.

I understand Dame got into foul trouble, but there were times when Dame had the ball and differed to another player. Only one time I saw Dame actually take it to Westbrook and it was a score and the foul. He needs to do more of that, so players won't attempt to do that ever again.

LaMarcus Aldridge
There is not much I can say that hasn't been said already. This cat has skills to pay the bills. It didn't matter who OKC put on him. Aldridge scored on any of their players at will. And I want to see more of that 3 point shooting. That's going to open the game up for so many players. I would suggest that he attempts more threes when Kaman is on the floor with him. I could see Kaman posting up, with Aldridge on the corner. Kaman would have a large target for a wide open 3. When Lopez is on the floor, I would have him post up more.

Wesley Matthews
Matthews is starting to understand his role on this team. He's posting up more and plays within the system. I don't see him forcing shots like he used to. He's also developing a double screen for the wide open three. I like that a lot!

Defensively, he is becoming very elite. He's very good at keeping his guy in front of him, and extremely efficient at pulling back at the right time to avoid the foul. I love how he's boxing out and rebounding as well.

Nic Batum
This guy is something special. I used to talk about how tentative he is during games, but now I realize the role he has on this team. When we need scoring, he will score. When we need a defensive stopper, he is up for the challenge. When we need a distributor, he sets the offense up nicely.

In this game, he wasn't much of a scorer up until the second half, but he was doing a wonderful job rebounding and setting up the offense. There were 3 assists that didn't count because his teammates either fumbled the ball or missed a wide open jay. His court vision is something to marvel!

Defensively, he was the player of the game. His length and quickness really frustrated Westbrook to no end. He was the x-factor for our win... He gets the game ball, IMO.

Robin Lopez
The dude brought his lunch pal and hard hat once again. It's funny because you really don't notice him, yet he put up a pretty decent line. 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocks! What more can you ask for a center?!?!

He is an offensive rebounding machine, getting 3 on one possession!

Chris Kaman
Hey Bill Simmons where are you?!?!?! Mr. 6th man is a beast!!!! The dude rebound the ball like an animal and his post up game was off the charts.

I've preached all last season that we needed another post up player if our team wants to get to an elite status. We have found the guy for cheap!!!

The way he controlled the paint offensively was a thing of beauty. I thought I was having flashback of 90's tough guy ball! His court vision was another thing of beauty, finding the open man almost every time. He did have that "Homer DOH moment" when he passed it right to an OKC player, but that was overshadowed by his massive post up scoring, boxing out and defense throughout the game.

The Ugly
CJ played like shit for most the night. It could have been the new court, or nerves or whatever; but this kid was in over his head. He needs to find a way to stop thinking and just letting the game come to him. He's a good player and definitely worthy of getting minutes. He needs to relax and stop overthinking.

Lye-Lard, as hubie said, was not himself as well. He was getting beat on the defensive end and wasn't looking for his shot until late in the third. Small sample size, so I will over-look this right now.

The thing of Beauty

Quarters 2-4. Our defense in the first quarter was bad. I'm talking real bad; but things changed after that. We just man-handled OKC on the defensive end, making their shots all contested and taking away most of their fast break chances. I can't wait when they get their defensive timing down. They will be a tough defensive team.

 

[BBert]

I'm sick and tired of hearing OKC had only nine players. (Actually I was sick and tired of it before the end of the first quarter.) It's stupid. Who the hell plays more than nine players in a close game anyway? It's irrelevant.

It IS relevant that OKC was without Durant and one other important contributor. That sucks for them. Just like it sucks for every other team in the league that doesn't have Durant on their team.

Get my point? Like Stotts said, they had nine NBA players in uniform. That's plenty of players to play a basketball game. And you play the team you have. Some teams have better players than other teams. Every team that doesn't have Durant or Lebron doesn't get violin music and excuses for the entire fucking game. They play the game with the team they have and are judged by the results.

