Game Thread GAME# 20: BLAZERS @ WIZARDS - FEBRUARY 2, 2021 - TUESDAY, 5:00, NBCSNW

...and yet posters get referred to as 'haters' quite often.

 

Because the Blazers don’t view this season as a lost cause. They know all of the injured guys except, probably, Collins will be back this season. They know that these games now against weaker teams will likely need to be wins because beating the top teams this short-handed is not likely to happen. They know that keeping in the mix for a decent playoff spot is essential in order to avoid having to make a crazy end-of-season push that leaves a team exhausted and stuck playing the best team in the league like they did last season. And they know that a team with Westbrook and Beal, even if their record stinks, is still a very dangerous team, especially for a road team on a back-to-back.

 

Preach!!!

 

This makes total sense, but there is another POV. Until the Blazers start playing good defense, early season wins don't matter. Opposing teams have an eFG of 56.0%. Thank goodness for the Wizards, or we'd be dead last. Defense wins championships, and we can play defense. In plain English, we are NOT contenders, or even close. We're headed directly toward a future that looks a lot like the past - losing 4-1 in the 1st round.

That doesn't mean we can't turn it around. But, until our defensive metrics improve, I find little reason to celebrate - and I'm one of the more optimistic posters here. Hoping that the return of Nurk will solve all of our defensive woes feels unlikely, but maybe time playing together will....

All that being said, there is some reasons to be optimistic. Ant is looking like an NBA player, finally. Trent has solidified himself as a rotation player on a championship team, maybe even a starter. However, these things are unrelated to defense, and we still have Carmelo...

 

I agree with you on the defense issue. So do Dame, Stotts, Olshey and the rest of the team. I believe that they can improve, but it’s on them to do it. Still, right now it’s a matter of treading water until they get enough players back to make a surge. One thing about treading water: it beats drowning.

 

I think you've really hit on the central issue. I, and my fellow Haters (I never get to be included in this group, so I'm enjoying it while I can) feel like we are in fact drowning, and that Dame miracles don't change that. Lovers, feel like Dame miracles "keep us afloat". Personally, I wish I was optimistic enough to feel this way, and I'm sure others do as well.

edit: I suppose they haven't totally lost me, I'm still watching the games.

edit: The more I think about it, it's not just an acedemic "live and let live."
Lovers: "We're still afloat. No action necessary."
Haters: "We suck systemically, fire Stotts now. A coach has transformed the neverdowell Knicks into the best defensive team in the NBA. A coaching change could do it here, too."

 

I view myself as someone who wants to see the team win a championship in my lifetime, as opposed to someone who is just happy that the team exists.

I have been fighting this fight since really back during the "LMA isn't going to leave us" days.

 

A lot of us have experienced that once in our life. It's great. It's like being a 60 year-old virgin and finally getting laid.

 

Sure, but there are fans who are just super peachy keen just watching the team flounder around in the middle of the pack, and there are people who want to see the team actually make the step towards being a serious contender. We aren't a serious contender right now.

 

I think in the context of HCP's "Happy" thread, there's a difference between being happy in the moment and enjoying the pure joy that comes from seeing something like Dame's back-to-back 3s for an incredibly unlikely win, and saying you're happy with the state of the Blazers. I'm certainly a homer (and proud of it, I might add), and I certainly enjoyed the crazy win over the Bulls, but I'm far from satisfied with the state of the team. I think that there would be pretty much unanimous support for that statement around here. We may vary on what we think needs to be done to get the team into a better place as far as contention goes, but we agree that we want it to happen.

 

Sure, but I don't think you're one of the people who immediately feels the need to come on here and crow after every win and ask "where the haters at!?!?!"

 

Purely my opinion on the bolded part:

A. We're barely afloat and that's only because the players who remain healthy are bailing water as fast as humanly possible.
B. I certainly wouldn't say that no action is necessary. The team absolutely has to improve on defense if it wants to contend. I am still of the opinion that a healthy version of the current roster can be a decent defensive team. When you can score the way this team can, decent defense is all that is needed.
C. A mid-season coaching change is typically reserved for situations where a coach has lost the confidence of his players. I don't see that as being the case for Stotts and the Blazers - yet. Dame certainly made it known that he's far from happy about the state of the defense.
D. Honest question, has a mid-season coaching change ever resulted in a team that was failing suddenly becoming a contender? I can't think of a case.

 

Yup, there's been way too much of that around here...both ways. That's why I generally don't participate on game nights. It's usually not a fun experience even if the Blazers are winning.

 

I thought a perfect microcosm of the Terry Stotts offense last night was in the 4th quarter, the Wiz were making a run and I think they had gotten it down to like 7 points or something like that.

Terry calls a timeout to calm the troops and draw up a play.

Out of the timeout, the team spreads the floor while Rodney has the ball. He dribbles for like 15 seconds and then jacks up a contested three pointer that luckily goes in. That was our play. That was the play out of a timeout. That was what Terry drew up? Sure, it went in and that's great, but that was what our coach came up with after calling his team together to design a much needed play to stop the bleeding?

 

I'm curious if you feel the opposite if also true: Someone can't question people who post critisms of Olshey/Stotts over and over without being subjected to personal slander? It appears the majority of the posts here are anti-Olshey or Stotts, which is totally allowed.

I try really hard to not single anyone out and bash their personality, but I know I can always try to do better. I'm also open to all the people who disagree with my opinions, that's what makes this board great.

 

I don't need to claim it.

 

Haters or apologists are very common terms thrown around here, for sure.