Game Thread GAME# 38: BLAZERS @ RAPTORS - JANUARY 7, 2020 - TUESDAY, 4:00 PM, NBCSNW

Momementum shift! Yeah!

 

37 minutes
14 points
16 rebounds
4 assists
7 blocks

Yet very little love for Whiteside

 

That was a nice win. Big plays from Lillard, Whiteside, and of course Melo at the end.

 

They played very hard. My only concern at this point if I’m Stotts. That Knicks game was a bad look. Needs to be a fluke game. If they compete and play hard Stotts is safe.

 

I can't get emotionally attached before he gets traded.

 

He doesn't make "winning plays"..he puts up tremendous stats, but it's Kevin Love in Minnesota...somebody has to get the rebounds and blocks cos they literally have nobody else who can.
For instance, tonight as the shot clock is winding down Whiteside has it in the post and as Stotts counts down to "One" he passes out to Simons for a too late three.
That's not "winning basketball"..
He puts up outstanding numbers, but that doesn't always tell the whole story.

 

He'll make a great backup for Nurk.

 

Or we tend to focus on a few bone head plays he makes and don't appreciate all the goods ones he does make every game. Cause he kind of makes it look easy with the scoring and blocks. I get that he looks lazy, but I don' t think he. He has to play big minutes so yeah he probably takes some plays off. There is no other center on the team right now.

 

I kind of had a thought so I checked:

20-9; 35-3; 29-7; 36-6; 31-13; 27-5; 31-6; 24-10; 28-6; 27-5

those are Lillard's points & assists in the last 10 Blazer wins; and he shot fairly well in all those games too. Didn't feel like going further

My thought is that the Blazers will lose if Lillard has a bad game; and they can certainly lose if Lillard has a good to great game. But they just don't seem to win unless Llillard has a good to great game while also carrying them for a critical stretch like he did tonight. Now, I suppose that's not too far from normal for a team with just one elite player. But unless other Blazer players can start to consistently carry more of the load, I don't see this season pivoting off of the current trajectory

Some people are harping on Whiteside for hollow stats. Well, until the team starts showing they can win when Dame has an average game, or a bad one, it may be that Dame is the only Blazer who doesn't have hollow stats

 

Key moment in the comeback!

 

I'm sorry, but I don't think you're telling the "whole story" either

for one thing, the example you gave, it's not like he got the pass with the shot clock at 13 and pissed away a bunch of seconds. He got the ball with about 4 seconds left of the clock, with his back to the basket outside the paint. He was stationary when he caught it and he got pressured by 2 defenders. We know he doen't move quickly with the ball or make fast decisions. His teammates know that too, so in my view the blame for that goes to the player who tossed him the ball because that player had a much better view of the shot clock than Whiteside. There's a good reason why a shot clock violation is a team turnover. It also happens multiple times a game

another thing, what is a "winning play"?? A rebound can be a winning play and Whiteside had 16 of them. A blocked shot can be a winning play and Whiteside had 7 of them. In fact, Whiteside had 2 blocks in the final 1:19 when Portland went from 4 down to 2 up at the horn. Those were definitely winning plays. Whiteside is a scapegoat this year because he's not as good as the legend of Nurkic. Nurkic isn't as good as his legend either

 

Props to CJ on the last play for getting the ball in a tough corner spot and to not turn it over or drive baseline (which Toronto was trying to bait him into doing right into Ibaka). Then to pass the ball up when he didn't have a look was nice to see.

It didn't work out for Toronto but the play was for Dame to just get the ball and go ISO. Toronto took him completely out of the play and made someone else beat them. This is an example of a good time to have 3 players who can create something out of nothing since there was no secondary option other than Dame to do something.

 

I wonder if Shaq still thinks all he does is steal money from the team. Probably.

 

What are you talking about...?

Portland moves the ball better than normal, Toronto is more stagnant than normal, and look at the outcome.

 

Yeah man, that would be dope. Imagine players that just want to win this Rings instead of money. Whiteside stays here with team friendly contract to be backup nightmare for other teams. This is even pure logic as well. Just stay together for some time with players fairly share money (bc it's millions of dollars anyway) and just take one Ring after another laughing in LeBron's face.

Well, since Lillard took half of the cup, I don't belive this Winning Rings fairytells anymore. It would be nice tho.

edit. And BTW I can see that team happen in future NBA since "future is European" and Euro players got diffrent view on gazilions of dollars.

 

We lost by -2.

 

Well it wasn't 20-20-5-5 so i guess that makes sense right?

 

Pretty much exactly what i was thinking. Three players on the court other than Dame and make the other team defend them all. I would have been good with that pass going to 1M also. I also liked the shot going up with enough time to give Whiteside a chance at a rebound if it would have missed.

 

I love that guy! I would even love to hang out with him; even though I don't smoke pot!