Game Thread GAME# 23: BLAZERS @ SPURS - DECEMBER 2, 2018 - SUNDAY, 4:00 PM, NBCSNW

Nope. They had 17 turnovers yes but 6 or 7 of those were ball handling and a whistle from the ref for palming and travel. Defense gets set for that.

 

Well kind of..... Drexler demanded to be traded and he forced them to trade to Houston.
It was ugly no matter what way you cut it. They got Otis Thorpe, Marcelo Nicola, and a 1995 1st Round Draft pick that ended up being Randolph Childress. The Blazers pretty much lost everything.

 

Thats why the word usually was in that sentence...

 

Well i'm with you on the long rebound part for sure. The Blazers went long runs missing shots and scrambling to get back on defense. I also agree turnovers make for tough situations to guard.

 

Just a frustrating few weeks of Blazer basketball. Thats probably the best way to say it.

 

Absofuckinglutely!

 

I also want to know what is going on with CJ and palming the ball? I just don't remember those calls last year?

 

In my opinion they could call palming a lot more than they do, and for whatever reason CJ's just been the victim of a lot of calls going against him. It doesn't really bother me as he does it quite a bit and old habits are hard to break. I just wish it was consistent. What's a foul is always a foul for both teams all game long, palming, traveling, whatever if the calls in the NBA were consistent it would be a lot less frustrating at least for me.

 

I've seen it this year but i just don't remember this many palming calls? He has always got a few travel calls. He does that bump step and slide drag of his foot. Maybe i just missed them?

 

How many games do you go to?

 

The results of the plays most definitely matter. The rest of the team shot 22/36 which is 61% and had 57 points which is good for 1.58 points per shot.... All better efficiency than what Dame/CJ put up.

Poor defense is why we lost the game, but your justification for how ball dominate Dame & CJ are is a little off base.

***EDIT*** For the record, I'm less concerned about Dame. He generally maintains his efficiency while having a high volume. I do think there are typically 2-3 shots per game that Dame takes that I wish he'd cut out of his game.

CJ on the other hand has high volume, but average efficiency (at best). He's not good enough on offense to demand that level of volume. He's also not good enough on defense to be 'untouchable' on this team. ***END EDIT***

 

About 3-4 a year

 

Is the rest of the team good enough to warrant a higher volume? Are they efficient because they are better shooters or are they efficient because Dame and CJ's abilities to score leaves them better opportunities? Would you not agree that Dame and CJ along with the rest of the team putting up those types of offensive numbers (not choosing one over the other) should be enough offensively to win games? I was responding directly to a comment implying that we lost the game because Dame and CJ took 50 of 86 shots with no mention of defense.

We'd be a 60 win team with those offensive numbers combined with a top-10 defense. If you want to argue that it's really hard or impossible to do because of Dame and CJ's defense then I can definitely see a logical point there. However, I don't think this team's problem is that Dame and CJ take too many shots. They can for sure improve their shot selection or get their shots more within the flow of the offense (I talked about this after the Nuggets game) but a lot of people think this team has an overall talent problem and some of those same people also then complain that our two best scorers shoot too much. I just think it's a little misguided after a game like last night where our 2nd unit and our defense were absolutely dreadful.

 

Well at least we helped someone out.

One bet on an NBA game has helped a punter pocket half a million dollars

Unfortunately this wasn't me.

 

Take your pick. Nurk or Aldridge. Aldridge played the 5 last night for the majority of his minutes. Not the 4. He's even listed as the C for the Spurs.

Portland got shit on on small to small P&R last night.
Not small to big.

I just can't this is so stupid.
Giving up 131 points? No problem, just need to score 132!!

Jesus. thought I could handle you off block, I was wrong.

 

So you want to make it even easier huh?
I was giving you the benefit of the doubt that you might understand on the Blazers Aldridge would be a PF but lets do the simple math on Nurk vs Aldridge.
Nurk 16 points 8 rebs no blocks and a steal with 5 ast
Aldridge 29 points 8 rebs 1 block and a steal with 3 ast.
Lets give Nurk 4 extra points for those extra assist numbers and call it 20 points even.
Take 9 points from the Spurs and give it to the Blazers.
Spurs 122
Blazers 127
Game set match dude. See ya next time.
Instead of spending your time on a game thread try watching a game. There are way more things going on than what people are complaining about on a game thread. Last night without question Aldridge was the best player on the court.
All i ever said was if the Blazers had Aldridge they would be way better off. Tell me you can understand that if they had a player like Aldridge as a Power Forward on the roster with Dame CJ and Nurk playing center they would be considered a contender. It doesn't take analytics to figure that out. That team would be dominant. Without question.
And before you go all "But how could they afford him with their cap space". That was not and will never be a question because it was a simple statement without any other thought to it. Simply that if they had Aldridge on the roster they would be a much better team.

 

So how does switching Nurk out for Aldridge mean we're give up 9 less points? Lmao.

 

I agree. I should have done that entire last post in green font. Matter of fact i think i'll change it! It seems to be what he wants to compare them to.
I simply made a post that said the team could use Aldridge right about now. He went all off the hook about defense and Pick n Roll and how the team doesn't need scoring.
It was a simple post with a simple meaning.
If the Blazers had Aldridge right now they would be a better team. There is no question in my mind about that. You put Aldridge as this teams Power Forward with Dame, CJ, and Nurkic and they are in the mix.

 

Hes not seeing though.. Aldridge wouldn't fix any of our current issues, just make them slightly easier to overcome.