Game Thread 2023-24 Game #1 - BLAZERS @ CLIPPERS - OCTOBER 25, 2023 - WEDNESDAY - 7:30 PM PST - ROOT

In my opinion Thybulle can be traded. And why start him? Might as well start Sharpe at SF now.

 

Another one that might not tell the story? I don’t know? I don’t think he played poorly. I think Sharpe looked pretty good. I think Scoot is very raw still. I think Ayton would have been better if not in foul trouble.
Those are my takes without stats.

 

he played with 3 fouls for a 'while'.

is it that billups feels so good about playing RWIII? (a guy who should probably be on a minutes restriction to start the year)

or is it that billups was playing this one like we were going to get blown out?

 

My take on that is why trade him? Just let Sharpe start and keep Thybule as a solid rotation guy?
He seems like a team first guy. Not sure he’d mind coming off the bench.

 

I actually had some of those same thoughts? Not sure but it’s a good question.

 

Hey wait a minute... there's still nothing here

 

That was the biggest failure to me of the game.
It was just a chucking offense.

 

Yeah... as we all know, single game +/- is not a good indicator of individual play. I didn't think Ant was great last night though. I thought the best players last night were either Sharpe or Brogdon.

 

Or Toumani

 

Right cuz our defense was so good last year.

 

Defend, grab offensive rebound.

 

Deandre needs to set better screens.

 

I don't think you can put everything on the coach, HOWEVER....

1-pass to a dunk on an inbound play should probably never happen, and it happened twice in one game - that's on the coach.
Getting backdoored should also rarely happen. It happened multiple times in that same game. That's also on the coach.

I hate to sound like the old man that I am, but the coach IS responsible for teaching #TheFundamentals.

 

Well, I don't see any reason NOT to "get worse" if that means that we get much better in the future, which is to say we develop our young talent and get them used to playing with eachother, rather than guys who obviously will be gone before this core hits its stride. The only one that is questionable is Ant due to timeline. However, he just doesn't fit with the obvious need to feature Scoot and Sharpe and give Scoot the keys to running the team. So, if you want to win 35 games instead of 20 games and delay Scoot, Sharpe and Ayton's development and chemistry, then yeah keep giving shots and touches to Jerami Grant, Simons, and Brogdon. Are you actually wanting to win this season and still miss the play-in by a mile? Why would you want that?

 

Good luck with that Sun fans have been asking for him to do that for years.

 

I think it's fair to want deandre to be a good player on the blazers. leopards don't change their spots but this leopard is 25 years old and makes over 30m. he could set a screen better, you know?

 

If getting worse meant we were more likely to get better in the long run, I'm all for it. Technically, dumping Scoot/Sharpe for Mays/Murray would make us worse in the short-term, but I wouldn't that that is a good thing. At some point, I believe you can get SO bad that the gap between being awful and good becomes increasingly difficult. I think it's really hard with the new CBA to execute on any plan longer than 3-4 years. I'm already struggling to see this being a contending team in 4 years, so getting worse would not make me more confident.

To answer your question about wanting to win this season, it's not a clear yes or no. There is a scenario where Scoot/Sharpe earn 30mpg, play great, and the chemistry of the team is great; combined with bad injury luck for a couple other teams, they're near the play-in. That scenario would not discourage me. To me, that would be better than Scoot/Sharpe looking way over their heads and us only winning 15 games.

Of those two scenarios, would you still prefer the one where we lose more games?

 

I'd prefer the one where we develop our best talent and therefore our chances of winning a championship in the future, rather than having them languish on the bench because Billups, like you, doesn't prioritize long term development. Unlike you, Billups might fear if the loses X number of games because he plays Sharpe and Scoot too much, he might be out of a job. That makes your position even more baffling than Billups.

 

So far, neither Scoot or Sharpe have languished on the bench. Both have been given minutes and given plenty of rope to succeed or fail. I suspect that will continue.