The Raptors should be an example to us of how to build a better team

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by Natebishop3, May 25, 2019.

  1. TorturedBlazerFan

    TorturedBlazerFan Well-Known Member

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    If you’re good enough to play, then dont make the excuse of an injury. I doubt even Dame would take that excuse. I legitimately do not care if you’re playing the dream team, if you're up 17+ in the second half of three games in a row and don't find a way to even win one of those then you’re choking.
     
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  2. H.C.

    H.C. Well-Known Member

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    [​IMG]
     
  3. Orion Bailey

    Orion Bailey Forum Troll

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    Devils advocate.
    Aminu. I know he doesnt LOOK comfortable, but for how often he does it, He must FEEL comfortable. Will someone please tell him the world sees it as EXTREMELY uncomfortable?
     
  4. Orion Bailey

    Orion Bailey Forum Troll

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    Or gassed.
     
  5. TorturedBlazerFan

    TorturedBlazerFan Well-Known Member

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    He has improved at bringing the ball up, but he almost never makes good reads when doing it, the improvement has been he dribbles off his feet less. When he does put the ball on the floor he tends to over dribble, and try to do things not really in his wheel house. Occasionally he’ll make a decent move and score. Its weird, because I genuinely like Aminu, I think he could play a valuable role on a very good team, but him and harkless are bother borderline starters, are both extremely inconsistent and when people say its been 4 years, I always think its been 4 years and were still starting guys the rest of the league know cant beat them.

    One great way to beat the trap would be to not have those guys out on the court at the same time, and what just drives me crazy is the Blazers answer for the most part has been ET! Who is actually WORSE as an offensive threat then Aminu or Harkless.

    Hopefully if they decide to just “run” it back as much as they possibly can this summer, Zach forces his way into the starting role.
     
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  6. TorturedBlazerFan

    TorturedBlazerFan Well-Known Member

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    Yeah in game one Healthy Dame just kept committing stupid turnovers. I dont think we should let them “off the hook”, been pretty much destroyed by the same team for years now. Its on all the main core, NO, Stotts, Dame, CJ, their forwards. Im not saying go trade Dame or whatever, I am saying they gotta own those L’s they all had their opportunities to make, “winning plays”, and failed to.
     
  7. Orion Bailey

    Orion Bailey Forum Troll

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    Pretty much agree. I think the biggest thing is he cant dribble without looking up for any length of time. So he ends up bull charging and weaving a bit, but is unable to read the spacing to allow for another player to catch up and take the open spot for the pass.
     
  8. e_blazer

    e_blazer Rip City Fan

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    I’m not saying the Blazers didn’t choke. Of course they did. What I AM saying is that you have to consider why they choked and whether it means anything significant going forward. Here’s my assessment of what happened; yours may vary:

    Game 1 was a scheduled loss. The Blazers didn’t even have a chance to go home and pack fresh underwear. The Warriors were at home, rested and waiting ready for business. The Blazers were still giddy over beating the Nuggets and had no chance.

    Games 2-4 were all pretty much the same. The Blazers built big leads in the first half and coughed up the games in the second half. The Warriors lacked depth due to injuries, but had a huge advantage in composure. The Blazers have been pretty composed all season and the primary source of that is Lillard. He’s always cool and he has a knack of hitting critical big shots that keep his teammates believing they will win. Against the Warriors, you could tell Dame was flustered by being bottled up by their defense. He forced things both in passes that caused turnovers and in his drives to the hoop where he either had to pass out at the last minute or threw up a wild shot. While he’d never use the injury as an excuse, it certainly was a factor in him not being able to perform to his usual level in the last three games. At any rate, without Dame’s steadying influence and big shots, the rest of the team lost their composure, resulting in chokes.

    First, I think you have to recognize that it’s a process getting the confidence needed to win at the highest level in the NBA. This year’s success built on last year’s failure. The Blazers learned from the Pelican debacle and they will learn from this failure.

    Second, the roster needs to improve more. We need an upgrade at either PF or SF, or preferably both.

    Third, Dame is great, but he needs CJ to be a better version of himself or else he needs a different guy there. CJ won the Denver series and was great, but he was less than terrific against the Warriors. He needed to be at his top level to help free some of the pressure on Dame.

    Fourth, Stotts does need to rethink the way the Blazers initiate their offense against trapping defenses. The predictable slow pace where Dame brings the ball up makes initiating the trap easier. He did try a few variations, I thought, but it needs to be worked out more.
     
