OFFICIAL AROUND THE NBA THREAD - June 2021

We lost due we didn't play any defense plus phoenix plays team basketball on offense and we got offense build around 2 guards that's the difference why we lost and phoenix is beating the hell out of Denver.

 

As fun as it is, to have a player that can go for 50 on any given night certainly doesn't mean the team is humming.
Phoenix spreads the ball around with CP bringing it up most the time and he doesn't the ball as much as Dame or CJ as he plays a more traditional pg game that gets others involved. If we do acquire another star forward he's going to want to have the ball come to him at least 13-16 times.
Utah like Portland has a small back court with Conley mostly dist the ball and playing D.

 

Somebody has already pointed this out, but this playoffs seems to mark the Return of the Center. Embiid, Jokic, Gobert, Ayton, all playing huge parts. Of course, the Nets are the counterexample, but then so were the Bulls back in the 90s heyday of Olajuwon, Shaq, Robinson, Ewing, Mourning et. al.

 

Not completely. Seriously a few WIDE OPEN looks in game three that didn’t fall and if ANYONE would have made a shot in game 5 the Blazers win that series.

 

Bulls had some very solid centers, not HOF'ers but very good.

 

Cartwright, Will Purdue, Luke Longley, Even had Robert Parish 96-97.
Agree. Not HOF but not bad either.

 

c'mon man....Minnesota has been in the lottery for 16 of the last 17 years and they aren't contending. The Kings have been just as bad in their 16 year lottery stretch

* in successive years, Portland had a 3rd, 2nd, 6th, 1st, and 11th pick and they didn't come close to contending

* Phoenix had a 10th pick in 2018 and they used it on Mikal Bridges, an excellent 'jack-of-all-trades-3-&-D-Wing'. Denver had a 14th pick in the same draft and landed Michael Porter Jr.

* Meanwhile, Portland had their wondrous 2017 draft when they could have added Bam Adebayo and Dillon Brooks; or Donovan Mitchell and Thomas Bryant; or John Collins, Jarret Allen and Dillon Brooks. Instead, they drafted Zach Collins and Caleb Swanigan. One of the biggest wasted opportunities in recent Blazer history

* Phoenix signed Jae Crowder and Cameron Payne while Portland was busy signing Mario Hezonja, Anthony Tolliver and Derrick Jones

* Suns traded for Chris Paul, Dario Saric, Cameron Johnson, and Torry Craig. Blazers traded for Kent Bazemore, Hassan Whiteside, RoCo, and Powell. A 4 of the Suns' acquisitions are in their playoff rotation. Two of Portland's targets are gone; One very well might have a Blazer career that lasts for only 32 games. And the 4th player cost two first round picks, and is a defensive specialist who helped the Blazers to a historically bad defensive rating

metaphorically, the Suns front office has been hitting doubles, triples, and homers while the Blazer front office has been bunting fouls, striking out, and piling up errors

 

I assume you are talking about Greg Oden and Brandon Roy. You understand the difference right?

 

Phoenix is good yes. But the Blazers shit the bed more than they suck is my opinion. No reason they should have lost that series.

 

what difference?...injuries? there's always some luck involved, good and bad

but in this case, I'm not sure how much of it was bad luck. I remember the reporting afterward (and I might have this reversed) about how the Blazer medical staff had red-flagged Brandon Roy because of his knees and yellow-flagged Oden because of unbalanced leg-length and uneven hip placement. The Blazer front office ignored their medical staff. That's not all just bad luck, that's bad decisions too

bottom line is that from 2005-2008, the Blazers had 5 lottery picks, four top-6 picks, and three top-3 picks. Three years later, only one of the players selected was still on the team. That's a horrible return for picks that high. That's a Wolves or Kings return

 

That's part of the game you do to win.

 

we already did

 

Wow blazers got smoked by an injured denver team still can’t believe it

 

One of the guys behind those picks is still in the league as Pres.

 

Just had a damn good slice of pie.......

 

Wut? You've said the Blazers are trash and they suck repeatedly. Why can't you believe it?

 

i was hoping I was wrong