A legit .500 on the road. Without Anfernee Simons, who's shooting I think would really help Chauncey's ratball half-court offense.
For me, wins are a THRILLING bonus. I'm looking for improvement and skills from the individual players, the coach, and the net offense and defense of the whole team. Sharpe - the end of last season wasn't a fluke. He didn't try at all during the summer league, but he has put my worries to rest. Doin' it in multiple ways. Still, the highlights for the Griz looked a lot like a series of Sharpe's defense. Coach mentioned this in post game. Ant - When they key on him, he struggles a bit. When they don't, he's been elite. Our offense has sucked, can he carry us on that end? Is there room for a questionable defender on this team? Does he have value around the league? Scoot - Mistake-laden play until game 4 when he showed some definite improvement, which bled into game 5. Can he continue this trend? Turnovers are a big question. Grant - The thrill isn't gone, but the efficiency seems to have. Can he become more efficient this season? Timelord, Brogdan - Great additions to the team. Glad the GM didn't trade Brogdan. Hopefully, Scoot improves enough so that the GM can trade Brogdan at the deadline IF he gets crazy high value. Otherwise, I'm happy to keep him indefinitely. Ayton - Already found his niche - rebounding. Huge addition to the team. Defense without rebounding doesn't work, at all. His offense will likely improve the longer the guards play together, though already a ray of light with Scoot-Ayton alley-oops. It's so fucking good to see a Blazer team that defends and rebounds. Haven't seen it in years. It's not just rebounding coming from Ayton, there's also... TooMany Buckets - A revelation. Guards their best wing, game in and game out. Solid rotation player, moving ahead of Thybulle and Walker. Rebounds well. Finishing games. Walker - has shown he's a solid NBA player. Happy to have him as a 9th man. Improving every year. Coach - Calls a spade a spade. Benched Scoot and Sharpe at the end of a half, and challenged them to play better defense. Instead of yelling, he just said things like "maybe the moment's too big for you" and "you say you want to be great" and "there's two sides of the ball." Constant support without coddling is great. He also played the 52nd pick in the last draft ahead of Murray and Walker and Thybulle (2MB finishing games ahead of Thy). Team is also playing very hard, which I consider a reflection of the coach's influence. ----- Mayes - Has earned the coach's trust. Reasonable 2nd stringer, Amazing 3rd stringer. Still young and can get better. Rupes, Murray - Lots of potential, but right now Rupes can't shoot or dribble, and Murray is a 3-point shooter who can't hit the 3, and is way too passive. Have to take the long view on these players. "3 lotto picks" phrase means Joe can be hyperbolic. Team Offense - Bad, but will likely improve organically over the course of the season. Team Defense - I, and other fans, used to relish in looking at the "HustleBoard" during games. It's fun again!
After 6 games, the 2nd youngest (I think) team in the NBA has a top 10 defense. That's coach of the year type shit. Also, keeping my eye on... Sharpe as Most Improved, Camara all Rookie team.
Trail Blazers’ Duop Reath completes 5-year journey to NBA: ‘He just never gave up’ https://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/...ear-journey-to-nba-he-just-never-gave-up.html By Aaron Fentress | The Oregonian/OregonLive Portland Trail Blazers center Duop Reath sat on a chair in the team’s locker room surrounded by reporters. The 6-foot-9 Reath had just scored 11 points in his first NBA game, a 116-110 loss Sunday night at the Los Angeles Lakers. While every NBA rookie experiences a first game, few do so five years after leaving college and bouncing around in leagues overseas. Along the way, Reath kept working and struggling, improving and hoping. Then on Sunday, Reath found himself in an iconic arena sinking three three-pointers, grabbing three rebounds and handing out three assists. In between, Reath mixed it up in the paint with Lakers All-Star Anthony Davis. “It’s been amazing through the ups and the downs,” Reath said of his ride. “To be here today is just a big blessing.” Reath said his path didn’t produce frustration. Only determination. “Everything is a part of the journey,” Reath said While Reath answered questions, Blazers forward Matisse Thybulle ventured over, fresh out of the shower. Thybulle held up his phone and took photos of Reath and became a little emotional. The two became friends while teammates on the Australian national team during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Thybulle followed Reath’s journey, so the evening brought a smile to his face. “He went from China to playing in countries in Europe to knocking down threes in the NBA,” Thybulle said. “He just never gave up on the journey.” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups played Reath for 14 minutes while taking advantage of his shooting abilities. Reath, who had three rebounds and three assists, scored his first nine points off of three made three-point attempts. He ended the night 4 of 10 from the field and 3 of 8 on threes. “I thought Duop played a good game,” Billups said. “He’s a pick-and-pop 5. We will use him that way. Most of the time I drew up plays for him in the timeouts to get the pops because I knew they were kind of playing a drop and we did a good job of finding him. Billups also praised Reath’s work ethic on defense which led to a blocked shot. “He fought like crazy,” Billups said. Reath was born in South Sudan. His family later moved to Australia where he played both soccer and basketball before ultimately choosing to specialize in the latter. He played two productive seasons at LSU (2016-2018) but went undrafted in 2018. Reath went on to play in the Serbian League, the National Basketball League and the Chinese Basketball Association. He also played NBA Summer League with Brooklyn (2019) and Phoenix (2022). Last summer, Reath joined Portland’s 2023 summer league team and in October signed a one-year deal before training camp. After being released on Oct. 21, Reath signed a two-way deal days later. Injuries to several Blazers created an opportunity for Reath to play Sunday But first, Reath got his feet wet Friday night during the Rip City Remix’s first G League game at the South Bay Lakers by scoring 37 points on 15-of-20 shooting with 10 rebounds. He made 5 of 6 threes. “Obviously, playing that well a couple of nights ago, that’s helpful,” Billups said. “Everybody here has so much confidence in him … None of us were surprised about how he played in that Remix game. I’ve just been waiting to kind of have him up here with us.” Reath’s mindset now is to simply keep learning and growing as a player. “Just try to keep getting better and keep building,” he said. “When our guys come back and get healthy again, just got to keep moving forward. … Just try to compete. Try to find a way to help the team win. Today, my teammates got me the ball when I was open. The credit goes to them.” One teammate in particular felt the impact of the moment more than the rest. “A lot of times NBA fans aren’t going to see what it took for a guy to get here,” Thybulle said. “Knowing his story, of what it took and seeing how every step of the way he’s been able to step up and be the player that he is. It sounds like a simple thing, but it really isn’t. Especially as you get higher and higher in these leagues playing against the best players in the world. So, tonight, just to see it kind of come to fruition. First NBA game. Go out there and hit a couple of threes. Play some amazing defense. It almost made me emotional watching it.” Before the game, Thybulle had no words to offer someone who he knew simply had to go out and complete the mission. “I told him, ‘I have nothing for you,’” Thybulle said. “I got no words of encouragement. I’m just happy that you’re here. And he said, ‘I’m happy to be here too.”
Two games will be added to the Blazer schedule. One home game and one road game in the first week of December.
Oh. I thought we were going to have 9 days off. Still 2 games in 9 days should give plenty of time to work on some things. Maybe Simons can begin practicing with the team at least.
