Game 2: Portland vs Orlando 7:00pm Root, Root+

[monopoman]

As I also pointed out in the other thread the last 2 PG's picked with the first 3 picks that were 19 in their first game also struggled. We will see how Scoot looks in a few weeks, it's way too early to make any claims about him.

Sure he has some things to work on, but he has plenty of time.

[RTG HD]

We need a coaching staff that teaches the young guys defense. Sharp is too damn talented to be bad on D.

[RTG HD]

Looking at the schedule I really think we need to beat Detroit on Wednesday. If we can't do that it is a long tough scheduled until the Wizards on December 21st.

[Effigy]

Shaedon was very good tonight. Ayton had a much better game as well.

Scoot looks raw but I think he’ll come along with the exposure - he’s got a great mindset and I imagine these struggles are going to help him learn how to adapt to the NBA.

Shaedon really wasn't good tonight. He just had a lot of points. 9-23 shooting, 4-11 from 3. 1 more point than shot attempts is poor efficiency. And he looked sloppy and clumsy out there. Most of the team did, to be honest. It was really a tough watch. Billups can't be fired soon enough. We need a coach in here who will develop these guys.

[DC_Melo]

Wow. Chauncey looks so bad…the defensive rotations are literally nonexistent.

And then he leaves Scoot in with 2 fouls with 3 minutes left in the first. Why TF is he a head coach again?! The guy who demanded him is gone…

I think he's here to lose us games tbh. But I wouldnt be shocked if we make Brooks head coach at some point and he'd be a solid developmental coach moving forward

Ok… hear me out. I agree with most criticisms of Billups, but him leaving Scoot in didn’t bother me, just like it didn’t bother me when he left Ayton in against the clips with 3 fouls in the second.

Is it a smart move for winning basketball? Obviously not.

But do young players and developing bigs need to learn how to play with foul trouble? I think so. As far as player development goes, I dare say letting them learn how to play with fouls is the right move to make as a coach. Notice that Scoot managed to play the last 8-9 minutes of the 4th quarter with 5 fouls… perhaps he learned a bit from his first half foul mistakes.

Now… did Chauncey do this with the intention of developing them? 50/50 chance at best I’d say

[DC_Melo]

Shaedon was very good tonight. Ayton had a much better game as well.

Scoot looks raw but I think he’ll come along with the exposure - he’s got a great mindset and I imagine these struggles are going to help him learn how to adapt to the NBA.

Shaedon really wasn't good tonight. He just had a lot of points. 9-23 shooting, 4-11 from 3. 1 more point than shot attempts is poor efficiency. And he looked sloppy and clumsy out there. Most of the team did, to be honest. It was really a tough watch. Billups can't be fired soon enough. We need a coach in here who will develop these guys.

My evaluation of Shae falls somewhere in the middle. He really did look good at times, with some nice hustle plays and had some clever moves and buckets.

He blew a couple of easy takes, and took a few questionable shots, or just tried to force it a bit too much at times.

Shae still hasn’t quite figured out full game consistency. His first shift was non-descript, while his second shift was a 13ish point outburst on great efficiency… which was followed by a much less efficient shift in the 3rd… on so on.

He has to find a way to stay more consistent throughout the entire game, but the flashes are there and I’d say he’s getting pretty close to figuring it out.

[Moonbeam]

Shaedon was very good tonight. Ayton had a much better game as well.

Scoot looks raw but I think he’ll come along with the exposure - he’s got a great mindset and I imagine these struggles are going to help him learn how to adapt to the NBA.

Shaedon really wasn't good tonight. He just had a lot of points. 9-23 shooting, 4-11 from 3. 1 more point than shot attempts is poor efficiency. And he looked sloppy and clumsy out there. Most of the team did, to be honest. It was really a tough watch. Billups can't be fired soon enough. We need a coach in here who will develop these guys.

My evaluation of Shae falls somewhere in the middle. He really did look good at times, with some nice hustle plays and had some clever moves and buckets.

He blew a couple of easy takes, and took a few questionable shots, or just tried to force it a bit too much at times.

Shae still hasn’t quite figured out full game consistency. His first shift was non-descript, while his second shift was a 13ish point outburst on great efficiency… which was followed by a much less efficient shift in the 3rd… on so on.

He has to find a way to stay more consistent throughout the entire game, but the flashes are there and I’d say he’s getting pretty close to figuring it out.

I agree that it wasn't a consistently efficient game, but it was great to see the way he asserted himself. I was a little concerned with his tendency to float throughout games in summer league and preseason. He's a second-year guy, so I'm not expecting a masterclass in efficiency from him, particularly on a roster without much playmaking prowess. This is a year where wins and losses aren't going to mean much, so Shaedon developing into a weapon who will apply consistent pressure to opposing defenses, even with lulls in efficiency, will be an important step forward in my view.

And yeah, it would help to have stronger coaching to give Shaedon (and the other players) more optimal schemes to succeed.

[zzaj]

Wow. Chauncey looks so bad…the defensive rotations are literally nonexistent.

