Game Thread PLAYOFFS: ROUND 1, GAME 1: BLAZERS @ LAKERS - AUGUST 18, 2020, TUESDAY, 6:00, TNT & NBCSNW

He must have not watched zach turn to trash in the bubble

 

Yea I can’t believe he would say that

 

Man this dude Zach Collins is sooooo overrated it is crazy to see. Not only do our fans sweat the fuck outta him I even notice the National Media drool over this dude.

 

What I like about a Dame lead team, especially one with Melo on it is, these guys aren't going to get hurt patting themselves on the back tonight. I think they know that this win could be huge for the team but it could also turn out to mean nothing. Neither team played to their potential on offense. Both teams showed up on defense. Due to the Lakers being in the bottom third of the league in three point shooting (both threes made and %) our D will probably hold up against them. Especially if we can get Zach back, we are very stout inside, hard to score on in there and we won't give up as many offensive rebounds going forward. Also while I expect that we'll continue to use our size and stay tough I think we'll do a better job managing our foul situation. I actually think we'll have games where we play even better defensively against these Lakers. I know we're going to have a lot of games where we play a lot better offensively against these guys. Maybe all of the commentators are right and we are the Lakers worst nightmare. If we can get three more wins and get past these guys it will give Zach and Nurk a lot more confidence going forward. I think we'll see Wenyen in the rotation now for good too. This series could springboard us into something special during these bubble playoffs and that may have started tonight.

 

It could be because Zach is really big and really athletic, he has really great footwork, he is really aggressive and his shot mechanics are nice. That's generally enough to have success in this league. He needs to hold onto the ball... that's a fact but we obviously could have used time from him tonight. In no reality did we win this game because Zach wasn't in it. It is nice that Stotts had to play one of our two young freak athletes tonight and I hope we see Zach and Wenyen share minutes at PF going forward but Zach could be very good. You've seen how he can defend the perimeter and the post, you've seen how he can hit outside shots, he's not lost out there like Meyers always was and he always brings effort. Holding onto the ball could be a big problem going forward or it could be correctable, he seemed to hold onto rebounds and passes during the playoffs last year so I think that it's just rust and it will come back with repetition. I don't know why you hate on the guy so much... I mean I know you are the ultimate hater but besides that, you're kinda stuck on hating on Zach. What's up with that?

 

He was selected in the top 10. I’m telling you if he was a late 1st rounder I wouldn’t mind him at all. Plus this heap and praise he gets is really unnecessary and it gets annoying. Now is he a bum? Absolutely not. He’s actually not bad at all BUT to the level of extent that a lot of folks put him at is what gets annoying. He’s a solid journeyman level player that has decent defense and can hit the occasional jumpshot. Imo that’s about it.

 

I think to this point in his career that's a little on the negative side but still a fair assessment. I think his skill set would get him a starting spot on a lot of teams... any team that looked at their starting power forward as their fifth or sixth best player. That's what he is to us... actually I think he's our seventh best player behind the other starters, Gary and Hassan. He just happens to have a skill set that is different than anyone else on the team (the threat of his outside shot is what differentiates him from Wenyen).

 

Read something on ESPN that is worth pondering. They said that prior to yesterday there had been 12 occasions when a #1 seed lost the first game of a best-of-7 series. 9 of those 12 bounced back to win the series.

This is no time to be over-confident.

 

Id love to bring in Marv Williams

 

Think what you want but deep down they hate us.
You should see all the painted Lakers faces all smeared with tears as they go home from the Rose Garden with yet another loss to us under their Gucci belts. Tell me they don't care.

 

52.3% of the voters predict the Blazers will win the series.

1. We have over half of our fans predicting that we best the Lakers in seven or less;
2. Why is that not 99%?

 

I agree. Davis is a handful and is going to be problems for any player. Gabriel was caught out of position a few times and he committed some fouls but he brought energy and he was effective at filling the role. Even scored a few points. Could not have asked more from a rookie in that situation. Now can he improve? He is obviously going to get some more minutes.

 

I knew I saw that during the game !

 

It's like judging a performance for how much money they make.

 

I didn't even go back and read it. Just watched the game and logged on and started posting. Way easier and more enjoyable. Let us know how the clowns ended up in the car and who was driving.

 

Nor to be overly grouchy.

 

He's in good company. The Oakland A's once traded three minor leaguers to the Cubs for a shortstop they wanted. The throw in was a washed up pitcher named Dennis Eckersley.

 

Kick him in the Tunchi