Dalano Banton Gives the Trail Blazers Options & How the Pelicans Slowed Down Deandre Ayton

Dalano Banton Gives the Trail Blazers Options & How the Pelicans Slowed Down Deandre Ayton

In today’s show the Blazers lose to the Pelicans and Delano Banton continues to show how he can change the Dynamics of the team welcome to locked on Blazers let’s get into it you are locked on Trailblazers your daily Portland Trailblazers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every

Day what’s up World your past first point guard and Trailblazers repor Mike Richmond listen to another episode of Locked on Blazers part of the locked on podcast network available wherever you get podcasts and also on YouTube thanks for making this show your first listen coming at you each and every weekday

Monday through Friday so make it a part of your daily routine make it your first listen tell your friends to do the same it’s locked on Blazers your team every day in today’s show we’re going to talk about the Blazers loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday evening a

Game that was competitive up until it wasn’t in the fourth quarter Delano banson continues to show how he offers the Blazers more options he just gives them um new looks to do different stuff we’ll talk about his continued uh his continued play and kind of what he what

He brings in in a sort of larger sense a bigger picture uh looking forward with the Blazers and why he why he could be part of the the long-term plan just in addition to him playing pretty well recently and then uh what I want to do

To close the show is talk about the way the Pelicans guarded DeAndre Aiden they kind of shifted how they guarded him in the second half uh and they I don’t know if they showed like a quote unquote blueprint to shut him down but they showed um a look that when when Aon has

Had some quiet games recently and he had a quieter second half after a big a very loud first quarter how teams might guard him in the future and what the Blazers can do to counter those types of looks that’s what we will do in today’s show

But first let’s do what we do fastest recap in the west Blazers lose this game 126 107 uh it was close throughout and basically until the game was not close in the first half of the of fourth quarter and then it was lights out 3633

Pells after one uh 73 68 at halftime I high-scoring game nobody had any trouble scoring in this game Delano banson 20 points four boards four assists on eight of 15 shooting in the first half Zion Williamson though 20 points on nine of 11 shooting blaz didn’t really have an

Answer for Zion so even if Delano banson had a career-high half career high for any half but career high in the first half um career high for a half in the first half he’s had he had bigger games reasonbly for the Blazers uh but like even with ZB rolling along and a hot

Start from the Andre Aiden it didn’t matter cu the pels just they they had 73 points like they were just they were rolling right along getting whatever they wanted um and that continued third quarter uh pels got their first double- digit lead of the game it was it was

Single digits throughout uh the first the first half the Blazers just refused to go away playing this game without Jeremy Grant and without matis thel uh and then pel Clos have a nice little close to the third quarter they take a 10-point lead into the fourth and the

Game just ends in the first 6 minutes of the quarter um the Blazers were out scored 2415 in the fourth um not like you know 24 is is a pretty good number to hold a team to quite frankly that’s like that’s a nice number but 15 that that’s the real problem blazes scored

Five points in the opening six minutes of the of the quarter uh Jabari Walker hits a three scoot Henderson makes a layup with 10 minutes and 43 seconds left Jabari quarter three scoot layup Scoot a little reversed uh Blazers have you know they’ve they’re hanging around they’ve cut that lead

Back to 10 we’re about a minute and 15 seconds into the into the quarter and then they go three and a half minutes without scoring 3 minutes and 23 seconds before scoot Henderson gets a fast break layup in that time it’s not like the pels ran off and hid but they built a

They went on a little 70 run over that course of of three minutes the Blazers turned the ball over three times during that stretch two ay Simons turnovers and a Delano Banton turnover you don’t even get shots up and all of a sudden a 10-point lead is a 17-point lead with

Six minutes left and the Blazers just aren’t good enough on offense to like rip off a plus 18 spurt in the final six minutes like they’re just they’re just not going to do that uh and that was that was pretty much your ball game that stretch of of the fourth quarter uh

