Game Thread GAME# 1: BLAZERS @ SUNS - OCTOBER 18, 2017 - WEDNESDAY, 7:00 (PDT), NBCSNW

I really don’t understand this... starting 3 players who can’t shoot?! What is Stotts thinking

 

Need defense at the 2. There's no way Pat C should be defending Booker. He's the one guy they have that could take over this game, so it's imperative we lock in on him early to ensure he doesn't get off to a hot start.

 

I'm more interested in the second unit. Who gets minutes, Napier or Layman?

 

Defense and balanced scoring. I actually like this lineup, assuming you cannot have CJ. Put ET on their hotshot SG.

 

Go Tater Totts! Get your coach on!

 

Turner makes sense. Aminu does not.

 

Harkless and Aminu can shoot

 

I can't argue that, but not sure who the perfect starter is at the PF for this game. Davis gives you less scoring. Collins could work, but is raw. Vonleh would be the best, but ...

 

Swanigan should be starting.

 

Collins isn't any more raw than Aminu. In fact, he appears to be quite a bit more polished despite never playing an NBA game. Also, he would blend a lot better playing with 4 starters, rather than playing with Pat/Jake/Shabazz/Biggie/Davis. The rotations tonight are gonna be a shit show.

 

I'm not really that concerned about who is and isn't starting. All three of Aminu, Harkless and Turner are inconsistent. On some nights, anyone of them can be really good, or really bad. Whoever is playing ell will get the most minutes, and that's what matters.

I'm more interested in how well and how much New Meyers, Swanigan and Collins play at the back up 4 and 5 spots. As much as I'd like to see the rookies play, especially against a young team like PHO, if New Meyers plays like he did in preseason, knocking down Swish3s and rebounding at a near elite level, he will actually deserve to get significant minutes. But, he has to actually show he can do it in a real game. If not, "Hello Zach Collins!"

BNM

 

Translated: "Swanigan might play tonight off the bench? And I partially caused their starting SG to get suspended for the game? Uh, my ankle kind of hurts."

 

I don't mean raw in terms of talent, but raw in terms of "is he really ready to play big minutes in his first real NBA game." Maybe he is. Maybe they want to ease him in. And, there is no denying that Hark and Aminu make a nice defensive pairing.

 

Got NBA League Pass set-up today so I can watch this season. Just any FYI to others, League Pass has a free preview right now until October 24th.

 

Meyers definitely played hard and shot well, but he was still horrendous defensively, particularly in space/pnr. Makes it hard to play him with any of the back-up bigs minus Zach.

Although, Ed and Meyers did pretty well together two years ago so we may see that alignment if Stotts opts to bring the rookies along slowly.

 

WE'RE GONNA KICK THEIR ASSES!

 

I was going to mentioned the Ed/Meyers pairing, but you beat me to it. It worked well when both were healthy and if New Meyers can come close to his preseason performance (that's not a given), it could work again. Ed's much better defending the pick and roll (who isn't?), but his shooting range tops out at about 7 feet. Let New Meyers provide the floor spacing and shooting on offense, so Ed can hang out under the basket and gobble up offensive rebounds. This plays to both players' strengths. For now...

We have all seen the potential of Zach Collins. He certainly seems to have all the tools to develop into a much better defender than Ed Davis, both on the pick and roll and at the rim, and he can actually shoot the ball. I think he could play with New Meyers right now and cancel many of New/Old Meyers' shortcomings. Eventually (as in later this season), I see Collins and Swanigan as a vastly superior back up front court to Leonard/Davis, but I don't expect to see a lot of the two rookies playing together on opening night.

BNM