Including last night's (31 Jan) game against the Bucks: Observations? Jerami's plus/minus and Jabari's have gone in opposite directions, even though starting Jabari seems to have helped our rebounding. Jerami's shooting a lot of FTs - is this because he's posting up more? Scoot's shooting is up over 40%! Camara's numbers are dropping after the early season surprise.
Ayton is the Blazers best interior defender, and ally-oop threat. Getting the big guy back helps. Pick and rolls can now go above the rim. Starting Jabari at PF fills the defensive rebounding gap. Opponents were killing the Blazers on the O-boards. Scoot's getting more comfortable with his game. The rookie is bringing it. Anfernee has been dynamite. Opponents pick on him defensively, but he's shrugging it off, getting a few stops, and pouring in buckets late in games. Brogdon is straight up winning games. That veteran saavy has him making key plays in key moments. Dimes, boards, strips, big hits. You name it, Malcom is getting it done. Grant is shooting well, he's been a beast in ISO. Moving him to SF gives the Blazers legit height on both sides of the ball. Matisse and Toumani bring that hyper-active defensive energy off the bench. The opposing 2nd units can't do a gosh darn thing. This better Blazer ball is what i was expecting, even though the team narrative is "keep expectations low". It's fun scrappy Blazer ball, and it's a refreshing & exciting turn of events, compared to getting embarrasingly pummeled. All the draft this guy, draft that guy stuff isn't until summer. And we won't get to see the new recruits play until October. I just want to watch the Blazers play with spirit, and we're finally seeing some personalities shine through from success.
oh.. I forgot about Duop ... get him a contract Cronin. Teams are getting jealous that our backup Center is popping triples and doing damage.
I think Grant and Simons are about the same level as players. Simons is a better passer than Grant is a rebounder; but generically I think a 6'8 forward has more value, and maybe more impact, than a 6'3 guard. And I'm not sure that Brogdon is significantly behind either Grant or Simons. He's certainly more versatile it doesn't matter who the 5th starter is, but the starting foursome of Brogdon-Ant-Grant-Ayton is good enough to win some games (especially when they average 37 minutes each like last night). Not enough to get into the play-in, but certainly enough to monkey-wrench Portland's lottery chances. mainly, the last 10 games (5-5) have really advanced the question of WTF is it Portland is trying to do
Now lets just get SS back into the mix and maybe with his continued blossoming we are better than a Play in? Obviously not this year with the losses already stacked up, but this team is YOUNG and has a ton of growth potential to become much better than a play in team with a few right tweaks over the next year or two. @wizenheimer I think the idea of what we are doing is based on development and growth of our existing players being more important than creating a losing mentality for another draft pick in a weak draft that we don't know where we would land even if we are bottom 5 in the league?
Most important development, I think, is that Scoot is putting up rotation-level numbers/performances, which means it's time for his minutes to start gradually increasing. Also, we know that the trade deadline is just a week away. I'm going to continue with the hopes that Grant and Brogdon are soon given opportunities to join playoff teams, which will likely quell any concerns about our draft position.
okay with trading Brogdon because of our depth at guard position, but Grant has really shown he can play the three and changes our whole size/length complexion. I'm hesitant to trade him without an outstanding return... more than a buncha future picks. Grant/Jabari/Ayton, seem to be a well rounded trio providing most things we have wanted for a while. If Jabari takes another leap next year like he did this year... I think that's a very solid trio of bigs.
I have never bought into the idea of "losing = losing mentality"....I just don't think that's a thing in the NBA, and if any player is so mentally weak that a losing season would alter their mindset for the next 5 years, a team shouldn't value them anyway. Besides that this isn't about some sports psychology theory, IMO. What I'm questioning is not the difference between 52 wins with HCA vs 22 wins and the 3rd worst record. It might only be a 5-6 win difference and if any player shuts down mentally at 25 wins when they wouldn't at 30-31 wins they aren't worth considering. What is worth considering is that the 5th seed in the lottery has a 42% chance of a top-4 pick and a 10th seed has a 14% chance along with a 20% chance of slipping to 11th. And 5-6 wins could make that difference. Also, while there are questions about the draft, there is a lot of length projected in the top end of the lottery, and that's something Portland needs Brogdon is 31 years old; Grant will turn 30 in about a month. Last night, Grant played 38 minutes and Brogdon 36. That's 74 minutes invested in players that are fully developed and fully grown. Brogdon played 36 minutes, Ant played over 38; Scoot played 22, and IIRC didn't play in the last 9 minutes of a close game which are opportune developmental miniutes. I get trying to win a game; last night was good entertainment. But 4 months ago Portland traded away their franchise player and justified it by saying it was the best option for Portland over the next 5-7 years. Last night was all about 'the-now' and if the-now motivates the rest of the season it could come at the cost of the supposed future Portland chose at the end of September. Note that I'm not saying 'will cost' just that it could cost. That's why I question what is going on. maybe there will be a good answer to the question by the trade deadline. Or maybe that question will be even bigger
Motivation is motivation . when you know the company you are working for is actively trying to fail, I don't see how that ISN'T a motivation killer. Maybe the organization sees more future promise and wants to get that winning mentality/culture on track. I think you are in the minority here. Sorry. And if losing mentality isn't a factor, there are several teams to look at that likely says otherwise. Sacramento and Detroit come to mind for one/two. Players can learn from the bench watching guys do the right thing to win as well. sometimes it actually helps them more than making mistakes at the end of the game without knowing they are even making mistakes. I'd say Ant sitting on the bench and watching Dame and having Dame come back and explain what he was doing played a much larger part in his development than if Dame were not on the team and Ant was playing 35 minutes a game his rookie year. I see the same in the Brodgon/Scoot situation happening(hopefully).
I am not convinced that is true. They traded Dame because Dame asked to be traded. They didn't need to justify anything. I think they drafted Scoot because in their mind (right or wrong) he was the best player available. I think they were fully prepared to trade Ant to get Dame help since they would still have pretty good guard rotation. (Dame, Sharpe, Scoot, and to some extent Thybulle.) But other teams wanted too much in addition to Ant. I think Joe was going to continue to look for trade options when Dame got pissed after the draft. Not blaming Dame because he had heard the promises before....and it was getting old. But in no way do I think that they drafted Scoot with the intent of trading Dame last summer.
100% agree with this. That's why I don't think anyone, Joe or Dame is really a bad guy in this situation. However, Riley for the heats took full advantage of the situation and likely hurt our return because of how they played Dames request out.
Dame wanted to "go for it." With the Blazers, the best way to "go for it" actually was to keep Dame and be patient with trying to draft some difference-makers. Imagine a backcourt of Dame and Shaedon Sharpe. We don't have to imagine. It happened just before the tank of 2023. Look at the ball and player movement. Dame didn't want to be a part of that. It was my way or the highway, and when My Way didn't happen he asked for the Highway to Miami. This could have been the 2024 Blazers with rookie additions.
yeah...my statement needed a little more nuance obviously Dame asked to be traded. I do believe that in some substantial ways Cronin engineered that request and probably did so because he felt that was the best path forward for the franchise; and it may have been. That's really impossible to say without knowing what was actually offered for the 3rd pick....and I don't believe we really know
At the end of September, Joe C said we were trying to win and many posters here thought we’d be a play-in team.
