We need bench scoring.... badly.

[Natebishop3]

Wow....that is old school. Did we ever meet at any of the Draft Parties? If memory serves, I think we did at one point.

Not a draft party. We met at a couple times at that sports bar in Beaverton that no longer exists on Cedar Hills. I think they were just regular game nights though.

 

[Draco]

Where do we rank in bench scoring?

Yes we are near the bottom of the league, but a part of that is by design since we have our four main scoring options in the starting lineup. When the bench comes in there is always a starter on the court who is the primary scorer. Other teams have one of their primary scoring option coming in off the bench.

I would like to see more efficient shooting from Mo and Wright, its something to keep an eye on during the next 10 games but its not a drastic problem with this team.

I'd like to know where we are in bench differential. I couldn't care less if we are last in scoring as long as our opponents are as well

Similar to my point above I don’t think that should be the focus. A team like the Lakers by design plays their bench more than their starters and gives them numerous shooting attempts. We’ll never have bench scoring near that level and in of itself that doesn’t mean our bench is less effective. The Thunder have Lamb and Jackson coming off the bench to score, but start defensive players like Sefolosha.


Many people have mentioned Lowry, yes I would definitely prefer him to Mo if it doesn’t cost us significant assets for a player hitting free agency in a number of months. I definitely would not give up CJ, TRob, or a future 1st round pick for that brief of an upgrade. I don’t think Toronto would accept Mo and Meyers. Even if they did would Lowry be willing to play a backup role before he becomes a free agent? Both of those sound unlikely. So I don’t think we will be able to get that type of deal done.

Olshey should definitely keep his ear open to any clearly beneficial opportunities but I suspect a trade is highly unlikely during the season.

 

[TBpup]

Ahhhh. This is why so many posters lump "hold on to your shorts" and "deal coming soon" together.

The "Hold onto your Shorts" was because we had the information quite a bit ahead of time that Portland would be trading Zach. It got the point that Peter Vescey basically borrowed a quote from one of the posts and used it in his blog. Not sure if he got if from there or saw it where someone else had used it but we all had a good laugh that it came from the forum. I don't remember how far ahead we had that but it was a good month or so before word came out anywhere else and then the subsequent trade.

Beware who is at the door listening.....lol.

 

[TBpup]

Not a draft party. We met at a couple times at that sports bar in Beaverton that no longer exists on Cedar Hills. I think they were just regular game nights though.

Okay, that sounds familiar. Was Discovery69 there as well?

 

[Natebishop3]

The "Hold onto your Shorts" was because we had the information quite a bit ahead of time that Portland would be trading Zach. It got the point that Peter Vescey basically borrowed a quote from one of the posts and used it in his blog. Not sure if he got if from there or saw it where someone else had used it but we all had a good laugh that it came from the forum. I don't remember how far ahead we had that but it was a good month or so before word came out anywhere else and then the subsequent trade.

Beware who is at the door listening.....lol.

That was such a god awful trade though. I don't think I could sit on that for a month. I'd be leaking it in hopes that the fan backlash would convince them not to do it.

 

[Natebishop3]

Okay, that sounds familiar. Was Discovery69 there as well?

Yup, and El President, otherwise known as AgentDrazenPetrovic/xXEricXx/or any of his other million handles that he's used in the past ten years.

 

[TBpup]

Yup, and El President, otherwise known as AgentDrazenPetrovic/xXEricXx/or any of his other million handles that he's used in the past ten years.

Oh yeah, now I remember. He was up visiting from L.A. or something like that. As for D69, what a wealth of Draft prospect information that guy is. I went back over the last 10 years of his projections and who he thought the Blazers should pick. All of it was done before the Draft and only on one occasion, did he mess up. In every other instance, if the Blazers had selected who he liked, they would have come out WAY ahead. And I am a witness, he wanted Durant over Oden. I should go find that and re-post it. He does a great job with his scouting.

As for the trade, it was awful but it came out of 'necessity'. That is where the "Shorts" thread came from. My source gave the details around the discussion, where it came from and what was going to happen. At the time, it was quite a shock.

 

[Natebishop3]

Oh yeah, now I remember. He was up visiting from L.A. or something like that. As for D69, what a wealth of Draft prospect information that guy is. I went back over the last 10 years of his projections and who he thought the Blazers should pick. All of it was done before the Draft and only on one occasion, did he mess up. In every other instance, if the Blazers had selected who he liked, they would have come out WAY ahead. And I am a witness, he wanted Durant over Oden. I should go find that and re-post it. He does a great job with his scouting.

