SPURS @ BLAZERS - GAME THREAD - 11/02/2013, 7:00 PM - KGW - HOME OPENER

Mo-Chuck came up big, finally. Batum was big. Lillard and Aldridge are all stars. Lopez was (and is) big. Wes was big. Even Freeland was doing work, hustling, playing defense, and boxing out so others could get boards. Fun team and a fun game!

 

Last night it was too many 3's, tonight it is too many outside shots. All I know is they scored 90 points tonight inside the 3 pt line. I was impressed with the shot selection tonight

 

Am I the only one compulsively clicking re-load page to see if the Forensic Fan's post for tonight's game is up yet?

 

Another thought on outside shooting....teams who rely on fast break baskets in the playoffs, often suffer. Because those easy baskets are taken away. Having an abundance of outside shooters is not a bad thing. Right now it seems like too many of us are leery of it.

 

Freeland has played solid but the backup bigs have been a pile of meh so far.

 

Umm... The only other "big" is Trob. Therefore, this comment makes no sense. If Freeeland is playing solid, then ONE big is playing meh. Just saying.

 

Has Mo really earned that nicname after three games?

 

That's what the Blazers are good at, that's their offense. But I think nights where their shot isn't falling they're going to look more like they did against the Suns. They're giving up a lot of points in the paint and transition points.

 

Yeah but isn't that true for almost all teams? (When their shots are not falling)

As for the transition points allowed, I agree it needs to get better. But A lot of it has to do with the tempo they are playing. SA rarely gives up that many points, or scores that many. So maybe the tempo is a factor. Not sure to be honest.

 

I meant it only half tongue-in-cheek, and in a semi-endearing way. Mo is a chucker, pure and simple. I think that's what he's supposed to do, although I haven't personally asked Stotts if that's true. Tonight Mo-Chuck was on. Let's hope he has more games like tonight. At least he takes his shots within the flow of the game, and he's also willing to pass, unlike a certain Craw-chuck whom I despise.

 

I'm totally just speculating, but I think he has the green light to shoot. He's one of the only guys on the bench who can create their own shot, and he has been huge in the two wins. We desperately needed that scoring off the bench.

 

I definitely agree we need a guy like that off the bench. I thought we drafted CJ to be that guy. Then we lucked into Mo. Then CJ got hurt. Then Mo kind of sucked in preseason and in Phoenix. Mo is coming on the last two games though, so I'm breathing a sigh of relief. I can't wait to get CJ healthy and see if the rumors about how good he looked pre-season had merit.

 

Mo definitely sucked against Phoenix, but I thought he did well in preseason.

9 points, 7 assists against Phoenix
11 points, 7 assists against Utah
17 points, 3 assists against Utah
10 points, 4 assists against LAC
17 points, 5 assists, 5 boards against SAC
11 points, 7 assists against GSW

I think he's struggled with turnovers and he isn't shooting a great percentage, but he's definitely producing off the bench. That's really all we can ask right now.

 

Once CJ is back he will take a lot of the bench scoring pressure off Mo and make him a lot better.

 

OK, thanks. That's better than I thought. I remembered he'd had some turnover problems but I didn't know the rest. The assists are nice.

 

Ya but if most of our shots are outside it's more likely shots are not going drop in more games than a team that shoot more inside shots. I would like to see us take it inside more.

 

Well, he did have some shooting problems and too many TOs.

3-10 shooting against Phoenix with 5 turnovers
4-10 shooting against Utah with 4 turnovers
8-13 shooting against Utah with 3 turnovers
3-11 shooting against LAC with 6 turnovers
5-13 shooting against SAC with 4 turnovers
3-7 shooting against GSW with 6 turnovers

So over the course of the preseason, he averaged 4.6 turnovers and he shot 26-62 for 42%.

 

HELL NO!!!!!!

 

Yes, but the main dif is that Portland has ranked near the bottom of the league in fast break points, and points in the paint. Now to counter balance that we have a lot of players who can score.