Notice This is the worst Blazer team I have seen in my lifetime.

[tykendo]

I find Dame's performance concerning too. Double teamed all night without teammates coming to set screens to get him out. Not enough attempts of playing Dame off the ball to get him shots, nothing.

Dame was scoreless in the first half. As much as that is also on Stotts and his teammates, its also him. He is supposed to be a star player. I haven't seen any star player stopped offensively like I have seen Dame stopped.

It's ONE GAME. Step away from the cliff.

 

[Natebishop3]

It's ONE GAME. Step away from the cliff.

It's not one game.

We were just completely obliterated by our two biggest division rivals in our last three games. If you want to call out that the Denver games were pre-season, so be it, but we saw the EXACT SAME THING PLAY OUT LAST NIGHT. It was essentially a carbon copy of the Denver games.

We were being lauded as a top three team in the west before preseason started. We just played two teams in our division and two of the top teams in the west. This team right now looks like an 8th seed AT BEST. Not a top three team. Not even close.

 

[B-Roy]

I find Dame's performance concerning too. Double teamed all night without teammates coming to set screens to get him out. Not enough attempts of playing Dame off the ball to get him shots, nothing.

Dame was scoreless in the first half. As much as that is also on Stotts and his teammates, its also him. He is supposed to be a star player. I haven't seen any star player stopped offensively like I have seen Dame stopped.

This has happened in the playoffs for 4 consecutive years now. All it takes is the right team running the right scheme.

I just didn't think we would have to worry about this until the actual playoffs came. But Utah didn't mess around. Dame has killed them in the past because Snyder chose to stubbornly drop Gobert on every pick and roll.

 

[calvin natt]

it’s unanimous that they look horrible now. It’s not unanimous that they will continue to look horrible, that they are “checked out” (after one week), that guys don’t care and are already frustrated with each other. I fully expect a rough few weeks. If it doesn’t get better after that time, there will be changes and this place will throw a party that Stotts is gone. An assistant will take over and everything will get better.

 

[Chris Craig]

By concerning, you think he's quit on the team moving forward? Will struggle to score 20ppg this year?

I fully expect him to have 30+ points and play well next game, but I could be wrong.

No, I certainly don't think he has quit on the team. Dame isn't a quitter. Just saying I think Stotts inability to adjust, or to plan around double teams has affected him negatively.

 

[Chris Craig]

It's not one game.

We were just completely obliterated by our two biggest division rivals in our last three games. If you want to call out that the Denver games were pre-season, so be it, but we saw the EXACT SAME THING PLAY OUT LAST NIGHT. It was essentially a carbon copy of the Denver games.

We were being lauded as a top three team in the west before preseason started. We just played two teams in our division and two of the top teams in the west. This team right now looks like an 8th seed AT BEST. Not a top three team. Not even close.

This.

 

[Chris Craig]

This has happened in the playoffs for 4 consecutive years now. All it takes is the right team running the right scheme.

I just didn't think we would have to worry about this until the actual playoffs came. But Utah didn't mess around. Dame has killed them in the past because Snyder chose to stubbornly drop Gobert on every pick and roll.

We will continue to see teams implement that playoff scheme during the regular season because that is all they have to do to beat the Blazers... that and shoot wide open threes. The Blazers will need to adjust. Stotts is not one to adjust. Very disconcerting.

 

[THE HCP]

If we win, are we good again?

 

[Chris Craig]

If we win, are we good again?

Probation period

 

[B-Roy]

It's just sad that the biggest concerns by people coming into the season are all being validated:

1.) Stotts issues in the last 4 years.
2.) Melo/CJ ball dominating.
3.) Defense on the second unit.
4.) Shot creation in the first unit when Dame is being doubled.

We've needed a fresh voice on the team for such a long time now. Just somebody that could come in with an unbiased view of the team as a whole and not be tied to any sort of sentimental value. The Stotts + Olshey + Dame + CJ is a self contained positive feedback loop that doubles down when things aren't working. We have been trying to jam a square peg into a round hole for years now, and PA's death has left a void in terms of having a check on the core.

Either sell the team or bring in someone that is actually going to put some pressure on the team.

 

[Tince]

No, I certainly don't think he has quit on the team. Dame isn't a quitter. Just saying I think Stotts inability to adjust, or to plan around double teams has affected him negatively.

Dame has made noticable improvements for 8 straight seasons while getting more attention each year. The player always deserves the most credit/blame for their own game, but I wouldn't use Dame's lack of success as an indicator of the coaching he's received. I'm not sure there is a PG his size who gets more attention, with less support around him, and has been as successful.

 

[blazerkor]

And you're acting like a blind homer. Same problems we saw last year. These issues arent new or limited to "one game", this is a continuation and theres been no progress despite an upgraded personnel. Also, almost every team has new pieces and are going through the same pandemic. No excuses.

Right but to say this team is worse than some if not all of the teams we've had in the last 20 years that didn't make the playoffs is a fucking ridiculous overreaction. Might we still be very frustratingly a middling/mediocre first round exiting playoff team? Yep we might and you might see that as a certainty but we've had some rosters that couldn't possibly have competed for the playoffs that I'm pretty sure the OP saw but maybe I'm wrong and he just started watching the team or is under 26.

