FanPost

Overreacting to Game #28: Memphis 92, Portland 83

NOTHING TO SEE HERE. IT WAS JUST ONE OF THOSE FLUKY GAMES. False. I will deal with the defense later. Clearly the offense was atrocious tonight. There were 3 glaring problems: 3 point shooting, Nurk's shooting, and Dame's shooting. An average night at any of those phases and this game is a different story. Was it just one of those unlucky nights? I don't thinks so.

Nurkic was 1-15 tonight. Fluke? No. Gasol. The big Spaniard is Nurk's kryptonite. He is physical and smart. He knows what to give to Jusuf and what to deny. Nurk is always 2 feet deeper than he wants. He is open outside, but he gets contested just enough. Nurk never ever gets comfortable against Gasol. Should he have stopped shooting earlier? Yes. He kept battling but the results were never going to change. Not on this night.

3 Point Shooting. 6 - 22 (27%). That's bad. Fluke? Not really. What does Portland do better than the rest of the league? We know the Blazers have a great starting backcourt. But the other elite skill was supposed to be that Portland has a number of players who can shoot well from behind the arc. Terry Stotts wants shooters and empowers them to take shots. This was going to be the season that Portland turned things loose. Portland is tied for 14th in the league (35.3%) with Philadelphia, a team known for spacing issues due to lack of shooting. In the last 10 games, Portland is shooting 32.8% on threes, a number greatly inflated by the lights out shooting in the Orlando game. Any team can have a bad shooting night from deep. But the Blazers are having anemic nights at least every other night lately.

Dame was 4-18 tonight. Fluke? Sort of. Lillard only has a few nights like this in a season. He even missed 2 free throws in one trip. Dame is the one player on the team most committed to the Houston model. On a good night, a large percentage of his shots are 3's or at the rim. Memphis is a tough, physical team and they frustrated Lillard at the rim all night. On a night when his shot was clearly off, should Dame have stopped shooting? No. Dame is always confident that the next shot will be the one that gets him going, and on most nights he is right.

No amount of CJ greatness can make up for 5-33 from 2 of your top players. On this night, the offense was the problem.

STOTTS LEARNED SOMETHING ABOUT THE ROTATION TONIGHT. False. Questions were asked, but no answers were coming. Mo and Curry sat, so they avoid blame. Jake got the start, but had little impact (Yes, he got cheated out of a 2nd block on a bogus goal-tending call). The bench got bombed again tonight, scoring only 15 points while surrendering 38. We had a Swanigan sighting. Caleb had energy and opportunity, but fumbled away 2 chances. Nik needs to get 20 minutes a night, every night. He had 7 points and 2 assists, and works to get others involved on the bench.

Years ago, when Portland traded away a 1st round pick for Afflalo, it was not to make him a starter. He was going to get 10 shots a night as a 6th man. That plan blew up with Wes' achilles. Neil Oshey has to be working the phones this week. As much as we may want an up-graded starting unit, the solution may be to bring in a bona fide gunner to boost the bench.

CJ McCollum IS A GREAT TOUGH SHOT MAKER. True. If I was an opposing fan, I would admire Lillard and hate CJ. Why? Dame gets all of the publicity and you expect him to pour in his points. CJ just consistently breaks your heart. We sometimes forget just how difficult it is to make a contested shot at the NBA level. It is even worse when you have to create your own shot. CJ went 16-27 from the field in this game and there are not 5 guys in this league that could have made that many shots with this degree of difficulty. Lillard is a stone-cold assassin when he is hot. CJ is a magician crossed with a wizard when he gets things rolling. On a night dominated by defense McCollum was an offensive marvel with his 40 points tonight.

FINAL GRADE: Portland once again got off to a hot start in this game. Great defense combined with weak Grizzly offense and the Blazers had a 26-15 lead. It should have been more as Portland was also sloppy with the ball, and Dame and Nurk unveiled their cold shooting. The lead quickly evaporated in the 2nd quarter. To Nurk's credit, he did make things tough on Gasol, limiting him to 4-15 shooting. Life doesn't get any easier on Friday as Kawhi and the league's best bench comes to town. C-

As I write this, I am watching the replay of the Oregon Ducks game. If you have not watched Bol Bol play, you should. He is skinny, but he does some things that no 7' 2" player should do! Next to Zion, he is the most fun player to watch in the NCAA.