Nice take. The theme seems to be “we lost” not “they won”. While we did make mistakes and lost, is some of that due to the Nuggets? Much of the same could have been said last year. I feel we are better than last year but somewhat concerned about playing a team with composure (not like OKC). I will be very interested in how we adjust and do game two. Game one raises questions but is no reason to panic.
Sure, Denver is owed a bit of due, but it is mostly a case of we lost to ourselves. Minus the mistakes the Blazers made, even minus half of them, the Blazers win. We are far better than last year. We have a bench for one. They need to do better. Hood had a great game. Turner actually did good rebounding and facilitating. Curry needs to step up. We need him in double digits. Meyers did ok. Collins could do better. It was more so our starters. McCollum, Aminu, and Chief need to play better. I do think it is a matter of getting used to the altitude. Blazers need to breathe in that Denver air today...get used to it...acclimate. Game 2 will be the Blazers.
Yeah even the very best have to give the winner some credit for playing well. Denver played a good overall game.
This wasn't a Blazer loss, this was a Denver win. Our legs and energy were fine. Jokic is simply that good. And when Milsap and Murray get going, they're tough to beat. They were smart and had a good gameplan. They knew we were likely rusty so they overplayed us. We didn't react well. I expect us to be better on Wednesday. Denver is the #2 seed for a reason. Without Nurk, this series is going to be an uphill battle when they put in Plumlee. They're just too big and strong for us. Either go really small (which Jokic can match with his perimeter game) or play a lot more Zach and MyLe. In terms of Jokic, make him defend. If he has to work on defense, it affects his offense. Run him. Screen him. Lean on him. Other than that, we need a much bigger contribution from guys like Mo and Chief. If they don't stretch Denver's defense and make them pay for doubling Dame, then we're going to have problems.
Sure. The six missed free throws by normally solid Dame, CJ and Seth aren’t correctable because of the Nuggets’ vast superiority. Nor are the crazy unforced turnovers. Denver just flat beat us. Their role players always shoot lights out. There is no hope. All is lost. Do I really need to use green font?
Im not sure, if they’re better than the Blazers but I keep going back to styles and I think their style is not something the Blazers are well equipped to beat without Nurkic. Im not saying the Blazers cant or wont win, but I think this is a really tough matchup not just because of personnel with Jokic and Milsap but because their two man game of Jokic and Murray is hard to stop without an elite defensive presence. I think this might be the series we need Zach to play a major role, he is a legit shot blocker, and not scared of anyone.
Neither team played well. Denver kept fucking up and giving us chances that we couldn’t seem to capitalize on. It was overall a boring game, a fluke for both teams and not a good metric to go by moving forward. Jokic played good though, that’s going to be something we can count on moving forward. We had an unusually sub-par team performance and I don’t see that happening tonight. I personally don’t feel altitude will be an issue tonight. People adjust quickly, athletes adjust quicker, and 5,000’ isn’t actually that crazy from an oxygen-content perspective. About a 4% difference from sea level, and remember, these guys travel often and are not shocked by performing in varying altitudes.
4% is true for total oxygen content. However is is approximately a 20% reduction from what the body is use to. Having experienced this situation, I think you are underestimating the effects of the altitude change.
I work (and play/hike) at varying elevations between 3,000-7,500 feet that change on a daily to weekly basis, so I’m no stranger to altitude change. But I also don’t play NBA level basketball, so I could very well be underestimating the effects altitude has on a fine-tuned human specimen, which (sigh) I am not.
Yeah, 5-7K really isn't really noticeable, IMO. Now when I was at 14K I almost fell over from dizziness! Obviously I have no way of knowing how much it would affect someone playing a competitive game over the course of a few hours - I would think that it would take its toll. But after being there for 5 days they should definitely be acclimated by now. I still think it's an advantage for DEN's players, as they'll just be in better condition because of constantly training at that altitude - then when they come down to sea level it's like a turbo boost!
