TBpup
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I'm trying to imagine a nicer win in the regular season than beating the Purple & Piss after the national media has slobbered all over them for 3 continuous hours.....even after they lose.
That thought exploration may take a while.....
In the meantime, thoughts on last night and how those might play out going forward:
Oh by the way, Hot Sauce can shoot! I don't expect anything close to that on most nights and after a 6-6 start, he finished 1-5 to go 7-11. Still, he is a threat and that opens things up for everyone else and I expect he may close games with Dame and CJ if he is shooting well that night.
Zach may fill the Ed Davis role after all. Too early too tell after just one game, but against a small-ball lineup (like he will face most of the time with other team's 2nd units) he was very active and a definite defensive presence. I don't expect him to score much but if he can stay in that 6-8 ppg range and clog the middle, he will be just fine.
Speaking of defense: The Blazers minus ZCo were Turrble! The Lakers had zero, zip, nadda in terms of outside shooting and yet it was a parade to the cup especially in the 1st half. I saw a stat where 61 of their 63 first half points came right at the rim or from the FT line on drives to the hoop. It's defense like that which keeps @BonesJones thinking he can play in the NBA.
That HAS to get better for this team to have any type of consistancy. What was bothersome is that there was no adjustment from Stotts early on to have the Blazer players go UNDER the screen. Blazer defenders were trailing all night and against a team that could shoot at all, they could have been in real trouble.
Turner may have finally found a role. It bothers me when he goes into Charles Barkley, back it down, post up mode, but other than that, as a primary ball handler with Curry Sauce on the floor at the same time, it works.
Dame/CJ: Until several buckets late, they were a combined bricklaying construction company putting up brownstones on the upper east side. Even with the late makes, they shot 15-38 (.395) but did shoot it well (5-11) from '3'. The combined 5 assists is of concern as well but most of that is from CJ who had only one and still continues to go 1-on-3 when he has wide-open teammates all around him. At this point in his career, doubt that is changing anytime soon.
Nurk was solid with 16/9 in 17 miutes but this just wasn't his type of game with an extremely mobile center and the Lakers pushing the ball on every possession.
Layman looked about like what I thought and outside of Stauskas, had the lone Blazer '3' for quite a while.
Harkless wasn't bad especially after getting no time in the pre-season.
Curry looked small against the Laker length but will have his moments.
Meyers made some very good passes that got the Blazers many wide-open looks.
Aminu was purposely left open time after time and his only make came when he finally attacked the basket for a poster dunk on McGee. He is going to have to hit some of those shots or at some point, move the ball to someone who can.
Next chance to boo a teams star.......Saturday night vs the Spurs. Demar DeRozen will bring his FT heavy offensive game to the 'Rose Garden'. The Blazers need to protect the home court and get off to a faster start this season.
That thought exploration may take a while.....
In the meantime, thoughts on last night and how those might play out going forward:
Oh by the way, Hot Sauce can shoot! I don't expect anything close to that on most nights and after a 6-6 start, he finished 1-5 to go 7-11. Still, he is a threat and that opens things up for everyone else and I expect he may close games with Dame and CJ if he is shooting well that night.
Zach may fill the Ed Davis role after all. Too early too tell after just one game, but against a small-ball lineup (like he will face most of the time with other team's 2nd units) he was very active and a definite defensive presence. I don't expect him to score much but if he can stay in that 6-8 ppg range and clog the middle, he will be just fine.
Speaking of defense: The Blazers minus ZCo were Turrble! The Lakers had zero, zip, nadda in terms of outside shooting and yet it was a parade to the cup especially in the 1st half. I saw a stat where 61 of their 63 first half points came right at the rim or from the FT line on drives to the hoop. It's defense like that which keeps @BonesJones thinking he can play in the NBA.
That HAS to get better for this team to have any type of consistancy. What was bothersome is that there was no adjustment from Stotts early on to have the Blazer players go UNDER the screen. Blazer defenders were trailing all night and against a team that could shoot at all, they could have been in real trouble.Turner may have finally found a role. It bothers me when he goes into Charles Barkley, back it down, post up mode, but other than that, as a primary ball handler with Curry Sauce on the floor at the same time, it works.
Dame/CJ: Until several buckets late, they were a combined bricklaying construction company putting up brownstones on the upper east side. Even with the late makes, they shot 15-38 (.395) but did shoot it well (5-11) from '3'. The combined 5 assists is of concern as well but most of that is from CJ who had only one and still continues to go 1-on-3 when he has wide-open teammates all around him. At this point in his career, doubt that is changing anytime soon.
Nurk was solid with 16/9 in 17 miutes but this just wasn't his type of game with an extremely mobile center and the Lakers pushing the ball on every possession.
Layman looked about like what I thought and outside of Stauskas, had the lone Blazer '3' for quite a while.
Harkless wasn't bad especially after getting no time in the pre-season.
Curry looked small against the Laker length but will have his moments.
Meyers made some very good passes that got the Blazers many wide-open looks.
Aminu was purposely left open time after time and his only make came when he finally attacked the basket for a poster dunk on McGee. He is going to have to hit some of those shots or at some point, move the ball to someone who can.
Next chance to boo a teams star.......Saturday night vs the Spurs. Demar DeRozen will bring his FT heavy offensive game to the 'Rose Garden'. The Blazers need to protect the home court and get off to a faster start this season.
