Game Thread 2023-24 Game #1 - BLAZERS @ CLIPPERS - OCTOBER 25, 2023 - WEDNESDAY - 7:30 PM PST - ROOT

It's you.

 

Oh man. Didn't realize I missed this. The NBA season is back!

 

Blazers already in front of the Warriors and the Lakers in the standings!!!!

 

the word 'key' is doing a lot of heavy lifting there.

 

They only do it so they have a chance of beating your pessimistic (or realistic) wins prediction.

 

No looking back! Also- with a win tonight, we tie the Suns and Nuggets! This is our year!

 

Excited for a game that actually means something. Really hoping that this new era shows us some grit and hustle, and that starts tonight! Chauncy is on the hot seat. If the culture that gets nurtured is a negative one, I'll be pretty disappointed. Zone defense sucks!

 

Chris Christie's muu muu wouldn't be big enough to hide the overall suckage.

 

Win or lose (and probably lose and lose big), I am SO F***ING EXCITED for tonight! Just watching a reset with some pieces with potential is so much better than scraping into the playoffs (maybe) and a first round exit.

 

My rough guess at tonight's rotation...9-man, Bari gets first crack.

Scoot 30 / Ant 18
Ant 17 / Brogdon 25 / Sharpe 6
Tisse 20 / Sharpe 23 / Grant 5
Grant 28 / Walker 15 / Rob 5
Ayton 30 / Rob 18

- Sharpe & Brogdon in as under 6 minute mark subs for Tisse and Ant
- Walker and Williams in under 4 minute mark subs for Grant and Ayton
- We've heard a little talk of Jerami at the 3. If we see it, I could see a switch heavy lineup thrown out there of any combo of the guards (ant/scoot/sharpe/brog) + Grant/Walker/Williams.
- I got 5 minutes of Rob + Ayton in there. I like that pairing the most with Ant+Sharpe so you have multiple guards that force the other team to fight over + have the big higher in pnr coverage. Allows Rob to play out of 4 on 3's and take better advantage of his passing. Like pairing Williams' passing with Sharpe's cutting as well.

 

excited for the new era. Hopefully the basketball gods will be on our side in the next years. Can't wait to watch Scoot and Shaedon and the new guys. Go Blazers

 

Looks good, but I think if Ant and Bro share the floor, Bro will be PG.

 

ya know honestly as a brand new blazers fan... for this game and idk lets say the first 25 or so..

I'm just hoping we stay in striking distance for the 4th quarters... I wanna see this team play with that skull crushing 4th quarter pressure.. The west is so tough its standard procedure u gotta be ruthless in the 4th.. I'm hoping we can get this young team those reps early and often.


Even De'Aaron Fox who was the clutch player of the year... I remember earlier in his career D'Angelo Russell scored 27 points in the 4th quarter n authored this completely incredible 4th q comeback vs the Kings, had Fox looking like a rookie out there... but fast forward to last season and Fox is brutalizing entire teams in the 4th(and EVERYONE knows hes going left n he still pulls it off).. So I want Scoota in those pressurized situations from day1--- cuz Chauncey and the Scoota team will help him digest n grow like that..


But I'm also just a big fan of many of the players ---- Absolutely cant wait to see Ayton and Robert Williams debut... should be a fun season.. Dr. Shae is always worth the price of admission.. Moses Brown is my favorite player on the whole roster, ill just say it once more.. I'm that dude hoping for garbage time so Brown can come in n dunk n grab all the offensive boards .. Blazers did a good job assembling the 3rd stringers if u ask me!

We just gotta tread water n play .500 ball early in the season, this team will only get better... so honestly the first bunch of games are important cuz anyteam in the west, the rug can get pulled out from underneath any of these teams cuz the west is so tough, so dont think the blazers are all that much worse off than the competition.. far as i see it, this is gonna be rough for all these teams (not the nuggets b

 

and heres to the death of smallball!



the blazers will often be an underdog but on a conceptual level were trying to overwhelm this smallball stuff...

Wilt Chamberlain famously said "Everybody pulls for david, nobody roots for goliath"


There's nothing all that sneaky (other than Simons) about this Blazers roster... We want control of the paint.. We want control of the perimeter.. This team is built to fight... We want control of those offensive boards

In a best-case scenario this roster develops into a Goliath.. not a Giant slayer..


No one can turn this fantasy to a reality faster than Deandre Ayton -- so good luck to the bigman from the Bahamas.. Hope he stays healthy.. We need him to be one of the leagues leading rebounders, it'll result in lots of wins n he'll fulfill that contract with ease.

Its so sick the 2nd n 3rd string C's are Robert Williams and Moses Brown.. I'm always gonna be watching the Centers on this team..

good luck out there blazers fans have a good season.. We gotta start hot to play .500, we're not sprinting these other teams down late in the season we gotta maintain a respectable pace throughout.. may luck be on our side.. Robert Williams specifically -- that dude is OVERDUE for a healthy season, my goodness has he's had that snake-bitten luck for years..

 

Lets go Blazers!!!! So stoked and excited!!!!
This will be a fun season!!!!

 

were missing ish. Fair trade?

 

same here, not expecting anything this year but hope to see a more exciting brand of basketball and an improving defense and watch the youngins develop!

 

Brandon boston is out for them too so they are legitimately thin on the wing.. but still with the clippers starpower n our inexperience im guessing the blazers are heavy underdogs in this one..