Game Thread GAME# 55: BLAZERS @ PELICANS - FEBRUARY 11, 2020 - TUESDAY, 5:00 PM, NBCSNW

Thank you! I do seminars!

 

Can you imagine if Olshey got a call from another GM saying they wanted Nurk, Collins, and Hood for their 12th man, a D-league player, and a player who is about to be out of the league and their selling point is "it won't make you that much worse because you have other guys who can start that are similar to the guys you're giving up."

I don't think anyone here would ok with that trade because the talent difference would be so great. However, that's basically the trade we've been dealing with every game this season.

 

certainly there's a drop off...I agree

but without those injuries, IMO, Portland wouldn't have Whiteside and Melo. They might have Meyers and Harkless, but those guys are just role players. Better than the scrubs Portland is forced to play, but not enough better to change the team's trajectory. Portland had Skal and was still losing a lot of games. If Hood was healthy, the Blazers may still have Bazemore although I'd like to think Olshey would have still traded for Ariza

I overreacted a bit earlier in the thread, but I just watched Portland get their asses kicked on both ends of the floor, and no matter who the Blazers had tonight the result would have been the same. The '3 of 5' missing starters comment just triggered me shortly after watch the Blazers play like shit...and by the way, on the same day we've been having lots of discussion here about how poorly the Blazers react when an opponent plays suffocating defense on Dame. Tonight was a flashback to the playoffs 21 months ago....yuck

 

I feel you on the flashback; that's not a fun thing to remember.

I think your point that the 3 of 5 starters comment (which I've made before as well) is over simplistic.

I also agree with you that we may not have made the moves we made if everyone were healthy. However, to some degree, that validates how important depth can be.

 

I mentioned it earlier but I'll say it again: I think the biggest impact of the injuries is the ripple effects they cause in the rotation. Collins goes down and Tolliver becomes the starting PF and Skal moves up to #1 backup C. Hood goes down and Bazemore has to move to SF while Simons plays more SG. And for some reason Stotts is convinced Hezonja is at the top of his 2nd string toolbox

the one silver lining is if Hood doesn't get injured we likely wouldn't have seen how good Trent has become. And the other imjuries have give us glances of Little's potential

 

End of first quarter is when Nurk and Zach would be sitting anyway, so no difference at all there. Were they not injured, our bench would not have most of the current players it has. We would not have Melo, Ariza, Swanigan, Gabriel...

Bottom line is we ended last year with a contender while Nurkic was injured, and Olshey managed to disassemble nearly every working part of that finely tuned machine over the summer, and has been swapping backup players ad nauseam hoping to stumble across something that will rectify his glaring mistake and save his job. we are only better at one position this year over last year, and that is at PG, where Dame has elevated to superstar and Simons provides a better backup than he's ever had here. Our bench is different, but no better than last year's. Certainly not as in sync as last year's.

 

Absolutely not. Most of the time he is a viable piece to the team. Tonight, not so much.

 

You realize we could only keep 1 of Curry, Hood, and Kanter right? And we lost the one to injury that we kept? You act like we don't have any of those guys by choice...

 

Like OKC last year amirite

 

It's got nothing to do with "High impact". It's called "Depth". You take Nurk and follow with Whiteside = Depth. Collins and Follow with Melo = Depth. Hood and Follow with Ariza = Depth. Cj and follow with Trent = Depth. Lillard and Follow with someone other than 1M and you have Depth. Get players like Swanigan, Gabriel, Mario, Moses, Hoard off the freaking court. If you can't see that "injuries" are having an effect then i don't know what to tell you?

 

They are not. Even Alvin Gentry is on his 5th year. And that is after losing with quite possibly one of the best generational talents on his roster the entire time and then letting the team lose him just when they pick up the next once in a lifetime talent. Can you imagine them having Davis and Zion and Holiday? That would be fun to watch though for sure. gentry would find a way to mess it up I'm sure.

 

Collins hasn't proved anything in his career so he'd have no impact...

 

In my opinion in Zachs case of the 3 “starters”, he’s the one where I really dont know what his impact would be. It said a lot that they didnt really have a viable back up.

 

Quite right. But Dame owned Russell. Holiday....not so much.

 

I think Trent's outbreak makes some of the injuries feel worse to me. If Nurk isn't hurt I don't think they go get Whiteside (they either keep Harkless around or use those expiring for a better wing than Bazemore (though Bazemore as an 8-9th man might be ok). I totally agree with you that on nights when effort and not getting back on defense hearing oh the injuries. The depth they built in the offseason was terrible though, they literally had Anthony Tolliver playing Center at times. What's odd about this season is more than anything I think this proves what you've said about CJ, he isn't a star or close to it. If he was finding fillin role players would be much easier. Instead, it's Dame and Whiteside against whoever they play and CJ has looked like just another role player most of the year.

edit: I think where injuries and lack of depth will eventually hurt them is Dame, even if they make the playoffs they're so dependent on Dame he's going to be on fumes, at times I think he is already.

 

Completely agree.

 

Does Hassan know?

“He is a phenomenal shot blocker...even if he gets dunked on, he keeps going, keeps jumping...it wears on guys.” He said that Collins is the best shot blocker he has played alongside, so he is looking forward to how the paint looks like with the two of them on defense.

 

I was really looking forward to seeing those two on defense too. If you go back before the season the thing I was most excited for was those two defensively. The answer is none of us know and Hassan may or may not know, he had ankle issues in training camp and only played a couple games together, before Zach went down.

 

The Blazers have an obvious weakness... it using $30+ mil of the salary cap on CJ. It is such an easy fix. The problem is the guy in charge doesn’t want to admit he is wrong and will never entertain trading CJ. Trent is the 2 way SG we have been looking for. Trade CJ for a SF like Oubre and this team is set. I don’t think we can rely on Melo and Ariza next season... their age really shows at moments.