GAME THREAD: BLAZERS @ NUGGETS - FEB. 25, 2014, TUESDAY, 6:00 PM (PST), CSNNW

Did Stotts say Robinson was going to start?

 

Damn. Gonna miss this one, gotta test right at 6 pm tomorrow, I'll miss the whole game. Kick some ass, Blazers!

 

He better!

 

Wow, didn't realize Denver had so many guys out with injuries.

 

Damn, we should go off on this team... that is, unless 3 of them go off for career highs.

 

Mathews/lillard/Lawson/brooks are going to combine for over a hundred points

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Lawson is doubtful.

 

Im sticking to that regardless if lawson plays or not lol

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Fair enough! haha!

 

I have tickets; I hope I'll be able to make it tonight. The Thuggets are beat up right now, and they're not playing well. That being said, our lack of frontline depth will really show tonight. The altitude is a real issue. Our guys are going to get winded, especially the guys not used to playing big minutes.

We're going to have to do a lot of substituting, and give our players run in short bursts, especially in the frontcourt. They're going to try to run us out of the Pepsi Center. Guys like Barton and McCollum are going to be huge tonight, as we can play small against these guys.

One matchup I'm dying to see is who plays Evan Fournier. I want Batum on him, giving him a bit of the ordures parler.

Also, don't be surprised if Lawson gives it a go tonight. He's been out since the first week in February with this rib and is dying to get back out there. Of course, Lillard will be a tough matchup for him on defense, but the opposite is sadly also true. Regardless, Brooks will run Damian all over the court as their best weapon against Lillard is to tire out his legs so his shot falls short. It's why we're going to need McCollum.

Wes is going to have to have a big game for us. Foye is their #1 offensive option with Lawson out. He's a strong dude with a good outside shot. The best way to limit his game is to make him run through screens all night. When Foye goes out for Fornier, switch Wes on the SF to give him a blow. Don't be surprised to see not only Barton, but also a bit of Crabbe tonight, because I could see us play some three guard lineups, and we're going to need fresh legs.

Batum and Chandler will be a good one. Chandler is no threat to shoot from beyond 10 feet, but he can defend, rebound and jump out of the gym. Chandler's job will be to grab, hold and push Nico as much as possible to deny him the ball to run our offense. We've done a lot of talking about Batum, and he's going to have to step up big time for us tonight.

Regardless of how Robinson played against Minny, I do think it makes sense to start Wright. We have to get either Faried or Hickson out of the post, as both are excellent rebounders. Wright can park himself in that corner and his shot will have to be respected. We bring Robinson in when the bigs are a bit tired and he ups the intensity a bit. Physically, a guy like Faried will have trouble with Robinson as he can match him in terms of strength, athleticism and tenacity. Denying second attempts for the Chicken Nuggets will be huge for for our bigs tonight. I don't know if Claver has it in him.

Hickson desperately wants to crush us. We can use it to our advantage. He's going to shoot every time he gets the ball. When he does get the ball, we should collapse on him because he's not going to pass it. We're also going to need to keep FroLo out of foul trouble, because guys like Hickson or Faried will abuse Claver.

Bottom line, I think we need to slow the game down, be patient, do a lot of passing and find the open man. Much less running than we did against Minny. The Thuggets want to lull you into their up-and-down game, which is why they give up so many points but are such a good rebounding team. This team is capable of playing defense for about 15 seconds, then they lose interest. We should aim to shoot with single digits on the shot clock all night.

They came back from a long, unsuccessful road trip and dropped their first game back to Sac. Their only win without Lawson was against the Bucks. They are pissed off and frustrated right now. All I hear is how they are going to play spoiler. This is a big game for us because it's a division opponent and counts more than usual for our playoff seeding.

 

Casey Holdahl @CHold
LaMarcus @aldridge_12 is with the team in Denver. Do not know if he will play tonight vs. Nuggets

 

Chris Haynes @ChrisBHaynes
Nuggets to start Timofey Mozgov at C and Kenneth Faried at PF vs #Blazers tonight. JJ Hickson will come off bench for 4th time this season.

 

Comcast SportsNet NW @CSNNW
LaMarcus Aldridge made the trip to Denver, got off the team bus entering #Blazers shootaround.

 

So Aaron Brooks will have a career night.

 

Brooks can't finish through contact so id give him at most 30 if his three is falling.

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If Aldridge doesn't play, I hope Stotts rewards Robinson with the start.

 

I'm sitting at a happy hour with Hobbes getting ready for the game. SlyPokerDog is on the other side of the table.

The pay scale is like this:

$20........spit in his appetizer
$50 ........spill his beer
$100 ......full Nicoli Spanish Nutsack Maneuver.

Stay tuned for Paypal account.