Game Thread GAME# 77: GRIZZLIES @ BLAZERS - APRIL 1, 2018 - SUNDAY, 6:00 PM (PDT), NBCSNW

Something tells me before this season is over we will see him play a bit. At least i hope so.

 

Not likely. The regular season ticket holders always take their playoff tickets. Probably gonna have to go up a ways behind the basket or somewhere in the 200 level. Lots of 300 seats will be available.

The first round goes for the same price as the per game rate for the regular season.

 

Bruce Hornsby song?

 

Gasol questionnable tomorrow. With or without him, feed the Bosnian Beast

 

Making basic passes isn't impressive. Getting easy rebounds as a big isn't impressive...

He can't defend inside or out. He can't get good shot off in the paint. He can't really do anything productive. I'm a fan of the dude as a person, and I hope he turns into the best version of himself possible, but I'm not a fan of the pick, and don't think his game translates to the NBA. I think playing him in meaningful games is a big mistake.

 

He needs a bunch of playing time. Minutes on the court will tell the story. He simply has not had that yet. Saying he "Can't get a shot or defend or do anything" seems a bit harsh.

 

He's 6'9, can barely get off the ground. That kills him when trying to finish inside as well as defenisvely. He also can't slide his feet to stay in front of perimeter 4s...

How is more minutes going to change that?

 

It’s either Meyers or Swanigan, so take your pick. One of them will play with Ed out, I’m 99% sure. The other 1% is Papagiannis. Collins has played center for 22 minutes all year, and it didn’t go well at all. Besides, messing with a rookies role as he’s getting in a groove wouldn’t make much sense.

 

Collins is better suited to play C than Meyers or Swanigan.

More Collins and a little bit of ET at PF. Collins will still play his normal minutes, he'll just get addition center minutes. How is getting more PT going to mess up his groove...?

 

Because center and power forward are two different positions?

 

And I love collins, but physically speaking, he’s not better suited to play center than Meyers and Biggie right now. I’ve seen him get pushed around by guards. Why put him in deep waters when you don’t have to?

 

Not worried about the game, we've already played our April Fools game against them.

 

So? You think that playing some C minutes, which wouldn't be a difference for him offensively and would be against the other teams bench (so guys like Deyonta Davis, Salah Mejri, Brandon Wright, etc..) is going to mess up his PF minutes going forward?

 

You think that Collins isn't as good defensively against Cs as Meyers and Swanigan? What?

Play him against the other teams bench. It's the best option, regardless of if he struggles strength wise... hes not going to get "psyched out" and suck for the rest of the season because of that.

 

Playing a different position means different responsibilities, but you know that. And there would be a difference offensively since he’s been stationed on the perimeter pretty much the whole season.

But this is a pointless argument since we’re talking about an unlikely theoretical.

 

Why couldn't he play on the perimeter as a C? Meyers does it all the time. He could still pick n pop, and a lot of Portland's offense is symetrical, meaning there's no difference between PF or C (for example, all Horns sets are symmetrical, with 2 high posts and the play running based on the side of the entry pass. Portland does this a lot.)

Defensively, does it make a huge difference? Whats the harm in having him guard backup Cs instead of PFs? We still need to ein a couple games, he should play some C until we clinch the 3 seed.

 

I don’t know, email Terry.

When Nurkic missed games, Meyers entered the rotation. Don’t see why it would be any different now. If the other team goes small I could see Collins, but otherwise it’ll be Meyers or Biggie. I guess well find out.

 

Not even joking, I think Zach is more fit to guard wings than centers at this stage. And that’s a compliment. But he’s still got ways to go physically before he anchors in the post.

 

I'm not saying what he'll do, just giving my opinion on what he should do.

 

What he should do is play Papagiannis.