Game Thread PLAYOFFS: ROUND 1, GAME 1: BLAZERS @ CLIPPERS - 4/17/16, SUNDAY, 7:30 PM (PDT), TNT & KGW

If the question is "36% chance of hitting a 3" vs "whatever garbage% at hitting a two" I'm picking the former.

 

My only problem with that is Stotts has known this team was playoff bound for about a month. It's just a little late to be experimenting with lineups.

 

I said nothing about his defense.

Here's a sobering thought: Remember how long it took against Memphis last year for Stotts to ride the hot hands of Leonard and CJ, even though the rest of the lineup was completely shut down? We might be down 3-0 before Aminu loses the green light from the 3-pt line.

 

So your solution is to make no adjustments? Kaman showed he could be effective in this series. I doubt that he has the legs to play more than 15-20 minutes a game, but I'm sure as heck in favor of going with something that looks to be effective vs. continuing with what isn't working. Maybe Harkless and Aminu will be stroking the ball in the next game and it's all moot, but if they're as ineffective as yesterday, Stotts has to do something.

 

Way too far.

 

There is only one adjustment that will help - bring in 3 new big men.

 

Fair enough. Just get him off the playing surface so the game isn't delayed for clean up.

 

No that is not what i said. Would you like me to repeat what i wrote already or would you like to read it again?
It's a simple statement that requires no response my friend. I wish Stotts had worked a bit more on this earlier.

 

A. You don't know that Stotts hasn't worked on other lineups. I'd be willing to bet that they work on many options in practice that we don't see.

B. A major part of the playoffs is making adjustments. Your post implies that because you haven't seen that lineup, it's off the table.

C. My reading comprehension skills are just fine and dandy, my friend. Lose the snark.

 

Alright bro you want to know a bit about what i mean then fine....
Chris Kaman has played exactly 16 Games for the Blazers all year. He actually started 2. A whopping total of 112 minutes played for the entire season. What my post implied no matter what you think it might have was simply that Stotts knew the team was heading for the Playoffs when Leonard went down. He knew they would be in need of another Big. The team can practice all they want but Game situations are a bigger deal.
Now here is the main "Thrust" of my statement. It's a bit late to be "Experimenting with Lineups" in game situations. There was plenty of time to get him more game work with the rest of the roster. Very simple and very to the point. My overall feeling is yes something should be done and yes Kaman seems to be one of the options. I don't give a rats ass how much time they put out in the gym. There was even time to put him up against players like Jordan and Cousins not to mention the Rookie of the year very recently. I believe it could have helped. I even think he was trying to when Kaman went down with an ankle injury. So maybe that was the plan in the first place.
I like Stotts and what he does. I feel he missed the boat on this particular situation. It is a feeling i have and not a mandated statement. there is no argument with what you are saying.

 

For those of you questioning Aminu's shooting ability:

http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2016/04/15/analytics-art-stars-who-most-improved-their-3-point-shot/

He's improved DRASTICALLY. I think myself and most people were highly skeptical of his ability to shoot coming into this season. Last season he shot 27% on 3.3 attempts per 36. I would have been happy if he had shot 33% on the same number of attempts this year but instead he ends up shooting 36% on 5.4 attempts. He has proven he can shoot, he just needs to calm his nerves and do it.

 

And set him up for the corner 3 where he made 39% during the regular season.

 

Yeah it's important not to overreact with Aminu. He shot horribly last night but in April he'd been shooting 48% from three. Hopefully he gets back to that in game 2 because something tells me he'll continue to be wide open.

On the other hand Stotts needs to adjust. Two guys I think can really help in this series in particular are Kaman and Roberts. Kaman because we need another big and he's at least a threat to score from outside the paint, and Roberts because we need another ball-handler and outside shooter at all times if Dame or C.J. are sitting.

 

He's also 42% from the top of the key, ironically, the one that the Clippers were giving him all game.

 

In my opinion, Aminu is a rhythm shooter and LAC recognized such. Do we know the stats on his shooting % open vs contested? Probably not, but it would be interesting. He's got a bit of Travis Outlaw in him. The tougher the shot, the higher the likelihood it goes in. Put no one on him and he'll overthink it.

 

It's amazing how short of a memory we have when it comes to sports. Game opens up with Plumlee getting away with 3 in the key.

The Clippers first points in the series come when Blake Griffin beats Plumlee and Harkless on the Glass off a DJ missed FT. It almost looked as if Griffin just out muscled both of them.

I wonder if we could do a better job taking advantage of mismatches. Harkless had CP3 on him down low on a fast break. He didn't really get position before the Clippers were able to recover, so it's not necessarily on CJ for not finding him. Harkless has got to see he's got the small guard on him and immediately try to get position to take advantage of the mismatch on the break. Not something I'm surprised to see done by a young player just finding minutes in the league.

We've done a good job of moving the ball and finding the open shooters, too bad the shot's aren't falling because the Clippers haven't been doing a very good job at taking us out of our game.

Clippers have done a good job of moving the ball too though, and they run a lot of screens.