Blazers lose 126 107 a 19point loss in the end uh that’s your fastest recap in the west Delano Banton 20 in the first half eight points in the opening 5 minutes of the third quarter didn’t score in the final 19 minutes of the game but he was hooping 20 finishes with

285 and six uh athrey Simons I don’t think athrey Simons played that well in this game and he had 25 and eight assists like respect it five of 10 from three n 19 of 18 from the floor uh watching him I didn’t feel like this was

A good ant game and then the box score it’s like he made half his shots he made five three-pointers he had 25 points uh four rebounds and eight assists maybe my maybe my eyes deceive me uh DeAndre aen 20 points uh took five shots in the opening 8 minutes of this

Game took eight shots in the final 40 minutes of this game we’ll talk about that more to close the show uh to Kamar I thought he had a really nice game 11 points and six boards uh Chris Murray got the start he went scoreless Jabari Walker back in the lineup baby finished

With 10 points and five rebounds Off the Bench Ryan ruper also back in the lineup after some games where he was apparently healthy but the reporting from some local reporters suggest that he was despite being on the active list and being announced as available by the team

Was not going to play because of an ankle injury wow I can’t believe the Blazers would be incredibly obtuse and bizarre with injuries under Joe Cronin I’ve just could never experience that that is a shock to me scoot Henderson came off the bench finished with 11 points two boards two assists two steals

Uh Blazers lose this game because they turned the ball over too many times um they took 13 less shots than than the uh than the Pelicans that’s basically the difference in the game Blazers shoot 50% from the floor and they make 12 of 30 33 threes that’s 36% that’s like

Right below the league average Pelican shoot 54% from the floor and 39% from three but they made one more three 13 threes to 12 um free throws Blazers made hit of eight 11 of 12 Pelicans nine of 10 like the the just the shooting numbers are pretty similar across the

Board like pel shot a little better from Two and a little better from three but like really similar across the board the difference is the Pelicans took 97 shots and the Blazers took 84 and if you if you add in your free throw attempts the Blazers had 96 shooting possessions

Compared to 107 shooting possessions 11 11 fewer shooting possessions the Blazers turned the ball over 20 times the Pelicans turn the ball over 10 that’s that that’s the difference in this game um you know I think there’s like a little more to it than that you had uh Zion Williamson had the monster

First half with 20 and then he only has six in the second half because CJ McCollum carried them in the second half he finished with 30 and hit six of 12 threes uh Trey Murphy hit four threes and finished with 20 points Brandon had 22 and I thought uh I thought he he

Didn’t shoot that well but I thought the Blazers had to give him enough defensive attention that made it easier for folks I thought Naji Marshall came in he finished with 11 and had some had some had some good minutes and a really nice spin move in the bucket and Jose

Alvarado came in and annoyed people and got does what he does he came he comes in and plays like a pest and he was effective finished with seven points uh the the Pelican’s ability to go small change to this game um they you know they didn’t get killed in the glass

Blazers 10 offensive rebounds Pelicans 10 offensive rebounds it’s like the Pelicans could go small and not get killed in the glass the Blazers who typically do get monstered on the offensive glass that that wasn’t the problem the problem was turnovers and a bad six-minute stretch to open the

Fourth quarter that’s the difference in this one uh I want to talk about two things to to to finish out the show today I want to talk about Zano Banton who continues to show that he can give the Blazers options he just does enough stuff to give the Blazers options uh

Let’s let’s talk about him and then I want to talk about DeAndre Aiden to close the show before we get there though I want to tell you that today’s episode is to you by the good folks over at LinkedIn look if you’re running a small business and you you you know that

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Using LinkedIn for hiring so why not join the gang post your job for free at linkedin.com loock onba that’s linkedin.com Lockton NBA to post your job for free terms and conditions apply oh right let’s let’s talk about Zano banson um to put it short he had he had a

