Game Thread PLAYOFFS: ROUND 1, GAME 2: PELICANS @ BLAZERS - APRIL 17, 2018, TUESDAY, 7:30 PM (PDT), TNT & NBCSNW

Please tell me people actually watched Popovich last night in his interview after the game.
In a nutshell he said he was very happy with his teams effort. He also said every team makes mistakes through a game and sometimes teams simply don't make shots. They get all the looks and the shots just don't fall. That is the game.
This was his response after the Warriors won going away and were clearly the better team on the court. He also said he couldn't be happier with the effort and ability Aldridge has shown not only during that game but the entire season.

"Gotta Make Shots"

 

Just went on line to look and see what tickets might be available for the game tonight.
There are an unusually large amount of unsold tickets for a playoff game available. Literally huge swaths of 100 level tickets in the corners unsold going for around $200. I'm thinking losing game one didn't help ticket sales a bit.
One thing seems weird? I thought round one game tickets were the same price as regular season prices?

 

$200 lmao, that's ridiculous

 

For a playoff game? 100 level? Not sure about that?

 

I think we lose this Game if the Plan is to make the shots we missed in the 1st Game. We need much more than that

 

Now the $100 300 level tickets? That seems ridiculous.

 

I just can't fathom paying $200 to go see a sport game

 

Well there is that. But i took my wife to Burgerville last week and got sticker shock. $30 dollars at the drive through.

 

I paid $250 for seats that are 7 rows off the floor tonight... I’d rather go to one game in really nice seats than 10 games in nose bleeds at $25 per ticket... yeah it’s overpriced but I just go to a couple games a year... watch the rest on my big screen in HD at home

 

This is the second best thread that could have happened

 

Without any snark (you can do it), I am curious which you would prefer (or other)--that the team crash and burn and rebuild to something better and stronger, or for the existing team to figure it out and progress to a higher level of basketball?

 

Something in between.

IMHO, this team, as built, is not a title contender.

Right now, like what seems like forever, we are stuck in purgatory. Fringe playoff team....don't give me 3 seed BS either. While it's great 3 games separated us and the 9th seed.... it's great for some fans, but not me.

 

If Meyers sees another meaningful second of court time this game, I'm gonna freak the fuck out.

 

Hopefully his 18 minutes tonight are a positive

#StottsMakesAnAdjustment
#AndHisNameIsMeyers
#ItsLeonardTime

 

I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone around here who has claimed that the Blazers are ready to contend for the title this year.

The way the West is stacked right now, there are two obviously superior teams and then about 8 others who could finish in any order depending upon health and a few breaks. That's not likely to change in the next year or two, barring LeBron deciding to take his talents for peanuts to one of the other 7 teams. The Blazers are in the same position as those other 8 teams: trying to improve without much in the way of cap space to do it.

Given that reality, the question is what does Olshey do? Your position over the past few years has always been the same: trade away what stars we do have for draft picks and rebuild through the draft. Olshey's plan seems to be to garner whatever assets he can, make the team as competitive as possible and win as many games as possible while guys like Nurkic and Collins mature, and be poised to make a trade that improves the team whenever one becomes available. I'm in favor of that plan.

 

Until this team moves to Maine, we’re not making the finals, no matter how many moves we make.

 

I don't know if you guys saw Inside the NBA on TNT after the Spurs/Warriors game last night but Barkley and Shaq discussed Nurkic after showing about five specific plays in which he got the ball in the middle of the key. Barkley said (this will all be paraphrasing) that the Blazers need to get him more than 7 shots in a game. Shaq pointed out that he should have taken a lot more shots if he'd be more aggressive attacking the hoop when he gets the ball. Barkley countered by saying that every example they showed he made the right basketball play and that if he is passing out to wide open shooters those shooters need to just make those shots. Shaq said he shouldn't ever pass the ball in those situations. Barkley again reiterated that he made the correct basketball play in every situation they showed. He then pointed out that it's not Nurkic's game to take several dribbles to get to the basket and that the gameplan needs to be designed to get him the ball in positions where he can score better and still give him the opportunities to pass out to open shooters as well. Shaq again disagreed and said it was just Nurk not being aggressive enough when he has the ball. Barkley agreed that he needed to be more aggressive but that his passing was really good and it's not his fault if guys aren't hitting their shots when he makes a good pass.

It was a really interesting conversation and one in which I agree with Barkley. Nurkic missed four shots in the game. Two of those four he got his own rebound and scored. One of the four Turner got the rebound and scored. I can't remember the 4th miss, I think it was on a 15 foot jump shot. He was 5 for 5 from the line. 11 points on 7 shots is good efficiency. The plays they showed on TNT should have resulted in about 5 assists. If other guys were hitting their shots he would've had close to a triple-double plus 2 blocks, instead he had 0 assists. How much different are we looking at him if he goes for 11 and 11 with 5 assists in a win?

 

Nurk has a bit of this Nic Batum attitude. I don't necessarily hate it, but it just needs to be different in the playoffs. He needs to understand that him going up strong for a dunk attempt (and possibly drawing a foul against their only real big) is a better option than passing to a wide open Turner on the wing for three.

We used to call it KYP in rec ball. Know your personnel. Don't pass it to Turner for three even if he is wide open. He's got years of basketball instincts telling him to make the right play-- hard to undo all that in one game.

 

I swear to god if Moe ends up being the reason we are great (again) I’m going to laugh all the way through my aneurysm. Because he probably makes two of those shots.