MEM Grizzlies literally won the game with swish3 shooting scoring 13 of 27 vs the Blazers 9 of 29 in the Mar 5 loss 120-111 in Memphis. After leading for 7/8ths of the game, the Blazers failed to put swish3 shooting talent on the floor and allowed Mike Conley to surge ahead for the MEM victory making 6 of 7, assisted noticeably by biased reffing that allowed MEM to have a 9 point FT advantage. Numerous fouls of Dame and Nurk were not called and there were phantom fouls against Nurk, Mo, Jake, and Seth. CJ led scoring 3 of 5, Dame scored 3 of 10, Rod scored 1 of 1, Mo scored 1 of 3, and Chief scored 1 of 5. Nurk wasted 1 (now down to 11.1% 3P%!), and Seth and Jake were each 0 of 2. The 4th Q was a coaching failure as the Blazers failed to call on highest % swish3 shooters and the good ball movement and floor patterns that were successful in the first quarter to provide offense and defense. The lack of defense and 3 turnovers by Enes should have resulted in bringing in the Blazers leading 46.5% swish3 shooter, Meyers, to provide the 3 swish3s to tie or 4 to win this game. It must be frustrating if you are Meyers to know that you scored an NBA record 76.9% scoring against MEM in the Playoffs, and then not to be utilized as part of the winning solution. To be competitive against the OKC Thunder, the Blazers need to be ready to use the talent on the bench, including putting in the leading swish3 talent. Enes had his chance in the 1st half; then the substitution of the 3rd Center strategy needs to be there in the 2nd half to have the chance to win these games. This game should have been a Blazer win!
The Blazers made 1 more swish3 than OKC in the Mar 7 home overtime loss 129-121 scoring 9 of 41 (a terrible 22%!) vs OKC 8 of 27. This was a terrible loss that depended on key missed shots, sporadic defense, and horrible game-changing calls by an incompetent group of referees that so offended Blazer fans on our home court that a protest to the NBA is called for. Nurk was unbelievably tossed from the game for questionable tech fouls after himself twice being fouled by what should have been called as flagrant2 fouls--2 of them--by Westbrook and George. If the 2 OKC had been ejected at the time of those fouls instead of Nurk, the game would have been won by the Blazers. This was a terrible travesty of a game by Enes, who made only 1 of 6 shots, and played awful defense, rebounded poorly, and should not have been on the court for more than 8 min given his pathetic game. Dame led scoring 3 of 10 (and totaling 51 points in 47 min), CJ scored 3 of 11, Rod scored 2 of 6, and Seth scored 1 of 4. Nurk was 0 of 1 (now 3 of 28 for the season, just irresponsible!), Mo was 0 of 2, Jake was 0 of 3, and Chief was 0 of 4. Meyers, the Blazers best swish3 shooter, did not attempt any! In fact, Meyers, who should have been substituted for Nurk in the 2nd half, was only in the game in the final minute. This Blazer coaching mistake of playing a losing Enes instead of calling on Meyers for at least 4 (preferably 6) swish3 attempts cost us this loss. Blazer coaches need to work harder to optimize the talent for better scoring, screening, assists, and bench contributions depending on the game action. There is no excuse for losing the rebound contest 37 to 42, the bench points 21 to 28, and playing Blazers who are missing shots and failing to rebound and hustle. And there is no excuse for not immediately raising a loud protest to having Nurk flagrantly fouled on our own court and being treated like a villain. There should be complaints made to the NBA about this game, and perhaps Malloy ought to be unselected as a ref. This was a game with a Playoff atmosphere, and this needs to be analyzed for the improvements to be made to allow success all the way to the NBA Finals. Chuck Barkley is right on track in stating that the Blazers can be there, but only if we can find a way for Blazer coaches to adjust to play the most productive choices, keep fresh legs in the game, and support Blazers for a fair shake. This was a terrible loss that should not have been a loss. Let's look for no more games with less than 35% swish3s, less rebounds, or unfair disqualification of our stars, and win the NBA!
