OFFICIAL AROUND THE NBA: APRIL 2023

Swinging a chair in the arena.
sounds just as idiotic.

 

I think it was running into balanced rosters with more talent. Olshey built poorly balanced rosters and poorly balanced payrolls. Opponents didn't have to worry about any consistent scoring or facilitating coming from the front court. There were 8 seasons between when the Blazers had Aldridge/Batum till they had Grant/Hart.

completely flexing a defense to stop Dame was successful because it took out Portland's best scoring option as well as the only player who could consistently run the offense. It was a 2-for-1 special. The only alternative the Blazers had when Dame was blanketed was CJ; and he didn't have the talent to consistently score or run an offense, even against single coverage by weaker defenders. Blazers simply had nobody, other than Dame, who could punish an opponent when single-covered. TALENT....or lack of

 

Hey I never said it wasn’t idiotic.

 

Side note but what happened to RoCo? Did we get the last ounce of talent out of him or did we just break his spirit? Dude fell off a cliff.

 

I didn't like how he played for us either. But it was a bit weird. He had a few good games for the Clips, but even more DNP. They had depth ahead of him, but they also had injuries too.

Brandon Boston was another one. Some Blazer fans were pissed we could not get him in the trade and he barely played either.

 

I thought RoCo played fine for his first season with us, but after that he was a total bust.

 

it's a curious case, but did he fall off a cliff or did he just become obsolete?...or something else? Look at his career marks vs marks this season:

PER: career 13.1...this season 14.2
TS%: career .556...this season .584
eFG%: career .524...this season .563
RebRate: career 10.5%...this season 11.9%
AssistRate: career 7.6%...this season 10.2%
Turn.Rate: career 12.7%...this season 11.5%
winshares/48: career .086...this season .117
DBPM: career +1.3...this season +2.1
BPM: career +0.5...this season +1.7

in just about every metric that isn't tied to minutes he was better this season than his career marks. So he was producing at levels better than his norms but still had 25-30 DNP-CD's. And he's actually younger than Dame.

 

You simply don't know. You have no idea. You make statements that absolutely have no basis for discussion. The only player they will keep if they draft him this year will be the #1 pick. After that it's a complete crap shoot and Dame has already said he doesn't want any more rookies.

 

First go back and read the comment again. Seems like you missed this part.

I can name 3 moves that would have made this team not just a little but a bunch better. I know you can as well.

Tanking for the 7th pick is never the right move. Not even 1 time out of 10. Now if that 90% chance that we don't get the #1 pick happens they will have wasted another year. You guys all seem to forget 4 teams have better odds at 6 of the top 7 picks.

Fact is you simply don't know what would have happened if they improved the roster at the trade deadline and made the playoffs. You simply don't know.

 

I agree they could have most definitely made the playoffs this year if they really wanted to. Like you said they could have offered more to get players at the deadline that would have allowed that. But I was ok taking the chance after the all-star break to tank one last time. But this city can't afford to tank as the Lakers did for 5 years because we don't attract star free agents to help the process like they do. This is also why I lean toward the don't trade Dame camp. Retool around him. It will take a little luck though, but I like our odds better at 5 than I do at 12-18

 

what moves you making? Were you on the line with Cronin where he was getting those playoff making moves? You simply don’t know what was or wasn’t offered. Or at what price….. pretty sure most of this board wouldn’t want to pull more Olshey moves and kick this can further down the road by offering picks that we really shouldn’t be giving up if it’s truly not moving the needle.

 

The fact is that even with Kawhi and PG13 out that team is very deep. In the regular season he averaged over 15 minutes per game when he played so the guy was in and out of the rotation. The rotation tightens up in the playoffs so he didn't see any minutes.

 

And unless those moves were for a bona fide star, we would have been just good enough to get our asses stomped in the first round.

 

Maybe he was only playing in garbage time? I honestly didn't watch the Clippers at all this year.

 

I'd say the decision to not try and win now was made a year ago last offseason - not at the deadline. The Blazers had no big man depth, a super injury prone center with only a 3rd string level backup in Eubanks. They had no size at backup PF or C spots. Undersized wings in Winslow and GP2, again whom were super injury prone. They had a bunch of projects throughout the roster such as Keon/Greg Brown/Jabari instead of veterans who could contribute winning minutes. They were hard capped so didn't have means to acquire a star in trades. They somehow got even smaller with more guards after Cronin said the main issue with the prior season was being undersized.

The Blazers built a roster to not go all out for wins last summer either consciously or subconsciously. That they made the decision in February to fully commit to the tank was the right move at that time; but only because the prior moves forced the team into a non winning position.

 

No complaints about Sharpe. IMHO he was the very best choice for a pick in that slot. Fact remains he is still 2 years away from truly being a factor. Seems like you have all forgot Dame ain't playing that anymore. When they get the 7th pick again they can hopefully find someone who wants that pick for someone who can help this team win.

 

This story definitely makes me not want KAT lol

 

Lol, not all playoff teams are created equal.

We are much closer to the Timberwolves than we are to the Heat, whom were in the finals recently and conference finals last year.

It’s not even a debate whether the playoffs are entertaining, of course they are, but *if* the goal is competing for championships it’s undoubtedly more beneficial for us NOT to make the playoffs.

Some on here say the goal isn’t championships, the goal is “fun” and “entertaining”. If that’s the case, of course squeaking into the playoffs and winning a game or even a series achieves that goal.