Really good he had a really good game against the Pelicans um I think I think I’ve seen enough of banson play like I I I said you know when the Blazers first traded for him that I’m like I’m just inclined to enjoy his style of player

He’s kind of like a funky large guard who’s maybe not a great shooter um but he’s got like this sort of unique skill set in a unique frame and I I am like predisposed to enjoy that style of player that’s a style of player I like no doubt about it um

So like with that said I think I’ve seen enough of him to know some of his limitations at this point like he was really good in this game and on the year for the Blazers in 16 games he’s playing about 25 minutes a night he’s averaging 144 and 2.8

Assists 4.3 rebounds if you want to get into it but the big numbers are that he’s shooting 38.7% from three on 4.7 attempts per game he’s taken four and a half threes a night he’s making almost 39% of them coming into this coming into this to the his Blazers tenure he had

Never shot north of 35% on a team uh his rookie year in Toronto 25% uh his second season in Toronto 29% south of south of 30% from three in a very limited run across uh across 24 games with uh with Boston TW uh 125% from three like didn’t

Shoot well in college didn’t shoot well didn’t you well in the previous stops in the league uh didn’t you well in some in some uh limited uh g-league runs but like with the Blazers he has shot well and I don’t know if that’s real right he’s going to his next made

Three-pointer he will have more made threes in a Blazers uniform than his first three stops combined his two years in in Toronto and his partial season with the Boston Celtics in Toronto 13 of 51 for three his rookie year 15 of 51 for three his second season and in Boston in just 24

Appearances he was two of 16 from three uh that’s 30 total made threes across two and a half Seasons with the Blazers in 16 games he’s made 29 threes he’ll match his his his career output from three heading into you know you know when he makes his next

Three-pointer he’s had um you know of late he’s had games where he made you know four threes against Houston five threes against Toronto he made four threes last night the shooting is going to be the the skill that like allows him to be a really Dynamic

Player I don’t know if it’s real like I don’t I really don’t I don’t know if it’s real um I think watching matis thel who was like a non-shooter like a kind of a below average career shooter come here and in the Blazers uniform and spend half the season shooting well and

About next half the season shooting well and then kind of like come back down really hard to his League averages I I kind of believe the Nerds that you you need to it’s about 700 threes for the 7503 Point attempts for things to stabilize so I don’t know like I don’t

Know if if if you can just say oh yeah Delano Banton is good shooter now but I I will tell you this factually he’s shooting well in a Blazer’s uniform and if he is a good shooter he really changes it really changes things I mentioned in a previous episode that um

I don’t know if that Delano banson has outright earned a spot on next year’s roster like guaranteed the Blazers have 14 guaranteen contracts if they were and his contract is partially guaranteed he would be the 15th guy that’s a full roster right like um it if I don’t think they can just straight

Up run it back they’ve got two first round picks two second round picks like parts are going to move around this summer by virtue of not doing anything at the trade deadline they’ve made it so they absolutely have to do something in the summertime to um get cheaper and

Just like change the way the roster looks you cannot run it back with the same group um I mean you can do whatever you want they should not run it back with the same group uh so I I don’t think my opinion has largely changed on banson like I I don’t

You know I’m not um I was a history major in college but you don’t need to be like a deep historian to remember his most recent outing which is on Thursday night against the Knicks when he went six of 20 and had five turnovers it’s

Not like you know like I I don’t need to go that back that far in time to remember a night when Delano Benton wasn’t exceptional so while I think he was legitimately good against the Pelicans 20 in the first half um you know he’s quiet down the stretch but but

Just like kind of the way it was more flow of the game than I thought he started playing poorly you know he misses some shots that he made in the first half but um mostly flow of the game while he stopped scoring late in this one but like the real the the the

Sort of larger picture stuff is I I don’t think my opinion on banson has greatly changed I think he still like gives the BL he still makes well he probably hasn’t outright earned a guaranteed you he absolutely has to be part of the team next year he has

