Blazers need 3 point scoring

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by swish3, Oct 24, 2018.

  1. swish3

    swish3 Well-Known Member

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    The Blazers lost the swish3 contest scoring 11 of 30 vs the ATL Hawks 12 of 33 on Jan 26 in this home win. This was the first triple double for CJ who showed that in 37 min at the PG position he can make 10 assists as well as leading the scoring, finishing with 28 points. The Blazers had 26 assists and 47 (vs 36) rebounds, but had 18 (vs 10) turnovers that allowed the Hawks to get close in the 4th Q. Dame did not dress for this game.

    Seth led scoring 4 of 8, Chief scored 2 of 3, CJ scored 2 of 8, Meyers and Zach each scored 1 of 1, and Mo scored 1 of 5. Jake and Wade were each 0 of 2. In this game, Seth, Chief, Meyers, and Zach were each hot and could have readily provided the 4 missing (of the target 15) swish3s if the Blazers tried to feed the hot hand. This will be needed for the Jazz and future games.

    This ATL game may have been another for the incremental progress along the way to the Championship if we can keep the assists developing, limit turnovers, and learn to look for more shots from the arc with the hot hand. Meyers made every FG and FT, and 9 points in 9 min. Chief made 4 of 5 FG and 7 of 7 FT scoring 17 points in 31 min. Let's play the Blazers scoring the points!
     
  2. swish3

    swish3 Well-Known Member

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    The Blazers decisively won the swish3 contest and the UTA Jazz game Jan 30, scoring 16 of 32 (yeah!) vs the Jazz 11 of 34. This was a great pay back for the Jazz earlier losses, as the Blazers scored 45 points in the 1st Q (season high) on great 9 of 9 FG shooting by CJ to take a lead that lasted throughout. This was the first start of the year for Meyers, who played a superb game filling the Center role of Nurk who did not dress for the game. Meyers played 25 min, scoring 16 points on 6 of 7 FG shooting, with 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 0 turnovers, and 2 fouls. Five Blazers were in double figures, Dame with 36, CJ with 30, Seth with 12, and Zach with 11. Blazers led by as much as 33 points in the 4th Q building on the 74 (season high) to 58 half time lead. This season high 132 point scoring is what we need to beat the Warriors.

    Meyers led scoring 4 of 5 (again!), CJ and Jake each scored 3 of 5, Dame scored 3 of 7, Seth scored 2 of 3, and Zach scored 1 of 2. Chief and Mo were each 0 of 2. This superb distributed swish3 scoring is the ideal strategy that can beat any team in the NBA! And this win shows that the Blazers do not need Anthony Davis, or other trade targets discussed, because the talent of this team is sufficient. We are now back on that 70% win trajectory from the early season (remember being 10 of 13!) which now projects to 53 wins. I am sticking with 54+ as the attainable goal.

    This was a win because of strong defensive play that demonstrates that Meyers can beat even Gobert who he and Zach held to 15 points, and his presence is stated as important by Mitchell in the quotes. Meyers was hot in this game, and could have continued power scoring with "Flame balls" and "Hammers" for additional scoring. But it was not needed in this blowout of the Jazz, and thus the last 7 min were for Caleb. Putting Meyers on the bench immediately after he scored his 4th swish3 though did remind me of previous games, some of which were losses that could be wins.

    As another key step on the way to a successful playoff season, this game should build confidence and does demonstrate that the Blazer leading TS%, eFG%, and ORtg is a talent to be recognized and used more actively. Basketball is a game of confidence, and each Blazer needs to experience the feel of success as accomplishments like this one are reached. Knowing this, I think that some of the contrary comments made in the Game Thread are mean-spirited and detrimental to the Blazers. It is time for 2 or 3 of you to look for wins instead of making cheap disrespectful comments.

    This win over the Utah Jazz is an event to celebrate! Let's keep this winning streak going!
     
    Last edited: Jan 31, 2019
  3. illmatic99

    illmatic99 formerly yuyuza1

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    Meyers' efficiency is just nuts. He's working on yet another 50-40-90 season.

    This month, he is shooting 63% FG, 58% from 3 and 100 from the line. His PER has climbed to almost 17.
     
  4. PtldPlatypus

    PtldPlatypus Let's go Baby Blazers! Staff Member Global Moderator Moderator

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    Meyers is third on the team in PER, WS/48, and BPM, and is fourth in VORP (behind Chief). He's been very good all season
     
  5. illmatic99

    illmatic99 formerly yuyuza1

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    It's gotten to the point for me where I don't think his contract is THAT bad. This is progress. I don't think we need to give up all that much value to dump it.
     
