Game Thread GAME# 36: SUNS @ BLAZERS - MARCH 11, 2021 - THURSDAY, 7:00, NBCSNW

crazy thing about the Blazer D is that last year's defense seemed to be about the worst ever. The def. rating was 114.8. This year's rating is 116.8; that's 2 points worse after adding RoCo and Jones. Yeeeeeeesh. In last night's game, the Blazers had a def. rating of 131.4

seems unrealistic to count on Nurkic and CJ returning to turn those numbers around

 

So you are saying it is not CJ's fault.....

 

I think they are playing him before CJ gets back to build trade value but it hasn't really worked out....You win and lose as a team. Dame actually was part of us losing the 4th qtr last night....turnovers and missed shots do that. We again had a 6.5 minute stretch in the 4th where we made one bucket....that's not Dame bailing you out...he's part of that loss.

 

He would be the first to tell you that also.

 

Exactly

 

I'm a writer, I compare things and, you know, I hope we not going to area where I can't use words of my choice bc you are war veteran For me, you are the soccer mom. You cheering even when your boy running in the wrong direction.

 

nah...I'm cheering in the stands...that's the opposite of screaming at the coach and the kids are running in the right direction every game but it's all good....keep writing! I've done a lot of it this last year that's for sure....I've got a few writing projects I'm working on...

 

Obviously "Fictional".
I mean you just compared somebody pulling for the Blazers as a mom rooting for a kid running in the wrong direction.

The Team is down 3 starters and they are still 21-15 looking at getting two of them back in the next week or so still in the 6th seed in the Western Conference. They just played the Suns and very easily could have won that game. Most likely would have if they had even one of the three starters they are missing. Even if they had Collins and still were down Nurk and CJ they win that game.

I've said this many times when people say things like this and quip "You must be watching a different game/team". It's not a different game or team. It's just what I happen to see while I'm watching. Bigger picture applies here.

 

some view things with a microscope Some view with a wide angle lense.
I like a little balance myself.

 

I'll pass

 

I wouldn't say the Blazers are down 3 starters; I'd say 2. Zach was only the starter by default because Olshey cleared the roster of any meaningful competition for the role. Zach has started 12 games in his career, all by default. RoCo has started 382, and has basically started 3 times as many games for Portland this season alone, as Zach has in almost 4 years in the league

now, I guess you could say that with Zach healthy, Portland could start RoCo and Zach at forwards and move Jones to the bench. That's a pretty theoretical lineup, but would at least be worth the experiment

to me though, that's still an issue; whether it's RoCo and Jones, or RoCo and Zach, or Melo and Ariza, or Aminu and Harkless, it's still a fairly weak pair of forwards compared to the rest of the league

 

huh? You'd be wrong....Nurk, Zach and CJ are core players before injuries and our starters....unless Zach is moved, he's one of the 3 that we've been subbing players for. Coming back from injury they might not start off with the starting lineup until game shape but those were our starters

 

lol...I explained my view so you telling me that "I'm wrong" is not persuasive

by similar logic you could say Portland was down 4 starters because they don't have Ariza

 

We both did....Nurk CJ and Zach out is missing 3 starters no matter how you view our new guys this season....Dame and coach have alluded to this on more than one occassion but no problem..DJJ is starting because they knew Zach was out for the season...not saying all of them don't need to earn starter roles when coming back but I'm sure they will if Zach isn't traded.

 

Zach was a starter last year. That doesn’t mean he would start on the current team. RoCo is better than Collins.

 

who started more games last at PF season, Melo or Zach?

 

Yeah, that being said because Zach can play the four or five and due to the versatility of our two starting forwards, I think Zach would get enough minutes off of the bench to foul out every night.

 

if Zach was the deserving starter last season, we'd see it in his numbers. So how did he do? He was 12th on the team in PER; 11th in TS%; 18th in FT rate; 8th in rebound rate; 9th in block rate (Gabriel, Bazemore, Little, and Swanigan were better); 11th in offensive rating; 13th in defensive rating; 11th in winshares/48; and 11th in BoxPM. The only 2 categories Zach was even top-10 in were rebounding and blocks, two categories you'd expect a 6'11 starting PF to be top-5 in. His numbers as a starter sucked ass

Zach had no competition for the starting job. He didn't beat out Buck Williams or Rasheed or Brian Grant or Aldridge. Hell, he didn't even beat out Aminu. He was just the default starter because Olshey pulled his typical shit of clearing the roster of any significant competition for minutes for one of his favorites.

and LOL at "the entire NBA"