The Blazers biggest issue(s), outside of defense..

Others have made their feelings known. I'm not sure what your thoughts are. Where do you stand on a DMC trade?

 

Passing....good passing....alley oop passing...bounce passing...no look passing...this is a weakness the Blazers have had since Dre left

 

It's tough because Portland is more successful than they should be because of their chemistry. DMC would probably ruin that, but totally increase the talent level. Also, does Stotts know what to do with a big?

 

DMC has mad respect for Dame....I think he'd welcome playing on a team where he wasn't the man for a change....he's a game changer

 

Maybe

 

I really wanted Mason or Ed to be a 20/10 guy but so far, that ain't happening....Boogie gives you that night in and night out

 

Very good question. Given most of the offense is just freelancing based off of a loose diagram I'm gonna guess that he wouldn't know how to best incorporate DMC's talents with Dame/CJ. He can draw up good out-of-bounds gimmick plays, but otherwise his playbook is rather weak.

 

Cousins getting into it with Randle after the game. I like his fire but...

They did lose to an improved Lakers team.

I am just not sold yet. Still rather have Whiteside.

 

I understand your want, but I would try to keep it realistic. Whiteside is the best player on their team on a max just given to him this off season. He isn't going anywhere for at least a couple years.

 

If Boogie knows how to run the weave 25' from the basket, he's golden.

Same camp I'm in. Boogie may have some issues but he has mad talent and has never played with a leader like Dame.

That improved Laker team also blew out the Warriors and are currently tied with the Blazers. Cousins would give the Blazers a distinct advantage every night at a position where they are now deficient almost every night. It also provides some balance to Dame/CJ. Otherwise, this team is stuck in basketball purgatory for some time and are maxed out to the Luxury Tax and way over the salary cay.

They are just no nearly good enough to be at that cost level.

 

I don't think Whiteside is really available. Cousins may not be either, especially if they start winning some games. His temper scares me, that's all i'm saying. Dame and the rest of the team may be able to tame him. I do agree with that, if it can be done, this team may be the perfect team to pull it off.
Rasheed Wallace was one of my favorite players. Ridiculously talented, but he was such a hot head, he would get thrown out of games, or just stop the flow of the game by having a temper tantrum while his teammates held him back. Once he got the first tech, the second was only a matter of time. You could see it coming a mile away. So maybe that's my fear with Cousins. Talent wise WOW!

 

I hear ya. I do think DMC has a decent chance of being traded this year though, because I highly doubt he re-signs with them, so they want to get semething in return.

 

So, how about that offense!

 

With two minutes to go last night, our bench had outscored theirs 38-19 per the stats board in the arena. That meant that our starters were sitting at -39 for the night.

 

Blazer issues: Stagnant offense for LONG stretches, No killer instinct, help defense is ineffective or not there, way too many mediocre players, the bigs play small, no fire for rebounds, standing and watching on both sides of the court, poor or late adjustments by Stotts on both sides of the ball, they are a 3 point shooting team but rely on below average shooters, they simply think they are better than they are.
Blazer positives: Lillard has improved, Moe is getting better and more confident, they've won some games despite all the issues, CJ can dribble, Meyers isn't hesitating as much, they played paintball together in the off season.

 

Our biggest issue outside of defense, is rebounding, REBOUNDING, REBOUNDING. In fact, at this point, I'd say it's THE biggest issue. Teams that are dead last in the league in rebounding tend to lose a lot of games.

Ed Davis has started to pick it up the last two games, but he's still not back to where he was last year. And, he's a backup that plays 20 MPG. We don't have a single average rebounder in our starting lineup.

Statistically, Noah Vonleh is our best rebounder and the only one who is above average (slightly) for his position. I'd start him and tell him his #1, #2 and #3 priorities are rebounding, rebounding, rebounding. Box the fuck out and crash the offensive glass. He's a young guy who wants to earn minutes. Doing something this team desperately needs by becoming a rebounding monster will earn him more PT that knocking down an occasional 3-pointer.

BNM