  6. swish3

    swish3 Well-Known Member

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    For the UTA Jazz game, Meyers has a FG% of 85.7, a swish3% of 80, an eFG% of 1.143, ORtg of 225, and DRtg of 109! These are elite numbers that are rarely achieved by anyone in the NBA. It is time for you to recognize that Meyers achievements this year are an integral part of what will be the Championship Blazers. With his NBA playoff record, consistently leading statistics this year, and notable development in defense, screening, passing, spacing, vocal team facilitation, and rebounding, Meyers is an asset that the Blazers must keep. His contract is well earned and in my opinion a Blazer strength, as he just proved that he can alternate with Nurk to achieve wins. He deserves respect, rather than "dump" thoughts.

    His FG3% is back up to 46.7%, and FG% is Blazer leading 54.5%, scoring 1.485 points/FGA. Has any Blazer posted an ORtg of 225 or better, or eFG% of 1.143, or better or more points/FGA in NBA history?
     
    Last edited: Feb 1, 2019
  7. swish3

    swish3 Well-Known Member

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    In the MIA Heat home loss Feb 5, the Blazers scored 15 of 39 (38.5%) vs the Heat 7 of 22 (31.8%) in a game in which the Heat out rebounded us 46 to 33 and had 30 assists to our 18. The Heat also won steals 11 to 6 and blocks 7 to 2, and 56 points in the paint vs our 42. This was a good game for Jake, who scored a career high 25 points with 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal in 33 min.

    CJ led scoring 7 of 14, Jake scored 2 of 5, Meyers scored 2 of 6, Dame scored 2 of 10, Chief scored 1 of 1, and Seth scored 1 of 2. Evan, who should be coached not to attempt swish3s due to low 3PA%, was 0 of 1. Nurk (8 points) and Dame (13 points) both had an off game, with missed shots, bad passes, and defensive letdowns. CJ had 33 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal in 40 min. For the Heat, Whiteside had 28 points, 11 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 blocks, and Wade had 22 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and a block.

    This game showed the effectiveness of swarming Dame, but was biased by allowing both Dame and Nurk to be fouled with no calls by the refs, especially in the 1st half of the game. If fouls were called consistently at both ends, Whiteside would have had at least 6 fouls, and Richardson and Johnson might have had 4 fouls each. Instead, fouls were called against Nurk, Dame, and others for lesser touches. The Heat scored 21 FT vs the Blazers 9, the difference giving more than the winning margin. The coaches need to work on removing anti-Blazer bias on our home court.

    After the UTA Jazz game last week in which we capitalized on Meyers superb 85.7% FG shooting and 80% swish3s and with the need for a boost to the scoring of Nurk and Dame, I would have expected to go to Meyers for more min and more shooting to win this game. Meyers, Jake, and Seth continue to lead Blazer scoring efficiency, even when Dame and Nurk are having average or below games. For the Spurs Thursday and the challenging next 4 games, let's run more plays for the best 3P% shooting Blazers, play better defense, use more passes, get the 130+ points and the wins!
     
    Last edited: Feb 6, 2019
  8. swish3

    swish3 Well-Known Member

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    SAS Spurs won the swish3 contest Feb 7 in the home Blazer win 127-118, with Blazers scoring 11 of 31 vs Spurs 12 of 21. CJ (30 pts), Dame (24 pts), and Nurk (20 pts) led the way, with help by Rod (14 pts), Jake (13 pts), and Chief (11 pts). This was the first game for Rod, who had an excellent debut, shooting 6 of 7 FG with 3 rebounds and a steal. The Blazers were out-rebounded 43 to 33, but were ahead in assists 26-19 and turnovers 8-18 as well as being 18 of 18 FT vs the Spurs 10 of 14. The Blazers came near the goal of 130 points total.

    CJ again led scoring 7 of 13, Rod scored 2 of 3, Meyers scored 1 of 1, and Jake scored 1 of 5. Dame was 0 of 7, and Mo and Zach were each 0 of 1. The Blazers played excellent defense in stretches, but had notable lapses in the 1st Q and 3rd Q that allowed hot shooting by Gay and DeRozan. Nurk was nagged by foul calls including an error T foul call, and had his hands full with LA. Meyers made both his swish3 and FG shots, and gave better defense against LA than Nurk, but was replaced by Zach after only 10 min, even though Zach had an off game (0 points and weak defense). Based on the excellent shooting (85.7%, 80%) by Meyers in the UTA Jazz win Jan 31, rebounds, screens, spacing, passing, chatter, and hustle, I would play him and aim for 3+ swish3s.

