Losing by only three after starting 5 rookies was not what I was expecting. Rough game from Banton, but Reath was really good tonight.
TheLetterOh
Toumani has got to be one of my favorite Blazers in the last decade.
Second night of a back to back, starting all rookies, and this game ended up being fun as fuck. These dudes should be proud.
Piano9717
Here are some of my thoughts about this game:
Positives:
* I liked that Scoot got to the rim, and showed off some of his acceleration in the halfcourt – I also thought he looked pretty decisive every time he caught the ball, which I also really like. He’s a blur in transition, but sometimes I feel like he gets a little bit indecisive in the halfcourt and plays a little bit too slow, which results in him getting stuck in the midrange and being unable to create separation at times (also it doesn’t help that his defenders oftentimes play back and gap him, daring him to shoot). But Scoot did a good job getting to his spots and being aggressive. * Reath was terrific offensively. His ability to put the ball on the floor and attack a closeout is so valuable and pretty rare for a center (especially a bench center). It makes his shooting so much more valuable and give him some real spacing value. * I thought Toumani showed some interesting things offensively – this was probably his best offensive game of the season. He’s scored more before, but in terms of overall impact to the offense and what he was doing on the court, he showed a lot of intriguing flashes today. Coming into this game, he was quietly shooting 46/39/83 since the all-star break, and he’s done some interesting things getting the ball in space, attacking closeouts, or making the occasional dribble drive. Hopefully this is a sign that he can be at least an OK offensive player, which will be super valuable to us. * I liked that we seem to make it a point to run in transition. With a team like that that really struggles to create halfcourt offense, it makes sense to push the pace when we can, and I think it worked pretty well for us. I wish we could do it more consistently though, even when we are a little healthier. * Did Chauncey do a film session about fake handoffs? I feel like we didn’t see a lot of them for most of the season, but in the last week or so we’ve seen Kris, Toumani, Walker, and Reath each do it multiple times. Interesting wrinkle and it’s been super effective for us. * Hagans probably isn’t an NBA rotation caliber point guard, but nobody plays harder than him. Mad respect.
Negatives:
* I didn’t like Scoot’s finishing. He still doesn’t know how to use his body to protect the ball, takes off too far from the basket sometimes, and doesn’t have a left hand. But these are all things that can be fixed over an offseason or two. The hardest thing to develop is the ability to get to the rim, and it looks like Scoot has that. Also, another fixable issue that I see from Scoot is that he’s REALLY handsy on defense. He’s super strong and well-built, and he definitely has the frame to defend with his chest (just watch Toumani if you want to see a good example of this). But he’s always putting both hands on his man, oftentimes 94 feet away from the basket. That’s gonna get whistled more often than not, and it REALLY has to stop. Again, all fixable and probably not things that are going to be an issue long-term, but definitely need to get cleaned up sooner than later (and he really has to fix these issues otherwise he will probably not have a very good career in the NBA). * Banton having the ultimate green light is horrendously ugly to watch. * Hard to complain about too much else from this game, given all the guys we had who are injured. But the lack of shooting from everyone not named Reath and Toumani sucked.
TubbzMcGee
Rookies played really hard and the tank keeps rolling, not a bad night.
Hornets play the next EIGHT games at home and the Blazers go on a 7 game roadtrip, the 4th lottery spot is very possible still.
drunkenyeknom
Not even mad at that ending close loss
skulkingskeleton
Look – I get that everyone wanted Scoot to be as good out of the gate as Dame was in year 1. But does it feel to anyone else that he has an insane amount of haters who want him to fail? Since when were we calling rookies busts? Especially our own fans?
likpoper
Scoot needs to really unlock his left hand..
sddffdf
Actually thrilling at the end but man I wanna see scoot’s electrifying dunks we know he’s capable of doing
LegitimatePotato3632
Scoot about to finish the season on a heater.
LowerNeedleworker348
Should’ve had Rupert in for the last shot
toadtruck
Shaedon please. Give us some highlights before season is over
Bircka
These types of games make me feel pretty positive about the team, we might not have a upcoming superstar level player without question, but we have a lot of players that might be damn good at some point.
Now getting that superstar player can be difficult but yeah. Though even with how well Lillard played as a rookie most didn’t see him becoming as good as he did at that point.
HumanWalrus2307
stop running the ball in and we should of went for more 3’s earlier. good game tho im surprised how well we did. i was there in person tonight watching it 🔥
natural_lawg
8 of the next 11 games are on the road. I’m under a rock, can we catch up with the bottom feeders? What is the difference between the dream and reality?
