I'm in the process of rewatching games 3 and 4. One thing that is very glaring is that Dame us not waiting for the pick to be set so it often doesn't have a chance to be effective. My guess is he's trying to avoid the double team but what's happening is that it's too easy for whomever is guarding Dame to get through the pick. Let the big set and dribble right by him so your shoulders are practically touching. A little bit of the issue might be that it's gotta be pretty painful for Kanter to set a proper pick right now.
We’d be 3-1 and without needing 4OT’s had Stotts not inexplicably cut ML from the rotation. Collins is nowhere near the one on one defender ML is, and gets pushed aside with ease. He also bails out on picks rather than stand firm. It’s like walking through a revolving door. ML visibly frustrated Jockitch in game one, something even Kanter hasn’t done. He’s also shown more playoff intensity than anyone else who’s played. Using him could be the key to tonight’s game.
I agree with you, Maris61. An important point is that Meyers, like Nurk, can get Dame open on the PNR or PNP, with better screens, cuts to the rim, swish3s, and rebounding than Zach or a fatigued and injured Enes. Meyers does better handle Jokic and Millsap, and will get rebounds without being pushed aside to stop the offensive dominance by DEN. We cannot let DEN have 10 more FGA than us in future games! We should have been 3-1, but now let's play Meyers and get to 3-2 in Game 5!
I said at the beginning of the series I'd start Meyers and bring both Enes and Zach off the bench...we need bench scoring and swish3 is right...Meyers is our biggest healthy option and is fresh...low miles. We'll see. Stotts said changes for tonight's game
Yes! Let's play Meyers early and use the game plan for active off-ball floor patterns that have Meyers, as well as Dame, CJ, Seth, and Rod getting assist passes on the arc, especially including the corners, to add the additional swish3 scores that will mean winning. We need to call on our Meyers to return Dame with solid screens, swish3 scoring, Nurk-style floor spacing, and energetic rebounds to the kind of offense that was quite successful with Nurk. This is how we win this for Nurk, PGA, and the team, to together become the 2019 Champion Blazers!
Meyer's doesn't have the quickness to keep up with many centers in the league, but Jokic is one of them. It does seem like a series where he could make an impact, if nothing other than using 6 fouls on Jokic and helping to tire him out.
Meyers is an effective Center against the most highly regarded in the NBA, as proved by the Jan 30 Jazz win where he scored 17 points, scoring 4 of 5 swish3s, and 6 of 7 FGA, setting excellent screens, getting Blazers open, making assists, and embarrassing Rudy Gobert with a dunk2. Meyers has the defensive skills to bother Jokic and is just what we need to win over DEN.
We lost to DEN in Round 2 Game 5 in a major coaching failure, and the 26 point 124-98 loss is embarassing! After more than 1 dozen of us posted the fact that Dame, CJ, Seth, and Rod need solid screens by Meyers early in the game to stay competitive, Blazer coaches did not play him until DEN had a 30 point lead and momentum to be red hot. If coaches had brought Meyers in when we were 12 points down, with Enes, Chief, Mo, and CJ all missing 1st half shots, we could have brought the scoring and defensive energy level up and stayed in it. This is just as Meyers could have won Game 4 for us if he had been in there when Enes was fatigued. Meyers was bothering Jokic and Millsap more than Enes or Zach did, and he rebounded and brought back solid screens. As I have often noted, Meyers scored 9 points on swish3s (leading Blazer swish3 scoring with 3 of 6) in 16 min. This is the first game this year when Meyers attempted 6 swish3s, and we got 9 swish3 points scored leading the team. He needed his first shots to get the lid off after not playing since Game 1, and may have been on the way to the 80% swish3 shooting that he has previously achieved if he continued. Let's find out in Games 6 and 7 by playing Meyers for 20+ min including min in the 1st and 3rd Q to establish the lead and get the wins!
Blazer coaches compounded the mistake of Game 4 by failing to play Meyers early enough for his swish3 scoring, screens, rebounds, boxing, defense, and getting into Jokic's head! If Blazer coaches had relied on our leading big to play when a fatigued, injured, fasting Enes who was not scoring and seemed overpowered should have been relieved, we could have won both Games 4 and if Meyers had been in by the mid 2nd Q even possibly Game 5. Meyers scored 3 swish3s in 16 min, which equaled the swish3 scoring of the entire Blazer team for the 1st half! Based on getting Blazer swish3 scoring up to 10 from 3, setting screens, improved rebounds, and noticeably bothering Jokic, Meyers showed why he should be in Game 6 early and with the min and mandate to score swish3s and hammer dunk2s that can beat DEN in Games 6 and 7. With Meyers on Jokic and Zach on Millsap, and with determined defense on Murray and Harris by Dame, CJ, and Rod, we can beat DEN and get to the WCF! Dame, CJ, Rod, and Seth will all benefit from the active floor pattern that includes Meyers solid screens, assists, and swish3 shooting. Let's score 15+ and win! Game 6 is on our home court, and we should concentrate on showing more energy than DEN to win it, and ramp up steadily for Game 7. Coaches, get with it!
Sure, but I'm also of the belief that maybe, just maybe, Denver is a really good team. They have won 3 games against us. In game 1 and Game 5, they were pretty unconscious with their play. Could the Blazers play better? Yes. But, in both of those games it was going to take an unbelievable effort and shotmaking ability to match them. They were outplayed by Denver both on offense and defense. Part of that is coaching and scheming, but to be fair, a lot of it is just amazing playmaking by Denver.
Denver is a fantastic team, but Portland, when it plays well, is very capable of blasting them. Like Enes said, it was their worst game in 6 weeks. Think about that. That's incredible. I remember those great early 90's Blazer teams getting blown out as well, in the later rounds, and following it up with a stellar effort. The Blazers may ,or may not, win tomorrow night, but I would be shocked if they don't bring their best effort. Go Blazers!!
Yes, it is true that DEN deserves credit for excellent shooting, energy, rebounding, and defense, and is a really good team that has beat us 3 times in the Playoffs. They have shown playmaking and coaching that won in Games 1, 4, and 5, but if Blazer coaches will try harder and better optimize use of the talent on the bench, we can win this series. We will not give up!
What a joke. You want talk about missed calls, the Blazers still haven't set a legal screen this entire series, every single one is a moving screen. Also, I saw that intense competition in Game 5 for sure.....o wait.
It is generally considered unwise to consume a tuna fish sandwich that has been sitting out in the hot sun for several days as the likely result of such an action would be a trip to the emergency room.
Their gameplan just makes sense. Pass the ball around to find open shooters (who are actually "SHOOTERS"), or let Jokic get those players open looks or let Jokic and Milsap work on our weak post defenders. Our gameplan: Pass the ball around so Harkless\Aminu\Turner can shoot (which is coincidentally, what the other team wants from us as well) , endless predictable handoffs and weak screens which get us nowhere because you can leave some of our players open and then you have isolation for a backcourt which get no respect from the refs. I would love to know how our team would've looked with a top 5 coach.