 

[DDolla]

Can we just trade Dame so he can win a ring. We are wasting his talent and he will not win here in PDX. He deserves a ring.

 

[blazerkor]

I'm kind of a pessimist usually, but I'd like to give it a few more games......
I will say though that it's quite discouraging to see how Sacramento has gone in the opposite direction of us (beat Denver AT Denver last night) since we whipped them opening exhibition.

Holy shit! How the fuck do you make an excellent point and then contradict it so directly in the next sentence?

 

[blazerkor]

I'm sorry but I have a really hard time taking anything seriously from the "blind homer" crew.

These are the same people who were screaming at the top of their lungs that LMA would re-sign right up until the last day when it was blatantly obvious that he was gone.

These are the people who have been defending Stotts for YEARS for the same fucking problems that he has never solved, IE never being able to address teams trapping Dame, our horrible defense, and our iso focused offense.

These are the same people who call anyone a CJ hater because they're sick of his horrible defense and me-first offense. They apparently have no problem watching him take the ball up the court, dribble for 10 seconds and then go 1 on 3 to take an extremely difficult shot. But hey.... he makes some of them!

I have a hard time taking anything seriously from someone who has the ridiculously gross overreaction to this last game that resulted in the OP. I get it that most fans of this team have mediocrity fatigue but lets not let that make us negatively delusional.

 

[RoseCityRebel]

21-61 was brutal and anyone who says this team is worse than 2005-06 was either drunk posting in anger or doesn’t recall how bad this franchise was in the Whitsitt aftermath and Patterson/Nash disaster on and off the court. The franchise was a national laughingstock and Paul Allen damn near sold the team and didn’t even own the arena for 3 years as he fucked over local businesses by filing bankruptcy.

Did the OP start watching the Blazers when Lillard was drafted, because if not, their perspective on reality is warped and based on emotion, not reason.

 

[blazerkor]

Did I need to spell that out in my post? Because it's pretty obvious that plays a factor in him looking unconfident.

I thought you understood the game man. You have to realize that this is just the process after someone comes back from a year long injury recovery. We won't know what we have in Hoodie for a month or more.

 

[blazerkor]

I laid out why it's the worst team. We very well might even make the 8th seed (because obviously we need to keep Terry around). I never said the metric was wins and losses.

We haven't improved on last year at all. In fact, we look markedly worse.

We are pissing away Dame's prime.

Our offense is completely built around iso and me-first basketball. Melo went almost the entire game without PASSING the ball. The defense actually looks worse than last year. The team looks selfish. Uninterested. Lost. Defeated. This is the worst Blazer TEAM I have ever seen.

See until this post you didn't explain that you had moved the goal line. You just mentioned offhandedly that we were pissing away Dame's prime not that it was your entire lens you were viewing your following comments through. Even with that caveat you should still be saying that this is the most frustrating Blazers team you've seen because when you say worst universally that is understood to mean the team with the least ability to win a game or possession. Your "worst" is mired in subjectivity and I think most of assumed that you would be speaking objectively unless you had much more explicitly stated otherwise.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

Holy shit! How the fuck do you make an excellent point and then contradict it so directly in the next sentence?

The Blazers are doing it to me!

 

[Pinwheel1]

If we win, are we good again?

The best team I have seen in my lifetime.

 

[blazerkor]

@Natebishop3 and @Chris Craig I just expect so much more from both of you. I don't understand why you guys don't realize that this is the absolute earliest in a season you can be. So you guys should just admit that this is an absolutely emotional reaction because I know that both of you understand that the preseason and first game of the season have never been accurate and consistent bellwethers of where a team will end up at the season's end (with or without trades). I realize you guys will point to previous seasons as proof but in the same post you might also mention that you have some omniscient way to know how DJJ and RoCo will or won't change the result of past outcomes. It's not your negativity that is so out of whack it's your certainty that your negativity isn't clouding your outlook and prognostications.

 

[blazerkor]

The Blazers are doing it to me!

That's completely fair sir and if many in here including the OP would just admit that this is just an emotional response then I wouldn't have a argumentative problem with any of it. For the record my use of words is just for fun as is the rest of this stuff... I'm only arguing points about sports it's not that big of a deal.

 

[Natebishop3]

See until this post you didn't explain that you had moved the goal line. You just mentioned offhandedly that we were pissing away Dame's prime not that it was your entire lens you were viewing your following comments through. Even with that caveat you should still be saying that this is the most frustrating Blazers team you've seen because when you say worst universally that is understood to mean the team with the least ability to win a game or possession. Your "worst" is mired in subjectivity and I think most of assumed that you would be speaking objectively unless you had much more explicitly stated otherwise.

There is no "goal line," unless you want to make the goal line "the worst blazer team I have seen in my life."

I presented the entire thing as a matter of opinion. I gave no criteria. I didn't talk about wins or losses. I didn't talk about stats. I said this is the worst Blazer team I have ever seen. How do you disprove an opinion based on eyesight?

