Game Thread SEEDING GAME# 4: BLAZERS @ NUGGETS - AUGUST 6, 2020 - THURSDAY, 5:00, NBCSNW

Not at all. They predicted the Blazers would get to the WCF last year. They did. Now granted, that was before Nurk's injury. But they said it, and it happened anyways.

 

Remember when people said Hassan is better than Nurk? Good times. We are talking about entire different level, the whole team is so much better.

 

If you can win a championship with a Jaren Jackson Sr/Avery Johnson backcourt (1999) you can win with a Dame/CJ backcourt. Having two awesome guards is never a problem. They’re very similar to Pistons who won two titles with Isaiah Thomas and Joe Dumars. You remind me of when people said you can’t win a title with Sheed. Sheed was never the problem. It was the team around him.

 

Also- a big reason Dame and GTJ had big games tonight was because Denver still had nightmares about Game 7 and were doing all they could to stop CJ. We don’t win that Game 7 without CJ to take pressure off Dame. Trent is not as good as CJ. He’s getting open looks off of defenses focusing on Dame/CJ. Ask Trent to be the man and it’s a different story. We went through this argument with Crabbe. People were so convinced he’d average 18 ppg for the Nets.

 

CJ will be called upon to be huge in coming games, and i believe he will deliver. I don't compare GT to Allan though. GT is wayyyyyyy better. I liked Crabbe, but he was no GT. GT has special written all over him.

 

The only problem with the Aminu Harkless pairing was Blazer fans’ overemphasis on offense and underemphasis on defense. Aminu & Harkless did not disappear on defense. They also didn’t lose 2-3 possessions a game to stone hands. They didn’t have egos that needed to back a guy down for a 34% low IQ shot three times a game. With Dame, CJ, and Nurk they didn’t need to be world-beaters on offense. They just needed to knock down an occasional 3 or make a back door cut dunk once in a while. They were significantly better than Melo Collins.

 

Shooter

 

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Comparing CJ to Dumars is so, so off. Joe Dumars defense was fantastic and he would always defer to Isiah and mostly just hit spot up threes, oh and get points in transition from turnovers he created. Mario Ellie started for the Spurs during their first championship run, Jaren Jackson Sr. did get a lot of run though, both of them were great defenders and the Spurs team is not comparable to our team because their two best players were Duncan and Robinson. So please don't throw out random shooting guards from championship teams that only further prove my point that CJ isn't a fit and then say they are examples of why he is. Early on I was in the keep CJ club and I would compare him to Joe Dumars and I would swear that CJ's defense would get way better and that eventually he would realize that he should take open jumpers more and try to run the offense less, I was wrong on all accounts. I don't think I'm wrong now but it is just my opinion.

 

Except that they just beat both the 4th and 3rd seed teams in the west? Are you gonna say those teams had injuries?

 

While I liked how we played, the Nuggets were missing a lot of key players and didnt bring Jokic back into the game after sitting him with 3min left in the 3rd.

If we had been healthy all season I think we wouldve been in the same range where you now have the other 6 (minus Lakers) teams fighting for seeding. They're 4 to 5 games apart from each other, so saying we would have made the playoffs for sure is basically saying the same as us having had a chance at being tge #2 team in the West.

In a 7 series round, I still like out chances vs a healthy Denver squad, although theyve become better with MPjr and BolBol added. We 'added' Trent and have Melo now in a clear role.

 

I totally think we would have been the third seed in the West if we would have been fully healthy. That being said, we would have been the 5th best team in the league and the gap between 4 and 5 would have been sizable. Until we address our perimeter D, we are going to be on the outside looking in as far as titles are concerned. We might make it to another conference final but we're not going to be the champions. I think we can get this team to where it needs to be with just a few moves, we're really not that far away.

 

Way too much hand wringing about perimeter defense. Every team in the league runs pretty much the same options and deals with open perimeter shots. If a team spaces the floor well they will get open looks from three. Dame, CJ and Trent do a fine job getting to shooters. Great shooters make shots. Go read a opposing teams forum when Dame lights them up. They all talk about not being able to guard a three point shot. It's like its a talking point on daily talk shows so it's the sexy thing to say to make the person look smart. Que Hoops and Bones......

 

This game has and always will be about making buckets and playing aggressive defense. Energy breeds energy. Too many people way overthink the game.

 

Denver did play pretty shit perimeter D on Dame last night, not that it would have really mattered since Dame was on fire. I mostly agree with you though, NBA players are good shooters, news at 11.

 

which is exactly what was said about Harkless for his first 2-3 years in Portland. "if-he-could-just-do-this-most-games" seemed like his middle name. Maybe Zach will step above the Harkless level he's in right now, but Zach will be 23 in three months. When Nurkic was 23 he was consistently posting double-doubles. Zach is a year older than Michael Porter Jr.; 2 years older than Jaren Jackson; and the same age as John Collins. So, the 'he's young' excuse is wearing thin

I think his defensive impact is being a little overrated as well. I'm seeing flashes of it, but no consistency. I think that's especially true when he switches onto perimeter players, mainly SF's. Zach is mobile, but he's going to get in trouble if he spends much time guarding guys like Lebron, Kawhi, PG13, and Doncic

 

I agree

comparing Dame/CJ to either the Detroit Duo or the Spurs duo is just nuts. There only real comparison is they were all short guards (although Dumars had a great wingspan).

unlike CJ, Dumars could actually resemble a PG. He could run an offense and was a much more willing passer; he didn't get hooplock like CJ does. More importantly, Dumars was a 6 time all-star, made 3 all-NBA teams, and was 1st team all-NBA defense 4 times and 2nd team once. He was elite on defense, and that was a great complement to Isiah Thomas (who was probably better than Dame defensively).

the Spurs duo comparison is even more loony. Those two Spurs guards only started 13 of the 50 regular season games, and none in the playoffs. The comparison goes down the crapper right there. Then there's the factor that the Spurs combo combined for a 35% usage rate, while Dame/CJ combine for 56% usage...of course, those Spurs guards were passing to Duncan, Robinson, and Elliot

and that's the big issue: Olshey has set the Blazers up so CJ is option 1b. CJ is only taking 0.7 fewer shots a game than Dame. That would be OK if CJ was elite in efficiency, but he's not. At best, he's barely average. And he's weak defensively as well as being undersized for a wing

and of course, CJ has the salary of option 1b. He has all-star salary but he has never sniffed an all-star game. And try to figure out how Portland could afford Nukic and Trent combining for 45-50M/year if Dame/CJ are combining for 80-85M. That's a real interesting puzzle. Something has to give

 

Some players really can't be defined by stats and I think Collins is one of those type of players. He's fine as you have to understand he is only 7 games into this season.

 

it sure seems like fate is setting up a Blazers/Lakers 1st round matchup

I'm already bracing for lopsided officiating. I'll go ballistic...or get drunk...if Kyle Kuzma and Alex Caruso are getting superstar whistles while Dame is getting mugged

 

We have plenty of bashing McCollum threads and this is a game thread. McCollum has to be one of the most under appreciated players to ever play for the Blazers.

 

I would recommend stocking up on whiskey then.