Game Thread GAME# 1: NUGGETS @ BLAZERS - OCTOBER 23, 2019 - WEDNESDAY, 7:00 (PDT), ESPN & NBCSNW

Whiteside's screens are already better than the 1st preseason game. I just didn't see anything last night that screamed that the screen itself was the problem. To me anyone who mentioned a screen last night had already decided after preseason that they were going to make it an issue and I don't think that's fair to harp on it when in my opinion it had no effect on the outcome of last night's game.

 

Well, couldn't we also say that anyone talking about Stottsfense had already decided they were going to harp on it because we've seen it for years and it's grown old? When who knows if that was the reason we lost the game or not. It's not like the team wasn't getting open shots, they were just bricking them...

 

All I'm saying here is it's pretty easy to just throw out another's observations or thoughts by saying well you were just gonna say that anyways!

 

I was one of the first to say if they just hit some shots they win so I wasn't harping on "Stottsfense" until I had to prove my point about the screens.

There were at least 6 times last night that CJ got around his guy, sucked in the defense, and had a big standing wide open under the hoop for an easy dunk but took a shot with multiple defenders on him anyway. I know it was 6 because the guy in front of me turned around and said that's the 5th time you've said that and then on the 6th one turned around and said there's another one. If CJ could just learn that when he pulls off his fancy moves it usually leaves someone open he'd be practically unguardable. To me that was why we lost and it's frustrating to me that CJ doesn't seem to realize it.

 

that's been the primary issue for the last 4 seasons, ever since the Aldridge team broke up

IMO, the issue isn't scheme...mostly. The issue in those 4 on 3 situations is you still need to have somebody besides Dame who can get the ball and consistently run the offense enough to make doubling Dame counter-productive. Portland hasn't had anybody like that since Mo Williams or Steve Blake. Give the ball to CJ and he will consistently call his own number. Sometimes he's hot and it will pay off. But a lot of times, and it's enough times to make doubling Dame pay-off, CJ isn't hot as hell and he has bad court vision in any case. And whether he's hot or not, the rest of the team gets in that stand-around-and-watch-CJ-dribble mode

they tried to shoehorn Turner into the bail-out facilitator role, but he simply wasn't good enough. Neither were Napier and Curry. The wheel has now turned to Simons and Hezonja, and that's almost certain to fail. It's a personnel problem in my view. I'd wonder how many teams only have one guy who has averaged 4 assists or more over the last 2-3 seasons

by the way, I agree the focus on screening prowess is missing the mark.

 

Did you prove a point? lol.

Nothing about last night's game really surprised me. I didn't think a single player out there played a very great game, especially on the Blazers end. Seemed mostly to come down to our bench was bad, and no one could hit a shot especially down the stretch so many bricks...

 

I'm not sure anyone was really focusing on it though, just because we made a couple comments about it doesn't mean we were "focused on it" or saying that's why they lost or that everything else was fine.

I think if Dame needs to do something a lot better it's passing out of the traps and relocating to a good spot. Once the ball is out of his hands he usually just kind of fades away somewhere. Curry is so good at taking the trap getting it out of his hands relocating quickly and effectively, it's probably not fair to compare Dame to Curry, but I think Dame does need to get better at his post trap play.

 

I will say that I think Nurk was becoming a play-maker and having that from the big instead of just another PG is a huge advantage. Gasol can also fill that role although I'm not expecting him to be able to play many minutes at this point in his career. I'm hoping Zach can become a better passer because if he and Whiteside/Nurk develop a high-low game then teams would have a harder time trapping. It's one of the main reasons I like the idea of Blake Griffin even though he's a huge injury risk because he is one of the better play-making bigs in the league.

