Game Thread GAME THREAD: Game # 27 Miami Vs. Portland.

So is Aminu a good 3 point shooter now or is that a fluke ?? If he's for real Stotts needs to figure out that he HAS TO START AT SF. We've been wanting a solid 3&D sf for years !

 

Dame:
"CJ can go out there and have a huge game, I can go out there and have a huge game and (we can) go steal one from somebody," Lillard said. "And then you can have it done by committee with everybody pitching in and guys doing things that you need them to do to be successful. That's the way that you prefer to have it and I think that's how we got it tonight."


Man, get this guy some help. He keeps going like this, he's gonna burn out by March.

 

Dame is gunna be like Herm Edwards by March. "You play to win the game!" Over and over.... he'll be having a battle with himself about whether or not to throw in the towel.

 

I didn't get to watch the game live because of work, and couldn't watch the replay last night because I went to see Star Wars.

I just finished watching the replay, and the things that stood out to me were:

Lack of turnovers. We average 14.1 turnovers per game, we only had 11. Dame averages 2.9 TPG, he only had 1. Nurkic averages 3, he didn't play.

Fulltime Score
Us - 102
Them - 95

Point Off Turnovers
Us - 12
Them - 18
That's the game right there.

Baz's defence.

Pat's all-round glue like ability.

 

I'm watching a replay of an NBL game right now, and another couple of things about this game occurred to me (my team is losing, so my mind is wandering), specifically about the last quarter.

We seemed to play at a faster pace than usual in the fourth. We never let the Miami defence settle, and attacked almost as soon as we brought the ball up the court. Almost SSOL.

Both Dame, and CJ attacked the rim consistently, and aggressively in the fourth. That's not that unusual for Dame, but sometimes he seems to stop driving when he's not getting calls. This game he kept on attacking, forcing the refs to make calls in the end. CJ seems to usually drive, but take step-back fade-aways; he was much more direct in the last quarter. I think CJ attacked the rim more last season, but seems to have gone away from it so far this season; hopefully this game signals a change to a more aggressive play style.

All of that said, this may have a lot to do with Miami playing small ball for much of the fourth quarter, and us being nine points down, so having to play fast, and aggressive. It will be very interesting to see if Dame, and CJ play this way against Orlando, and Charlotte.

 

I really enjoyed this game. Lot of guys played well and

Yeh, the turnover margin has been a big indicator of whether we win or lose this season. What worried me is we did well without Nurkic and Harkless, and more enjoyable to watch. Coach really needs to make it work with Nurkic again. Not much doable with Harkless, it's sad that he is not even a trade asset anymore.

 

Obviously that's big for any team, but it really has been a bugbear for us not just this season, but last season also.

The fulltime score differential was 7 pts to us, the fulltime points off turnovers differential was 6 points in our favour; that's pretty much the game right there.

I agree, but I don't think it's just the coaches responsibility. Nurk, and our playmakers (Dame, CJ, ET, Baz) all need to make it work as well.

I think something can be done, but I reckon it's up to Harkless to snap out of the funk he's in. It seems to me like it's all in his mind, and he's just chucking a massive tanty.