Forensic Fan Game 33, POR vs. TOR, 12/30/14 From the top: The obvious…hey, another overtime game! Reason for overtime? Maybe the fact that we scored as much in 5 minutes of OT as we did in 12 minutes of the 2nd quarter? The team shot 40%, and for much of the first 3 quarters it looked like Kyle Lowry and Jonas Valanciunas were going to give Drake what he wanted. Sadly for them, Red Hot Revival met Red Hot and Rolling. The Blazers went 10-19 from 3 in the second half and overtime, and pulled away from the Eastern Conference leaders to win their 15th win in 16 games against the E-League. Player of the Game(s) Damian Lillard. On a night when the team couldn’t hit the broad side of an ocean through the second quarter, Damian kept firing away to keep the team within shouting distance. 26 points on 9-24 shooting combined with 9 assists were just enough to get the team to Lillard Time in OT and secure the win. (sure, it's a bit dated, but when stealing from @NBAmemes you get what you pay for) Other Monster Games LaMarcus Aldridge overcame his upper respiratory infection to go 10-19 for 23 points and 13 rebounds. Joel Freeland had only two points (the game-clinching dunk!) but 12 rebounds. Points Per Shot What started out really ugly got better in the 4th and overtime. Dame had a below-average-for-him night, going for 26 points on 24 shots (for a 1.08); LMA had 1.21 pps on a smooth 23 on 19 shots (with a good 10-9 mix of in-the-paint to outside J’s), but tonight’s efficiency hero is Wessy Wes. 19 points on 14 shots (including 5-10 from 3) make you the big winner at 1.36pps. Coin Ratio On a night that a lot of shots didn’t go down, it’s expected that the ratios weren’t stellar. Lillard had 9 assists against 24 shots for a decent 37 cents, Blake had a substandard-for-him 1 assist on 5 shots (barely qualifying, and still only getting 20 cents), and Nic had three assists against 11 shots (28 cents). The team as a whole had another over-20-assist night, and it was barely enough. Bench Coach stayed very short with the bench (rotation was only 9-deep), and keeping a veteran tone with it. CJ’s 5 minutes (of 61 minutes total) were the only bench minutes by someone under 29 years old. 7-22 (32%), 1-6 (17%) from 3, 19pts, 15 rebounds, 4ast and 3blk. Kaman was solid, going 4-9 for 10pts/8reb (3 offensive). Not much else to say, really. Questions for the Group: 1. Do you think that tonight showed a preview of a “playoff” rotation (basically 8-man, with Wright as the wing)? 2. Do you think that, with our bigs making up the best part of our bench (Kaman, Freeland, Robinson, Leonard, Claver), that there should be a “minor” trade to shore up our 2/3 spot? Or do you want to let it bake? 3. Do you think that Paul Allen offered Marshawn Lynch his seats, or did Lynch ask for them? So with that… stay tuned here for more Blazers/NBA content (including RC2 Power Rankings), and stick around to chat awhile. Enjoy the days off, and be safe tonight. I know SlyPokerDog will:
Well done as usual Brian, thanks. 1. Not necessarily as Stotts has shown to be flexible and the playoff matchup itself could dictate that quite a bit. 2. If we let it bake I can live with that as I trust Neil but it sure would be nice to have a guard/wing that could contribute a solid 8-10 pts a night. Im just not sure if it does more bad than good in the long run to make that move now 3.. Im going to go with PA offered. He must have had some important thing going on to miss Best in the EAST vs WEST
Nice post. I don't see us doing any trade. Yes it would be nice to have a better wing scorer off the bench but I just don't think we make any move midseason. The real talented guys like Gerald Green or Jeff Green would likely want more minutes and upset the balance of who we have here. There isn't any practice time to integrate new players. I'd really be shocked to see Neil make any mid season moves.
1. I don't, because I think Freeland has clearly shown that he will be a contributor, even after Lopez returns, and I don't think that Crabbe has done anything to lose a rotation spot. Stotts is still tinkering, trying to give everyone opportunities to contribute, and I think we'll actually see a 9-man rotation in the playoffs, including Crabbe and Freeland. 2. Yes, that's ultimately what I'd like to see, my prior comments re: Crabbe notwithstanding. Any deal that could send out any combination of Claver/Robinson/Leonard (possibly even including CJ) and return a legit 6th-man wing would be excellent, though unlikely. 3. I'm going with option C--Lynch's agent made the call, because he thought it would be good for his client. I doubt Lynch would have asked for them on his own.
1.) no I don't. Lopez is part of the playoff rotation, so I expect him to be included. 2.) I still think we need CJ to get back into the game. His playmaking is essential for our bench to score. I would like to incorporate Crabbe as well 3.) Lynch asked...
As always, that's an enjoyable post-game write-up! 1. Do you think that tonight showed a preview of a “playoff” rotation (basically 8-man, with Wright as the wing)? God I hope not. Wright is fucking terrible. Crabbe or Claver should get Wright's minutes. 2. Do you think that, with our bigs making up the best part of our bench (Kaman, Freeland, Robinson, Leonard, Claver), that there should be a “minor” trade to shore up our 2/3 spot? Or do you want to let it bake? Absolutely make a trade. Build the package around CJ - he's just not going to cut it. I'd like to keep Robinson because his energy can come in handy, but if push came to shove I'd include him with the CJ package. Ideally we'd package CJ/Wright/Barton for a wing who actually knows how to play.
I was surprised that crabbe never got on the court. With offense stagnating so much through three quarters, I was surprised Stotts didn't break with his plans and see if a spark could be found in one of the youngsters.
Apparently, he had a New Year's party in Australia with some Supermodels. (I just assumed the super models part. I would.)
