Forensic Fan, Games 31 and 32

Forensic Fan Game 31 and 32 (Seriously?), POR vs. PHI, 12/26/14…POR vs. NYK, 12/28/2014

From the top: First, big thanks to Kris, TJ and all the other folks who set me up with the press row pass. I’ll do my best to keep it worth your while. And to SlyPokerDog for being tour guide/comic relief/rulesmaster and keeping me out of trouble. (I know now that no, I’m not allowed photobomb Mike and Mike’s pregame, no matter how tempting.) And to HCP and Kingspeed for taking time out to say hi. Much appreciated. On to the games:

I combined these for a couple of reasons: first, they’re likely the only two games I get to see in Portland this year. They were also against the same team, basically: Titanic-division bottom dwellers who were missing for most of the games one of the few actually decent players with some NBA pedigree, and injuries to all three squads severe enough that we at one point had Victor Claver, Furqan Aldemir, Meyers Leonar_, Cole Aldrich, Jason Smith and JaKarr Sampson playing double-digit minutes (and NOT in garbage time!...which meant most of the game play was actually “Garbage Time”). Still and all* the games were entertaining for multiple purposes (which we’ll get into) and the Blazer wins were never really in doubt,** which is nice to expect (and get) against teams who were a combined 9-49 coming in.

* I’m pretty sure that’s a valid English phrase
** In the NYK case, they never actually led, so I guess the game was NEVER in doubt.

Player of the Game(s) Well, let’s just say that it’s been a while since a Blazer has gone 13/29 in consecutive games from 3 to wrest away the top spot in 3ptFGMade in the entire league. For averaging 26.5ppg on 19-39 shooting (the aforementioned 13-29 from 3) and leading the team to two victories while our All-Star PF and shot-taking leader was out, (and for debuting the spiritual descendant of the three-goggles, the bowshot): Wesley Matthews, Jr….step right up!

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(thanks to @goldnerPDX for the tweetpic)

Monster Games Dame had a heckuva game Friday night (28/9/5 followed by an 11/6/4), and Nic busted out 17 points on only 8 shots Sunday, but Joel Freeland’s the unsung hero here. After his 6pt/career-high 17 rebound performance against PHI on Friday night, he earned extended ovations every time he came out during his first career double-double on Sunday. Joel, the Commonwealth salutes you!



Points Per Shot In a double-header where Wes was lights-out from 3, and Dame scored at will against PHI, it was Nic’s 31 points on 16 shots that sealed the efficiency award for the weekend. Wes ended up with 53 on 36 shots (still frickin' awesome!) and Dame had 39 on 28. Among others, CJ had 13 on 10 shots. But this is for Nic.



Coin Ratio: Up for the award were Dame, Blake, Nic and CJ. The team had 25 assists in both games, continuing their strong passing play. Dame had 15 assists versus 28 shots in the 2 games combined for a coin ratio over 50 cents. Will had 3 assists on 5 shots (in 19 minutes) for a very tidy 0.75 ratio, and Blanky continued his league-leading off-the-bench assisting movement with another 7 (against 7 shots) for a tidy dolla dolla bill ratio. Nic had 3 assists on 8 shots in both games (a consistent 38 cents). CJ only had 1 assist on 10 shots combined, but was active on the offensive end.

Bench In games where Kaman, LMA and Lopez aren’t available, you go scratching DEEEEEEP into the bench to find players for the minutes. At no point was I screaming for any player to go back to the bench and stay there. But bonus points to Victor Claver, who got his first action of the season and scored 8 points on 3-10 shooting with 7 boards and an assist and looked vaguely like an NBA player. Thomas Robinson had multiple electrifying moments with blocks and dunks. Kaman had a solid 13 and 9 in his return. However, there was this:

Meyers Leonar_ with the miss with 44 seconds left that would’ve won Fries For the Masses…aww….


Meyers Leonar_ with the tip-in slamma jamma to get to 101:



We’d be remiss if we didn’t congratulate Kaptain Kaman for his new domestic addition and wishb him all health and the best in the future. But after two wins, we go with Meyers again (because it’s been so long!)…SHKRAEURPL!



King of Garbage Time:


Tough matchup between Quincy Acy, Cole Aldrich and JaKarr Simpson (who? Exactly), so we’ll just leave it for them to decide. Congrats, boys.

As Sly pointed out in the tweets, it made me proud to be a Blazer fan when, with 2 minutes left in a 20-point victory against a bad, bad team missing its only “star”, the stands were still packed and fans were still into it. Best fanbase in sports.

Questions for the Group:
1. Do you consider v.TOR and v.ATL “benchmark” games against some of the best in the E-League, like you would v. SAS or MEM? Obviously we’d all like a win, but does it make a statement if we do (or raise a flag if we don’t?)
2. Do you think our team is at the point where we can start “pulling a Popovich” and maybe sitting LMA a few days more than we normally would a) because we’re pretty competitive even with a lot of bench play or b) because we know that a couple of losses in December/January is better than rushing him back early?
3. Do you agree with Coach Stotts’ rotation right now? What changes would you make?

So with that… stay tuned here for more Blazers/NBA content (including RC2 Power Rankings), and stick around to chat awhile. see you tomorrow against TOR.

 

btw, this is the first FF post in the Mile-High club. 35000 feet over Mobile headed home.

 

Awesome writeup, Brian! It was a pleasure seeing the games with you.