Exclusive GAME# 25: SUNS @ BLAZERS - DECEMBER 6, 2018 - Quote Book

[SlyPokerDog]

Postgame Notes - December 6, 2018 Portland 108, Phoenix 86 Game #25 • Home Game #13

TEAM

• The Trail Blazers won their eighth consecutive game against the Suns.

• Portland’s reserves outscored the Phoenix bench, 57-43. It was the most points the Trail Blazers bench has scored in a game this season.

• The Trail Blazers outrebounded the Suns, 56-41, and outscored them in the paint, 54-50.

• Portland assisted on 24 of their 41 field goals. Phoenix had 20 assists on 35 field goals.

• The Trail Blazers held Phoenix to 5-of-27 shooting from the three-point line (18.5%). It was the lowest three-point field goal percentage by a Trail Blazers opponent this season.

• Portland led Phoenix 34-9 after the first quarter. The Suns nine first quarter points were the fewest points allowed in a quarter by the Trail Blazers this season.



PLAYER

• Jake Layman scored a career-high 24 points (10-13 FG, 3-5 3-PT, 1-3 FT) while matching his career high of seven rebounds. Layman scored 15 of his points in the final 5:56 of the first quarter (6-6 FG, 3-3 3-PT, 0-1 FT).

• Damian Lillard scored a game-high 25 points (8-14 FG, 3-5 3-PT, 6-7 FT) to go with five re- bounds and eight assists in 28 minutes. Lillard scored 15 of his points in the first quarter (6-8 FG, 3-4 3-PT).

• Jusuf Nurkic had nine points (4-12 FG, 1-4 FT) while pulling down a game-high 14 re- bounds to go with two assists, one steal and one block.

• Zach Collins had 10 points (4-6 FG, 2-2 FT), five rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block in 27 minutes. It was the eighth time this season that he scored in double figures. Col- lins scored in double figures seven time last season.

• Al-Farouq Aminu scored eight points (3-5 FG, 1-2 3-PT, 1-2 FT) and pulled down six re- bounds in 25 minutes.

• Evan Turner recorded eight points (3-8 FG, 2-2 FT), four rebounds and three assists in 19 minutes off the bench.

• Maurice Harkless shot a perfect 3-of-3 from the field to score six points while adding two steals in 15 minutes.

• Troy Daniels scored a team-high 15 points (5-9 FG, 2-6 3-PT, 3-3 FT) to go with three re- bounds and one assist in 22 minutes off the bench for the Suns.

• Josh Jackson recorded 14 points (6-14 FG, 0-1 3-PT, 2-3 FT), seven rebounds, three assists and three steals for Phoenix.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS

“Good to get back on track with a win. I was really pleased with our defense in the first and third quarters, I thought that set the tone for us. Ball movement in the first quarter was tremendous. Obviously Jake had a nice four minute stretch and kept the momentum going. I thought Dame set the tone with his leadership early and set the tone for the game and managed the game after that.”


What did you like defensively?

“I thought we were really aggressive in the first quarter. I thought we got our hands on a lot of balls and created opportunities for us, but I thought more than anything, our activity.”


On Layman:

“He was great. 15 points basically in 4 minutes. I was happy for him. One of my assistants said it’s good karma. He came out of the starting lineup, had a good attitude, worked hard, knew that he was going to get an opportunity at some point and remained positive while he wasn’t playing, and took advantage of the opportunity when he did come in.”


Why hasn’t Layman been playing?

“Moe went into the starting lineup and we kept Seth and Nik and Evan, the bench that was doing so well, kept that group together. So getting Moe in the starting lineup was kind of a priority and there’s a minutes crunch, and that’s kind of the way it is.”


On Lillard’s leadership:

“I thought he managed the game really well, got people involved, was aggressive when he needed to be but didn’t force too much. I just thought his overall floor game was his leadership. It’s not like anything he said, I thought his demeanor on the court and general overall floor play.”


Can you tell much from a game like this against a team that’s down and hurt like Phoenix?

“I think it’s difficult. Obviously they’re a different team without Warren and Booker and they’re having their struggles right now, but for us, I liked the way we played. We’ve got a tough game on Saturday, we’ve got a tough stretch coming up period, but from a mental standpoint, from just a confidence standpoint, I thought it was good for us.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

DAMIAN LILLARD

On hot start offensively:

“I just wanted to come out and be aggressive. Obviously they’re struggling as a team and we’ve been struggling – a game on our home floor that we expect to win, but crazier things have happened in my career so I just wanted to come out and be aggressive and try to take control of the game early.”


