What needs to be changed

[hoopsjock]

tough call. I'd probably rather have Nurkic and Davis than Nurkic and Kanter, but without Nurkic, Kanter's offense has been crucial

I'd rather have Kanter and Davis than Kanter and Meyers, but yeah, having Davis would have likely meant not signing Kanter, although it's good to have bigs to close the season. But swear to god, 7 years of Meyers is about 5 years to long and I fear it will be 8 years...and if Olshey is still GM next summer, maybe 10 or 11

for these playoffs, Vonleh would be better than either Zach or Skal

I'm not trying to give Olshey a pass but...

In 2015 he made a move to get Afflalo to add depth to a talented roster and Wes went down in a game in which we were winning our 5th straight, 4 of which were against West playoff teams. Then Afflalo hurts his shoulder and wasn't the same either.

This year he makes some moves at the deadline and then adds Kanter in the buyout market. Nurk goes down in a game where we were winning our 4th straight (and went on to win 6 straight) and had been playing well since the All-Star break. Kanter ironically suffers a shoulder injury too.

Both cases the injuries took place after the trade deadline in which Olshey had made moves to add depth to the very same position that became the problem. I don't know if I can knock Olshey too much for this one. Injuries happen but Kanter has played really well for us. Going into the post season with a big rotation of Nurk, Kanter, Aminu, and Collins is pretty solid. Leonard and Skal in theory shouldn't have even have been needed. It sucks that the Blazers two best chances at a deep run under Olshey both coincided with a devastating injury. Ultimately Olshey will get blamed for that but I don't think he deserves to be bashed for something out of his control. I'm not saying he deserves any sort of extra praise but most teams struggle with depth issues when they lose their 2nd best player.

 

[Wade Garrett]

Sit down and lemme tell y'all a story.
Decades ago I coached 7th and 8th graders.
There was this one kid who at 6'3 towered over everyone. He was the leagues Wilt Chamberlain. He was dominating my team of pipsqueaks. So I made an adjustment. I took the smallest kid I had and told him just to get right in the big kids chest. Be a pest and just rattle him. (like beverley v durant).
We came back won the game and Wilt wasn't much of a factor....
I was reminded of that in Game 1 where I kept screaming " why is Seth guarding Jokic?"..." why is CJ guarding Jokic?"..
Now I realize it was the result of a switch but you know what? Jokic never scored on them.
I'm guessing Nicola Jokic is more talented than the "Wilt kid" of decades ago, but maybe put a smaller on him and use your size elsewhere.

 

[wizenheimer]

I'm not trying to give Olshey a pass but...

In 2015 he made a move to get Afflalo to add depth to a talented roster and Wes went down in a game in which we were winning our 5th straight, 4 of which were against West playoff teams. Then Afflalo hurts his shoulder and wasn't the same either.

This year he makes some moves at the deadline and then adds Kanter in the buyout market. Nurk goes down in a game where we were winning our 4th straight (and went on to win 6 straight) and had been playing well since the All-Star break. Kanter ironically suffers a shoulder injury too.

Both cases the injuries took place after the trade deadline in which Olshey had made moves to add depth to the very same position that became the problem. I don't know if I can knock Olshey too much for this one. Injuries happen but Kanter has played really well for us. Going into the post season with a big rotation of Nurk, Kanter, Aminu, and Collins is pretty solid. Leonard and Skal in theory shouldn't have even have been needed. It sucks that the Blazers two best chances at a deep run under Olshey both coincided with a devastating injury. Ultimately Olshey will get blamed for that but I don't think he deserves to be bashed for something out of his control. I'm not saying he deserves any sort of extra praise but most teams struggle with depth issues when they lose their 2nd best player.

your post kind of confirms what I was replying too and the context...which was a post blaming Stotts for who he "chose" to guard Millsap and Jokic with. Stotts uses the tools he has which was the point of my post. In his toolbox Stotts has two 'project' big men, one in his 7th season and one in his 2nd season. Neither have proven ready for any significant & dependable contribution in the current playoffs; they don't help Lillard's prime. That is not the fault of Stotts. And at PF, Stotts essentially has Aminu and Zach. That's a weak rotation against any physical PF's. Harkless, Layman, and Skal don't make it better. Again, not the fault of Stotts

now, Denver, with Millsap, might be one of those playoff teams that can expose Portland's vulnerability at PF. OKC couldn't do it with Grant and Morris. Utah probably could with Favors. Aminu vs Aldridge might be a mismatch. Aminu vs Draymond Green is more even. Houston with Tucker and Faried is good for Aminu, but not for Zach

 

[Natebishop3]

We drafted Zach SPECIFICALLY for his defense.

Let the kid play and figure it out.

It's not like he could do any worse. Mo fouled out for pete's sake.

 

[calvin natt]

at PF Stotts has Aminu and Zach; at C he has Kanter, then Meyers and Zach. Those are just weak options. Blame the GM that left Stotts with those options. Portland could have Ed Davis and Noah Vonleh....but 2016

How many teams have a better backup center than Kanter? What coaches have great options when their starter goes down?

 

[BonesJones]

Blaming refs is so lazy and getting to be a tired excuse. Every. Single. Game.

Not lazy. I could point out 20 BS calls to you if I wanted. The refs were awful in game 1. I'd love to hear you tell Dame how they werent.

 

[Natebishop3]

Not lazy. I could point out 20 BS calls to you if I wanted. The refs were awful in game 1. I'd love to hear you tell Dame how they werent.

