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

I was actually livid and screaming at my TV. It's Unbelievable that it wasn't reviewed.

And yet, believable.

 

Challenging the Walker foul at that point in the game was dumb.

 

The Blazer offense seems to me to be really stupid with how they use Ayton. Ayton's a mobile center who can start a play being outside the 3-point line.
In Billups offense, Ayton is always in the lane. That's not Ayton's fault.

Watch a few plays of this video.
Possession 1: starts outside the 3-point line.
Possession 2: starts outside the 3-point line.
Possession 3: starts outside the 3-point line.
Possession 5: 3-point shot
possession 8?: starts outside the 3-point line.
Posssession 9: starts just inside the 3-point line.

With the Blazers, we see a nice lob to begin the game where Ayton runs from center court to the hoop.

And then, that's it. All done. The Blazers never use Ayton as a cutter running from the 3-point line as he was used in Phoenix.

 

Could be something to this? Not exactly sure why he isn’t more involved in the offense? He’s a good shooter and obviously scores on lobs pretty well.

 

Chauncey keeps saying we are a team that gets out and runs and when asked why Scoot has struggled he says, he needs to slow down. I"m still trying to sort that out

 

Blazers outscored Warriors 30-9 in fast break points during this game. Take that Nate !!! Portland was running circles around the road weary Warriors.

The real reason why Portland lost is because Blazer fans have too much expectation for this team. The media is hitting new lows and blaming fans for this losing skid.

 

cheater head cheating no good rotten cheating refs
BOOOOOOO !!!
We probably would have lost, even if by some miracle it went to OT.. still though ..... BOOOOOOOOOO !!!

 

All you're saying is the Blazers don't use him as a pick and roll man, which is not true.

His problem on the PnR is he doesn't set good screens. He doesn't roll hard. All these things are effort based issues that have plagued him his entire career. When he gets in the paint he's soft and loses the ball easily. When he catches in the short roll he's a slow decision maker that isn't comfortable doing anything besides shooting the midrange jumper. Teams also crowd the paint more against us because we are a poor shooting team (27th in the league on 3PT%) - so the window for pocket passes and lobs are much smaller, and even when he catches the ball he doesn't have as much space to operate as he did in Phoenix. On direct post ups, he's so weak he loses the ball just trying to back into people. He has no ability to create for himself and is purely a finisher, so his scoring is going to depend on the collection of playmakers he plays next to. I was hoping he'd be able to show a bit more playmaking himself, but he's got none of it. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

Could our guards be better at looking for him? Sure. Have our guards missed him at times? Sure. But he's going from Chris Paul, one of the best passers of the last generation - to this collection of guards who sometimes have trouble moving the ball around the perimeter, so you have to temper your expectations.

But none of this excuses his sloppy defensive rotations, effort that wanes in and out, and overall lack of focus and BBIQ during half these games. And I say that because he was actually giving a shit in the earlier part of the season - rebounding and playing hard even though our guards sucked at getting him the ball. Ultimately, we're stuck with him, so it's whatever, and he's about average for a starting center - so it could be worse. But he's also being paid a max contract, he fucking gave himself the nickname 'DominAyton'. So yeah, excuse some of us for expecting a little more out of this big baby.

I was sick of Nurkic too - but we basically just went from one inconsistent, pouty center to another.

 

I agree that they need to figure out how to make better use of him in the offense; I just think it's more import ant that they get him be an effective defender.

 

yeah, that's a really useful website for a lot of team rankings. Confirms suspicions and disprove bias

main portal:

https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/team-stats/

 

Trayce Jackson-Davis is Dale Davis’ son.

cray cray

 

He really doesn't look anything like him.

 

I'm not one to make a blanket statement that one era is way better than another, but I don't think Dale Davis could crack a rotation in todays NBA.

 

I bet he would. He’d play center. He was a solid center. He played good defense. He had a nice mid ranger. He was a role player. I bet he’d annoy the shit out of Embiid and Jokic.

 

No, that's not what I'm saying. This team isn't doing a good job of pick and rolls. They end up as turnovers more often than points.

I'm talking about engaging Ayton as a weak side cutter starting far from the hoop.

If Ayton blows by his man out by the 3-point line, it's usually over for the defense.

Also, Ayton's man will almost always play help defense as the ball moves toward the hoop. If Ayton's on the other side of the court, he's likely not even being defended.

If he cuts to the hoop undefended, no fancy pick and roll is necessary. His teammate simply throws him the ball as he runs toward the hoop.

The Blazers are doing a horrible job of taking advantage of Ayton's mobility and speed.

It would be very difficult for Ayton's rim-protecting defender to both protect the rim against an oncoming ball handler and Ayton cutting from out of his field of vision.

Other teams do this to Ayton by approaching him with the ball, then passing behind him to someone like Kessler, but the Blazers haven't done a great job of passing so close to the hoop so I think the better option is to have Ayton cutting in space.





Part 1 of 2



Part 2 of 2




Look at this situation (below) from yesterday's game. Does Saric even know where Ayton is?

Where Ayton is now, Grant has no easy way to get him the ball.

However, put Ayton where the X is, and now you have a possible cutter whose defender is concentrating on the ball handler.

The Blazers should be ready to make a killing whey they see this happening.

This is a great opportunity to use Ayton's mobility and the fact that his man is many times trying to defend the hoop as well as Ayton.

 

100% he'd be a center. While he could body up anyone in the league (including guys like Embiid & Jokic), he would make Enes Kanter look like a good PnR defender. That, combined with his lack of shooting range (far worse than Ayton) would make the upside for him very limited.

The game/rules have changed a lot in 20 years. He's not the only former Blazer starter who I think would struggle in the league today.