Game Thread Preseason Game #1 Suns @ Trail Blazers Game Thread

I'm kinda in the same boat but with Layman. Last year I was super hyped on him. This year I still believed he'd improve, but his shot is still awful and it makes me think he's just mentally weak. The guy shot it well in college there's no reason why he should look this bad.

 

Well, we are fans. We like to see the good in our players. And I do see some good in both of these guys. But, they look rubbish right now. They have until the end of pre-season to get my dick hard. After that, they are just forever flaccid empty jerseys.

 

Jason Quick thinks they both would be better suited backing up Nurkic at Center.

 

Based on this game alone...

We have a Center rotation that will mostly be Nurkic and Leonard with Collins picking up some small ball minutes.

Power forward is gonna be a jam. Swanigan and Collins I would feel comfortable with either... then there is Vonleh. Ohh and Ed Davis.

I doubt we see Aminu at the 4 very much. But with Turner starting and Harkless coming off bench again a jam.

FWIW Quck is on talking ball and the rest of the guys on the board are rolling their eyes at most of what he is saying, lol.

 

What does Jason quick knows anyway. But what I heard and seen one of them might be the starting 4 open the season. Collins need cut down on his fouls but that will come in time. Leonard didn't look bad but he still might not be good to play in front of these two. Thursday will be a good test for these to rookie against toronto.

 

It's too big to actually happen this close to the start of the season, but I would be thrilled with something like this:

Leonard/Aminu/Napier to Cleveland
Shumpert/Jefferson/Frye to Portland

We rebalance the roster, clear some time for youngsters, add two high quality vets on little or expiring deals, and they drop some dead (or soon to be underutilized weight), add a big who can shoot in Leonard to play the Frye/Love role on offense (and I think he could be decent in an offense where everything is created for him) and a tough defender to throw at KD in Aminu.

We may have to sweeten somehow for them to take on Leonard :/

Say we cut Connaughton/Layman, I like this balance:

littles: Dame/CJ/Shump/Briscoe
wings: Turner/Harkless/Jefferson
bigs: Nurkic/Davis/Swanigan/Collins/Frye/Vonleh

 

Yeah I was watching him closely. Easy to miss because he was never open and never got the ball.

 

They looked about the same to me.

 

Agree with all of this except Meyers is still trash and will always be trash. He simply has no clue how to play the game. Pat C must have revealing photos of Soap Opera star Neil Olshey. Because it's an embarrassment he has a roster spot on an NBA team. Briscoe is head and shoulders better then him.

 

Although it is just one game....I agree with most of this.

 

Loved the rooks, but honestly nothing really surprised me. I'm just impressed they were able to do what they did in college so confidently in their first real NBA action.

Caleb will need to continue to get more crafty with his mid post and inside game, staying active with his hands and feet when he's playing post D and limiting his turnovers (he's been turnover prone his whole career). And yes, the way he's changed his body over the last four years has been remarkable, but he will need to continue to improve here. He's actually pretty ok laterally, but isn't much of a presence while moving backwards and struggles a bit changing direction/ends of the floor. He has the foundation to be a valuable offensive weapon, but his overall impact will largely depend on how he's able to deal with downhill scorers and spacing bigs defensively.

With Zach, he really is the whole package defensively. The way he moves at seven feet is pretty special and he just has a great combination of instincts, IQ and mentality for a 19 year old. His pure physical tools probably limit his ceiling on D, but Cody Zeller with center size is a realistic outcome for him and that gives him top 30 upside on that end. Once he learns where his offense is going to come from and gets more comfortable with ball pressure and the physicality of the NBA game, he's going to be a very valuable two-way big.

 

The stat system broke down. The stat board in the arena didn't change after the first quarter.

 

The real GM of the Cavs LeBron James loves Jefferson. He's not going anywhere.

 

I wish Neil had a twitter like Morey. I'd ping "Shumpert" at him every hour like a god damn flight.

 

We live in 2017 and still can't get a box score hours after the game. What a shit show.
I feel cheated.

 

In what way? To me he has a little Laimbeer in him.

 

Yes. He's not Meyers, but too soon

 

Probably why he doesn't have one

 

Maybe, but man it's punchable now.