What team on a 4-game losing streak comes out and plays the kind of first half we did tonight against the Bucks? You would have thought Milwaukee was the team that was desperate to win a game. They played harder than us, and much smarter. We didn't even belong on the same court with them. Lillard seems to have no clue how to start a game. He is desperate to get the ball out of his own hands as soon as possible, and will pass it to anyone who is open, even if they're not in a position to score. Then he stands around and watches. The only time this team plays hard is when they realize they are getting embarrassed on the court. Guess what that will get you? A 5-game losing streak.
What is killing is that these are home games. One game ago, we lost to the 2nd-worst team in the NBA, the Cavs, and it was a breeze for them. I watched the feed then and tonight using the opponent commentators, and in both games, they were beside themselves in delight that their teams got ahead so easily. Neither team gets many road wins.
both teams have played at least as well on the road as at home bucks are 11-9 on the road cavs have more road wins than home wins (6 to 4)
The commentators effusively praised their players individually all game long, saying, "Now THIS is the way you win games," as if it's a novel experience for them.
It has nothing to do with caring. Sometimes you just come out flat. It happens but still they have exceeded expectations.
Aldridge said the Cavs game was must win and then they quickly fell behind by 17 and did the same thing tonight. I'm going to lose interest soon.
To be fair, though, the game was lost by 2.5 minutes of Nolan-ball. Otherwise, we played well. That's on management. Not poor Nolan. If management cared about winning, we'd have a better bench. Management does not want to win.
There, I fixed your typo. Playing the bench is a horror show. Two of our big three have injured wrists. I noticed Batum's wrist problem all game, especially after he got blocked on an attempted dunk, and I hadn't read a thing about his injury until I came here after the game. That's what I thought at the beginning of the season. I thought they wanted to play and season our 'core', but didn't want to man the bench with players who would win us out of the lottery. All part of the grand plan. Up until now, the team has been winning way beyond any sane person's expectations. Expectations have been raised. Now that the Blazers have come down to earth, I predict lots of whining.
We have 5 NBA level players. Just 5. Even the Bucks have players coming off the bench who can actually make meaningful contributions. I'd kill to have Mike Dunleavy on our bench. That stretch by Nolan Smith was possibly the worst two minutes I've ever seen the Blazers play. He's a joke.
Let's calculate what it will take to keep our top-12 protected draft pick. Currently, the 12th-worst team is .436 (the Lakers). To get to .436 (35 wins and 47 losses) we have to go 15-27 (.357) the rest of the season. We are .500 (20-20) after 5 straight losses. To play .357 will require at least 2 key injuries. It's too late for the Master Plan to retain our draft pick.
Uh, it was our starters who came out and laid an egg tonight. Our backups were on the bench when we got down by about 17. Every game that we get behind in early is the fault of our starting 5.
you must've been lucky enough to not watch the same game the rest of us did, because the team was playing decent (ish) until they brought in Freeland and Smith. Then there was like 4 crappy plays in a row by Smith and blammo, down by 17
