Game Thread 2022-23 Game #1 - BLAZERS @ KINGS - OCTOBER 19, 2022 - WEDNESDAY - 7:00 PM (PDT) ROOT

way too early to tell

He played 36 minutes and only had 2 assists compared to 22 shots. His assist rate was only 9.9% but his usage rate was 27%. Josh Hart had a 21.6% assist rate and a 15.8% usage rate

I think Ant may end up better than CJ as a facilitator because he seems to dribble less and attack more. But that's not certain at this stage

 

Quoting for this great tidbit. This kings roster looks good. They might have a decent season this year and could be discussed in the fight for the play in games.

This was a legitimate W

 

for Portland to have a shot at the playoffs they will need a best version of Dame; not some lesser diluted version that gets frozen out of possessions too often

 

that's your opinion.

I, otoh, and fine with trying something new to keep him fresher for and less predictable in the playoffs instead. And if we fail to win some regular season games and end up in the play in? Fine. I think it's a risk worth taking.

Also... "frozen out..." exaggerate much?

 

How many games can Dame go 1-8 from 3 before we start getting concerned?

 

Honestly, yeah.

You can call him a 32-year-old who hasn’t played a regular season game in 9+ months.

But he’s also an all-star and one of the best players in the NBA. So yeah, fully. His poor performance last year was chalked up to his abdominal injury which was supposed to be taken care of.

Maybe not with some average NBA player, but this is one of the best 3-pt shooters in the NBA. I expect better than 1-8 almost every night. That’s not far from 10% shooting.

 

Fixed this for you.

 

as compared to all the immutable facts others are posting?

sure, sometimes. Other times I'm very understated and sublime. And sometimes I drink

there is that

on the other hand, according to Chauncey's own words he wants this as a component of the scheme regardless of opposing defenses. It might be in part, a reaction to the way other teams have been so focused on Dame for years. But that focus has been at times pretty successful because the Blazers had nobody else who could consistently run the offense or consistently punish the defense for the dame-centric focus. I sure don't see any player like that on the roster yet

another factor Chauncey mentioned was to relieve the burden on Dame; to try and preserve his energy and stamina. That's a decent theory but then there is the factor that NBA defenses are pretty good at ball denial. If Dame is preserving energy by less facilitation but spending it all just trying to get to the ball there's no net gain...IMO

 

or you need other players to make significant jumps. Ant and Sharpe both have that potential. Other option is defense improves dramatically. I really really like our late defense and that was without GP.

 

3-13
1-6
3-14
5-17
3-15
1-10
1-9
1-13
2-10
1-8
1-7
1-6
0-9
2-10
2-10
1-7
1-10
2-9
5-20
1-11
1-8
2-11
3-12
2-14
3-13
1-11

those were Stephen Curry 3 point shooting games the last couple of seasons; and we know he's the greatest 3 point shooter of all time with a much higher assisted FG rate on his three's than Dame

 

He looked like he lost some of his speed hopefully it was just early season game. I’ve been saying for a while his weakness is his ball handling, I think Ant is better ball handler at this point in Dames career and based on last few possessions I think Billups thinks the same thing.

 

I don't think we need to bring horticulture into this.

 

Ill add. My early eye test sees Ant eclipsing CJ as a defender (not hard I know).

 

i saw that too. Legit.

 

10 games

 

when was the last time dame made a hit-ahead pass to a wing while up by 2 points and 22 seconds left on the clock?

you know he's normally gonna pound the ball to milk the clock and then jack up a step back, or simply wait to get fouled. Dame succeeds in that role aa lot, but still the pass to Hart was a sign of Dame improving for the better so that we can get easier scores.

(also... that said, if Hart woulda missed that layup, there woulda been hell to pay given the time and score as he coulda simply waited to get fouled. quite a bold attempt by him but shows his confidence.)

 

I like Hart's game so much more than Norm Powell's and I don't mean that as a slight to Norm, but I think a lot of teams have slept on Josh Hart, who is so versatile and also just comes off as a great teammate and someone who brings a good vibe with him.