Continued to take steps to be the part to to take steps to make it the decision more difficult where it’s like well we we we like him and he’s played well here and now we to make some other decisions and those other decisions should probably allow us to carve out space for

Delano Banton to be a part of the bench units or or or whatever unit but like a you know a guy who plays some of the game some of his best nights recently have been volume nights like he’s just playing a lot and he’s getting a lot of

Shots like the night he scored 20 30 he took 27 shots I that’s like there is a real skill and the Blazers are are missing that skill of just like being able to get shots like the shot creation skill and he certainly has that and I think that’s valuable to this specific

Team right now but like you know um the the like oh this is Delano Banton I think that kind of misses the larger decision-making here’s the larger decision-making banson allows the Blazers to do stuff that’s different because he can play on the ball because

He has a little bit of enough of on ball juice to like get to the rim and he’s shooting well but like enough craft to get to the rim and to get fouled that he can play on the ball and get some respect as someone who plays on the ball

And even when teams go under he takes big strides and he’s um and he’s long and crafty and can get to the rim and and make plays around the rim so he can like he can even as like a a shooter who doesn’t get treated like a shooter he

Still has been able to make plays on offense and that allows anrey Simons to play off the ball and I think one of the issues with anrey Simons this year his big biggest weakness has been dealing with physical double teams um you know he doesn’t make great decisions out of

It he can get overpowered a little bit but he’s a great off ball shooter like he’s a great um catch and shoot shooter he’s a great guy to like play off the ball and play and and he can play be a good pick and roll play it’s just like

If you give a steady diet of anrey Simons dribble across the timeline it’s maybe not the best way to use him Delano Banton allows anrey Simons to play off the ball that that is legitimately helpful they also played him at the end of this game against the Pelicans as a

In a three guard lineup like they played him um they they played him as uh as a I mean I guess he playing small forward he’s big like six 6 seven 68 but he’s I don’t think you would have want a steady diet of him as a small forward because I

Don’t think you’re going to get as there’s going to be some defense give back with with what he brings just um little stretches though like little stretches where you know four five six minute stretches where he’s playing some small forward you can get away with that

Because of his size and because like um not every team is going to be able to attack you and mash you with big wings some teams are it’s not going to work but Banton gives you a chance to play three guards so you have three guys who

Can dribble to the rim and get get shots off if you’re playing with um you know playing with two two two Dynamic guards be it Shaden sharp or um or scoot Henderson next assignment or the two youngsters together um that Dynamic is something that other Wings on the roster

Don’t possess no one else that they have who is like a small forward type other than than sharp and sharp doesn’t have the off the dribble game yet you really hope he gets there in year three but he doesn’t have the off the dribble craft

That Banton does yet um he was he was getting there but like he hasn’t shown it with consistency he’s better um he’s better with single dribble moves and straight line drives um but he’s but I I think Shane sharp showed enough when he was the best version of Shaden sharp was

Pretty good in the pick and roll so I don’t I I don’t want to take it away from him entirely but of the you know of the non- sharps non- ants non non scoots is like who else can dribble and creates and get themselves where they want to go

Banton adds that Dynamic so uh you know his his contract for next season is partially guaranteed at $200,000 then fully non- guaranteed beyond that which means that they could just bring them on the roster you get paid for the for the you know get paid 200 $200,000 for being

On the roster you get paid you know money every day for being on the team and then there is a no risk you can wave them and you don’t owe him a dollar after that in January and move forward from there or obviously you can keep them and sign him to another contract

Etc etc if he earns it he’s a really lowrisk type of player he has you know the $200,000 is not the type of money that is going to wildly change your decision-making it’s basically free to to kind of keep them around and see what the deal is um you know if they get

Right up against the tax line maybe $200,000 ends up mattering and we’ll see what they do they got a lot of decisions to make this summer they need to trade multiple players in order to even field a reasonable roster next year that isn’t outrageously expensive and they’re not