 

[Blazer4ever]

About Stotts: I don't like him, don't think he makes us better, but I'm not even against him staying if he would just make the obvious rotation decisions.
I didn't watch the game but I did watch last year's playoffs when TRob and Barton in their 2nd year and in the biggest games of the season were our best bench players. I think we have incredible potential to be even better with Kaman and Blake added to the team but he should at least be able to put the best players on the floor.

 

[magnifier661]

I'm sick and tired of hearing OKC had only nine players. (Actually I was sick and tired of it before the end of the first quarter.) It's stupid. Who the hell plays more than nine players in a close game anyway? It's irrelevant.

It IS relevant that OKC was without Durant and one other important contributor. That sucks for them. Just like it sucks for every other team in the league that doesn't have Durant on their team.

Get my point? Like Stotts said, they had nine NBA players in uniform. That's plenty of players to play a basketball game. And you play the team you have. Some teams have better players than other teams. Every team that doesn't have Durant or Lebron doesn't get violin music and excuses for the entire fucking game. They play the game with the team they have and are judged by the results.

As Durant quoted "TOUGH SHIT"

Can we have all the excuses when our team was injury riddled years ago? Nah, they talked shit about our team being irrelevant. In other words, injuries are part of the game. OKC and the media better not give them some kind of pass because of Durant's injury.

 

[riverman]

I'm sick and tired of hearing OKC had only nine players. (Actually I was sick and tired of it before the end of the first quarter.) It's stupid. Who the hell plays more than nine players in a close game anyway? It's irrelevant.

It IS relevant that OKC was without Durant and one other important contributor. That sucks for them. Just like it sucks for every other team in the league that doesn't have Durant on their team.

Get my point? Like Stotts said, they had nine NBA players in uniform. That's plenty of players to play a basketball game. And you play the team you have. Some teams have better players than other teams. Every team that doesn't have Durant or Lebron doesn't get violin music and excuses for the entire fucking game. They play the game with the team they have and are judged by the results.

Well said Bert!

 

[Boob-No-More]

If we play a 9 man rotation of our starters + Blake, Barton, TRob, Kaman, with the others being used situationally or in case of injuries, we're an elite team even with Stotts.
If Robinson and Barton enter the game only in garbage time, we're just good, and what's more frustrating: not nearly as good as we can be.

Playing Robinson and Barton together on a regular basis would be a monumental mistake. They are both slashers that would just get in each other's way, with no outside shooting to space the floor. Will is a career .194 3-point shooter. If you insist on playing Robinson, you need a couple of good 3-point shooters on the floor to spread the defense and create opening for Robinson to attack the rim.

BNM

 

[Blazer4ever]

BTW, I'm happy we got the win. But it's a different story this year. If we're taking the next step we need to think how we can improve even after wins.

 

[magnifier661]

About Stotts: I don't like him, don't think he makes us better, but I'm not even against him staying if he would just make the obvious rotation decisions.
I didn't watch the game but I did watch last year's playoffs when TRob and Barton in their 2nd year and in the biggest games of the season were our best bench players. I think we have incredible potential to be even better with Kaman and Blake added to the team but he should at least be able to put the best players on the floor.

Yeah he sucks! The only coach since Dunleavy that coached us out of the first round. The coach that made us the second highest scoring team in the league. The coach that gave our team the biggest turn-around in wins from one season to the next.

 

[Boob-No-More]

About Stotts: I don't like him, don't think he makes us better, but I'm not even against him staying if he would just make the obvious rotation decisions.
I didn't watch the game but I did watch last year's playoffs when TRob and Barton in their 2nd year and in the biggest games of the season were our best bench players. I think we have incredible potential to be even better with Kaman and Blake added to the team but he should at least be able to put the best players on the floor.

This thread is for the post game analysis of a game you didn't even watch. You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but please start you own The Coach doesn't Play my Favorite Players, Please Fire Him, thread.

BNM

 

[ripcityboy]

Watched the game on replay

 

[andalusian]

The problems last night were pretty clear, early fouls destroyed rhythm for 2/5 of our starting lineup. If Lopez doesn't pick up two early fouls I believe we rebound a lot better because of his ability to box out. When it comes to Lillard we as a team just cannot have him guarding the opposing teams best guard, guys like Westbrook, Kyrie and Curry are just too hard for him to cover, Wes and Batum should be taking those kind of players right away until Lillard develops on the defensive end of the ball.

