Portland has talent. They have one of the best offensive players in the league and one of the best defensive players in the league. A decent enough surrounding cast Dame, in all his greatness, had ZERO assists last night. Partially on him, partially on guys missing shots, and partially on the offense we run They shoot the ball well Poor rebounding Below average in assists and turnovers 27th in defensive rating But what is it specifically?
It's several things. Young(er) players who are either not as good as we hoped (Little especially). Young players who aren't as good as the team thinks they are (Watford for example). Young players who the fans think are better than they are (Walker). Only having 1 good defensive player (Nurk *can* be, but he's hurt and also such an enigma, you might as well say he's not). Only having 1 (healthy) player who can create for himself and others hurts. Having no height. Having players who either don't care about defense, or continue to make the same mistakes years into their careers. What exactly is the offensive and defensive system?
Nassir Little was the 25th pick in the draft and is shooting 40% from 3. What more were you looking for? Watford is shooting well from the field and from 3. He is a solid role player, and is payed like one Walker gets 9 minutes a game, and is usually in the right place on both ends of the floor. What fans think of him has nothing to do with the teams successes or failures Boom. Shitty defense is absolutely a problem…..AGAIN Another valid reason. A lot of teams aren’t loaded with players who are exceptional creators. Golden State uses motion to get guys open Fir me it’s length more than height, but yep Couldn’t agree more with the last part Great list, thank you for taking time to do it. I have my thoughts, but wanted to hear from others who had complete brains
I heard a long time ago that it is hard to be a great team if your best player is a pg. There are certainly exception to this rule, but I’ve always remembered that Not sure that’s the answer though
We're too short. We need one of these guys. Prefer one of the longer, better defenders. https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/...es-lead-stacked-list-ahead-of-2022-23-season/ We'll need a better coach to get over the top, but we're not likely to get one until we solve the PF problem.
That could be part of it. Basketball is a game where size is obviously important. Smaller players can certainly have an impact, but they are much more the exception than the rule in terms of leading a team to greatness. And as good as they may be offensively, they very rarely make an impact on both sides of the court. So Dame is this historically incredible scorer, who somewhat due to size, somewhat due to having never figured it out, can be trapped and that have his offensive impact diminished. We see it every Playoffs where opponent coaches can adjust schemes. He can't see over double-teams, and hasn't yet mastered anticipating and taking advantage of having 2 defenders 40' from the basket. This is certainly not all on him, but it starts there as he is the one with the ball. Then on defense, his size is a limiter, pure and simple. He is solid in the post because he is so strong for his size, but he continually gets blown by despite how quick he is and doesn't have the size to recover. So his whole career has seen his teammates having to cover for him. This is not dogging on Dame. It is simply what it is and why teams have rarely been led to greatness by a small scoring guard. In the last 15 years, 1 single player has been Finals MVP who was under 6'6", and that is the greatest shooter the NBA has ever known. In the past 32 years, it's been 4 times, once was Dame's own coach Chauncey Billups who wasn't near the scorer but a much better defender. In the last 50 years, 6 times, and only the Detroit Pistons were a team built on a small backcourt, but Dumars was one of the best defenders in the league at 6'3".....a complete anomaly. We have enjoyed Dame for years and some of the moments he has provided have been historically epic and there are more to come. But as amazing a scorer as he has been, that also historically has not translated to contender team success or led a team to greatness. The best team Dame was on had LaMarcus as the best player at the time. Dame would surpass him very soon, but those epic games Aldridge put up against Houston, Dame wasn't quite there yet. Then came the team injuries and that team was disbanded. No matter who has been added since, it hasn't worked and I'm not sure there is the time, assets or cap room to assemble those parts again. In the meantime, appreciate Dame for the time that is left.
For me, it's about consistency. He went from scoring 26 points, to 11, to 7 to 0. And 9 games before he scored 26 points, he averaged 5.4 points. He is who he is, and I really doubt he'll all the sudden turn the switch and be more than an invisible player out there. Can he have a role? Sure. But I think the biggest issue is, and admittedly some of it's due to injuries, they have players who are young and not good, getting backup minutes. of their top 8 players (Dame, *Simons, Jerami, Nurk, *Cam, *Thybulle, *Nassir and *Sharpe), they have 5 that are under 26 (I only include 26 because Matisse is turning 26 soon). You could even argue now that of the HEALTHY team, there is currently only 1 who knows how to win games. Sharpe, not yet. Thybulle, nope. Reddish, nope. Little, nope. Eubanks, nope. Grant is the only maybe of the bunch. And even *healthy*, I'd argue that they have 1 player who knows how to win, and 2 maybes, and the rest are no's. The team is too young, too small, and has no vet presence off the bench. Now, can this team GROW into a contender (with a little luck from Paul McCartney)? Sure. But will Damian want to stay that long and will that "contending" status just be contending for a playoff spot going forward? This year is all but done for. At this point, they might as well just play the living hell out of Shaedon, and see what he can do in game competition (besides alley oops and threes), because there is zero reason to compete for the playoffs now. And spare me (not you personally @Mediocre Man) the "they're only x games out of 4th!" . They've been "x" games out of 4th for a long time now, and haven't made ANY ground.