The Blazers won scoring 13 of 29 vs PHO 9 of 27 in the Mar 9 win 127-120 in Phoenix. The power of the swish3 was evident in the PHO recovery from being 29 points down to 5 points based mostly on making a number of swish3s. The Blazers still need to aim for 15+ swish3s per game. CJ led scoring 4 of 7, Seth scored 3 of 6, Dame scored 2 of 4, Mo scored 1 of 1, Meyers scored 1 of 2, and Chief and Simons each scored 1 of 3. Zach was 0 of 1 and Jake was 0 of 2. Simons scored his first swish3 (now 1 of 12 for the season) on an assist from Dame that was much celebrated. For the LAC, NOP, SAS road trip next Tues, Fri, Sat, the Blazers will need high efficiency swish3 shooting to get these needed wins. Let's count on our most efficient shooters and win!
The Blazers won the swish3 contest scoring 12 of 31 vs 9 of 15 in the Mar 12 win over the LA Clippers at LA. The game was a 4th Q masterpiece for CJ who scored 3 swish3s and 3 FT from a swish3 shot foul in about 2 min. From just under 10 min left in the 4th Q, CJ scored 19 points over the next 5 min, finishing with 35 points in 35 min. Dame scored 20 points with 12 assists and Nurk scored 20 points with 12 rebounds. CJ led scoring 6 of 11, Dame scored 3 of 6, Seth scored 2 of 5, and Jake scored 1 of 3. Mo and Enes were each 0 of 1. Chief and Zach were each 0 of 2. Although 12 swish3s were enough to win over the Clippers, the Blazers will need to reach the goal of 15 in coming games and the Playoffs and should program at least 4 swish3 attempts by Meyers (our best swish3 shooter) in each game.
The post was going so well until it got to the Meyers bit. Meyers has been better this year but it looks him and Zach are basically done outside of injury and / or end of the bench minutes.
Give Meyers credit. He was playing well and was having his best year by pretty much every measure. Even his defense was improved. And now he's benched because Terry is forcibly feeding Kanter minutes. But Meyers is still engaged on the bench and stays ready while not creating drama. This is really understated how good he is for chemistry.
The Blazers won scoring 10 of 27 vs NOP 8 of 30 in the 122-110 win Mar 15 in New Orleans. Swish3 scoring was accomplished by the often excellent back court of Dame (totaled 24 points) and CJ (totaled 23 points). Rod and Enes each totaled 17 points, and Zach totaled 12 and played good defense. Nurk totaled 11 and fouled out. Randle had a career high 45 point total. Dame led scoring 4 of 9, CJ scored 3 of 4, Rod scored 2 of 2, and Seth scored 1 of 5. Chief and Zach were each 0 of 2, and Jake was 0 of 3. NOP started with 37 points in the 1st Q with 74% FG% led by Randle who had 21 on 9 of 12 shooting. Blazer defensive intensity switched on in the 2nd Q, and was sufficient in the 2nd half to allow better swish3 shooting and rebounds to get the win. This was an important road win that brings the road record to 17-17, even though swish3 scoring remains well below the 15 per game target. For remaining games and the Playoffs, Blazers need to add distributed scoring from the bench talent on the way to the Championship.
The Blazers lost scoring 7 of 28 (a terrible 25% 3P%) vs the SA Spurs 8 of 17 in the 108-103 loss in Texas. This game was lost by the poor coaching decision to fail to move beyond Enes who contributed 0 points and poor defense while keeping the Blazers best swish3 scorer (46.6%), Meyers, on the bench. The Blazers need at least 12, or better 15, swish3s scored to win against stronger teams, and would have won this game if Meyers had been on the court in the 2nd half shooting at least 4 swish3 attempts. Those 6 predictable points would have won the game. This win would have occurred even in spite of the obvious ref bias that gave the Spurs 16 additional points via FT, and with many fouls not called to give FT to Dame, CJ, Nurk, Mo, Chief, Rod, Seth, and Evan. Rod led scoring 3 of 7, Dame scored 3 of 10, and Seth scored 1 of 3. Chief, Jake, and Nurk (oh no!) were each 0 of 1, Mo was 0 of 2, and CJ was 0 of 3. Enes and Evan failed to score any points. Blazer coaches need to use the talent for more production from the bench and at the key Center position, both of which are solved by using Blazer swish3, points/FGA, TS%, and eFG% leading Meyers as the 3rd Center offense option in games like this in which Enes is not scoring, screening, spacing, defending, and hustling as much as Meyers showed in the Jan 30 Jazz win he can do. Like the coaching failure loss to OKC Mar 8, this loss hurts, as the chance for the 14-2 finish of the season is now a lot less likely. Let's aim for wins by optimizing use of talent to maximize the number of wins in the season and Playoffs. With the best use of talent and continuing to emphasize strength in the Center position, the Blazers can win this NBA Championship!