Going to have an outrageously expensive roster but Banton has continued to show that um the off the dribble game I don’t think he’s been a great passer but he certainly can pass um the off the dribble game the the shoot the Imp the vastly improved shooting and just the

Size that package is something that they do not have in other players he adds a dynamic and allows them to play different ways and allows them to play with if he plays the two guard allows him to play with size across the board and switch across the board and johy

Bips wants to switch across the board that’s his preference he gives you a dynamic that others that other players on the team don’t he offers this he offers a really intriguing Dynamic and that’s even if he regresses back to being like a below average shooter um

You know if he’s shooting 25% like he did early in his career that’s that might be a challenge but in more you know generally speaking uh like if he if he shoots decent and he does the other things that he does well he offers a dynamic that they that they need and and

Then would be absolutely intriguing to them for kind of what he brings to the table particularly considering what his teammates bring to the table he does something that they don’t okay the Pelicans changed how they guarded DeAndre Aton in the second half of this game and it really took da and and the

Blazers out of out of sort of their bread and butter with with their Center who had been on a role as of late uh let’s talk about what they did and what that means sort of going for forward uh for the Blazers because I I think it was

A defensive look that other teams will employ at some point and how the Blazers respond to it is um will be telling uh moving forward will be a key to deandre’s continued growth and Effectiveness that’s what we’ll do to close the show first let me tell you

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Listening to locked on Blazers deand dton took five shots in the opening 8 minutes of this game he was cooking he was rolling and he has been rolling and it was going to be another one of those games where he just pours it in from 15 to 17 ft gets a

Couple put back buckets and all of a sudden it’s on and he’s got 30 and 15 and it’s like wow da da only takes jumpers but he makes 60% of them and he just and he lit up another team CU they couldn’t do anything about it and early

In this game the Pelicans could not do anything about it then they changed how they were guarding him at halftime they made a couple different tweaks one they changed his primary assignment in the first half they had yonas Valen chunis on him in the second half even with

Valent Tunis on the floor they put jv on uh tumani Kamara and they moved uh and they moved Zion Williamson over on on U on to Da that allowed the uh the pels to switch but it also just allowed them to have someone with a little more foot

Speed that wasn’t going to get worried about getting run by and they were going to have to Sag off so Zion could just straight up crowd da on on his catches and not let him even if he was going to shoot over the top he’s going to shoot

Over the top with a crowded base da took 13 shots in this game that’s that’s the problem um you know he takes he doesn’t really take threes he did take one in this game again tat Kamar Kamar as the roller da in the corner they’re starting to figure out 60

Games into the year um but like he doesn’t take threes and he doesn’t take free throws he takes jumpers and he doesn’t really drive to the rim on his own and he doesn’t really pass he’s not like he’s I definitely improved as a passer for sure a lot this year but like

Da does his damage by catching the ball in his spots jab step jab step jump shot or roll to the rim finish or put backs like he’s not he’s not going to drive from the three-point line to the rim he’s not um he doesn’t really Mash

Post-ups that way like he just he does what he does and he’s been pretty darn effective at it but because he has a very specific way of getting to what he wants to do he relies on his teammates to get him what he wants to do like

That’s just the nature of it I mean plenty of bigs in the league like need an entry pass it’s just da needs an entry pass like at 15 ft with a little bit of space um he’s he he has a unique skill set uh and he was cooking early

And he was and he had a jumper and he had a he had he had a putback he had a jumper from the left wing he had a jumper from the like just you know top of the key just just inside the three-point line like he was getting

What he wanted he had a pick and roll jump shot where where Brandon Ingram was a little bit late he hit it right over the top Brandon Ingram sorry so the so the pels switched up they first they took the big big slow Center off and put

A smaller quicker defender on him um and then when they went smaller with Jeremiah Robinson Earl JRE Off the Bench they they continued to switch stuff um the they were showing two on the ball to Anthony Simons so when they ran a pick and roll the Blazers bread and butter as

