Game Thread Game #6 BLAZERS @ HORNETS - OCTOBER 31, 2021 - SUNDAY, 4:00 PM, ROOT SPORTS

Last year, Simmons was elite at getting teammates better shots. They shot '3's at a much higher percentage with him on the floor than without.
But to be fair, if Dame continues to shoot like he is, it won't much matter who else comes here.

But watchinig CJ jack up 24 shots when the entire regular bench got 22 shots....and hit 15 of them for 68% shooting, turns my stomach.

 

Great to see him talking about specific things that need to be corrected; I don't think we heard that much from the previous coach. I like seeing that phrase "over helping"; which has been used by me and a couple other posters during Stotts era and also this season; now I know I'm on the right track!

 

Agreed... I was talking about the ease of the looks we were getting in the 2nd half compared to the Hornets.

We struggled to stay in front one on one which put too much pressure on our scheme.

 

I thought Nurk was having a solid game up until the point in the 3rd where he started jawing at the FT line, then turned the ball over on the next inbounds, and set a hard screen and got an offensive foul. 7 point swing in seconds

 

Lu Dort is the only 6’3” player on the planet that can check SF full-time.

The lack of size is going to be attacked in the playoffs.

 

I think Billups is certainly trying to mask this issue and is doing a decent job at it, but at the end of the day, I'm worried it'll be too much for a scheme to overcome when teams have a chance to dial in their game plan.

 

Exactly this. And it makes our switches almost completely ineffective because we are switching a smurf out on a 6'9" wing time after time. Even if they do manage to stay close, it is still often just a matter of shooting over a much smaller player.

 

Interesting listening to Billups presser where the question is asked why this is the 3rd time in 6 games he's talked about the team lacking effort/focus. Are the guys not buying into him? Do we have some guys who have always had this issue?

 

Does that get credit for Dame’s play as well?

 

Last season Tony Snell was better than Robert Covington has been so far this season, that’s how bad Roco has been.

https://stathead.com/tiny/WgElO

What were you saying again, genius?

 

Really, really tough to make any decision with Dame playing / shooting like this.

If Dame isn’t having the worst shooting stretch of his career we are probably a 5-1 team right now - but we all know what they say about ifs and buts.

 

I was thinking more in terms of Portland's 6'3 guards having to score over Charlotte's 6'6-6'7 defenders

but in terms of rebounds: Hayward-Bridges-Ball-Martin outrebounded Powell-CJ-Roco-Simons by 26-10

 

Worst stretch we have ever seen from Lillard. Maybe a thread should be made dedicated to talking about that because he has looked horrid so far.

 

To many homers here to do that. He’s a feast or famine player. I been saying that for a long time.

 

I guess you don't go on Twitter do you.

 

Who cares about replacing Lillard? The goal is to win a championship. Period. We should get anybody we think can help us accomplish that goal NOW, before Lillard leaves or is over the hill. I would settle for 10 years of mediocrity just to win another title. It’s been 45 years since that happened in Portland.

 

Dame's shooting is really bad; worse is he's forcing shots when he shouldn't. He has enough other skills not to need to 'shoot his way out of a slump'

he's passing and defending well (for him) but the Blazers aren't really good unless Dame is scoring well too. That's a roster weakness

 

I have a hard time putting Dame's struggles on Billups' scheme or him as a leader

However, those who felt stronger that Dame used to play so well despite Stotts horrible schemes, having to be doing some serious mental gymnastics right now to explain this away.

 

I'm not sure he's defending well either, his assists are in line with the last 5 years and his turnovers are the highest they've been since 2015.

It's a rough stretch.

 

Because our problem is being unable to DEFEND the 3, which requires athletic bigs who can rotate and/or defend one on one.