 

[Natebishop3]

I thought you understood the game man. You have to realize that this is just the process after someone comes back from a year long injury recovery. We won't know what we have in Hoodie for a month or more.

Regardless of why, he looks like shit. I don't care why, he shouldn't be on the floor if he isn't ready. Our team is playing so badly right now that we can't work out Hood's kinks. I explored this weeks ago when I said that he should be playing limited minutes while he works himself back into shape. We were proven correct because he looks lost and unconfident. I didn't say that wasn't to be expected, but regardless, he's playing badly and our second unit looks like crap. I also said that he's being setup to fail because of how bad the ball movement is on that second unit.

 

[blazerkor]

There is no "goal line," unless you want to make the goal line "the worst blazer team I have seen in my life."

I presented the entire thing as a matter of opinion. I gave no criteria. I didn't talk about wins or losses. I didn't talk about stats. I said this is the worst Blazer team I have ever seen. How do you disprove an opinion based on eyesight?

Fair enough. Just know if the first post would have been a little clearer as to what you meant by "the worst team I have seen in my life" my responses would have been different. I still might have had an opinion or two about it but there wouldn't be any way to fully disagree with you because like you said it's a matter of opinion. For what any of that is worth... it is just my one opinion after all.

 

[UncleCliffy'sDaddy]

After watching the NBA for a very large chunk of my 66 years, I’m not sure it rally matters how good we are. It seems to me that this year is just as preordained (and deserving of an asterisk) as last season. The championship is the Laker’s to lose. The fans can’t attend games, the season is shorter and revenues are down. The only way to keep fans coming back is for the league to do whatever is necessary to keep the Lakers front and center. It doesn’t hurt that LeBron seems to think it is his due.....and that he is bigger than the game (with league acquiescence). And let’s don’t forget Kobe, Kobe, Kobe. Yeah, I know it’s an extremely cynical and jaded take, but I think it’s pretty much a done deal.......and all the arguing about how good or bad the Blazers are is irrelevant. A lifetime of living in a “small market” has beaten the equal opportunity ideal right outta me.......

 

[Hoopguru]

There is no way to know what this team will be like in 3 months.

 

[Natebishop3]

Fair enough. Just know if the first post would have been a little clearer as to what you meant by "the worst team I have seen in my life" my responses would have been different. I still might have had an opinion or two about it but there wouldn't be any way to fully disagree with you because like you said it's a matter of opinion. For what any of that is worth... it is just my one opinion after all.

If we can't vent our frustrations on here, where can we?

And trust me, regardless of how I frame my post, there's always going to be homers on here who will show up to white knight the team. Death, taxes, and sunshine pumping. Without fail.

 

[blazerkor]

Regardless of why, he looks like shit. I don't care why, he shouldn't be on the floor if he isn't ready. Our team is playing so badly right now that we can't work out Hood's kinks. I explored this weeks ago when I said that he should be playing limited minutes while he works himself back into shape. We were proven correct because he looks lost and unconfident. I didn't say that wasn't to be expected, but regardless, he's playing badly and our second unit looks like crap. I also said that he's being setup to fail because of how bad the ball movement is on that second unit.

I don't know what Stotts thinks of practices as opposed to games but a lot of coaches think that you can sacrifice a little quality now to get guys game time to get them back to where you get a lot of quality from them in a lot of later games. Regardless of that your point about the guys that Stotts put Hoodie in with was right on... if you're trying to get Hoodie some run why put him out there with a bunch of ball hogging defensive liabilities? That makes no sense and a lot of things Stotts does make me scratch my head.

 

[blazerkor]

After watching the NBA for a very large chunk of my 66 years, I’m not sure it rally matters how good we are. It seems to me that this year is just as preordained (and deserving of an asterisk) as last season. The championship is the Laker’s to lose. The fans can’t attend games, the season is shorter and revenues are down. The only way to keep fans coming back is for the league to do whatever is necessary to keep the Lakers front and center. It doesn’t hurt that LeBron seems to think it is his due.....and that he is bigger than the game (with league acquiescence). And let’s don’t forget Kobe, Kobe, Kobe. Yeah, I know it’s an extremely cynical and jaded take, but I think it’s pretty much a done deal.......and all the arguing about how good or bad the Blazers are is irrelevant. A lifetime of living in a “small market” has beaten the equal opportunity ideal right outta me.......

This is some conspiratorial bullshit. I don't know how many times I'll have to post this in here but there isn't large enough revenue sharing among the owners that these billionaires wouldn't spend the money it took to prove the fixing of games or seasons if it were happening and have league management thrown out of the league and into jail.

Also there are too many ambitious journalists out there that would doggedly pursue any actual hint of this shit and it would end up headlining every big website, paper and magazine... again resulting in people losing million dollar salaries and ending up in jail. This shit doesn't happen at this high and visible of a level in the information age... it hasn't even possibly happened in around half a century. Watergate changed a lot of things and people often don't realize that. But carry on with your nonsensical musings.