An Anthony Simons DeAndre aen pick and roll when they when they ran a roll they would still show two on the ball maybe not a full-on trap but a hard hedge to keep amre zimon like from getting downhill and then make him get the ball

Out of his hands and get to DeAndre in that in that shooting pocket in in the pocket between that double team and the player behind him uh but so if they’re guarding a pick and roll with amre Simons and DeAndre aen they were having three Defenders guard the two players in

The pick and roll in the second half they were way up higher on the catch they were just so much faster to DA’s airspace on the catch and for the most part da made the right reads he caught the ball and he swung it to a shooter in the third

Quarter DeAndre Aiden took three shots he took the aforementioned Corner three-pointer he had a putback bucket and then he had a little putback when he grabbed a rebound and made a jump shot two putbacks two offensive rebound shot attempts and a three he did not take a

Single one of his mid-range attempts in the third quarter he did not get to his bread and butter because the Pelicans would not let him that’s going to be key moving forward the when when and uh you know da lit up the t-wolves best offensive team

In the league he lit them up shot like 90% from the floor missed one shot 11 of 12 I think the next night they played or played two games the second time they faced him the the the the Wolves treated da the same way they still sent two of

The ball but the the weak side guy the third man who’s usually rotates over came all the way up on the catch and said we’re going to make you pass we’re not going to give you a free run to the rim we’re not going to give you a jump

Shot we’re going to get right up in your air space if you’re going to shoot it you’re going to shoot it over length and what we want you to do is pass it because the Blazers don’t have a bunch of Shooters I think this is the way that

Good teams will guard DeAndre moving forward because of what he does um he he rolls to 15 ft he wants to shoot and everybody knows it um and the Blazers don’t have Shooters but what I what I thought watching this game is two things one um da still had 20 and8 despite this

Because he got going early um and two what if they just like this what his skill set kind of shows you you don’t need to squint too much but you can squint a little bit you’re going have to squint a little bit on this one is like a pick and roll Duo and

Particularly when he runs it with ant because they don’t treat everyone else the same but a pick and roll Duo that demands you guard two guys with three guys opens up the court it opens up the court and if da and I think he’s improved a ton as a passer this year I

Don’t think he’s he’s not like a high level passer at this point by any means um um and that’s one of the reasons they can’t like throw post-ups to him he’s not very good he doesn’t not like he’s not like a dominant postup guy he wants

To shoot facing the basket um and uh you know if he was a really dominant postup guy who could Mass Mash switches and pass out of the post he’d be a different player he’s not that but his decision- making um on the short roll stuff has

Improved a ton this year it’s improved a ton he’s just better at it he’s better at making the reads quicker he’s like kind of knows he knows where his guys are going to be he’s just he’s he went from being pretty darn bad it with like really slow decision- making too he’s

Gotten significantly better it’s just when you’re kicking to tman Kamar and you’re kicking to Chris Murray and you’re kicking to Ryan ruper and you’re kicking to jaari Walker these are below average three-point Shooters have a pick and roll combo that demands two that Demands a third Defender get into the action because da

Is such a good 15ot shooter and have Shooters on the wing that’s an offense like that’s that’s a that is a go-to halfcourt offense that the Blazers currently don’t have even if they’re non-shooters how about just a guy you can swing it to and can attack a close

Out right now the Blazers don’t even have a bunch of dudes that can do that tman kamaro showed a little bit of it I thought he was good in this game um attacking but he’s not like this Dynamic driver slasher even another like an okay shooter who could slash catch play off

The catch when Da gets uh when Da gets that third Defender involved catch it drive drive the close out and get to the Rim Drive the close out and and draw more defense then you swing swing kick kick you know kick kick swing all the all the good stuff of a modern NBA

Offense like I felt while the Pelicans like limited DeAndre Aon to just eight shots in the final 40 minutes of this game and they kind of took him out and the Blazers offense disappeared in the fourth quarter and he was on the court for that stretch um I

