Tag:

Chris Paul

Portland Trail Blazers

Suns Out, Buns Out! Phoenix beats Portland again

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda

Maybe it’s been a long week for me, but it feels like the All-Star break was longer than the entire offseason. Am I off base here? Heard it was a nice day up in the PNW. You know what they say when the Sun is out?

Anyway —

The Blazers got outworked by the Suns and completely no-showed the fourth quarter until it was too late.

Portland once again falls to Phoenix, 127-121.

Let’s breakdown the action.

First Quarter Thoughts

Remember a couple weeks ago in Phoenix where the Suns just back-cut the Blazers to death? The Suns remembered what they did and Chris Paul is exploiting the hell out of the Portland defense along a fifteen-foot stretch of baseline. Once again the Blazers do not have an answer. You’d think that Stotts would review that tape and prepare for the Suns to do the same exact thing tonight. He did not and the Suns are scoring at will early.

But Damian Lillard was scoring just as easily.

Dame continued his hot shooting from the All-Star Game, hitting his first two threes of the game and then he started attacking the paint and the Suns were not ready for that. He’s been so good lately. Should have been the ASG MVP and should be the NBA MVP this year too. He’s not going to get the love though. It’ll go to LeBron or Embiid this year.

Enes Kanter is having himself a ball game tonight. He had seven offensive rebounds in the first quarter to go along with six points. Kanter is known for not being physical and yet he was keeping both DeAndre Ayton and Frank Kaminsky at bay. There is no excuse for either of those guys to get outworked by Kanter, but Kanter was doing Kanter things.

Second Quarter Thoughts

Anfernee Simons hits a nice floater to start the quarter. The first few months were not kind to Simons to start the season. It seems like he’s really coming into his own in the last couple of weeks. Him winning the dunk contest really picked up his confidence. He has a bit of a swag to his minutes to start off this game for him.

After he and Gary Trent Jr. hit back to back to back threes to give the Blazers a 47-37 lead forcing the Suns to call a timeout.

Simons might have either made himself extremely tradeable or untradeable. Not sure who can get for him at this point, but I could see it being a net negative in value.

The rest of the Blazers’ offense has been exceptionally solid this game. They have made 11 of 24 threes into the half. Derrick Jones Jr. and Robert Covington were both knocking down threes.

As I type this Kanter comes back in, is not getting rebounds, and the Suns are off and running off Blazer misses. Mikal Bridges especially was out running everyone. He got a couple of easy dunks on the run and then hit a three from the wing after a nice screen from Ayton freed him up on a curl.

Suns ended the half on a 10-2 run to tie the game at 60.

Halftime Thoughts

I honestly thought we’d get to see CJ McCollum tonight, but it looks like it’s going to be a few more games before he comes back. Before the break, he was looking great in practice. He did not have a limp, no hobble, looked smooth, and was allegedly playing in scrimmages with zero limitations.

I wonder how it will affect the minutes of Gary Trent Jr. Trent has not been shooting well as of late, but he continues to be one of the better defenders that Portland has and we know how well CJ plays defense.

I’ll need a bit more time and a bit more wine before I can come up with some cohesive thoughts. Got a nice 40-year reserve Tawny tonight that I’m excited to dive into this weekend. I should try CJ’s label, but I’m not a fan of Oregon Pinot. I should still try it though.

Third Quarter Thoughts

I really like how Dame is getting to the basket this game. Blazers are running that double high look where Dame finds some space and takes a three. Tonight as the defender fights over the screen and closeout, Dame is blowing right by everyone and getting easy layups. I’ve been waiting forever for the Blazers to start doing this. The lane is always going to be there for Dame because teams are so afraid of him shooting the three.

With him getting to the paint will get him easier baskets and probably get him to the line more. He goes to the line more and the refs will look to call more fouls for him. And then maybe, just maybe, he’ll start getting those calls on the three point shots.

Lillard has 22 points through two and a half quarters.

Gary Trent Jr. was 1-7 on threes for the night until Nassir Little made a nice drive and found GTJ on the wing. Trent really needed that shot.

Little has been a great spark plug off the bench lately. His minutes can’t take a hit. He needs to continue to play and develop. Not only his game, but he needs to get that confidence up too. Confidence is such a huge part of the game for a young player. Little has been playing solid ball since his break out in Milwaukee.

His dunk tonight was filthy.