  9. BigGameDamian

    BigGameDamian Well-Known Member

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    https://ripcityproject.com/2019/06/02/4-trades-make-portland-trail-blazers-title-contenders/amp/


    [​IMG]
    TRAIL BLAZERS GET
    ROBERT COVINGTON

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    TIMBERWOLVES GET
    MAURICE HARKLESS, 2020 FIRST-ROUND PICK, 2020 SECOND-ROUND PICK


    [​IMG]
    TRAIL BLAZERS GET
    KEVIN LOVE

    [​IMG]
    CAVALIERS GET
    EVAN TURNER, MAURICE HARKLESS, ANFERNEE SIMONS


    [​IMG]
    TRAIL BLAZERS GET
    OTTO PORTER JR.

    [​IMG]
    BULLS GET
    MEYERS LEONARD, EVAN TURNER, AND ONE OF #25 PICK/ANFERNEE SIMONS

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    TRAIL BLAZERS GET
    JULIUS RANDLE

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    PELICANS GET
    MEYERS LEONARD, SKAL LABISSIERE
     
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  10. TorturedBlazerFan

    TorturedBlazerFan Well-Known Member

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    Game one was a schedule loss because it felt like just making it to the WCF’s made them content for the season.

    I agree with most of this, I disagree with the people who throw it all (especially this year) at the feet of Stotts.

    Even the premise of this thread I can agree with to some extent. I posted at the time, I think GS has broken this team’s spirit, and until major changes happen, coaching, players, or both, or GS declines at some point running it back is futile. Its very similar to what Lebron did to the east for years, he owned them. At least other western conference teams have figured out how to win a game here or there. I think the Blazers only win against GS in the playoffs the last few years came when Steph didnt play.

    I was was ticked off at their loss to NO last year... This year it’s just disappointment, I think they’re legitimately the second best team in the West and one of the top 3 or 4 teams in the league, but man it sucks that they just seem to be beat mentally. When mentally your beat like that I think its time major changes happen.

    The only viable excuse to me, is that Nurkic has been hurt the last two times theyve played GS in the playoffs. However, I just dont think we can expect better results.
     
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  11. Natebishop3

    Natebishop3 Don't tread on me!

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    Well, of course, I agree it's not all on Stotts.

    Injuries played a huge role.

    Lack of talent at the wing.

    I think exhaustion was a huge factor.

    But with all of that said, this team should be the most prepared team in the entire league to deal with a trap. We have had four years to prepare for a trap. We know it's coming. There is simply no excuse to look like it's the first time we have ever seen a trap in the playoffs.
     
  12. stampedehero

    stampedehero Make Your Day, a Doobies Day Staff Member Moderator

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    The Raptors have the Canadian sports junkies cheering for them. They are playing for their country. Their country responds. Barreling over the falls has been put on hold. For the US population, the only people watching this series are those that like NBA playoffs. Sterns' robots never marketed a country rivalry while Canadian marketing people had done so. It is a great idea to set cameras to showcase all the fans left out of the arena!.

    CANADA NIAGRA 009.jpg
     
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  13. twobullz

    twobullz Well-Known Member

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    No thanks on Love. The rest seem interesting though.
     
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  14. Cugel

    Cugel The epitome of mediocrity

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    I need rumors dammit!
     
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  15. BigGameDamian

    BigGameDamian Well-Known Member

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    I think Love would be excellent in Stotts system. Frankly I'm surprised he's not a Blazers yet.
     
  16. joeBlazers

    joeBlazers Well-Known Member

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    Why the fascination with Love and how will he help us win any games? We already have bunch of No-Defense guys. We want to add one more? En serio?
     
  17. hoopsjock

    hoopsjock Well-Known Member

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    The problem is he's 30 years old, often injured, and just signed a huge extension last summer. If Cleveland wasn't stupid and offered that to him he probably would've been a target last season.
     
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  18. VanillaGorilla

    VanillaGorilla Well-Known Member

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    Es verdad
     
  19. PtldPlatypus

    PtldPlatypus Let's go Baby Blazers! Staff Member Global Moderator Moderator

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    None of those seem realistic to me. But yes, deals in which you fleece the other team would certainly go a long way toward building a title contender.

    I mean, could you imagine doing deals 1 & 3, turning Moe/Meyers/Turner/Simons/picks into RoCo/Porter? I don't even see that happening in our mock league.
     
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  20. BonesJones

    BonesJones https://www.youtube.com/c/blazersuprise

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    Then you havent been paying attention to our mock league.
     
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