HEIGHT - and this is coming from a short guy. A BAD COACH - Chauncey was a great PG, but sometimes players just don't translate as coaches. INCONSISTENCY - For example Simons, Little, and Grant shoot well one night or one quarter and then are absent the other. INEXPERIENCE: The team is very young, relying a lot on rookies and formative players. UNFAMILIARITY: The Blazers just traded for several players and once again have to learn on the fly how to play together. FORMER 1ST SYNDROME - The Blazers are still going after former 1st round picks who haven't planned out, hoping they do and relying on them heavily in the plan moving forward. Well, Cam Reddish now anyway and the Blazers are starting him. Knox too, but he isn't getting minutes. Having him on the team is a waste of space. DEFENSE: The Blazers willingness or ability to play persistently adequate defense is quite clear. They are the worst defensive team in the league with a coach who supposedly professes defense. AN UNCLEAR SYSTEM - We see teams ahead of us play clear systems and play them confidently. The Blazers seemed confused about what they are supposed to do. They lose assignments on defense regularly and leave opponents open, there isn't enough movement on the other end. We often see our guys with the ball stop and not know what the fuck to do. Chauncey is trying for a system in which the team is fast breaking everytime down on offense then gunning back on defense. Instead of building a system around the the players he has, Chauncey is trying to force them into a system that's not working. Nurkic for example doesn't fit the system. Instead of Chau cry find better ways to utilize Nurkic, the Blazers best big is being alienated and scapegoated. The Players are getting too tired to finish games because of a lack of good rotations and a lack of identity on the floor of where they belong in his system. INJURIES - The Blazers have suffered injury after injury this season. There are always injuries, but it seems excessive this system. This may be an effect of forcing players into the above "system". Winslow has been out months with a sprained ankle. He is one of Portland's best defensive players. The Blazers would likely be up 4-5 or so games with him not missing that time. That's the difference between being on the outside looking in and being in the playoffs. Not to mention Nurkic who keeps injuring his calf trying to play in Chauncey's system. Every Blazer has pretty much spent time on the injured list. More than usual. It's hurt the team.
Not nearly enough length. Not enough guys who can create for themselves. Rely way too much on streaky jumpshooting. No ball movement. Can’t defend, awful at rebounding. Can’t defending other teams primary scorer.
Injuries are playing a part.....specifically when talking about hwo is injured....and where we are already deficient on the team: Too short.....Nurk is out and Eubanks can't pull that cart night in and out. There is a reason his dunks are clanks....he's a bit worn. Not enough ball handlers who can create their own offense and "Direct" the offense....Simons is out and I have my doubts for the rest of the year. Length....Nurk and Winslow out leaves a freeway up the middle in this defense. Defensive scheme? We either aren't able to consistently play this, or certain players are unwilling. We get lax defensively mid 3rd to early 4th quarter. When the opponent goes attack late in games, we don't counter. Youth, new players, and random lineups all erode consistency. As CC mentioned above, without Dame and Ant....there is a lot of passing to someone else, rather than execution of a plan.
Yep, honestly, there are maybe 4 players on this team that are good, and of the 4 of them, 1 is still a WIP, another one is a slightly advanced WIP. So that leaves 2 good players, and even one of those is a Jerome Kersey when the team needs a Scottie Pippen.
At this point I think it's coaching.....56-88 under Chauncey....most coaches won't get a third year with that record....Stotts is getting his last 10 mill this season from his contract buyout so next season that's off the books. Chauncey is likeable but admits he's still learning to coach which is not how championships are won. Unbalanced roster, injuries and lack of depth....teams feast on offensive rebounds against us...Dame or Hart should not be outrebounding Eubanks, Grant or Watford....I feel like we have no core identity and should have sold high on Nas and Ant last season. We need a backup big and a backup pt guard as well as a 6 man. This season seems like tryiouts for next season so far. When you lose a die hard fans interest like me....you're doing something wrong. When Grant started dating a reality tv star.....he got worse...see Tristan Thompson.Rogers is our defensive coordinator and he's coached our defense into the worst in the league.....I miss Terry Stotts at this point. Can't help but think he'd have coached this team to a better record than Chauncey has.
I think there are more than 4..... but the construction of the team is just bad, which leads me to believe that we're tanking. Cornerstones Dame Grant Inconsistent/Starter Quality players Ant Nurk Role players Thybulle Eubanks Winslow Projects Sharpe Little Reddish Walker Keon Watford Filler Scrubs Butler Knox Arcidiacono Badji The only players I really care to see back on the team next year are: Dame Grant Thybulle Reddish Sharpe Really could take it or leave it on Walker, Watford, Little, or Eubanks. Winslow is injury prone. Don't want to keep him around. Ready to trade Nurk and Simons. The rest could be cut.
