Yeah, because the last two lottery years have caused a mass exodus... If we are way under .500 in mid-December, I think there will be a bunch of activity talking about trades, drafts, etc. Blazer fans are Blazer fans--call them soccer moms, or homers, or whatever; they are passionate about the game and their team--not necessarily in that order.
The worst part about Nic being so passive is there was really no one on the Suns that played last night that should be able to guard him. Tucker? Green? Nic is still the guy that teams can put any defender on him and it won't hurt them that much.
What makes Nic a difficult guard? He doesn't drive. Take away the open 3 and you have him basically neutralized in the half-court.
So, it looks like we're off to our normal start around here. Blazers lose to a team they should beat and the negatrons are out in force. I assume that when the Blazers win one they shouldn't win, the positrons will have their turn. One game is one game and making more of it than that, especially when it's the first game of the season, is pretty damned silly. I will say one thing: the Blazers in recent years have a history of not getting up for the teams they should beat. Last night they were true to form. If they want to make the playoffs, they'll have to get past that weakness PDQ.
It's not THAT we lost. It's HOW we lost. It's tough not to be a little negative when the product on the floor looks pretty damn close the losing ball we played the last several seasons. Old habits aren't just hard to break, they may be impossible to break for some of these guys.
How could I forget. When I hear his "team France experience will help him" it just sounds as realistic as the "Shawn Kemp is coming into training camp in the best shape of his career" talk we used to get.
You have basically described the majority of NBA wings in a half court set. No doubt it would be nice to always have two players on the court who can create their own shot. I think the lack of these types of players is why many teams will end up going with two pGs in the back court. Phoenix was smart to get Bledsoe and move in that direction.
Good assessment. While the LMA/Lillard jumpers weren't necessarily forced (some were), they didn't come from ball movement either. They were fairly stagnant shots. Nic did a great job of coming to the ball for rebounds. He did a poor job of initiating offense - but he still did it better than anyone else last night. I think he got taken out of the game early by whoever was guarding him. He was blanketed while running around screens, and when he did get the ball he was doubled early. His defense was mostly average but there was a short stint in the 4th where he was on Dragic and shut him down. Then Stotts put him on Bledsoe and the lead once again ballooned. Lopez was a huge disappointment.
I don't know what game you were watching but dragic scored at will on batum. I was hoping all game he would smother dragic like he did to curry but that never happened. We had no answer for dragic, with Matthews and batum sharing duties on him, plain and simple!
Sarcasm aside, I didn't quite get that take. My impression was he had a pretty crappy summer season overall, was very inconsistent, but came up big in the championship game. I really do think he's burned himself out with year-round competition his entire career.
This is why we miss CJ already. I think being that guy off the bench, and for spells next to Damian, is going to be his niche in the NBA.
And he was scrapping for those rebounds. He is the consumate glue guy. It would be a lot more pleasant around here if fans would accept his game and his contributions to the team, and not demand 18-point nights from him every game.
Aldridge is what he is. I'm not expecting him to change at this point. Lillard is concerning though. I know he's a better distributor than this. He has completely gone away from passing the ball this season (including the preseason), and I don't think it's because people are missing shots. I just think he's shooting more. He's an amazing scorer, possibly the best pure scorer on our team, but we need a point guard. Without someone running the offense, it will significantly hinder Aldridge's ability to get post position.
Expectations go up when you make $11M per. People aren't satisfied with Nic looking lost on offense just like they aren't satisfied with Aldridge only grabbing 4 rebounds. If Nic can't score again PJ Tucker and Gerald Green, that's a problem.