Dame got a lot of love from the refs in that game, man.

 

[BonesJones]

Dame got a lot of love from the refs in that game, man.

In the 4th with the game out of hand while the refs tried to even up the FT disparity? Yes he did.

 

[wizenheimer]

In the 4th with the game out of hand while the refs tried to even up the FT disparity? Yes he did.

yep...he got calls in the 4th, but he was getting the same kind of physical contact on his drives in the 1st 3 quarters

 

[Natebishop3]

In the 4th with the game out of hand while the refs tried to even up the FT disparity? Yes he did.

Eh........ a lot of those calls were when we were still in the mix. It was actually pretty huge to get those calls because that's points on the board with the clock stopped.

 

[BonesJones]

Eh........ a lot of those calls were when we were still in the mix. It was actually pretty huge to get those calls because that's points on the board with the clock stopped.

Eh, not really. Down 8-10 and getting handed FTs? Denver pretty much had the game in the bag. They tried to even it up.

At one point, the FT disparity was 15-3.

 

[BonesJones]

yep...he got calls in the 4th, but he was getting the same kind of physical contact on his drives in the 1st 3 quarters

I understand being inconsistent with those calls, just funny how once we were down 8-10 in the latter part of the 4th, all of a sudden he got all those calls.

 

[CupWizier]

In the 4th with the game out of hand while the refs tried to even up the FT disparity? Yes he did.

In the 4th, Lillard was only fouled 3 times and only once with 5 minutes or less in the game and only once between the 11 minute mark and 5 minute mark and zero after the 3 minute mark.

 

[calvin natt]

Not lazy. I could point out 20 BS calls to you if I wanted. The refs were awful in game 1. I'd love to hear you tell Dame how they werent.

Do people even pay attention to calls we get? Or just have blinders on?

 

[calvin natt]

Not lazy. I could point out 20 BS calls to you if I wanted. The refs were awful in game 1. I'd love to hear you tell Dame how they werent.

...but hey if you want to sound like Houston and Golden State whining about refs go for it. It’s a bad look.

 

[BonesJones]

...but hey if you want to sound like Houston and Golden State whining about refs go for it. It’s a bad look.

Im not a player though. Dont be that guy that thinks the refs do a good job every night.

 

[calvin natt]

Im not a player though. Dont be that guy that thinks the refs do a good job every night.

Actually overall, they do an incredible job. Hardest sport to officiate. I don’t let my 7th/4th/1st graders blame refs. Sure as shit wouldn’t let a pro when their starting small forwards score 4 points between them.

 

[H.C.]

The starting five simply isn't working. If we had a coach who is inept enough to make adjustments he would notice that. Having Zach in worked until they inserted Plumlee and played with 2 bigs but as long as Milsap is in the game we need Zach there as well.
If Enes Kanter who is already a very poor defender can't lift his arms above the shoulders maybe it's even better for the team that he doesn't play at all.
I wish I could think that Stotts could see some of that and make adjustments but he's fucking worthless, best case scenario: we lose in 5

So I'm going to be legit with you.

After every loss or bad game Portland has you come in with a 'hottake' about what Portland needs to do.
Be it sign a trash player in some 7th rate league, a player who is too broken to make it through 10 games let alone 82 + playoffs.
Be it Kanter being garbage because of a +/- stat or because he's injured and 'can't lift his arms above his head'.

Then after Portland proves you wrong, you do one of two things.
Get mad at posters calling you out & claim they're piling on.
Or you say things like
'Why can't you let things go so we can talk basketball?'

Problem is all of your posts come across as you attempting to be the smartest person in the room.
You've even claimed you knew more than anyone else on this board. True or not, that's going to get people laughing at you. As you're not trying to talk basketball.

Portland is now 1-1 with two games in Portland.
a 5 game series does not look likely.

 

[hoopsjock]

The starting five simply isn't working. If we had a coach who is inept enough to make adjustments he would notice that. Having Zach in worked until they inserted Plumlee and played with 2 bigs but as long as Milsap is in the game we need Zach there as well.
If Enes Kanter who is already a very poor defender can't lift his arms above the shoulders maybe it's even better for the team that he doesn't play at all.
I wish I could think that Stotts could see some of that and make adjustments but he's fucking worthless, best case scenario: we lose in 5

LMAO

Damn, why did Stotts play Kanter? Doesn't he know @Blazer4ever said we should limit his minutes or maybe not play him at all?

Good call!

 

[dviss1]

tough call. I'd probably rather have Nurkic and Davis than Nurkic and Kanter, but without Nurkic, Kanter's offense has been crucial

I'd rather have Kanter and Davis than Kanter and Meyers, but yeah, having Davis would have likely meant not signing Kanter, although it's good to have bigs to close the season. But swear to god, 7 years of Meyers is about 5 years to long and I fear it will be 8 years...and if Olshey is still GM next summer, maybe 10 or 11

for these playoffs, Vonleh would be better than either Zach or Skal

All that and you didn't answer the question.

Would you rather have Kanter or Davis?

No caveats.

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

All that and thou didn't answer the question.

Would you rather have Kanter or Davis?

No caveats.

I really like ED, I was so bummed last summer... However, I think I'd rather have Kanter. I'm not sure ED could've taken over as a starter the way Kanter has. Obviously, Ed's a better defender, but he's also pretty skinny and gets pushed around much easier than Kanter.