RealGM

vs.





Time: 7:00pm
Place: Moda Center
TV: Root, Root+


GLB of the game Ginta Lapina

Oddly winnable game.

1st quarter GLB pic

2nd quarter GLB pic

3rd quarter GLB pic

4th quarter GLB pic

Victory GLB pics

DA really putting up some monster games lately

Ayton finally showing what he can do out there, It looks like he is finally figuring out his role and how to help this team. He has looked damn good in quite a few games over the past three games. We will see if this just a fluke or if we start seeing more of these 25+ point games with at least 15 rebounds.

Nurk was having trouble putting together stretches like this so either way I don't think we were necessarily better off with a more injury prone Nurk.

Looks like some Suns fans will warn us this is the elusive play of Ayton though, when he is engaged and feeling it he is unstoppable but it can come and go he might have a great stretch of 7 games then have trouble for 2 months.

I think this is the longest stretch that I can remember of him having 20 & 10 or better games.

Some key points is I see the team actively looking for him in the paint when he has mismatches which didn't always happen with the Suns, Ayton was usually the 3rd or 4th option on offense with our entire offensive system revolving around Booker.

On Ayton's part him looking for lobs and cutting to the basket is something that he didn't do enough in Phoenix, this part is kind of new and that's the part of his game I am hopeful he keeps being consistent at because he needs to know how to score when his shot isn't falling.

Simon's and Ayton our new big 2? Hahaha.

Banton another nice game, now shooting 39.7% from 3 as a Blazer

Nice to see Ayton putting it together. Still dont love a big that relies on as many middies as him and doesnt either get to the line or shoot the 3 but he has been hitting his shots and his hands seem much better. Rebounding monster as always.

You gotta feed a dog to keep a dog...that wasn't really happening in Phoenix.

It's silly to think that Ayton is going to put up anything close to 25/15 every night, but feeding Ayton should absolutely be a focus for the remainder of the season. That and forcing two-man game between Scoot and Ayton. With Sharpe out, the Blazers need to get as much of a vision as they can of what a Scoot/Ayton pairing can look like.

IMHO, the Blazers are going to jettison one of Jabari, Camara, Rupert, and Murray in a trade of Brogdon. They can't develop 4 guys for basically the same position, so it'll be important for the Blazers to see as much of Rupert and Murray on the court as possible to assess what is there and the amount of real progress that has been made. There are no reps like gametime reps.

zzaj wrote:You gotta feed a dog to keep a dog...that wasn't really happening in Phoenix.

It's silly to think that Ayton is going to put up anything close to 25/15 every night, but feeding Ayton should absolutely be a focus for the remainder of the season. That and forcing two-man game between Scoot and Ayton. With Sharpe out, the Blazers need to get as much of a vision as they can of what a Scoot/Ayton pairing can look like.

IMHO, the Blazers are going to jettison one of Jabari, Camara, Rupert, and Murray in a trade of Brogdon. They can't develop 4 guys for basically the same position, so it'll be important for the Blazers to see as much of Rupert and Murray on the court as possible to assess what is there and the amount of real progress that has been made. There are no reps like gametime reps.

I for sure keep Camara and Rupert. One has shown he has a high chance of being a nice, well sized utility forward. The other has youth, potential and length on his side.

Murray is just not really good and is already like 23. Walker has nice hustle but end of the day he is basically a wildly undersized C - not enough lateral juice to really hold up guarding the forward spots.

Assuming Murray and Walker go out in a BB deal and we move Matisse to a PO team - we are sitting with -

G - Anfernee Simons / Scoot Henderson
G - Shadeon Sharpe / Dalano Banton
F - Jerami Grant / 2024 DP / Rayan Rupert
F - 2024 DP / Toumari Camara
C - DeAndre Ayton / Duop Reath / 2024 DP

with 3 picks to fill the 3 big holes - SF, PF and a developmental C

zzaj wrote:You gotta feed a dog to keep a dog...that wasn't really happening in Phoenix.

It's silly to think that Ayton is going to put up anything close to 25/15 every night, but feeding Ayton should absolutely be a focus for the remainder of the season. That and forcing two-man game between Scoot and Ayton. With Sharpe out, the Blazers need to get as much of a vision as they can of what a Scoot/Ayton pairing can look like.

IMHO, the Blazers are going to jettison one of Jabari, Camara, Rupert, and Murray in a trade of Brogdon. They can't develop 4 guys for basically the same position, so it'll be important for the Blazers to see as much of Rupert and Murray on the court as possible to assess what is there and the amount of real progress that has been made. There are no reps like gametime reps.

Simons was already developing some good synergy with Nurk back before Nurk left. He seems to take a bit of that from Dame who was also very good at getting Nurk good looks around the paint or using Nurk as a decoy to get space. It wasn't something you saw every play but some games Nurk and Dame would look much better together.

BlazersBroncos wrote:

zzaj wrote:You gotta feed a dog to keep a dog...that wasn't really happening in Phoenix.

It's silly to think that Ayton is going to put up anything close to 25/15 every night, but feeding Ayton should absolutely be a focus for the remainder of the season. That and forcing two-man game between Scoot and Ayton. With Sharpe out, the Blazers need to get as much of a vision as they can of what a Scoot/Ayton pairing can look like.

IMHO, the Blazers are going to jettison one of Jabari, Camara, Rupert, and Murray in a trade of Brogdon. They can't develop 4 guys for basically the same position, so it'll be important for the Blazers to see as much of Rupert and Murray on the court as possible to assess what is there and the amount of real progress that has been made. There are no reps like gametime reps.

I for sure keep Camara and Rupert. One has shown he has a high chance of being a nice, well sized utility forward. The other has youth, potential and length on his side.

Murray is just not really good and is already like 23. Walker has nice hustle but end of the day he is basically a wildly undersized C - not enough lateral juice to really hold up guarding the forward spots.

Assuming Murray and Walker go out in a BB deal and we move Matisse to a PO team - we are sitting with -

G - Anfernee Simons / Scoot Henderson
G - Shadeon Sharpe / Dalano Banton
F - Jerami Grant / 2024 DP / Rayan Rupert
F - 2024 DP / Toumari Camara
C - DeAndre Ayton / Duop Reath / 2024 DP

with 3 picks to fill the 3 big holes - SF, PF and a developmental C

I think that you're probably on the money in terms of what next year's opening day rotation is going to be. And I agree that Matisse/Jabari and Murray are likely the odd players out. The Blazers being bad, have a few years to see if Rupert will turn into anything, Matisse is too much of a niche player to get extended minutes over any prospect, and Jabari's skillset is pretty easily replicated in another player.

PF is going to be roooooough though, even with adding one from the top of the draft. It's absolutely crucial that the Blazers draft a PF who can shoot. Playing 4 out with Ayton is the future of the Blazers. That unlocks everything.

Right now I'm hoping that is Buzelis, Salaun, and/or Filipowski. I'm currently pretty wary of Gleaguers, but Ty Smith is another person that could fill that role in a Jerami Grant-lite, but better rim protection role.