Game Thread SEEDING GAME# 5: CLIPPERS @ BLAZERS - AUGUST 8, 2020 - SATURDAY, 10:00AM, TNT & NBCSNW

[Chris Craig]

I knew as soon as I saw Scott Foster it was a loss

 

[kjironman1]

We scored 41 pts in the second half after dropping 75 in the first.

That should tell you quite a bit.

 

[B-Roy]

Marcus Morris kills us. It's funny because when i see the Clippers i don't fear George and Leonard. Yes they're great players, but it's guys like Morris, who can poop his pants left and right against other teams, then is a dead eye dick against us. Scored 37 against us when he was with Detroit. JaMychal Green killed us as well. Dude don't miss open 3's.

They (teams) shoot a lot of open shots because there are so many small defensive breakdowns. When you run 2-3 defensive liabilities on the floor at all times that shit tends to happen.

 

[kjironman1]

I knew as soon as I saw Scott Foster it was a loss

Scott Foster didn't cost them this game. The Blazers cost them this game. Tired legs equal basketballs hitting the front of the rim.

 

[Chris Craig]

Stotts gonna Stotts.

You mean to tell me we had LESS talent than what the Clippers had out there in the fourth?

No. Just no. Not buying the "Stotts is doing the best with what he has" line Stotts apologists use to death.

Stotts shouldn't have fucked with the rotations so much

CJ needs to get over his shit and pass the ball to Gary

 

[wizenheimer]

Man! CJ went from hero to goat after those 2 knucklehead fouls. I was already to dog out the CJ dislikers, but then he just got a huge case of Headupcha. That was the key turning point. Up 5 and then we fell apart. CJ has to do better. Dame was letting CJ take control because he was gassed. It happens to the best.

I'll admit it...I actually googled Headupcha to see if I had missed some new slang term. All I got was a headache

 

[BlazerBeav]

Their last three was because we damn near forced a turnover. Every time we have a near steal we manage to get burned.

 

[KSF-ERIC]

Season isn't over yet. Get some rest and come on back tomorrow and win a game.

Amen.

 

[blazerkor]

Nurkic missing easy shots like crazy doesn't help too. It's like his touch is back to 17/18 Nurkic. He needs to improve that shit

It's not an excuse, it's just a reality that judging Nurk and even Zach right now is incredibly unfair, both guys are coming off of major injuries and a lot of missed time. Both look good on some plays and then extremely rusty on others. It's Stotts' job to put them in better situations and probably play them way less minutes, even if we don't have a great bench. That being said, it's inexcusable to me that we haven't seen more spot minutes from Nas and Wenyen. I don't care what they look like in practice, we have to see if they can give us meaningful minutes in games.

 

[Chris Craig]

Scott Foster didn't cost them this game. The Blazers cost them this game. Tired legs equal basketballs hitting the front of the rim.

Him being there threw the Blazers off

 

[KSF-ERIC]

Quite honestly they haven’t looked that good this bubble. They barley beat Memphis. It took OT. Got down huge against Boston in which celtics took their foot off the gas and rightfully took over again and win it. Barley even beat a B squad Denver team running on a back to back. Then lost to a short handed clippers team in which Paul George practically admitted they tried to hand the Blazers the game.

quite frankly thank god. I don’t want Lebron and AD embarrassing us

We’ve been playing without Swanigan.

 

[Chris Craig]

We’ve been playing without Swanigan.

Swanigan is shit. He wouldn't be in the rotation anyway.

 

[BlazerBeav]

Morning games suck when the Blazers choke and now the whole Saturday is ruined.

 

[kjironman1]

I liked what Stotts did with the rotations. I like seeing Gabriel in there. He doesn't bring much offense but he does play with a lot of energy on defense. If the Blazers have the lead and they need to rest Nurk or Collins he can hold down the fort a bit.
I think this game might have been a good game to bring in Little and Mario a bit more just to match their energy. There were times they could have done that.

 

[oldmangrouch]

Lol wut. Do you know dame? He's gonna come out guns blazing and drop 50 tmrw.

I hope not. At this point, all that would accomplish is to give the team cover to stand pat and pretend nothing is wrong.

 

[beast blazer]

Philly will sir embid and we'll still lose

 

[kjironman1]

Him being there threw the Blazers off

Okay.. I'm gonna let you run with that because none of us Like Scott Foster.

 

[wizenheimer]

It's not an excuse, it's just a reality that judging Nurk and even Zach right now is incredibly unfair, both guys are coming off of major injuries and a lot of missed time. Both look good on some plays and then extremely rusty on others.

the big difference is that Nurkic has consistently established he can play at a high level.....Zach never has established he's even a consistent role player. In fact, about the only thing Zach has proven is that he's a foul magnet and can scowl a lot

 

[BlazerBeav]

All year we’ve blown games where the other team's star was out.

 

[wizenheimer]

We’ve been playing without Swanigan.

lol...I see you're auditioning for The Onion again

 

[B-Roy]

Nurk had a bad game and still almost had a triple double. That is encouraging. What's not encouraging is that we only have 4 players that contribute every night. We have two wildcards that may or may not contribute, and everyone else is just an 0-fer.

 

[KSF-ERIC]

I hope not. At this point, all that would accomplish is to give the team cover to stand pat and pretend nothing is wrong.

Great fan you are. You want our star player to suck.

 

[blazerkor]

the big difference is that Nurkic has consistently established he can play at a high level.....Zach never has established he's even a consistent role player. In fact, about the only thing Zach has proven is that he's a foul magnet and can scowl a lot

He is extremely athletic for his size, he has a great motor, he has really good shot mechanics but I don't know if he has the b-ball IQ to really help us but 4 games in after missing most of the season, which was supposed to be his first season as a starter is not really a great time to assess his future.

 

[Cugel]

Even without PG down the stretch they ate portland's lunch. They are a very very good team

 

[Chris Craig]

the big difference is that Nurkic has consistently established he can play at a high level.....Zach never has established he's even a consistent role player. In fact, about the only thing Zach has proven is that he's a foul magnet and can scowl a lot

Zach needs to learn how to catch a fucking basketball

 

[wizenheimer]

Nurk had a bad game and still almost had a triple double. That is encouraging. What's not encouraging is that we only have 4 players that contribute every night. We have two wildcards that may or may not contribute, and everyone else is just an 0-fer.

IMO, the Blazer reality is the same it has been for years now. The faces have changed but Portland has a tough time winning games when Dame isn't playing at a really high level. That's the same roster weakness that has existed since the breakup of the Dame/Aldridge team.

 

[B-Roy]

Zach needs to learn how to catch a fucking basketball

Catching basketballs, boxing out, holding onto rebounds.

Dude needs to build some muscle and he hasn't done so in over 3 years. Can we put him on the Zion diet please???

 

[beast blazer]

We need to get rid of cj. Melo and Collins should ve backups. Trent, dame and nurk are the core

 

[oldmangrouch]

Great fan you are. You want our star player to suck.

That "whoosh" you heard was my point sailing over your head.

 

[blazerkor]

All year we’ve blown games where the other team's star was out.

That's the biggest problem with this team and I think it starts with Stotts. We have no killer instinct, none. So while we can play with and win against any team, no matter how good... any team no matter how bad can beat us. We just don't crush weaker teams the way great teams do. We play down or up to whatever competition we're up against and it's really annoying. I really think it's Stotts' lack of in game accountability.