As for the trade, it was awful but it came out of 'necessity'. That is where the "Shorts" thread came from. My source gave the details around the discussion, where it came from and what was going to happen. At the time, it was quite a shock.

I was on the fence about Durant/Oden. I remember even thinking we were in another Jordan/Bowie situation, but how could you turn your back on Oden? I would not have been unhappy if we took Durant.

 

[BigGameDamian]

You know while the Raptors are blowing things up I wouldn't mind getting Marcus Camby back and I sure as hell wouldn't mind getting Terrence Ross back in the Rose City!

 

[Natebishop3]

You know while the Raptors are blowing things up I wouldn't mind getting Marcus Camby back and I sure as hell wouldn't mind getting Terrence Ross back in the Rose City!

Camby was one of the malcontents on the team fro ma few years ago.

Pass.

 

[Mediocre Man]

The "Hold onto your Shorts" was because we had the information quite a bit ahead of time that Portland would be trading Zach. It got the point that Peter Vescey basically borrowed a quote from one of the posts and used it in his blog. Not sure if he got if from there or saw it where someone else had used it but we all had a good laugh that it came from the forum. I don't remember how far ahead we had that but it was a good month or so before word came out anywhere else and then the subsequent trade.

Beware who is at the door listening.....lol.

There is a thread on the old forum titled "deal coming soon" by me regarding the same deal. I was crucified for it because there was such a delay. All good though...These guys never let up

 

[Draco]

You know while the Raptors are blowing things up I wouldn't mind getting Marcus Camby back and I sure as hell wouldn't mind getting Terrence Ross back in the Rose City!

July called, said Camby was bought out 5 months ago…

Not to mention he was horrific in NY last year and quit on his team in Portland, of which we have three starters. That might be the worst suggestion someone could come up with.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Camby was one of the malcontents on the team from a few years ago.

In some way, the man's a hero for being that malcontent. Can you imagine Nate with Lillard? Or not getting Lillard because we won too many games?

 

[magnifier661]

There is a thread on the old forum titled "deal coming soon" by me regarding the same deal. I was crucified for it because there was such a delay. All good though...These guys never let up

You are right and the forum never listens to you. Is this what you want to advertise? I think we've heard this enough to understand this is what you want to hear.

 

[HailBlazers]

I was on the fence about Durant/Oden. I remember even thinking we were in another Jordan/Bowie situation, but how could you turn your back on Oden? I would not have been unhappy if we took Durant.

How about we let this cake bake and make a run for Durant in 2016!

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Back to the bench... anyone else notice that Mo and Dorell are playing Buddy Ball out there? Mo will either shoot or pass to Dorell, effectively freezing out Damian in the second quarter.

 

[TBpup]

Back to the bench... anyone else notice that Mo and Dorell are playing Buddy Ball out there? Mo will either shoot or pass to Dorell, effectively freezing out Damian in the second quarter.

That would be more amenable if they were hitting a higher percentage of their shots.

 

[Natebishop3]

Back to the bench... anyone else notice that Mo and Dorell are playing Buddy Ball out there? Mo will either shoot or pass to Dorell, effectively freezing out Damian in the second quarter.

I half wish we had kept Maynor. Damian played excellent basketball with Maynor.

 

[TBpup]

I half wish we had kept Maynor. Damian played excellent basketball with Maynor.

They did play well together offensively but defensively, it was difficult to even find where they ranked as a duo because most tracking doesn't go that low.

 

[Mediocre Man]

You are right and the forum never listens to you. Is this what you want to advertise? I think we've heard this enough to understand this is what you want to hear.

Huh?

 

[shamelessblazer]

I half wish we had kept Maynor. Damian played excellent basketball with Maynor.

I still want Andre Miller back. Easy buckets for Lamarcus while Damian is on the bench and 10 mpg w/Lillard where he gets to truly play off the ball.

I would totally dump Mo for him in the hopes that CJ could replicate a lot of what Mo does for us.

Lillard (30)/Andre (18)
Wes (28) / Lillard (6) / CJ (14)

A lot of versatility in that backcourt. Although defense would be a weakspot I think the offensive flow would be much better with spurts of Andre Miller than Mo's streaky play.