What did you think of Layman tonight?

“He was great. Obviously, he started the season getting a lot of minutes starting with Moe being out but then fell out of the rotation which happens sometimes. It wasn’t anything that he hasn’t experienced. It’s been like that so far in his career but I think it just speaks to the kind of person that he is and the kind of player that he is, and how committed he is in our team and trusting our coaching staff. It would be easy for a guy to be like, Man I was playing well. I was in the starting lineup, now I’m not playing. But he was prepared. His mind was right and in the right place and he came in and impacted the game from the start.”


On the defensive tonight:
“I think it was a little bit better. I didn’t think they were the most sharp team out there offensively but it was more about us. I think we came into the game saying let’s build habits and be disciplined instead of going out here and think it’s going to be an easy game and play an ugly game. I thought we were pretty solid in our discipline and doing things the way we wanted to do it, winning the game, making the kind of plays and doing the kind of things we want to do to win any other game, and I thought we did a good job of that.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Igor Kokoškov

On starting Richaun Holmes over Deandre Ayton:

“DeAndre didn’t feel 100% before the game…he had some stomach issues, not the flu, but something didn’t feel right, and so it was my decision to not even play him at all, but he insisted on playing in the game, and that was basically an adjustment that we made…I was surprised that he played this game…he’s gonna be ready to play tomorrow, hopefully nothing is that serious…he’s our starting center, nothing changing about that.”

On the Suns talking about being more competitive before tonight’s game:

“We have to be disciplined, we have to be on the same page…it’s not easy. That’s perseverance when you have challenging moments…we know we’re missing Book, we’re missing T.J. Warren, that’s a challenging time for us as a team. Obviously, we’re starting a young group, we have three rookies in the starting lineup…this is the NBA, nobody’s asking who you’re starting, it’s who are your five on the court who are going to compete and play…when the challenging moments come, you have to show toughness, you have to show that we stick with each other and we play as a team…we have to be mentally stronger as a group, as a unit.”

On how difficult it is to contain Damian Lillard:

“He’s a dominant player, and it’s not fair…it’s not a one-man coverage, and for Mikal Bridges to be a single guy who’s gonna neutralize Damian Lillard, we never came up with that game plan, but to contain and be there and we’re gonna support you…he’s one of the best point guards in the league, as we know, and we put a rookie on him, and he did the best of his ability right now to guard him, and again, we didn’t expect one guy…but he came and set a tone and it was a statement from the beginning.”

On bouncing back and preparing for the next game:

“We have to regroup ourselves, tomorrow’s a new game…we have to focus on Miami, whose talent is to play hard, they’re going to play harder than this team, so we have no time to feel sorry for ourselves…it’s gonna be a long flight back home, back-to-back playing Miami and that’s what we gotta do.”

On what he said to his team after the game:

“Challenging game, challenging moments…we have to stick together, we didn’t, so we have to do a better job of accepting those challenges individually and as a group and be stronger and tougher when a challenge presents itself.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Trevor Ariza


You've been on a lot of teams, and you've experienced a lot of things, how are you dealing with what's going on?


"It's tough, losing is tough no matter what it's in. But, again, at this point all I can try to do is continue to be positive, continue to encourage our younger players and try to get better and do the right things and, you know, look for the positives in losing if there's any."



Is it easier said than done?


Of course, it's easier said than done. It's like, you know, this is what I love to do, this is what we all love to do, and we keep coming up short - way short-so um that's a tough pill to swallow but again we get another opportunity to do it tomorrow. So, we just forget about this one and try to get one tomorrow.



Deandre Ayton


When did you know you were going to start?


"When did I know I was gonna start? Uhh not knew but like umm I don't know, I just was telling Coach about last night like how I felt and how my stomach was hurting, and you know he told me he was gonna hold me off on the game and I was like no I wanna play tonight, I just wanna play let me come off the bench or something like that. So, I just had a little stomach ache and I felt like I was better this morning in shoot around and you know he was just being safe with me.



Y'all had a talk yesterday, cleared the air about being more competitive to start a game and then to come out and repeat that, you know, what's going on with that?