He will never develop if he does not get the reps. Lillard is not someone we should be worried about. He knows what he needs to do to get better and he will. Take some lumps to get better in the long run. If he runs into a real problem every once in a while, we got two guys to bail him out as was shown last night.

 

[Blazer4ever]

So what's the alternative, BNM? Playing lesser players?
If Blake, Barton, TRob, Kaman is the 2nd unit, there's another player on the court. Probably one of our starters (Dame, Wes, Nic) or Dorrel Wright, all of whom are good 3-point shooters, as well as Blake who's a good shooter.

 

[magnifier661]

So what's the alternative, BNM? Playing lesser players?
If Blake, Barton, TRob, Kaman is the 2nd unit, there's another player on the court. Probably one of our starters (Dame, Wes, Nic) or Dorrel Wright, all of whom are good 3-point shooters, as well as Blake who's a good shooter.

Kaman is hardly a lessor player. Freeland got 5:40. T-Rob got 2:20 (garbage time). And maybe you should have watched the game before making any claim. You would have seen how the Twin Towers of either Aldridge and Kaman, Aldridge and Lopez, Kaman and Lopez were dominating the game. When we tried going smaller, we started losing control of the game.

 

[Boob-No-More]

So what's the alternative, BNM? Playing lesser players?.

Lesser, in your opinion. We managed to build a 16 point lead last night without any help from TRob or Barton last night. I'm not sure why your so down on Stotts. He has proven he's not afraid to mix up the bench rotation. He did it last season. TRob was in the rotation early, then lost his spot to Meyers and then won it back. It's not like Stotts is stubbornly rigid in his rotations, like Nate was. He goes with who is playing well in practice and the games. If TRob and Barton can prove they deserve minutes, they'll get them.

BNM

 

[e_blazer]

The Thunder had 9 guys who played 15 or more minutes of the game and the Blazers had 9 guys who played 15 or more minutes. Yeah, the Thunder would have played a different and a better group of 9 guys if they were healthy, but it's not like they didn't have enough NBA players to play the game. The Blazers played pretty soft in the first half and got out-worked and out-scored. That's on the players, not the coach. When they actually put out the effort and used Stotts' offensive and defensive schemes in the second half, they kicked the Thunder's butts. We can argue as to whether Stotts is the guy to take the team to the next level, but doing so based on one game would be pretty stupid. As far as Robinson goes, he had all training camp to convince the coaches that he should get the backup PF spot and he didn't do enough to do it. We don't see any of the scrimmages and don't see many of the preseason games, so I'm not sure how it is that Blazer4ever has come to the opinion that T-Rob should get the minutes instead of Freeland. It certainly isn't because he has more information to make a valid recommendation than the coaches do.

 

[Eastoff]

Please read the rules. If you didn't watch 3 quarters, you shouldn't be giving your analysis in this thread.

 

[fumanchu]

The good:

LA being awesome.
Wes Mathews looking like one of the best SG's in the league.
Kaman's skill set works perfectly with this team. I'm no longer terrified when Rolo leaves the game.
Kaman and Rolo working well together.
Kaman and Blake working well together.
Blake setting up the offense.
Nick being aggresive all game.
Winning despite only 10 points from Lillard.
Our defensive effort in the 4th.

The bad:

Damian getting worked by Westbrook. He still has to improve his D if he's going to be an elite PG.
Our defensive rebounding. With 3 seven footers that shouldn't be a problem.
CJ Mcollum looking totally out of his element.
Blake's shooting. Everything falling short. Those legs are getting old.

 

[Blazer4ever]

Lesser, in your opinion. We managed to build a 16 point lead last night without any help from TRob or Barton last night. I'm not sure why your so down on Stotts. He has proven he's not afraid to mix up the bench rotation. He did it last season. TRob was in the rotation early, then lost his spot to Meyers and then won it back. It's not like Stotts is stubbornly rigid in his rotations, like Nate was. He goes with who is playing well in practice and the games. If TRob and Barton can prove they deserve minutes, they'll get them.

