Game Thread GAME# 22: NUGGETS @ BLAZERS - NOVEMBER 30, 2018 - FRIDAY, 7:30 PM , ESPN & NBCSNW

Boban?

 

To get a stop? We dont need a stop. If we get an open dunk, then we have an opportunity for them to make a mistake (TO or missed FT) and if we dont, we can still get the same quality of 3 the next possession. Or take the open layup again (if time permits) and see if they make a mistake, and if not we still have an opportunity for 3.

Theres a lot better chance for success there than waiting till the very end to jack up a contested 3.

 

I dont think I'm gonna post much in game threads anymore. A certain group of posters have ruined it. I've noticed a lot of the quality posters on this board no longer post in game threads, and I can see why.

 

According to ESPN Stats & Info, no player has hit more go-ahead field goals in the final five seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime than Carmelo Anthony since 2003-04.
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Just sayin

 

Exactly, going for 2 actually gave them a chance to win in regulation on the last possession.

If they did @oldmangrouch's approach, the best they could hope for is OT. How is that better?

 

For the record, @BonesJones has been saying that Stotts is a bad coach for at least 7 months now so it is unfair to paint him as someone who is fine with not making changes.

 

I hope you reconsider. Even when I don't agree with you, your posts provide food for thought.

 

Did you know the Spurs have lost their last two games by 39 and 31 points?

 

Honest question, no sarcasm:

Why do you watch the games?

 

Insanity

 

So why do you not just wait until next year?

 

Boy tonight I can't believe how many defense assignment was miss. This team is totally clueless how to play defense. Our guards put pressure on the bigs because they totally bad to play there man. I am not leaving one guard either. There no rotation on the weak side help at all. Turner he was 10 feet away from the guy that shot the winning shot in the corner. Am not even going tell I fill about this offense we have just put like this I was shaking my head all game long.

 

I think this has more to do with people wanting to watch the games, rather than respond to people who have an agenda against or for x player.

 

Addiction

 

Reading the thread after the game, I want to discuss this with everyone who mentioned that this team doesn't have the talent to fix this issue...

Here is just what I could think of off the top of my head:

1) Don't set a screen for Dame. If they are blitzing him off the screens to the point it is shutting down the whole offense I'd rather take my chances with Dame being able to navigate the offense without a pick, especially if he has an average defender like Jamal Murray guarding him. If you noticed during the game the Nuggets often had Millsap guarding the guy they thought was going to set the pick for Dame. For example Millsap was guarding Nurkic and Jokic was on Aminu. If I can see that at home there is no excuse for the coaches not recognizing this. Millsap was great at double teaming Dame in this game.

2) Run pick and roll with someone else as the screener. If guys like Anthony Davis and Paul Millsap are blowing up our offense here's a radical suggestion: don't fucking send the guy that player is guarding to be the one who is setting the screen. For example, when Millsap was guarding Leonard then he should've been the one camped out in the corner at the 3 point line. Instead what do we do? We keep sending the same player to set the screen so that they can double. Unless the other team has multiple long athletic defensive freaks, if we take the disruptive defender out of the play it changes everything. If he helps off of his man too much then you make him pay with a wide open 3 or a baseline cut for a dunk/layup.

3) Play Dame off the ball. What the fuck happened to this concept from the preseason? If Dame doesn't have the ball and you set a screen for him there is no way the defense can double him because if they do it leaves the screener wide open on a roll to the basket. If they switch then you have a mismatch and simply pass Dame the ball and clear out or post up the big on the smaller defender. If one screen doesn't work run him off of multiple screens.

4) Play inside out instead of outside in. You know what would work getting Millsap away from the screens? Make Denver pay for putting him on Nurk. They posted up Nurk on Millsap one of the first plays of the game and he easily scored. I don't remember them going back to him with the mismatch again. Once the entry pass is made some off the ball movement is all that would be needed. Guys like Harkless and Aminu could down the middle or set off the ball picks for Dame and CJ and Nurk could kick it out for open 3's. At some point if Nurk is effective on the block the other team will have to start doubling too.

5) Run the offense through the high post. Nurk had something like 8 assists in the Washington game mostly through good passes from the high post and since then they've barely gone to that play. Denver was overplaying like crazy tonight. The back door cuts would've been there all night and it would have forced them to not play so aggressively.

6) Stop doing hand off passes to Dame and CJ. This was another thing that was really fucking frustrating tonight. Portland's predictable offense when a big has the ball (especially on the side), they almost always wait for Dame or CJ to come so they can just hand the ball off to them and then try to get in his defenders way so he gets open. What Denver would do is just have whatever big was guarding the guy with the ball play over the top so when the ball was handed off there was a defender right in his face blocking his path. You could see the trap coming about 3 seconds before it actually happened. I don't get why we continue to run the offense that way when it is getting shut down.

These are all super basic ideas, most of which have nothing to do with the talent level of the team. Even if it was true that Dame had no help why continue to run the same concepts offensively that don't work in the playoffs?

 

Turner has to be benched or traded. I'm sick of him committing a lazy turnover and then compounding it by fouling on defense when we are in the penalty. I'm also sick of rewinding to see which Blazer left his man alone at the 3 point line when he didn't even leave enough to help and is just lost in no mans land. Several times tonight I thought, "that better not be Turner again," and sure enough it usually was. To be fair this seems to be a team problem but Turner is the main culprit lately. The team is in good defensive position and all of a sudden they just start drifting towards the key aimlessly or got caught turned around and all it takes is a little penetration and a kick out for a wide open 3. Isn't the whole point of Stotts' defensive philosophy to force the other team into taking inefficient mid range shots? Why are we sagging off the 3 point line when there is a big in the key if the ball handler drives? This shit is driving me crazy.

Harkless and Curry probably shouldn't be playing right now. I actually like both of them and I get that game action is the best way to work them into a key role later in the season but they just don't like right and it's painful to watch them run around hoping they snap out of it. Lets just give them some time to get better.

Collins needs to tone it the fuck down. He's playing like Baldwin did last year when he was trying to get into the rotation. You can see a foul coming way before it actually happens. He's all up in the offensive player on the perimeter and is reaching and overusing his arms in the post. He needs to go back to just trying to play straight up. Blocked shots and steals are great but altering shots with good positioning usually leads to a nice positive result too.

Why have we gone back to playing CJ with the 2nd unit, even with Harkless and Curry back from injuries? During the hot start this rarely happened, then we go back to it when Curry sits out and we have been playing crappy ever since?

 

Unfortunately playing time is based on your salary. Hence why Layman doing fairly well they sit him because he’s a minimum paid guy for a trash player like Harkless.

With Turner it doesn’t matter how bad he is, he’s the 3rd most expensive player after dame and Cj and he’s going to get a lot of playing time regardless. It’s fucked up but that’s just how we operate

 

No, it's not. Why did Leonard barely play last year then?

 

Because he was super bad

 

So it doesn't matter how bad they are until it does? Try making more sense.