To tell you the truth, this is my first time in this situation like this. You know, to tell you the truth uhm this is my team and I feel everything in life. You know when we lose and stuff like this, I'm hurt. You know, I take it at practice. I'm the guy that's gonna be here for 7 plus years, so I mean just trying to establish and show everybody how to be a pro and win the right way and you know, just not being negative and not really worry about the records and just go out here and do our job.

 

[hoopsjock]

Anyone who thinks the struggles aren't coaching related I give you Coach Stotts answer to why Jake hadn't been playing.

we kept Seth and Nik and Evan, the bench that was doing so well, kept that group together

Seriously, what the fuck are you talking about coach? The bench has been terrible lately but apparently the guy in charge thinks everyone is playing great and needs to stick together.

It's coaching, case closed.

 

[hoopsjock]

Anyone who thinks the struggles aren't coaching related I give you Coach Stotts answer to why Jake hadn't been playing.



Seriously, what the fuck are you talking about coach? The bench has been terrible lately but apparently the guy in charge thinks everyone is playing great and needs to stick together.

It's coaching, case closed.

Anyone who says it isn't coaching I'm just going to tag in this post whenever I see it in other threads. You should do the same @BonesJones.

@kjironman1, I'm not trying to single you out but how is this defensible?

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

Anyone who thinks the struggles aren't coaching related I give you Coach Stotts answer to why Jake hadn't been playing.



Seriously, what the fuck are you talking about coach? The bench has been terrible lately but apparently the guy in charge thinks everyone is playing great and needs to stick together.

It's coaching, case closed.

As long as we arent completely counting out the roster Ive been on this train for a while. I get Im not an NBA coach so I cant judge it or whatever. Stotts seems like a nice dude, but boy oh boy does he do some funky stuff...

 

[hoopsjock]

As long as we arent completely counting out the roster Ive been on this train for a while. I get Im not an NBA coach so I cant judge it or whatever. Stotts seems like a nice dude, but boy oh boy does he do some funky stuff...

Yeah, I agree that the roster isn't totally without blame but when your coach is unwilling to even try to switch up rotations when things are going bad I can't even wrap my brain around that. Seriously what games is he watching because the bench hasn't played well since the first few games.

 

[Gronk Brady]

As long as we arent completely counting out the roster Ive been on this train for a while. I get Im not an NBA coach so I cant judge it or whatever. Stotts seems like a nice dude, but boy oh boy does he do some funky stuff...

Coaching is obviously the problem because @BonesJones said so and he played in a rec league so he knows

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

Yeah, I agree that the roster isn't totally without blame but when your coach is unwilling to even try to switch up rotations when things are going bad I can't even wrap my brain around that. Seriously what games is he watching because the bench hasn't played well since the first few games.

Sometimes I hear him talk and think we were watching two completely different sports or something. At least Layman has proven he is aggressive on offense and can get hot. Harkless this year has deserved the harmless nickname. Yet Layman got buried on the bench for Harkless... Then the bench that his been pretty lifeless he doesnt want to mess with it.

I know people are gonna jump in this and say its all CJ’s fault, but lets remember it was phoenix...

CJ may indeed need to go, but Id really like to see a new coach first.

 

[hoopsjock]

Coaching is obviously the problem because @BonesJones said so and he played in a rec league so he knows

So you agree with Coach Stotts that Et, Curry, and Nik have been playing so well he shouldn't consider breaking that trio up?

 

[BonesJones]

Anyone who thinks the struggles aren't coaching related I give you Coach Stotts answer to why Jake hadn't been playing.



Seriously, what the fuck are you talking about coach? The bench has been terrible lately but apparently the guy in charge thinks everyone is playing great and needs to stick together.

It's coaching, case closed.

Hahaha did he really say that?

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

So you agree with Coach Stotts that Et, Curry, and Nik have been playing so well he shouldn't consider breaking that trio up?

I think ET should be down chillin out with Simons and Trent Jr just wavin a towel...

 

[Gronk Brady]

So you agree with Coach Stotts that Et, Curry, and Nik have been playing so well he shouldn't consider breaking that trio up?

