The Blazers and Nets both scored only 7 swish3s Feb 21 in the 113-99 win in NY, with 7 of 32 (21.9% which is terrible) shooting vs the Nets 7 of 36 (19.4%) shooting. This was a great game for Nurk (27 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks) and his alternate Enes Kanter (18 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks) playing 19 min in his Blazer debut. The Centers were sufficient in scoring (Nurk was 10 of 15 and Enes was 8 of 9 FG) to compensate for the poor shooting by Dame, Rod, Evan, and Seth to stave off the recovery run by the Nets in the 4th Q. Chief led scoring 3 of 4, Dame scored 2 of 9, Mo scored 1 of 5, and CJ scored 1 of 6. Rod was 0 of 3, Seth was 0 of 2, and Nurk, Jake, and Enes were each 0 of 1. The Blazers lacked swish3 shooting talent in this game (except for Chief), had only 19 assists (vs Nets 26), 13 turnovers (vs Nets 12), scored 6 fewer FT, had only 28 (vs Nets 48) points from the bench, and were outscored 10-0 in fast break points, but did out rebound the Nets 60-49. The Blazers need to call on the swish3 talent to get back to 15+ swish3 scoring to be in position to win the upcoming games. This was a needed win and a nice example of the power of contributions at the Center position that can win games with good inside play. The power of the swish3 scoring showed in the 4th Q Nets comeback where momentum was swung and the lead nearly lost. The Blazers must be ready to match 4th Q swish3 scoring to be successful in the quest for the NBA Championship.
Despite losing the swish3 contest, the Blazers 130-115 win at PHI Feb 23 was a satisfying road win. Blazers scored 5 of 23 (a terrible 21.7%) vs PHI 9 of 24, but the 12 point deficit was overcome by dominating rebounds 53-33 and better points in the paint (66 vs 56). Nurk had his 28th dub-dub scoring 24 points with 10 rebounds in 24 min. Nurk was 9 of 13 and Enes was 6 of 14 for FG. Scoring with well distributed with 7 Blazers scoring 10+ points. Mo led scoring 1 of 1, Seth and Rod each scored 1 of 3, and Dame and CJ each scored 1 of 5. Zach and Gary were each 0 of 1, and Chief and Jake were each 0 of 2. This unacceptably weak swish3 scoring points out the need for using the best swish3 talent to complement the improved in the paint scoring. For the toughest upcoming games, and especially the playoffs, the offensive power scoring talent of Meyers (who is back to being the 3P%, TS%, and eFG% leader) should be used to extend and diversify the Blazer threat. To win the NBA Championship, the Blazers need to use Nurk, Enes, and Meyers to maximize the array of talents at the Center position.
The Blazers won by 15 points at CLE Feb 25 scoring 18 of 29 (62%) vs CLE 13 of 34 and won the game 123-110. This was a great game for CJ who scored 35 points in 36 min and for Seth who scored 15 points in 16 min. The Blazers were superb in the 1st half, and took a 71-48 lead. There was a major letdown in the 3rd Q, but recovery in the 4th included 2 swish3s from Dame (21 points with 8 assists and 2 blocks in 37 min). CJ led scoring 7 of 8!, Seth scored 5 of 5!, Dame scored 3 of 9, Mo and Jake each scored 1 of 2, and Chief scored 1 of 3. This was efficient swish3 scoring that avoided wasted shots and stayed ahead of CLE swish3 scoring. There was good passing with 26 assists (vs CLE 22), and 45 rebounds (vs CLE 40). The good defense and hustle in the 1st half was lost in the 3rd Q when CLE played more aggressively and made a run boosted by making some swish3s. I would have made more substitutions in the 3rd Q to suppress the CLE recovery, and the additional talent will be needed in the next 2 games. It would be pleasing to be on a 6 game winning streak at the end of this week.
The Blazers won the swish3 Feb 27 contest at BOS scoring 6 of 33 (a terrible 18.2%) vs BOS 5 of 28 in the 97-92 win. Scoring 9 fewer swish3s than the goal 15 was enough to beat BOS, but will not be enough for beating TOR on Friday! Mo had a great game with 17 points (8 of 13 FG), 10 rebounds, and 3 steals in 37 min. Dame had 33 points in 37 min, and Nurk had 16 points in 30 min. Dame led scoring 3 of 10, Chief scored 1 of 1, Jake scored 1 of 2, and CJ scored 1 of 8. Enes was 0 of 1, Mo was 0 of 3, and Seth and Rod were each 0 of 4. The Blazers played good defense, especially Mo, Nurk, Chief, and Dame, to limit BOS scoring and energize Blazer offense. This game 3P% emphatically shows the coaching mistake in failing to utilize Meyers, the Blazers best swish3 shooter. For the TOR Raptors game, other Playoff contender games, and certainly for the Playoffs, the Blazers need to call on Meyers to average 9+ swish3 points per game, remembering his excellent game Jan 30 in the UTA Jazz win. With Meyers shooting at least 6 of the swish3 attempts per game instead of the Blazers who were missing, the Blazers can win these games and the WCF!
I said “much”. People say he’s a better matchup for Gasol but I think its more about who’s a better matchup for their backup bigs. Nurkic will play against Gasol most of the time.
Even Collins can't get into games now. That's why I said above that Leonard might as well travel on a vacation.
Is that true? I thought Gasol had been starting for them, even on our game page, it has his listed as the probable starter. It looks he came off the bench against the Celtics. I thought they were playing Gasol / Ibaka with Siakam being their 1st guy off the bench. Gasol did start on Sunday. Interesting they must be trying to figure things out after the trade?
He's started 1 game of the 6 he's played for them--the Orlando game that Kawhi sat out. Serge has started the others.
BB & EK must dominate Leonard and Collins in practice. Collins is used to going against big bears like the center at Gonzaga he backed up. If Meyers just had better overall bb instinct's he'd be much further along and rely so much on 3's.
Tor is really high on Siakam. Similar to how the LAL are high on Kuz. I think they'd bring Ibaka off the bench before Siakam.
Agreed. Also, I love the fact that the LAL are so high on Kuz, since he's actually a really average player.
Two of my basketball friends are lifelong LAL and Tor fans. Both of them try to argue who has the better youngster between Kuz and Siakam. Tor fan posted on FB the other day about how Siakam was the biggest all-star snub this year. I just facepalmed and I knew my homepage was about to get blown up with notifications about the argument.