The Blazers won scoring 13 of 32 vs IND Pacers 10 of 24 in the 106-98 home win without CJ. This was a slow starting game for the Blazers who missed 10 consecutive swish3s up to the last few min of the 2nd Q when Dame and Rod got the lid off from the arc to score 3 swish3s and give us the 55-48 lead at the half. After not scoring in the first half, Chief had an excellent 2nd half. Chief led scoring 4 of 5, Dame scored 4 of 9, Seth scored 3 of 6, Mo scored 1 of 3, and Rod scored 1 of 4. Zach and Enes were each 0 of 1, and Jake was 0 of 3. While the 13 swish3s were enough to outlast the Pacers, substitutions to take advantage of our best swish3 scoring will be needed to beat the Mavs, and getting to 15+ swish3s and 130 points will help get to the 54-28 objective.
Blazers won scoring 16 of 36 vs DAL Mavs 10 of 30 in the 126-118 home win in the 2nd game without CJ. This was a good game for Dame, Mo, Seth, and Jake that relied on defensive effort to have command of the game until the 4th Q when the bench players allowed a lot of easy Mav points. We held on for the win and avoided a repeat of the last game Mavs 4th Q comeback. Dame led scoring 6 of 12, Seth scored 4 of 7, Jake scored 3 of 6, Mo scored 2 of 2, and Chief scored 1 of 4. Gary was 0 of 1, and Zach and Rod were each 0 of 2. We are 11-1 in games in which we scored 15+ swish3s, and need to keep this goal for wins to get to the season 54-28 on the way to the NBA Championship.
This is the swish3 % statistic through the Mavs game Mar 20. Let's feed the top 6 on this list for scoring efficiency to maximize wins now and through the Playoffs. 3P% ▼ 1 Meyers Leonard .466 2 Seth Curry .447 3 CJ McCollum .380 4 Damian Lillard .373 5 Rodney Hood .365 6 Al-Farouq Aminu .358 7 Nik Stauskas .344 8 Jake Layman .333 9 Zach Collins .300 10 Gary Trent .300 11 Maurice Harkless .289 12 Wade Baldwin .222 13 Caleb Swanigan .200 14 Evan Turner .152 15 Jusuf Nurkic .103 16 Anfernee Simons .083 17 Enes Kanter .000 18 Skal Labissiere Team Totals .360 Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 3/22/2019.
The 46.6% means leading the NBA, except that Meyers does not qualify because of insufficient shot attempts. This is the missing factor that needs to be solved for the Blazers to optimize the chance for the NBA Championship. Let's see Meyers scoring 9 points or more from swish3s every game for the additional points that will make those wins probable!
The Blazers lost the swish3 contest scoring 11 of 26 vs the DET Pistons 14 of 34 in the Mar 23 home win 117-112. The game showed the Blazers can play intense defense in the 4th Q to save the win after trailing most of that Q. This was an excellent game for Chief, with similarities to his notable IND game Mar 18, in which he made key plays and scored a total of 22 points. The 4th Q included another of the Blazer Symphony 5 pass plays that got DET off balance and behind, opening scoring creases in the last minutes. That was again fun to watch! Dame led scoring 6 of 10, Chief scored 2 of 5, Mo scored 1 of 2, and Seth and Zach each scored 1 of 3. Jake was 0 of 1 and Rod was 0 of 2. Blazers won rebounding 42-29 and bench points 40-37. Although DET swish3s kept them competitive for most of the game, the Blazers held them off. To stay on the winning streak, we need to aim for 15+ swish3s scored per game.