And then he leaves Scoot in with 2 fouls with 3 minutes left in the first. Why TF is he a head coach again?! The guy who demanded him is gone…

I think he's here to lose us games tbh. But I wouldnt be shocked if we make Brooks head coach at some point and he'd be a solid developmental coach moving forward

Ok… hear me out. I agree with most criticisms of Billups, but him leaving Scoot in didn’t bother me, just like it didn’t bother me when he left Ayton in against the clips with 3 fouls in the second.

Is it a smart move for winning basketball? Obviously not.

But do young players and developing bigs need to learn how to play with foul trouble? I think so. As far as player development goes, I dare say letting them learn how to play with fouls is the right move to make as a coach. Notice that Scoot managed to play the last 8-9 minutes of the 4th quarter with 5 fouls… perhaps he learned a bit from his first half foul mistakes.

Now… did Chauncey do this with the intention of developing them? 50/50 chance at best I’d say

I hear you, and what I’ll say is that what young players need to learn to do is to follow coach’s plan. Obviously, it’s way early but if we are to trust our eyes, what we’ve seen so far is that Chauncey has implemented an aggressive, on-ball scheme with little to no help rotation once an offensive player gets past point of attack. There were like 7-8 straight line drives to the basket by my count tonight…which is mind-boggling in an NBA game, and shows a real actual defensive breakdown somewhere.

As for the game management stuff? What I’ll say is, how much of the game did Scoot miss because of that blunder? If the goal is to get Scoot meaningful minutes so that he can find a rhythm on both sides of the ball, Billups is doing a bad job so far. Learning to play through foul trouble is way down the line of things Scoot needs to be focused on in game 2 of his NBA career…that’s something that falls directly into the hands of coaching, IMHO. They need to be making the NBA transition as simple as possible for him at this stage.

In a game where the refs started out obviously calling things one way (I think the Magic doubled up the Blazers FT attempts in that first half) you don’t leave your rookie PG in the game with foul trouble with 3 minutes left in the first quarter. Any HS coach will tell you that. It’s basic game management.

[DC_Melo]

I think he's here to lose us games tbh. But I wouldnt be shocked if we make Brooks head coach at some point and he'd be a solid developmental coach moving forward

Ok… hear me out. I agree with most criticisms of Billups, but him leaving Scoot in didn’t bother me, just like it didn’t bother me when he left Ayton in against the clips with 3 fouls in the second.

Is it a smart move for winning basketball? Obviously not.

But do young players and developing bigs need to learn how to play with foul trouble? I think so. As far as player development goes, I dare say letting them learn how to play with fouls is the right move to make as a coach. Notice that Scoot managed to play the last 8-9 minutes of the 4th quarter with 5 fouls… perhaps he learned a bit from his first half foul mistakes.

Now… did Chauncey do this with the intention of developing them? 50/50 chance at best I’d say

I hear you, and what I’ll say is that what young players need to learn to do is to follow coach’s plan. Obviously, it’s way early but if we are to trust our eyes, what we’ve seen so far is that Chauncey has implemented an aggressive, on-ball scheme with little to no help rotation once an offensive player gets past point of attack. There were like 7-8 straight line drives to the basket by my count tonight…which is mind-boggling in an NBA game, and shows a real actual defensive breakdown somewhere.

As for the game management stuff? What I’ll say is, how much of the game did Scoot miss because of that blunder? If the goal is to get Scoot meaningful minutes so that he can find a rhythm on both sides of the ball, Billups is doing a bad job so far. Learning to play through foul trouble is way down the line of things Scoot needs to be focused on in game 2 of his NBA career…that’s something that falls directly into the hands of coaching, IMHO. They need to be making the NBA transition as simple as possible for him at this stage.

In a game where the refs started out obviously calling things one way (I think the Magic doubled up the Blazers FT attempts in that first half) you don’t leave your rookie PG in the game with foul trouble with 3 minutes left in the first quarter. Any HS coach will tell you that. It’s basic game management.

Yea, the rotations were awful, especially when the point of attack defender got beat or screened. It’s not completely surprising… Defensive rotations take time and chemistry to implement effectively at in-game speed, so I’m hopeful they improve… but I share your skepticism.

In theory, with the athleticism and length we have on the court, an aggressive point of attack defensive scheme makes a ton of sense. Our perimeter guys can be disruptive as teams set up their offense (which we actually did on a few possessions) and then funnel the reacting offenses into traps and contested shots.

However… rapid rotations and proper positioning are necessary to pull that off, and we’re clearly not there. Whether or not we improve remains to be seen.

[Blazinaway]

Shaedon was very good tonight. Ayton had a much better game as well.

Scoot looks raw but I think he’ll come along with the exposure - he’s got a great mindset and I imagine these struggles are going to help him learn how to adapt to the NBA.

Shaedon really wasn't good tonight. He just had a lot of points. 9-23 shooting, 4-11 from 3. 1 more point than shot attempts is poor efficiency. And he looked sloppy and clumsy out there. Most of the team did, to be honest. It was really a tough watch. Billups can't be fired soon enough. We need a coach in here who will develop these guys.