    Rod will be a nice addition to the bench replacing some of Evan and Mo min when he can be as efficient with scoring and active with defense to boost this Blazer team to the WCF and NBA Championship this year. Let's use this game to maximize scoring efficiency and improve defense relentless intensity to return to the 70% win trajectory!
     
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2019
  9. swish3

    swish3 Well-Known Member

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    Dallas Mavs won the swish3 scoring contest Feb 10 in the 102-101 loss in Texas with the Blazers scoring 9 of 29 vs the Mavs 12 of 38, giving the Mavs a 9 point advantage. Even though the Blazers dominated most of the game, leading by 15 and carrying a 14 point (92-78) lead into the 4th Q, we scored only 9 points in the 4th Q due to terrible shooting. The Blazers made only 8 of 14 FT (57%!) vs the Mavs 18 of 23. This was an unbelievably frustrating loss that should not have happened.

    Dame led scoring 6 of 11 (5 of them in the 3rd Q), Rod scored 2 of 5, and Jake scored 1 of 2. Chief and Evan were each 0 of 1, Mo and Seth were each 0 of 2, and CJ was 0 of 5. The attempt by Evan out of a time out was pathetic, as Evan's terrible 3P% should mean prohibition against swish3 attempts. If Meyers (who had made every FG he attempted in this and the SAS games) had been the shooter, the Blazers would likely have won this game.

    The refs in this game were decidedly biased, with calls against Nurk and Zach that were bad judgement and no-calls on the other end on Kleber, Hardaway, Brunson, and Burke that were much more severe and might have evened up the 10 point FT advantage given the Mavs.

    As the UTA Jazz game demonstrated, the Center substitution when Nurk fouled out should have been Meyers, who demonstrated excellent 85.7% FG and 80% 3PA shooting and 16 points in 25 min, with screens, assists, and good defense. There would have probably have been at least 17 points scored by the Blazers in the 4th Q if Meyers had been the Center, and we would have won. Let's see how much better the Blazers can be this season when coaches recognize the high % scoring men and play them! Onward to the Playoffs, and the NBA Championship!
     
    Last edited: Feb 11, 2019
  10. swish3

    swish3 Well-Known Member

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    The Blazers lost the swish3 contest Feb 11 at OKC scoring 11 of 29 vs OKC 16 of 35 in a game in which OKC took command early and kept it for the win 120-111. The Blazers could not stop Paul George who had 47 points and a triple double, along with a Westbrook triple double. The game was disappointing because of ineffective Blazer defense, poor shooting, turnovers, lack of focusing on high % shooters, and biased refereeing.

    Dame led scoring 3 of 8, Jake scored 2 of 3, Chief scored 2 of 4, Meyers and Rod each scored 1 of 1, Mo scored 1 of 3, and CJ scored 1 of 7. Seth and Evan were each 0 of 1. Selection of who is shooting swish3 attempts has got to change! Evan has now shown that he is selfish, not team oriented, wasting that shot that should have been taken by Meyers, Rod, or Jake, who were hot. And CJ should have stopped after missing 3 consecutive attempts. Blazers need to use the hot hand scorers to counter swish3 scoring by opponents to match or exceed their scoring, in this case 48 points for a 15 point advantage that was more than the winning margin.

    The Blazers also did not rely enough on passing, with only 18 (vs 23) assists, and allowed Dame and CJ combined to take 42 of the 87 FGA making only 14 (33%). In contrast, the Blazer bench scored 14 of 24 (58%) even with both Evan and Seth each scoring just 1 of 4. If 10 of the wasted shots had been taken by Meyers, Rod, and Jake the Blazers could have won! Let's plan on maximizing our scoring offense (shooting, passing, screening) and defense for the GSW game on Wednesday and aim for the win!
     
  11. swish3

    swish3 Well-Known Member

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    Thinking further about selecting who should shoot to win in the 4th Q, I see that 4-8 shots by the hot hands of Meyers, Rod, and Jake could have won the OKC game. With those 3 shooting 75% of FG (12 of 16) and possibly making 4 swish3s, the additional 12 points could have scored to secure the win! Reducing the number of FGA by CJ when he is having a cold game by 4-8 to allow high % scoring can make the difference in beating OKC, GSW, DEN, and others to allow the WCF win and NBA Championship that is possible if we will learn from this OKC game.
     