As long as Dame and CJ are together, they will take half the shots and the offense will be stagnant and the team will be last in assist... other players will never get enough touches to be consistent... and no coach will change that

 

[hoopsjock]

Sometimes I hear him talk and think we were watching two completely different sports or something. At least Layman has proven he is aggressive on offense and can get hot. Harkless this year has deserved the harmless nickname. Yet Layman got buried on the bench for Harkless... Then the bench that his been pretty lifeless he doesnt want to mess with it.

I know people are gonna jump in this and say its all CJ’s fault, but lets remember it was phoenix...

CJ may indeed need to go, but Id really like to see a new coach first.

I actually think the Harkless move is justifiable, even though results aren't great at least Harkless has the excuse that he couldn't do much all summer. How can someone defend the bench lately though?

 

[hoopsjock]

As long as Dame and CJ are together, they will take half the shots and the offense will be stagnant and the team will be last in assist... other players will never get enough touches to be consistent... and no coach will change that

Way to avoid the question.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Coaching is obviously the problem because @BonesJones said so and he played in a rec league so he knows

You guys have a perfectly nice Private Thread to argue in. Let's save the snark between you two for that.

 

[hoopsjock]

Hahaha did he really say that?

It's right above in the quote book.

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

I actually think the Harkless move is justifiable, even though results aren't great at least Harkless has the excuse that he couldn't do much all summer. How can someone defend the bench lately though?

I thought and still think that Layman was doing ok as a starter (not great), but they shouldve played moe into basketball shape and all that by starting him out with the bench group for a while. He’d also give the bench a decent perimeter defender.

 

[hoopsjock]

As long as Dame and CJ are together, they will take half the shots and the offense will be stagnant and the team will be last in assist... other players will never get enough touches to be consistent... and no coach will change that

Okay, answer me this then: Would Kerr or Pop allow Dame and CJ to take so many shots if they thought it was hurting the team?

 

[BonesJones]

It's right above in the quote book.

No I know he said that it was more like "I cant believe he really said that".

 

[BonesJones]

Okay, answer me this then: Would Kerr or Pop allow Dame and CJ to take so many shots if they thought it was hurting the team?

You're being too logical. Obviously they would never change because theyve never changed before and they luv Stotts so they'd change for him if they could possible change.

 

[kjironman1]

Anyone who says it isn't coaching I'm just going to tag in this post whenever I see it in other threads. You should do the same @BonesJones.

@kjironman1, I'm not trying to single you out but how is this defensible?

So you are tagging me to a post that you said? Exactly what point are you trying to make here?

 

[kjironman1]

Okay so now i read through the entire thread so i see what you are all talking about. Of course it's again like you have a closed view or something and have completely missed the meaning of what he said. "When Moe came back" is what he was talking about. So yeah i can understand it. Moe came back and they were 10-3 or something like that. Most of the board here was saying "It looks like Turner is working out. They were happy Sauce was showing and as i remember a number of posts said Curry was a steal.

Now here is the part where it gets messy. Harkless was a starter. Even i said you probably got to give him his starting position back. He has not played well enough to keep it IMHO. Stotts was way too rigid in his thinking like he quite often is. Of course that is my opinion. He sat Layman even when Mo was playing terrible and the second unit suffered through some dreadful games. It's 20/20 hindsight but lets see where he goes from here?

If there is gonna be a coaching change that would be fine with me. But my feeling is it ain't gonna happen anytime soon.

 

[James lamphear]

If Layman came in play the 2nd unit who is going sit ET Curry Nik I don't see that happening in Stotts eyes. I think Layman could replace any of the 3 and we probably be better.

 

[kjironman1]

If Layman came in play the 2nd unit who is going sit ET Curry Nik I don't see that happening in Stotts eyes. I think Layman could replace any of the 3 and we probably be better.

If it were up to me i would probably start Layman and move Harkless into the second unit or even just sit Harkless back down and use him in the second unit when needed? In certain situations you might want to play Mo in the second unit or possibly late game scenarios?

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

wow someone actually had the guts to ask: Why hasn’t Layman been playing?

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

Is this quote by Phoenix coach representative of how Portland is viewed? "we have to focus on Miami, whose talent is to play hard, they’re going to play harder than this team".

 

[PtldPlatypus]

If Layman came in play the 2nd unit who is going sit ET Curry Nik I don't see that happening in Stotts eyes. I think Layman could replace any of the 3 and we probably be better.

Answered this question on Twitter about 2 hours ago...