Notice OFFICIAL AROUND THE NBA THREAD-January 2021

Yea that didn’t make sense to me either. For the bucks sure but how the Pels felt they won that is weird

 

Oh shit. It’s on.

 

Didn't we get Harkless for a top 55 protected pick ?

 

Enes' new girlfriend:
There’s a new lady in NBA center Enes Kanter’s life … and it’s none other than Ariana Rockefeller, the great-great-granddaughter of oil mogul John D. Rockefeller!! TMZ Sports has learned … the 28-year-old Portland Trail Blazers player and 38-year-old fashion designer/equestrian have been seeing each other for several months now … after initially meeting over social media

 

We have added to higher end defensive players (at least before they got here), and yet our defense ranks the same as last year. We can't blame that on losing Nurk because it was no better when he was playing. And now we can't blame it on CJ....because he never really played any D to start with.

So if adding players doesn't help, and losing players, doesn't really matter, what is the constant? It is the Walnut. And the abject refusal to bring in someone who is defensive minded (the 3-day seminar thing was a joke), then they sadly almost deserve what they get. I'm not a huge fan of what Neil has done but he did provide 2 defensive minded wings.

.....and it has had jack squat in terms of making a difference.

 

it's pretty common since the beginning of the punitive luxury tax rules

 

Thibs plays his starters into the ground but it's paying off this far. I like the team. NYC needs something positive lately. Oh and good for Enes. He seems like such a genuinely nice guy. Been through a lot. Hope he gets his citizenship, we need more like him. Cugel Kanter has a nice ring to it as well you two.

 

Randall is a player I would have liked to acquire and he's playing great so far.

 

they just didn't get Bledsoe; they also traded for George Hill, and then traded Hill and some minor assets for Steven Adams. They also got two first round pick swaps from the Bucks, which was probably a reasonable gamble before Giannis has re-signed

 

Maybe making a significant change in defensive schemes and incorporating two new starters requires something the Blazers haven’t had much of until now: practice time. Quick’s article this morning in The Athletic touched on this:

“That said, I think Lillard last week after the Atlanta game made a telling observation: The Blazers are using a different defensive scheme this season, one where the centers play up on the pick-and-roll, which theoretically forces the ball out of the guard’s hands quicker. This style requires the weakside defenders — the defenders away from the ball — to offer help, thereby setting into action a series of rotations by defenders to cover for the teammate who left their man. That weakside help, Lillard said, is where the team is struggling. He used the word “trust” — as in you have to trust your teammate is going to cover your man if you leave to offer help — and right now, the players haven’t shown often enough that they will make that extra rotation or move to help, which has prevented trust from developing.

They have shown at times they can play pretty good defense — the second half against Atlanta (40 points), the first game against Sacramento (99 points), the win at the Lakers (Anthony Davis 13 points) — but it hasn’t been consistent.”

Here’s hoping almost a week of practice will make the defense more consistent.

For those who don’t subscribe, there’s also some good stuff on why the Blazers aren’t giving up on Simons and how the opportunity he’s getting now will be important as the team looks to figure out his future with the Blazers going forward.

 

Alex Len to the Wizards.

 

wow, some of you guys have really high standards

Pointy knees...?...really

pointy knees on a woman wouldn't bother me a bit unless she had a badge and the knees were on my back

 

I don't agree that the problem is trust. It could be resistance to change, inflexibility, aren't sold on the system, laziness, but I doubt if it is lack of trust.

 

It's a meme.

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/210-would-not-bang

 

One the problem is there weak side go to far over for help defense and can't get back to the corner. A lot time it's one our 6'3 guard down there and don't have the size to be effective. Hopefully these days in practice they correct some of those problems if not it's going be a long season.

 

LoL...Why?

 

They lost their starting center for the year.

 

Great fun watching the Cavaliers again tonight. Didn't know that Nance leads the league in steals and high in deflections also. Lots of fast breaks and lobs!