  12. THE HCP

    THE HCP NorthEastPortland'sFinest

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    This shit is getting so old. Do you talk to yourself a lot in real life son?
     
  13. TorturedBlazerFan

    TorturedBlazerFan Well-Known Member

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    I sure do, especially at work! I'm always talking to myself. I find the conversations stay more on topic that way.
     
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  14. swish3

    swish3 Well-Known Member

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    The Blazers are likely to need at least 15 swish3s scored to beat the Warriors, and therefore it is important to game plan for the highest swish3% Blazers to take at least 6 attempts each to get the win. Based on the remarkable performance of Meyers in the UTA game, making 4 of 5 and with 6 of 7 for FGA with an ORtg for that game of 226, I would run plays to get swish3 and dunk shots for Meyers and Jake and feature Rod to contribute bench points to get us to the 130+ points that we probably need to beat the Warriors. Dame and the starters need this support.

    In the UTA game, I observed that Meyers established himself as the alternate Center with Nurk who can provide the change from Nurk's at the basket threat to Meyers spaced floor swish3 scoring and open the paint for drives offense. The change in configurations can force the defense to change and thus off balance and behind to allow open shots for distributed scoring. Using this combination, distribution, 26+ assist passing, and 36+ swish3 attempts reserved for hot hands shooters, the Blazers can get this win. Let's beat the Warriors!
     
  15. kjironman1

    kjironman1 Well-Known Member

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    Blazers just picked up rebounding and paint scoring. Not much in the way of three point scoring.
     
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  16. swish3

    swish3 Well-Known Member

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    Right! Enes excels in offensive rebounding (leading the NBA!) and scoring near the rim. This makes the alternative offense with Meyers an effective strategy by forcing their defense to be off balance and behind, opening scoring from the arc, via drives through the paint, and dunks. This can be an exciting varied Blazers offense, including the swish3 component, that can do much better in the playoffs. Let's see how the Blazers coaches can optimize the use of the array of talent now on hand, and keep open the vision of the NBA Championship.
     
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  17. swish3

    swish3 Well-Known Member

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    The Blazers won scoring 16 of 37 (43%) over the NBA Champion Golden State Warriors who scored 13 of 38 in the home win Feb 13. Final score was 129 - 107, with a 35 point 4th Q in which the Warriors were held to 12 points (the least that GSW have scored in any quarter this season), and Steph Curry had 0. Eight Blazers scored in double figures in a well distributed game. Zach Collins was the momentum giving force in the 4th Q, winning a spat with Klay Thompson, getting Draymont Green raging, sparring with Kevin Durant, and getting Steve Kerr to commit 2 technical fouls that caused him to be ejected from the game. The 8 point possession was created from the 3 Ts made by Dame, flagrant foul of Zach (2 FT), and Jake's swish3. The Blazer bench scored 52 points vs GSW bench 23.

    Dame led scoring 6 of 8, Jake scored 3 of 5, CJ scored 3 of 8, Chief scored 2 of 4, and Mo and Rod each scored 1 of 3. Evan, Zach, and Simons were each 0 of 1, and Seth was 0 of 3. Scoring 15+ swish3s fulfilled the aim for winning, and the 130 point scoring goal was missed by just 1. Zach and Jake both had banner games!

    Blazer defense was intense and determined, especially in the 4th Q with the remarkable recovery, run the court, block by Zach that really touched off the 31-8 run that allowed us to pull away. Although the Warriors were resting 3 key players, they played hard to win this game, which was a highly satisfying Blazer win. Blazers had only 4 turnovers and logged 24 assists that matched the discipline of the active defense well performed among the 10 players of the starters and bench. This was fun! With this kind of play, the Blazers can win the NBA Championship!
     
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2019
  18. Strenuus

    Strenuus Global Moderator Staff Member Global Moderator

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    And Meyers played nary a minute.
     
  19. swish3

    swish3 Well-Known Member

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    Strenuus, as noted above in post #196 there are a number of reasons from Meyers achievements in the UTA game that he can add to the Blazer strengths that we saw in the GSW game today. And I expect that we will benefit from Meyers contributions in the rest of the season and the Playoffs. With intensity like we watched in this game, this can be the year of the NBA Championship!
     
  20. jlprk

    jlprk The ESPN mod is insane.

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    Swish, your boy might as well be granted a vacation for the next 3 months in a tropical paradise, for all the minutes he will get. But I hope you don't lose your motivation to keep posting your good analysis.
     
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