Game Thread 2023-24 Game #25 - BLAZERS VS WARRIORS - DECEMBER 17, 2023 - SUNDAY - 6:00 PM PST - ROOT

I think this is the most likely scenario... which is why I'm totally unbothered with how much money he's making now.

 

Same. The money has to go somewhere, and he at least hasn’t been a malcontent. That’s when I would panic. Best thing to do is just hold onto him unless we can get something for him, and draft a guy this year who can beat him out in the rotation asap.

DA might not be the answer, but neither is Reath.

 

Where am I even discussing that topic?

Chris: Brogdon Sucks

Me: He doesn't suck. The Blazers are asking him to play out of position (and he's not even putting up bad numbers anyway)

You: brings up me being frustrated with ball stopping iso ball.

 

Talking about stuff I'm not really talking about now.

 

That’s false. Shaedon and Ant played great together at GSW, vs Dallas, at LAC. They competed and had chances to win those games. They both struggled vs Utah playing the box and 1. It wasn’t until the last game vs Dallas when Grant returned that Shaedon has disappeared.

 

Me bringing up you being frustrated with Brogdon not being put at PG and with how he plays when he is put at PG. You don't see how that's slightly confusing?

 

A good way to check your bias is to ask yourself, if it was Dame that did this, would you still be upset? Dame has done this hundreds of times, and often the same way: dominating the ball and controlling every possession.

People have already have a preconception in their mind that he’s just an isolation scorer, not a high level playmaker, and before this season, I would have agreed with that.

By all statistical metrics, he is already better than Dame was at this age, but obviously lack of team success hurts him. Put this Ant next to LaMarcus Aldridge, Nic Batum and Wes Matthews and that last point probably goes out the door.

 

I'm not frustrated with him being played at all. I don't think he should be on the team.

Can you please have the same conversation that we're having?

Chris said he sucks. I'm saying he doesn't. End of conversation.

 

I didn't enjoy Dame freezing out the offense either, and while at times he could solo carry this team, I think he also held us back in a lot of ways. But Dame was a significantly better point guard in terms of moving the ball around. Simons plays more like CJ when he tunnels.

 

Pretty confident if Ant was available for picks he would have been gone in the offseason. After what he’s shown this season, I think he’s off the table for anything other than a massive overpay. FO already valued him more than other teams before this.

 

he averaged 18/10 with CP3 feeding him the ball in lots of perfect scoring positions. Portland doesn't have a CP3; or even a Devin Booker. Ayton was assisted on nearly 80% of his FG's last year. His 18 points were system points and Phoenix has a much better system than Portland. Ayton averaged 3.5 FTA/36 in Phoenix. He's averaging 1.4 in Portland. That's him simply not getting the ball with the advantageous floor positions he had in Phoenix

 

I get how you could come to that conclusion based on his past seasons, but the stats just don't bear that out so far. It's a pretty small sample size, but the plays he's making this year would just not have happened in the past.

Also you can't compare Ant's decision making to Dame's now. You need to compare how they were as players at the same age. Dame was absolutely making the same kinds of mistakes Ant does @ age 24. He was protected from criticism because he was/is the golden child. That designation seems to have passed on to Shaedon.



Personally, I'll take an age 24 player putting up these averages and seeing double teams on every possession. I don't get the fuss about trading him. He'll still be squarely in his prime well into Shaedon (and Scoot's) second contract.

 

And he’s already getting the Dame treatment from opposing defenses before Dame even got the Dame treatment.

 

If Schmitz wanted him, he had 2 shots to draft him.
There was a report shortly after the trade that said Blazers saw Toumani at either Portsmith or the combine, & they weren't impressed at that time.

 

Ayton is a low IQ player

 

People don't understand that Phoenix HAD to add another player for salary matching purposes. And the only players they could throw in were either Toumani or one of the minimum veterans they just signed. Kudos to Joe/Schmitz for playing hard ball (if they even had to) in order to get Toumani (who has at least some semblance of upside) and not Keita Bates-Diop or some shit, but my guess is it probably wasn't a stickler for either side.

 

I don't know if it was part of the game plan or not, but Ayton switching every time absolutely killed the defense.

He did adequate on the initial switch, but soon as the ball handler passed the ball - Ayton was slow to recover to the paint.

There were at least 2-3 possessions that broke down where the players didn't know where to be. I think a lot of that stemmed from Ayton

 

Wasn't it Brogdon/Grant that was initiating the offense when GSW rebuilt their lead to 11?

 

If a Blazer plays good, we're immediately told to give credit to management and coaching staff. I miss the good ol' days when we could skip that stuff , and simply complement the Blazer who had the good game.

 

He had a bad first half and a great 2nd half. Cry more.