I really love how Devin Booker works the mid-range. He is about the only guy who will work all three phases of the floor on offense. The percentages say dunk or three now, but with Booker playing the way he does it keeps defenders on their heels and makes him that much more dangerous. Really like to see Dame and CJ trade-off on this type of play.

Don’t let the defense get comfortable ever.

Blazers somehow won the third quarter by four points. Let’s hope they don’t screw up the fourth quarter. Really need this win with two games against the Timberwolves coming up this weekend. Would be great to have a seven-game winning streak heading into next week.

Fourth Quarter Thoughts

The Blazers have started the fourth like they usually start the third. Phoenix takes a two-point lead by outscoring the Portland 9-3 in the first three minutes. Was having a lot of praise for Simons to start the game, but he’s had two horrible turnovers to start this period.

Simons got the quick hook in the fourth. Lillard was back on the court to start the after nine-minute timeout. Melo followed him to the bench shortly thereafter. Melo was getting mugged in the fourth and did not have much to show for it. He was frustrated (and for good reason) and it got him out of his game.

This is falling apart faster than a dude in the champagne room without cash or a credit card with the bill due.

The Blazers have not been able to get a call this quarter and the Suns have outscored the Blazers 24-10 with only five minutes left to go in the game.

There was a questionable call on Rodney Hood that was ruled an offensive charge and the play before Devin Booker two armed GTJ almost the entire length of the baseline before getting a pass and a layup.

The Suns use Booker in such fun ways. He’s all over the place from on the ball to off the ball, moving fast, posting up, running a high-low, and finding easy baskets for teammates. It’s hard to defend that.

Also, Ed Molloy is a terrible official.

And the Suns have made eight threes here in the fourth and continue to build the lead.

Would you bet your life on the Blazers getting a single stop against the other 29 teams in the league or any of the 300+ NCAA schools?

I don’t think I’d do it and I’m not risk-averse.

Box Score

Next Up

Blazers have two in Minnesota with the first happening on Saturday at 5 PM.

Check Out

Hoops Uber Alles. New episode happening this Saturday at 10 AM. It will be our third.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Portland Trail Blazers

Suns melt the snowbird Blazers

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda

February had been red hot for the Blazers, but then they forgot they have to play a full game and what defense in a loss to the Washington Wizards on Saturday night. There was hope that the Blazers would rise to the competition as they took on the Phoenix Suns in a potential first-round playoff matchup.

After the butt-kicking they took tonight against the Suns tonight, they probably might want to drop down to the 8th and play the Jazz. It might be a much closer series.

Let’s get to the thoughts.

First Quarter Thoughts

Terry Stotts has decided to let Damian Lillard guard Devin Booker to start the game and Booker got a quick four points on three shots to start the game. Not sure of this defensive assignment to start the game. I’m not an NBA head coach, but what do I know. Gary Trent Jr. got a couple of cracks at Booker and caused him to miss two shots. In the next possession and Lillard is back on Booker and Booker gets scored on again.

The Suns aren’t forcing the Blazers to switch either. Lillard is picking up Booker at half-court. I am not really sure what you can do about the Blazers’ defensive issues, Dame and CJ are not great defenders and don’t appear that they’ll ever even be decent.

You can’t score 30 and give up 50. The math does not work that way.

We’ve seen Derrick Jones Jr. on Chris Paul to start the game. Paul is still an effective player, but your best and longest defender does not need to be on Chris Paul. Booker is the biggest threat that Phoenix has. Have Jones on Booker, Trent on Paul, and Lillard on Bridges. It does not seem like rocket science to me.

Okay, it might not be anything that the Blazers can do against Booker tonight. He has 17 of the Suns first 24 points in the first quarter and five different Blazers have guarded him tonight and he’s has scored on all of them at this point. He’s not letting Portland set the defense on him. If he gets picked up high he dives to the basket and if they pick him up, he posts up quick and gets an easy basket.

This has honestly been a masterclass in how to work your superstar in a game. Seriously, just rewatch Booker on every possession in the first quarter and everything he did was just about right.

Portland was lucky to only be down six, 32-26, after the first quarter.

Second Quarter Thoughts

Rodney Hood started the second quarter with his own personal 7-0 run to put the Blazers up 33-32. The Suns were forced to call a timeout after Hood picked Chris Paul’s pocket and raced down the court for a nice two-hand dunk.