 

[TBpup]

Not that this affects the Blazers but Omar Asik just switched agents to Arn Tellem. Maybe he thinks that will help get him moved more quickly.

 

[Natebishop3]

I still want Andre Miller back. Easy buckets for Lamarcus while Damian is on the bench and 10 mpg w/Lillard where he gets to truly play off the ball.

I would totally dump Mo for him in the hopes that CJ could replicate a lot of what Mo does for us.

Lillard (30)/Andre (18)
Wes (28) / Lillard (6) / CJ (14)

A lot of versatility in that backcourt. Although defense would be a weakspot I think the offensive flow would be much better with spurts of Andre Miller than Mo's streaky play.

I would love to get Dre back, but I'm not sure if he's available and if Lowry could be had, he's a better defender.

 

[shamelessblazer]

I would love to get Dre back, but I'm not sure if he's available and if Lowry could be had, he's a better defender.

Of course he is. But he doesn't have 1/10 of the PG skills. The offense would run smooth with Dre even when the shots aren't falling. I just think we have enough backcourt defense (if we had a good b/u big defender), that I would value a floor general more than the return on better D from our backcourt I guess.

 

[Natebishop3]

Of course he is. But he doesn't have 1/10 of the PG skills. The offense would run smooth with Dre even when the shots aren't falling. I just think we have enough backcourt defense (if we had a good b/u big defender), that I would value a floor general more than the return on better D from our backcourt I guess.

I like the idea of bringing back Miller, but Denver is currently in the playoff hunt. Not sure they're going to trade him.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Of course he is. But he doesn't have 1/10 of the PG skills. The offense would run smooth with Dre even when the shots aren't falling. I just think we have enough backcourt defense (if we had a good b/u big defender), that I would value a floor general more than the return on better D from our backcourt I guess.

No he doesn't have 1/10th the Point guard skills of Miller. It's more like 7/10ths.

 

[Draco]

If we do a trade I think the aim needs to be for postseason success. 2 or 3 extra wins from the bench in the regular season isn’t that important.

The starters will be playing more minutes in the postseason since there are no back to backs and reduced travel. We have the #1 ranked offensive team in the league. If we do any sort of trade to help the postseason I would target a defensive player.

I loved Andre Miller when he was here but a trade for him makes no sense. In the postseason teams eliminate easy buckets which is what Miller is best at. The opponents are better defenders, and the way to make a defense pay for doubling is with distance shooting. While I don’t think Miller is entirely to blame for never winning a playoff series, I do think a large part of his failure is playoff ball slowing down and long range shooting being more important.

 

[shamelessblazer]

If we do a trade I think the aim needs to be for postseason success. 2 or 3 extra wins from the bench in the regular season isn’t that important.

The starters will be playing more minutes in the postseason since there are no back to backs and reduced travel. We have the #1 ranked offensive team in the league. If we do any sort of trade to help the postseason I would target a defensive player.

I loved Andre Miller when he was here but a trade for him makes no sense. In the postseason teams eliminate easy buckets which is what Miller is best at. The opponents are better defenders, and the way to make a defense pay for doubling is with distance shooting. While I don’t think Miller is entirely to blame for never winning a playoff series, I do think a large part of his failure is playoff ball slowing down and long range shooting being more important.

We've had highly ranked offenses before (efficiency-wise) in the regular season that didn't work well int he playoffs. I completely disagree about playoff games, Miller has delivered in the playoffs before, he's just been on terribly outmatched middling teams.

Defenses are going to be playing us with more intensity in the post-season and open shots will be harder to come by. Someone who can create for others and feed Lamarcus open shots and feed him post up opportunities in the post is essential.

At this point on our team Batum is the only guy who can consistently do that, and we know how spotty his play can be some times. I think that is more essential for the playoffs than a defensive player personally. With Wes' intensity, Batum's defensive versatility, and Lillard's competitiveness I think our D will be okay. Right now the offense wouldn't work very well if you bring in any defensive guy who's not a great shooter (unless he can create and you modify the offense a little bit).

 

[3RA1N1AC]

There is a thread on the old forum titled "deal coming soon" by me regarding the same deal. I was crucified for it because there was such a delay. All good though...These guys never let up

Well that, and because it was a completely different deal, you said rjeff if I remember correctly.

 

[magnifier661]

Miller never made it past the first round. I would rather have players that have learned how to win after making the playoffs. Sorry, it's a no for me