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

Huh? Nurk was fantastic when receiving the ball in the high post last year.

 

I pretty much agree on most of this.
The one part i disagree on is the 50+ wins. Last year seven teams won over 50 games. If you want to include the jazz and make it eight so be it. 50 wins has never and will never be a "baseline" for any team and any coach. A fifty win season will be a successful "Regular" season in just about every view i can come up with.
It pretty much guarantees home court in the first round. A 50+ win season gives them a better chance to make it into the second round. After many years of following this sport i have seen way way too much happen to teams after the first round. You just cannot say enough about the difference when it comes to the second season.
Regular season basketball is a marathon and it is run for position. Making the playoffs is and always will be the "Baseline". (A playoff team) vs (A lottery Team). When we start raising the bar to "50+ wins is successful" in my opinion we have lost sight of reality. 50+ wins puts a team in the hunt for a Championship.

 

Humor me for a second...

If the Blazers make the playoffs and lose in the first round then are you saying that Stotts would've done a good coaching job this season? 16 out of the 30 teams make the playoffs. To me just making the playoffs is the baseline of an average team/coach.

I think Bones would agree that Stotts is a pretty good regular season coach. There are always exceptions but I feel like for the most part the Blazers show up and give effort most nights which I can't say about a lot of teams.

You've been one of the vocal ones about Stotts overachieving with the talent he has had the past few years. The last two years he's won 49 and 53 games with that lack of talent. I don't think it's unrealistic to expect the Blazers to be good enough to win in that same range of games again this season.

 

If you're really referring to Tolliver, he's probably the worst NBA front court defender I've ever seen... he makes Meyers seem like a defensive savant. At his peak he's was a 3 and no D player, & now he's 34...

STOMP

 

Hoops i already answered that about two posts ago. I said 50+ wins and a solid playoff run. Deep playoff run would be better. Championship would be best.
I understand you might have missed that. But it's there.
I'm going to extrapolate or try to guess your next question. What do i feel is a solid playoff run? Second round 6 or 7 games. No 4 game sweeps. Getting tired of that and on those issues i agree with everyone. Get there and play a solid series. "Deep Playoff Run" WCF .
Bottom line i don't buy the "Good Regular Season Coach" mantra. You either win or you don't as a team. As far as the talent goes on this team i agree they have more talent. But unfortunately right now their starting center is injured and the talent they have has been playing together for about a month. Gasol getting healthy will create some depth. When Nurk gets back and playing at a high level they will then be a better team than last year. At that time i would say this team has more talent. Right now???? No.

 

@BonesJones and @hoopsjock

I have a class to teach in the morning. I do like chatting with you both but i got to turn in. Might take a while to get back to you.

 

making passes from the high post isn't running the offense. Nurk can't put the ball on the floor and find a 2nd or 3rd option if the initial high post pass is denied

 

Our interior defense is insane.

Hopefully once our perimeter guys realize that when a opponent drive they are getting their shit swatted into oblivion, they will be more willing to get out on shooters.

 

Front court defense is not our problem in case you haven't noticed...

 

Wait, so for the Warriors last year, the 50 wins and the playoffs wouldve been the "baseline"? What? This team based off the roster alone should win around 50 games. Winning 50 games and making the playoffs isnt an accomplishment anymore.

Teams in the top third talent-wise expect to be in the top third...

 

This.

The Blazers are going to have the best interior defense in the league, in an era when the three point shot rules the day.

The problem was that, even when the Blazers defenders were within guarding distance of Denver players around the arc, the defensive pressure on the shot was soft as Charmin, with the same result. Not to mention too late.

 

I agree. Front court defense is not one of our problems. But playing Tolliver meaningful minutes is.

 

I also worry about Bazemore in the 2nd unit. I have doubts about his shooting ability and with the 2nd unit he could just jack up shots because there aren't really any scorers there anyway and he's not been a passer in the past. He's going to take bad shots out of any flow.

 

We beat them in the conference semi-finals. How did that happen? Obviously there was a solution (enough) that worked then. To me, it was just horrible shooting by our team and terrible perimeter defense. That has little to do with the center position. We won with Enes Kanter starting at center. Was he the difference? He can do "it" but Nurk and Hassan can't?

 

So you are going to pick the returning Champions with 4 returning All-Stars for your example? How about this year? Lets take that further. How about the Lakers last year or Pels? Maybe we should look at the Raptors? 50 wins has always and will always be the benchmark for a successful season. An NBA season is a marathon and there are many factors to making it a success. As the old saying goes "It why they play the games".
This Blazer team has changed drastically. Chemistry, Fit, Injuries, Contracts, Travel, the rest of the Western Conference are all issues that will have an impact. Just my opinion here but a 50+ win season will be very successful. It's why my season prediction was 47 and 6th seed. 6th seed last year had the Thunder at 49 wins. Eastern Conference had the nets at 42 wins. It seems like you are expecting this team to win 53 games or more and make 3rd seed again. I don't know off hand what you predicted? But if you predicted 53-55 wins then i would be prepared to be disappointed. Right now Vegas has a total of 3 teams winning more than 53 games. Bucks, Clippers and Philly. A total of 7 teams winning over 50 games. Blazers are set at two different lines 46 1/2 and 47 1/2. Lets say as you have said many times. "Stotts is fine in Regular season". How many more wins are you honestly willing to give the Blazers over 47 wins? I understand they never give the Blazers as much respect as they should but are you really going as many as 9 games over? I would love to see it happen but doing it would just cement my case the Stotts is a way better coach than many give him credit for. If they win 50+ games he has beaten Vegas pretty much every season he has coached here.
Again This is my opinion and i'm going to stick with it. 50+ wins and a solid playoff showing will be a successful season in my book.

 

I can't quite make out what he yelled? Does anyone know?

 

I specifically noticed it was a problem when he was in. Open court half court, Tolliver just gets lost.

Rattle this simple thought around. He's a career 38% 3pnt shooter, which is better then Lillard. Yet even on a slew of bad teams he hasn't been able to carve out a significant role. Is it possible that his various Head Coaches have noticed the same problem I have?

STOMP

 

I love how you're referencing Vegas as if its a valid measurement of how good the team is, depsite consistently underrating the roster.

You posted a lot for nothing, because I'm simply saying I'm not going to base a coach as doing a "good job" on if he wins 50 games with a roster with 50-win talent. Not that complicated.

 

Im actually trying to think if I agree they have 50 win talent, every year thats a moving goal post as to what “50-win talent” means. I think they have 50 win talent if Simons and Zach live up to expectations by the franchise, if not Im not sure. I think one of my biggest concerns roster wise this year is Simons, the franchise has built him up so much this summer that if he’s anything less than a star people will be disappointed, and he’s 20, with an extremely small sample size of experience, and they dont have much in terms of back up guard play... They need him to be that and its hard to know if he’s ready.

 

On offense I think Simons will be fine and will improve throughout the season. His defense however consists mainly of chasing his man around the court. At 20 years old and having not attended college, he has clearly never had to guard NBA talent or offensive schemes. With his offensive talent, I doubt he's ever played with the mindset of being a lock down defender. Defense will be his mental challenge.