Yeah in game one Healthy Dame just kept committing stupid turnovers. I dont think we should let them “off the hook”, been pretty much destroyed by the same team for years now. Its on all the main core, NO, Stotts, Dame, CJ, their forwards. Im not saying go trade Dame or whatever, I am saying they gotta own those L’s they all had their opportunities to make, “winning plays”, and failed to.
I’m not saying the Blazers didn’t choke. Of course they did. What I AM saying is that you have to consider why they choked and whether it means anything significant going forward. Here’s my assessment of what happened; yours may vary:
Game 1 was a scheduled loss. The Blazers didn’t even have a chance to go home and pack fresh underwear. The Warriors were at home, rested and waiting ready for business. The Blazers were still giddy over beating the Nuggets and had no chance.
Games 2-4 were all pretty much the same. The Blazers built big leads in the first half and coughed up the games in the second half. The Warriors lacked depth due to injuries, but had a huge advantage in composure. The Blazers have been pretty composed all season and the primary source of that is Lillard. He’s always cool and he has a knack of hitting critical big shots that keep his teammates believing they will win. Against the Warriors, you could tell Dame was flustered by being bottled up by their defense. He forced things both in passes that caused turnovers and in his drives to the hoop where he either had to pass out at the last minute or threw up a wild shot. While he’d never use the injury as an excuse, it certainly was a factor in him not being able to perform to his usual level in the last three games. At any rate, without Dame’s steadying influence and big shots, the rest of the team lost their composure, resulting in chokes.
First, I think you have to recognize that it’s a process getting the confidence needed to win at the highest level in the NBA. This year’s success built on last year’s failure. The Blazers learned from the Pelican debacle and they will learn from this failure.
Second, the roster needs to improve more. We need an upgrade at either PF or SF, or preferably both.
Third, Dame is great, but he needs CJ to be a better version of himself or else he needs a different guy there. CJ won the Denver series and was great, but he was less than terrific against the Warriors. He needed to be at his top level to help free some of the pressure on Dame.
Fourth, Stotts does need to rethink the way the Blazers initiate their offense against trapping defenses. The predictable slow pace where Dame brings the ball up makes initiating the trap easier. He did try a few variations, I thought, but it needs to be worked out more.