BNM

Fair enough. I do like the Kaman signing very much. When TRob and Barton get back to the rotation we'd be very good.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Fair enough. I do like the Kaman signing very much. When TRob and Barton get back to the rotation we'd be very good.

I want to see more TRob as well. But based on last night's box score whose minutes do you want to cut to get him on the floor? OK I can see where you would start with Joel's 4 minutes. (The other 2 minutes were in mop up duty) But who after that? Maybe 2 more from Robin. But right now I am seeing limited options without an injury. I agree I like his energy and quick jumping ability. At least for 10 minutes a game. As long as he stays down low.

But like I have said before, they will all get their chance during the next few months depending on the match ups and the road trips. After that Terry will settle on a rotation.

 

[blue9]

I want to see more TRob as well. But based on last night's box score whose minutes do you want to cut to get him on the floor? OK I can see where you would start with Joel's 4 minutes. (The other 2 minutes were in mop up duty) But who after that? Maybe 2 more from Robin. But right now I am seeing limited options without an injury. I agree I like his energy and quick jumping ability. At least for 10 minutes a game. As long as he stays down low.

But like I have said before, they will all get their chance during the next few months depending on the match ups and the road trips. After that Terry will settle on a rotation.

Robinson should take Wright's minutes.
Regarding Barton, that's tough. He should probably take CJ's minutes, but I'm of the mind that we NEED to develop CJ if only so we can trade him. But I think Barton would be better for the team. So for now, Barton rides the pine while we try to increase CJ's value, then we trade CJ and Barton gets those minutes...unless we happen to trade for a back-up SG.

 

[magnifier661]

Robinson should take Wright's minutes.
Regarding Barton, that's tough. He should probably take CJ's minutes, but I'm of the mind that we NEED to develop CJ if only so we can trade him. But I think Barton would be better for the team. So for now, Barton rides the pine while we try to increase CJ's value, then we trade CJ and Barton gets those minutes...unless we happen to trade for a back-up SG.

Wright only played SF last night. T. Rob is not a SF no matter what people are trying to sell.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Wright only played SF last night. T. Rob is not a SF no matter what people are trying to sell.

I agree. The only way it would work is if our other PF was playing a stretch 4. I am not advocating for more minutes for Meyers, but I do think the two of them along with Kaman, Blake and CJ/Barton would be interesting to experiment with.

 

[magnifier661]

I agree. The only way it would work is if our other PF was playing a stretch 4. I am not advocating for more minutes for Meyers, but I do think the two of them along with Kaman, Blake and CJ/Barton would be interesting to experiment with.

T. Rob would be best playing with Aldridge or Kaman because those two players will start demanding attention. That attention will draw T. Rob's man out where he can do most of his damage on the offensive glass or wide open dunks.

 

[Pinwheel1]

T. Rob would be best playing with Aldridge or Kaman because those two players will start demanding attention. That attention will draw T. Rob's man out where he can do most of his damage on the offensive glass or wide open dunks.

Yep LA could also fit the stretch 4 scenario I was describing. Even better

 

[blue9]

Wright only played SF last night. T. Rob is not a SF no matter what people are trying to sell.

Robinson may not be a SF, but he wouldn't be any worse at it than Wright. If our choices are Wright and Robinson, Robinson wins.

 

[magnifier661]

Robinson may not be a SF, but he wouldn't be any worse at it than Wright. If our choices are Wright and Robinson, Robinson wins.

Hehe that has more about wright sucking than T.rob qualifying for that time.

I would actually like the Crabbe idea better. I think he would be better than either at the limited 3 minutes

 

[Pinwheel1]

I would actually like the Crabbe idea better. I think he would be better than either at the limited 3 minutes

Interesting. I did not know that Crabbe is listed as 35 lbs heavier than Will. I think Barton has earned the chance first though.