Game Thread GAME# 65: THUNDER @ BLAZERS - MARCH 7, 2019 - THURSDAY, 7:30 PM, TNT

It's 49 wins yes, or in other words SAME as last year.

 

It can be when much of the competition didn't do any better and some even worse and 7 of those were road games. Last 10 games for the top 10 teams.

5-5
6-4
4-6
7-3
6-4
7-3
5-5
7-3
4-6
5-5

We only lost 1 game in the standings to a team above us and 2 teams below. Stayed even with 2 teams. Gained a game on 3 teams and gained 2 games on 2 teams. Not a bad week over all.

 

The bottom line is how well will Stotts do facing the same team night after night i.e. the playoffs?Can he adapt? I just don't see it happening. There is a mental block in place. Seen recently in the failure to double Leonard in Toronto (another playoff like atmosphere game), making Conley look like an MVP in Memphis, and last nites complete lack of offense, AND this teams' historic inability (its one of this team's most quoted stats ) to comeback late in games tells me we are fawked in the playoffs.

 

The lack of adjustment is what is extremely frustrating. These are not isolated situation either. History tells us that Stotts won't adjust quickly, well or maybe at all in the Playoffs. Could he? Perhaps....but again, that seems based on 'hope' and not any real examples.

 

it's just an arbitrary threshold that seems important but means nothing. 50 wins isn't an accomplishment for a team that won 49 the year before and got swept. In the last 5 years, teams have hit the 50 win mark 39 times. But there is no magic that shows up at 50 wins that doesn't show up at 49

and too many people have been expecting Portland's 'improved' bench to make a significant difference in the playoffs. Last night was a playoff-level game. How did Portland's bench do? The playoffs are about players 1-3 or 1-4 in the rotation, not about players 5-9. Portland has had no changes at the top of the rotation. Nurkic has improved but does anyone really think Stotts knows how to utilize him? But Dame & CJ are the same and last night was a perfect example of how hollow CJ's game is...his shoulders are too narrow to carry anyone but himself

I really want the Blazers to put up a fight in the playoffs and not be a pushover. I'm just not seeing enough to make me believe that will happen.

 

A 49 win season would also be successful but it's more about seeding than win totals

 

Yeah but Unfortunately we've got a lot of games this year with bad shooting nights from several players. Coincidence? I dont think so. Lillard, McBrickum, Aminu, Hood and Layman are all average 3point shooter. Harkless, Collins are bad 3 point shooter and Evan Turnover should never shoot a 3 again in his career. The only good 3 point shooter on our team are Seth and Meyers, and again Unfortunately one of them is a terrible basketball player and the other one has looked invisible most of his time here.

 

I hate playing the "well other teams are doing this so it's okay that the Blazers aren't winning either" card.

All your post shows me is that the Blazers last 2 games have been a colossal failure considering if they won those two games they'd be all alone in 3rd place with a 2 game lead on OKC and 1.5 up on Houston while only being 2.5 games behind Denver (with 2 games against them remaining). So instead of sitting in great shape with 17 games left we now have no margin for error to even get home court in the 1st round.

 

I merely posted some facts and not asking you to play any games. Apparrently you take offense to anything i post anymore.

 

I'm not playing games, I merely stated why the numbers you posted make losing the last two games even more unacceptable.

 

Have you told Dame that?

 

I agree, but I see it a little differently: it seems Stotts doesn't change things in game, or from game to game as in the playoffs, because he has this crazy affinity for consistency, as if changing something here or there would make the whole structure collapse. This is bullshit for at least three reasons: 1. it makes us predictable, especially in a playoff series, which allows teams to scheme against us instead of having to guess what we're going to do next; 2. it implies he has no faith in our players to adapt and that's fucked; and 3. it keeps us from taking advantage of other teams' weaknesses because we are left like a deer in the headlights just waiting to get smashed to bits.

 

And OKC has lost 5 of 7.

 

and I merely posted numbers that showed we really haven't lost anything after those 2 losses. Sure it would have been nice to win, but doing better than many all the teams competing for the playoffs in a 10 game span is a good thing, not a bad thing. I guess I tend to look at the positives in things rather than dwell on the negatives.

 

I just watched the video associated with this and my blood got pumping again. Man, fuck that game.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26193205/nba-refs-missed-pg-elbow-head-nurkic

I'm so tired of OKC and not because they are good. I'd actually like to meet them in the playoffs.

 

So?