Game Thread Game #4 BLAZERS VS GRIZZLIES - OCTOBER 27, 2021 - WEDNESDAY - 7:00 PM, ESPN, ROOT SPORTS

Beavs won
The '79 Classic featured Eugene native Danny Ainge, who despite heavy recruitment from the Ducks and Beavs went to BYU. The Beavs beat Ainge in the semis and took out a very good Clemson team in the finals for their first Classic win since Ralph Miller's first year in 1970. Clemson's team included two future NBA players in Larry Nance and Mitchell Wiggins, but it was John Campbell who made the Far West Classic all-tournament team and OSU's Steve Johnson was the MVP. The Beavs rolled to their first conference title since that '65-66 team but was upset by Lamar in the 2nd round of the NCAA's. Clemson made the Elite 8 by beating Ainge and BYU.

 

Sign his cousin!

 

God I miss the Far West Classic - that was so much fun.

 

Encouraging sign on offense Dame and CJ got a lot of wide open looks last night something that didn’t happen last couple of years because they always had the ball and defenses were focused on them now they are learning to move without the ball they are getting some of those wide open looks (missing a lot of them) but eventually those shots will fall.

if you want to win a championship other guys have to step up and confidence is built in the regular season

 

their traps are aggressive forcing stars to give up the ball similar to what other teams have been doing to Dame for years. Helps we have some really good bigs now who can trap aggressively and recover. (Nurk, Nance and Zeller)

 

ok...but the game turned on the 3rd Q and that's when Dame started to rediscover his shot. And while he's been cold shooting from three, he's been fine from two, he's been running the offense very well, and he's been playing stout defense. Last night, when he was on Morant, Morant struggled a lot

if Billups is going to stick with this running Dame-off-the-ball offense, he absolutely needs to discover ways Dame's teammates can create some offense for Dame. Dame's assisted FG rate is all the way down to 12.5% (28% last year). Both Chauncey and Dame talked about the off-the-ball action getting Dame more spot-up, catch & shoot, and back cut action. That was the theory. The reality has been that the off-ball action doesn't accomplish anything but getting the ball out of Dame's hands

 

It’s weird seeing bigger leads not only being held, but expanded. In years past a double digit lead would regularly be lost within minutes. We’ll see if it lasts, but it’s a good start.

 

yeah, Dame needs to work at and he will, coming off screens catching & shooting. Dame is a rhythm scorer, very methodical when it comes to looking for a shot.

 

A pleasant contrast from the Stotts era. One thing I will always remember about his defensive schemes was the number of scrubs who had career nights against us! (at least it sure seemed that way)

 

hahha yeah problem it wasn’t just the scrubs, it was everybody. Now it seems like they’re making an actual effort to take the opposing teams best player out of the game, or at least make his job harder.

 

Here we go already….with the whole, “So in so beat somebody, so we better beat somebody”.

 

Dame still getting shots he had 22 attempts last night it's just there not going down this year.

 

One thing this defense makes guards driving towards the bucket a lot harder. But last night first half they left corner open on those drives and they easily had open shots on the kick out. The 2nd half they took it away by the defenders half way between the key and corner plus it's take that angle away from them. I think that what Covington biggest problem this year is over commenting to quick in the key when he shouldn't. Nance did great job by position himself where he could cover that corner and when need to help under the bucket.

 

I wonder if some of CJ's hot start offensively is sustainable?

No he won't always shoot these crazy percentages; however he never had a game based on drawing fouls or initiating contact. He is very crafty at avoiding all contact while still being in a position to score. With the rule changes many scorers are less effective, and defensive stats are improving across the league (except the Lakers)

Maybe CJ will rank as a better offensive player in the NBA comparatively, as he retains all of his offensive strengths, while many other top NBA scorers are seeing their offensive effectiveness reduced.

 

that’s an interesting point. Last season the only top 30 scorers that averaged 4 free throws or fewer per game were Kyrie, Vuc, and CJ. I bet the new rules do favor guys that don’t rely on manipulating trips to the line. I don’t think it’s a coincidence/fluke that guys like Harden aren’t as efficient this season.

Simons is probably in the same boat. That gives Olshey two assets with increased value to play with. Long term I don’t see both guys in Portland. He’s gonna have to pick one at some point and use the other to balance out the roster a bit with more size/length.

 

i never understood these graphics (what are numbers for, is it good to be top or bottom or in the middle, or left or right)

i googled what tpa stands for (total points added, scored on offense and saved on defense)

 

It's a thing of beauty when Nance is on duty:

 

less minutes, more points = good

more minutes, less pts = bad

 

Who is that guy kind of in the center? Dennis Smith?