Game Thread GAME# 3: SUNS @ BLAZERS - OCTOBER 31, 2015 - SATURDAY, 7:00 PM (PST), KGW

I didn't know Oregon State had so many trust fund babies

 

It's not any different from previous years....2 game losing streak is when the natives get restless and panic...lose one more and they crack out the pitchforks and torches and ask for the coaches head....so what else is new?

 

The next meet and greet with coach Terry Stotts! Notice I'm not in the crowd...I still like Stotts

 

Since I'm new here and haven't spent a season with this crew, I'm finding the mood swings rather entertaining so far. On one hand it can get annoying, but on the other, I love the passion and drama. Real Blazer fans genuinely care and they take this s**t very seriously. Good, bad or indifferent, they're on the bandwagon every step of the way. They may fight over the direction the wagon is going, but only the losers jump off. That's what being a true fan is all about. Under the definition of "sports fan" in the Websters Dictionary, there should be a picture of the SC2 Zeroes.....Having said all that, I'm just hoping I get through the season without being swamped the the inevitable negative waves....or, to quote the "great" Spiro Agnew, the nattering nabobs of negativity.....

 

Spoken like a true Zero...we'll all be fine around here. It is as I've said before...an issue of a ball and 5 guys in shorts running back and forth with it completely designed for our entertainment. Now some people take it really seriously and that's always amazed me. I can find something to enjoy even in a loss. This season is really special for me because of all the new story lines. It's really a blank canvass. It's also been great to see the msg board staff do some outreach like the meet and greets..I think it's one of the best forums out there.

 

It's not Stotts fault we have a terrible roster.

 

Actually he can, by having a better offensive system...

 

It's a work in progress and credit to Stotts, he's taken on the challenge without a complaint..coaches don't miss shots, freethrows, make bad passes, turn the ball over or miss a help defense assignment..easy to forget that this roster is green and just starting to understand how to play with each other. We're just used to the last 7 years of predictable players who have played together for a long time. I'm going to keep feeling like this season is a really long extended training camp and tryouts for job security. We are in essence, the sparring partners of the western conference and probably a 500 ball club

 

Were just talking about how his offensive system has a lot of unproductive movement

 

I think Stotts is the perfect coach for this young group because he's a teacher at heart, he has his player'so backs and they know it. The fact that he kept calling Leonard's number last night, despite Meyers shooting woes spoke volumes. It's obvious he cares about his guys and wants to put them in a position to succeed. Too many coaches would be throwing their team under the bus and scrambling to protect their jobs. I truly hope Blazer management has Stott's back in the long run. He deserves it.

 

A lot of our turnovers in the last two games have been blown lob passes and dishes in the paint. It's chemistry and flow..you can see these guys overthinking everything...they knew where Lamarcus, Wes, or Nico would be and where they liked the ball. Game one had great ball movement. This team is not going to be a well oiled machine for the first half of this season at best...I expect them to win more after the allstar break than before it sort of like the Jazz did last year

 

What good is an offensive system without execution?
Just sayin.

Meyers was struggling. Out of a timeout Stotts ran two plays in a row for meyers and he made both mid range shotts. I love it and thought that was a great move. I dont think you will see Stotts run a ton of plays though because that stifles the offense and puts them into predetermined situations, which means its much tougher to actually assess tyhe players skill levels and potential attributes.
Stottts has to let this team play mostly scrap ball for the first part of the season to see who truly scraps and who doesnt. Who can be creative and who cant.

All this talk about Stotts should have the system flowing is not taking into account how to let the team progress and show itself.