Game Thread PLAY-IN GAME# 1: GRIZZLIES VS BLAZERS - AUGUST 15, 2020 - SATURDAY, 11:30, ABC

It would be an absolute thing of Beauty to win the first one Tuesday!

 

that might be the easiest game to get too. The Lakers have had things on cruise-control in the bubble and have not been playing well. They haven't played a game that mattered in several months, and the Blazers have more playoff experience together, as a team, than the Lakers

hard to bet against Lebron and AD showing up though, and if they both show up big time, it's a steep hill for Blazers

 

The original message i rersponded to made the comment about not wanting to go into fit right now.
Dame made the Griz "Twist" their defense. Your words. They needed another capable stopper to handle CJ and didn't have that. Then Melo stepped up as well as Nurk. Saying Portland chose not to run any offense is the kind of criminal disrespect the man has gotten for years. How many times have we seen other teams clamp down of both Dame and CJ while they dribble drive and kick it out to Harkless, Aminu, Tolliver, Turner, etc and the shot doesn't fall. Today CJ finds Melo and the shot falls. Gary Trent and the shot falls. I know the box has him with 1 assist but there were at least two and really just because they had to respect both Dame and CJ there were more. 3 steals also.
I know you have all heard enough about "A Broken Back" but fact remains. The man is playing through pain. He will play his heart out for this team and for Dame. If they get rid of CJ the return better be very very good.

 

A's came back from three run 9th inning deficit to beat Giants. Good sports day

 

Some good pictures of today's game on the Blazers site -

Look at the look on Lillard's face! He would not let this team die -

 

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Not sure how people can not like coach Stotts?

Nurk Game ball!

 

It doesn't have anything to do with liking him or not liking him. I also really liked Cheeks. He was a horrible coach, but he was a super nice guy.

Stotts is an okay coach. Dame is at the absolute peak of his career. It's all down hill from here. He's 30 years old. Are we seriously going to use one coach for his entire career? A coach that honestly hasn't achieved much of anything?

 

Probably two more years. But it might only be one if things go bad. He will definitely be here next year no matter what happens this year.

 

The second CJ signed his extension, I think the small chance of us ever getting over the top went out the window. Not because CJ is horrible, but we won't have the resources to surround Dame with the talent he needs to win it all. Unless we draft some all-NBA player in the 2nd round, I think 1st and 2nd round exits are going to be the common outcome; regardless of the coach.

 

This makes me so sad.... but Dame made his peace with it. So I guess I can too.... but honestly it could take another decade or more to find someone as good as him. He's a generational player.

 

They can pay Nurk.
They can Pay Trent.
They need some vets looking to win a Chip on vets min.
And they need a good draft pick.
They have mid level exceptions.
They have plenty to work with.
Also Whiteside is a question.

 

I agree... We'd be lucky to have another Dame type player in the next 25 years. I'm enjoying what he is doing, that we have the 2nd longest active playoff streak in the NBA, and that he makes the game highly entertaining. A championship would be super sweet though!

 

Yeah, a decade was being super generous. We might never find another Dame. The combination of his talent and his leadership is something that almost nobody has. Also his loyalty.

 

On WE dont need to answer.

 

So I re-watched the game and I don't want to be labeled as a hater but CJ's defense was awful. The guy played really good defense like maybe 10% of the plays he was involved with, he was solid on maybe 20% of those plays and then for the other 70% of the plays in which CJ was an on ball or should have been a help defender he was absolutely terrible. His scoring and dribbling were second to maybe Ja but he was phenomenal in those two areas and overall despite his +/- (which can often be somewhat deceiving game to game) he was a net positive but not by a lot. His defense is just such a liability. Earlier, I did what so many of us do and I just ignored all of the blow-bys, all of the pull up jumpers he was out of position on and all of the times where he made a bad decision when or when not to help but mostly the blow-bys and jumpers he gave up. I ignored those because it was a rare night where he made quite a few really good if not great defensive plays but highlights aren't what makes a player solid on either end. I love CJ but even on nights like tonight his defense at a position that he shouldn't be playing can almost cancel out such great scoring.

By the way, I don't put all of the blame on CJ for this, we have a coach that prioritizes offense so heavily that defense is an afterthought to CJ and to everyone else on the team. So CJ's teammates are going crazy over his performance tonight because no one talked about or will talk about all of the numerous lapses he had on D or if the did or do it's not too important.

 

People don't get that we wouldn't need him to go off if he didn't give up so many points on defense.

 

ftfy

 

JinxBailey!