Came away thinking like you know what they’re not going to do it this year but that’s the shades of something they can build on into the future uh two more things as we close the show here I thought tman kamaro was really good in this game um he was the best option to

Guard Zion Williamson Zion Williamson had 20 points on nine of 11 shooting in the first half so I don’t mean to suggest that tumani Kamara kind of shut him down but he guard he was absolutely the best option to guard Zion he was unequivocally the the only option that

Looked like it was even remotely viable to guard Zion da too slow for how quick and weird Zion is everyone else not strong enough for how how strong Zion is like he presents mismatches and he lives in the paint and he doesn’t take shots outside the paint um so like he does

What he does and I thought tumman his physicality helped there but because they needed his physicality on Zion they didn’t have anyone to guard ant they just or excuse me to guard ant senior CJ McCollum uh so like they didn’t you know you miss that D

Like it’s like and CJ cooks and dribbles and gets to a spots and beats people off of pick and roll switches and all that and like if you can’t put your best defender on a Shifty ball handler and that’s where tumani usually guards folks

You got to put him on the the big guy then it it kind of it Cascades forward and they just couldn’t you know pels are top 10 off offense top 10 defense they’re a good team they might sneak into fourth place in the Western Conference when this whole thing is done

Like they’re good um and the Blazers were with them for three quarters and tumani was certainly part of that um scoot Henderson back in this game played 24 minutes you know he’s had some stinkers re lately he finished with 112 and two did turn the ball over three

Times but like anrey Simon turned the ball over five times jono Bon turned the ball over five times I don’t so I would assume that that the Blazers are my my my my generous read on this is that the Blazers are being cautious with scoots minutes and that even though chony bip

Said at one point he’s going to start for the remainder of the Season what chony bips means is like I thought he was going to start but who knows um and then just like things things change and yada y yada and I think the players are being conservative with scoots minutes

Because they want him to play they want him to play they want to be healthy and and and recently his last two games he’s been bad and like I’m not demanding that he play 35 minutes when he’s really bad but it is a little odd to me that Delano

Banson plays 42 minutes in this game and Scoot plays 24 and maybe scoot’s like maybe they really want to keep him right around half the game right like maybe this is unknown to me um and and and it is what it is but and I don’t think like

Playing scoot five more minutes and playing de Delano banson five last minutes so they’re both playing like 36 like normal starters minutes I don’t think that like saves scoots development right I don’t think it really matters in the grand scheme of things but it strikes me as a little weird um you know

I think there is a no that like players should earn their minutes like great Delo Benson was six of 20 in the last game and played 40 minutes he earned it um like that holds a lot stronger on teams that are competitive and teams that didn’t draft a kid third overall

And teams that aren’t 19 and 48 players are going to win what like 23 games this year maybe less 22 games this year somewhere in that range maybe if they go six and 10 down the stretch 25 games uh like I don’t know I think it’s totally I

Think scoot can just I think scoot ramping up towards 30 minutes and playing him a bunch of minutes next amre Simons is the most important thing they can do down the stretch of the season because they have to make a decision at some point if they’ve already made that

Decision and they just want to see more Delano Banton that’s fine with me too I guess but I don’t think it’s that big of a deal but it’s something I just I just can’t help but noticing um that is going to do it for today’s show you listening

To Monday March 18th show and on Monday evening the Blazers wrap up a quick two game trip in Chicago so Tuesday show we will wrap we will recap that one Blazers closed this week with a couple games against the Clippers um should be fun uh

Join me join me in the program 5 days a week whereever you get Podcast and also on YouTube tell your friends about the show I appreciate you listening I’ll talk to you Soon

The Portland Trail Blazers lost to the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday. Dalano Banton continues to show he can add another dynamic to the Blazers moving forward. Plus, some Xs and Os discussion as to how the Pels slowed down Deandre Ayton in the second half.

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