14 Comments
Losing by only three after starting 5 rookies was not what I was expecting. Rough game from Banton, but Reath was really good tonight.
Toumani has got to be one of my favorite Blazers in the last decade.
Second night of a back to back, starting all rookies, and this game ended up being fun as fuck. These dudes should be proud.
Here are some of my thoughts about this game:
Positives:
* I liked that Scoot got to the rim, and showed off some of his acceleration in the halfcourt – I also thought he looked pretty decisive every time he caught the ball, which I also really like. He’s a blur in transition, but sometimes I feel like he gets a little bit indecisive in the halfcourt and plays a little bit too slow, which results in him getting stuck in the midrange and being unable to create separation at times (also it doesn’t help that his defenders oftentimes play back and gap him, daring him to shoot). But Scoot did a good job getting to his spots and being aggressive.
* Reath was terrific offensively. His ability to put the ball on the floor and attack a closeout is so valuable and pretty rare for a center (especially a bench center). It makes his shooting so much more valuable and give him some real spacing value.
* I thought Toumani showed some interesting things offensively – this was probably his best offensive game of the season. He’s scored more before, but in terms of overall impact to the offense and what he was doing on the court, he showed a lot of intriguing flashes today. Coming into this game, he was quietly shooting 46/39/83 since the all-star break, and he’s done some interesting things getting the ball in space, attacking closeouts, or making the occasional dribble drive. Hopefully this is a sign that he can be at least an OK offensive player, which will be super valuable to us.
* I liked that we seem to make it a point to run in transition. With a team like that that really struggles to create halfcourt offense, it makes sense to push the pace when we can, and I think it worked pretty well for us. I wish we could do it more consistently though, even when we are a little healthier.
* Did Chauncey do a film session about fake handoffs? I feel like we didn’t see a lot of them for most of the season, but in the last week or so we’ve seen Kris, Toumani, Walker, and Reath each do it multiple times. Interesting wrinkle and it’s been super effective for us.
* Hagans probably isn’t an NBA rotation caliber point guard, but nobody plays harder than him. Mad respect.
Negatives:
* I didn’t like Scoot’s finishing. He still doesn’t know how to use his body to protect the ball, takes off too far from the basket sometimes, and doesn’t have a left hand. But these are all things that can be fixed over an offseason or two. The hardest thing to develop is the ability to get to the rim, and it looks like Scoot has that. Also, another fixable issue that I see from Scoot is that he’s REALLY handsy on defense. He’s super strong and well-built, and he definitely has the frame to defend with his chest (just watch Toumani if you want to see a good example of this). But he’s always putting both hands on his man, oftentimes 94 feet away from the basket. That’s gonna get whistled more often than not, and it REALLY has to stop. Again, all fixable and probably not things that are going to be an issue long-term, but definitely need to get cleaned up sooner than later (and he really has to fix these issues otherwise he will probably not have a very good career in the NBA).
* Banton having the ultimate green light is horrendously ugly to watch.
* Hard to complain about too much else from this game, given all the guys we had who are injured. But the lack of shooting from everyone not named Reath and Toumani sucked.
Rookies played really hard and the tank keeps rolling, not a bad night.
Hornets play the next EIGHT games at home and the Blazers go on a 7 game roadtrip, the 4th lottery spot is very possible still.
Not even mad at that ending close loss
Look – I get that everyone wanted Scoot to be as good out of the gate as Dame was in year 1. But does it feel to anyone else that he has an insane amount of haters who want him to fail? Since when were we calling rookies busts? Especially our own fans?
Scoot needs to really unlock his left hand..
Actually thrilling at the end but man I wanna see scoot’s electrifying dunks we know he’s capable of doing
Scoot about to finish the season on a heater.
Should’ve had Rupert in for the last shot
Shaedon please. Give us some highlights before season is over
These types of games make me feel pretty positive about the team, we might not have a upcoming superstar level player without question, but we have a lot of players that might be damn good at some point.
Now getting that superstar player can be difficult but yeah. Though even with how well Lillard played as a rookie most didn’t see him becoming as good as he did at that point.
stop running the ball in and we should of went for more 3’s earlier. good game tho im surprised how well we did. i was there in person tonight watching it 🔥
8 of the next 11 games are on the road. I’m under a rock, can we catch up with the bottom feeders? What is the difference between the dream and reality?