I agree that Chauncy is likely not a good coach for this current team. What coaches that might be available employ a "system" that would work well with a young team like this?

[zzaj]

Ok… hear me out. I agree with most criticisms of Billups, but him leaving Scoot in didn’t bother me, just like it didn’t bother me when he left Ayton in against the clips with 3 fouls in the second.

Is it a smart move for winning basketball? Obviously not.

But do young players and developing bigs need to learn how to play with foul trouble? I think so. As far as player development goes, I dare say letting them learn how to play with fouls is the right move to make as a coach. Notice that Scoot managed to play the last 8-9 minutes of the 4th quarter with 5 fouls… perhaps he learned a bit from his first half foul mistakes.

Now… did Chauncey do this with the intention of developing them? 50/50 chance at best I’d say

I hear you, and what I’ll say is that what young players need to learn to do is to follow coach’s plan. Obviously, it’s way early but if we are to trust our eyes, what we’ve seen so far is that Chauncey has implemented an aggressive, on-ball scheme with little to no help rotation once an offensive player gets past point of attack. There were like 7-8 straight line drives to the basket by my count tonight…which is mind-boggling in an NBA game, and shows a real actual defensive breakdown somewhere.

As for the game management stuff? What I’ll say is, how much of the game did Scoot miss because of that blunder? If the goal is to get Scoot meaningful minutes so that he can find a rhythm on both sides of the ball, Billups is doing a bad job so far. Learning to play through foul trouble is way down the line of things Scoot needs to be focused on in game 2 of his NBA career…that’s something that falls directly into the hands of coaching, IMHO. They need to be making the NBA transition as simple as possible for him at this stage.

In a game where the refs started out obviously calling things one way (I think the Magic doubled up the Blazers FT attempts in that first half) you don’t leave your rookie PG in the game with foul trouble with 3 minutes left in the first quarter. Any HS coach will tell you that. It’s basic game management.

Yea, the rotations were awful, especially when the point of attack defender got beat or screened. It’s not completely surprising… Defensive rotations take time and chemistry to implement effectively at in-game speed, so I’m hopeful they improve… but I share your skepticism.

In theory, with the athleticism and length we have on the court, an aggressive point of attack defensive scheme makes a ton of sense. Our perimeter guys can be disruptive as teams set up their offense (which we actually did on a few possessions) and then funnel the reacting offenses into traps and contested shots.

However… rapid rotations and proper positioning are necessary to pull that off, and we’re clearly not there. Whether or not we improve remains to be seen.

Obviously, there is a lot of behind the scenes that we don’t see with Chauncey that probably is the thing that keeps him in a job…

But there are a couple of positives:

1) Having a crap head coach only means more ping pong balls.

2) What we see, Cronin obviously sees too.

I imagine Cronin will want to see at least SOME inkling of a system/direction in place by the ASB. If the Blazers have lost an unreasonable amount of games by them (maybe 5-10 wins total) and the team is still playing like they played the past couple of games, I think Chauncey is gone.

[Norm2953]

Chauncey's long term is going to be tied on how Scoot is developing as the season rolls on.

It's not an easy job with Ant going down after one game and the coaching staff still learning about
their new players. Without Ant, team is going to be offensively challenged to say the least

I do think if the team can keep its head above water, they could surprise in the second half of the
season. Team needs one of the young front court players to step forward and I'd like to see Kris
Murray get a shot

[Effigy]

Shaedon was very good tonight. Ayton had a much better game as well.

Scoot looks raw but I think he’ll come along with the exposure - he’s got a great mindset and I imagine these struggles are going to help him learn how to adapt to the NBA.

Shaedon really wasn't good tonight. He just had a lot of points. 9-23 shooting, 4-11 from 3. 1 more point than shot attempts is poor efficiency. And he looked sloppy and clumsy out there. Most of the team did, to be honest. It was really a tough watch. Billups can't be fired soon enough. We need a coach in here who will develop these guys.

I agree that Chauncy is likely not a good coach for this current team. What coaches that might be available employ a "system" that would work well with a young team like this?

Terry Stotts

Yes, that’s a joke.

[Dame Lizard]

I’ll say it again…
I gave Chauncey the benefit of the doubt because he’s been a tank commander in an awkward situation with a win-now star…but this is pitiful.

The Blazers look completely disorganized on both ends of the ball but ESPECIALLY on defense, which is what is supposed to be his calling card. The lack of rotational awareness…why he didn’t challenge that obvious missed call on the Grant offensive foul. Maybe he doesn’t know the new challenge rules. Honestly, that would not surprise me in the least.

Young players need structure. This ain’t it. Chauncey needs to be gone. Brutal.

Chauncey has demonstrated a complete inability to use the challenge properly. It's my least favourite thing about his coaching to date.

[Dame Lizard]

Scoot has looked very raw, but he's shown some signs. He'll need to improve his jumper for his driving to be more of a threat.

Shaedon looked good tonight and last game too. He missed a couple of easy buckets, which would have made his stat line better.