Game Thread 2022-23 PRESEASON - GAME #1 - BLAZERS @ CLIPPERS - OCTOBER 3, 2022 - MONDAY - 7:30 PM (PDT)

Although I would prefer Eubanks as our 3rd center, I do not consider him trash. Both he and Johnson were a +12. No one else was close. Yes I know that stat does not tell the whole story, but my point is although he doesn't do anything great, he doesn't really hurt the team when he is in there. I would say his BBIQ is pretty good, unlike a lot of backup centers.

 

I don't think Eubanks will suffice as the backup center. Boogie Cousins and Dwight Howard are unsigned as of now.

 

I only see 6 pages

 

HE sure thinks so.

 

I wish we could say the same for Nassir Little.

 

It depends on how many posts per page you select in your settings. I set mine to 40 posts per page and currently have 15 pages.

 

Plus i think they might not want to wear down the starters so early which means we won't see much of them tonight.

 

Has he?

 

It's great to have Blazers basketball back. I enjoyed the game. A huge thanks to my daughter for being tech savvy . I think missed shots had more to do with legs from camp, more than anything the Clitters were doing. I liked what i saw on defense. other than a couple of switches that were missed, the Blazers were engaged, and fixed to their man. The Clitters simply made their open 3's, the Blazers did not. Grant was fantastic on both ends. Dame's passing is spot on. Nurk was better, but still needs to improve his ball handling skills. Hart was Hart. Which is a very good thing. Walker was smooth in his minutes. Sharpe is getting there after a slow start where he looked like he was standing around and thinking, instead of playing, but got it going late. Nice block. Follow up dunk that didn't count was sweet. Biggest disappointment for me was Nas. He looked stiff in his minutes. Not fluid like last year. He just needs to let it rip. He's super skilled, use them please. The Blazers were rusty to start , but better as time went on. The 2nd qtr. was much better. Go Blazers!

 

The NBA didn't tell anyone but the Blazers game was available in Portland on league pass last night....seriously...even the Blazers broadcast crew was unaware they were not blacking the game out...they need to fix this shit because I would've signed up for league pass had I known the games weren't blacked out

 

10 alone were 3's. What is your definition of open. Are we talking open look? Distance from defender? It's been said Lillard is open if he has a clean look. Is that the same for Ant? It's been said Simons shoots as well as CJ? CJ was certainly open if he had a clean look?
Sorry but 18 is a long way from 6-7?
They didn't shoot the ball well at all. They can be better. Lets not even approach the idea that if they were not clean "Open" looks they should not have taken them.

 

I like the fact that he plays hard no matter what. He plays hard enough to get under the skin of opposing players. Every time he muscles in on a rebound players seem to get aggravated with him. Then the next thing is he dunks on people.

 

yes....Mike Richman let me know about it on his morning show....he watched the game from Portland on league pass last night while everyone was scrambling for streaming feeds....had they let it be known I'd have signed up for league pass before the game yesterday

 

All Blazers games are usually blocked out on LP if you live in the market and aren't redirecting you IP through a VPN.

 

Who else saw that play where JG was open for what seems like eternity, had both arms begging for the ball, Dame had the ball the whole time and ended up shooting and missing a contested three in traffic?

Signs of a team who never played together. Still looking for identity. You can't really replicate repetitions as effectively in practice so we're gunna have to get experience in real NBA games. The start of our schedule is against tough opponents. A 500 record on Christmas will be very good

 

I love that his hook shot is money...for an undersized 5 that's a real weapon...

 

If Nurk played with Eubanks intensity and motor with that hook and the way he dunks he would be an all star.

 

They now have some film to work with...there were lots of guys open last night and that's where chemistry needs to develop

 

Some takeaways to summarize:

Positives:
- If we're healthy, our depth will be our strongsuit. We might have 10 guys deserving of 20+ minutes which not many teams can speak for.
- Ant drawing fouls would be a welcome change.
- Ant's post defense was solid. The overall team defense was better than we've seen in a long time from this team. Even if we can get to average, we'll be better than projected.
- Dame has his burst back.
- I love when Hart gets the rebound and races down for a layup.
- Grant looks like that forward we have been seeking for almost a decade since Nico was traded.
- When the hell did Nurk end up with 13/9? I thought he had an off game and his contribution was still there.


Negatives:
- WTF was that switching defense?
- Our depth is consolidated at 2/3 forcing us to be undersized at 4/5, not ideal and needs some balance. How are we going to get Shaedon on the floor? Nas didn't get into a rhythm either.
- When did Trendon get hurt? I don't need any more Eubanks in my life.
- Let's run some offense next game instead of just going iso. Seriously, this is a waste of some of the talents on this roster if this is our 'scheme.'
- Grant's turnovers hopefully are a sign of growing pains.
- Ant/Dame need to both get some arc on their jumpers. We won't win on most nights if they shoot like this.