 

I disagree in a way

that's because how can you know how effective Dame is at relocating when he's not playing with guys who could find him if he's open? Curry has played with Draymond who has averaged 8 assists before; Durant who has averaged 6 assists before; Iggy who has averaged over 5 assists six times; and Livingston who has always been a PG. Even Monta Ellis hit the 5.5 assist plateau a couple of seasons playing with Curry. In other words, Curry has played with several guys who can run an offense. Over the last 4 years, Dame hasn't played with a single one

Nurkic is a good passer from the post but he's not going to run he offense. Besides that, you don't want him coming out 20 feet from the hoop to catch a bail-out pass from Dame. He might become a poor man's Bill Walton in the high post. A pivot point for the offense. But even Walton had 3 PG's in the rotation in Twardzick, Hollins, and Davis; 4 if you count Gilliam

Zach is not the solution to Dame being trapped, IMO

I've always wanted Griffin, but man, that injury history and that salary...yikes!

 

I'm not freaking out about last night.

I thought Whiteside looked really good.

I thought Dame did well.

I wish Hood would get more shots.

The bench is concerning because of how much youth we're relying on, but that will obviously improve over the course of the season. I think Pau will help as well.

MeJay is MeJay.

 

Curry runs and gets to a spot where he can shoot though, Dame usually does not. Nurk's supposedly a good passer, ET was supposedly a good passer, Plumlee averaged 5 assists last year. Guess it's hard to tell who owns more, but it could be both his teammates and him.

 

Seems to me that we just need to guard the 3pt line better. Our interior defense is legit.

 

I think confidence in passes and positioning was glaringly awkward especially from the bench squad.Simons is not an NBA defender by any stretch yet..that'll settle down. 3 pt defense is the name of the modern game...but ya still have to make em on the other end...game one to me....shit happens game. I love the paint protection and love Baze's energy on defense.

 

Oh my my..... There is no question Stotts has his work cut out for him this year. But truer words maybe have not been typed on this board.

 

Haha, I was expecting/hoping when he signed that he wouldn't play at all. Color my surprise when he's in the first rotation off the bench and playing a meaningful 13 minutes resulting in a - 9 +/-.

 

Maybe that's part of why he doesn't get a lot of fouls called on him.

 

Eh.

 

Bones. Stotts has his work cut out for him. This is gonna be a tough start and if the losses start to mount he has to keep this team together. That has been my biggest question about the new faces. How will they react to adversity?
Now this is just my opinion. Of course you are welcome to yours but if he pulls off 50+ wins and a solid playoff run again? Stotts will have done a very good job as far as i am concerned. Deep would be better and a Championship would be best of course.

 

Stotts has 50+ win talent, so 50 wins should be the baseline. He has his work cut out for him because he actually has to coach to start the season because he doesn't have the same guys who have been running his same basic offensive and defensive system for the past 3 years.

I will say, he had some positives last night:
1.) He switched up Pick n Roll defense. Hedging Whiteside with Collins playing safety was smart. Denver hadn't seen us do that and it gave them fits! That's a perfect example of why I've been asking them to switch up their pick n roll defense.
2.) He learned that he can't stagger Dame and CJ after the all-bench unit was brutal to start the 2nd quarter. I was foreshadowing that brutality after the first preseason game, so I think it's something he should've done off the bat, but at least he learned quickly and staggered them in the 2nd half.

And some negatives:
1.) The team hasn't improved their coverage of the 3pt line at all after getting crushed in that area during the preseason.
2.) The offense is still unimaginative with too much perimeter-based movement. Sometimes it's like there's a rule that guys aren't allow to run inside the 3pt line unless they're running along the baseline, so everyone runs in a damn circle (which is what I call "Stottsfense"). Without elite 1-on-1 players to bail out that type of offense, it's horrible. The bench-unit didn't even have a chance at getting anything more than a contested 17-footer out of their halfcourt offense, and it wasn't only because of who was out on the court, and it wasn't something that's new, either.

So I didn't have a huge problem with Stotts last night. The offensive system is still mind-boggling but at least he was able to make an in-game rotational adjustment (or maybe he planned to stagger them in the 2nd half?), and at least he switched up his pick n roll coverage to something Denver hadn't seen us do.

 

3 and D? More like 3 and nothing else, and the 3 isn't all that efficient or helpful.

I'm not expecting anything out of him. He shouldn't play. Great guy and a great locker room presence, but his value diminishes when he sets foot on the court.