Hood has not played that great over the last week or so, so it’s really good to see him playing well to start his minutes tonight. Even if he caps out at these seven points and adds a few more rebounds then I’ll call this a win for him tonight. Have to start small and get the confidence going again.

We have to remember that he had a bad achilles tear and that he is not Kevin Durant.

The Suns are killing Portland in the paint. They have 26 points in the area that is differently colored from the rest of the floor at the half. Portland had 24. A huge chunk of those points came in four straight possessions where Lillard found Jones and Kanter doing wide-open back cuts on those plays.

Phoenix did not make any adjustments to stop those cuts either. The last few baskets came against a zone with Chris Paul playing in the center of the paint. Dame kept finding a cutting Derrick Jones Jr. for easy baskets.

Really don’t know what the hell Phoenix was trying to accomplish with that defensive set. The defense was something that Taylor and I would run, poorly, in 2k21 as were are getting our brains bashed in by the Timberwolves. Trying something different, you know? But to allow ten straight points on that set and not switch it up? That is some Stotts level coaching there.

The thing though is that Phoenix somehow extended their lead during all this. Booker with three-point plays or Dario Saric hitting corner threes.

Portland also outshot Phoenix by percentage, 56-47 in the first half, but took a 54-63 deficit into the half.

Third Quarter Thoughts

Phoenix picked Portland up in a full-court press to start the second half. The Blazers were really confused and had a really off first possession that led to no points. Devin Booker immediately capitalized on two straight possessions. Bridges scored on Dame the next trip down and I’m really starting to think that I could get some points on Dame right now. He gave up 90 to Bradley Beal the other night, I really think that my out-of-shape ass could at least get 10 in an NBA game against him and I only play three-point line to three-point line.

I’ve seen better defense of a drunk and elderly snowbird at the YMCA in Scottsdale. I’m not joking either. There was this 91-year-old dude that was locking down 18-year-olds without a problem. I got ask if I wanted to have a run, but I did not want that smoke.

There isn’t much at all to say about this third quarter. The Blazers played like they usually do coming out of halftime, flat, not focused, and with no urgency. They got outscored by 20, 37-17 in the quarter, and have a 29 point margin to make up in the fourth.

With the game against the Nuggets tomorrow night we’re going to probably see a lot of bench guys in the fourth.

Fourth Quarter Thoughts

The Phoenix third unit is killing the Blazers second unit. Not much else to say about this game other than the Suns’ third-string outplayed the Blazer second string.

Next Up

Tomorrow night against the Denver Nuggets.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Portland Trail Blazers

Blazers completely overwhelm OKC, 136-119.

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda
Carmelo-Anthony-and-Damian-Lillard-scaled.jpeg

The Blazers returned home after a feel-good victory over the Chicago Bulls on Monday night. We had a game of vintage proportions from Carmelo Anthony and Damian Lillard had a season-high in assists. The Oklahoma City Thunder have not been in Portland since Dame waved goodbye to Russell Westbrook and Paul George.

We should also note that this is Carmelo’s first game in Portland since becoming a Blazer. The crowd is pretty warm to him early.

The Blazers did not mess around tonight and outclassed and outmatched the Thunder tonight, 136-119.

CJ McCollum is starting out a house of fire tonight. He jumps out to a quick 6-0 lead over the Thunder. Lillard is looking to get his teammates involved early again. He and Hassan Whiteside are really starting to click on that high pick and roll. They have run the play three times in the first three minutes and have scored six points on it so far.

The ball movement is on point tonight. Steven Adams can’t stick with Whiteside at all, and Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are getting stuck at the top of the pick. Whiteside has had many, many easy buckets here in the first. He’s got 14 points and six rebounds early.

Not to be overlooked is Rodney Hood being three for three from three to start the game. His shot has been locked in the last few games.

Anfernee Simons needs to look be a bit more pass-first when he comes in and Dame is on the floor too. He’s 0-4 in the four minutes he’s been on the court to start. The Blazers are also scoreless in the same amount of time. If they kept up the ball movement they might have scored fifty in the quarter. Instead, they have to settle for 42 and a sixteen point lead.

Blazers also had 10 assists in the quarter. That’s half their season total.

Blazer bigs are attacking Adams. Adams has been dealing with various lower-body injuries this season and is much slower than normal. He’ll still set a big screen, but he can’t move and the Blazers are wise to attack him as much as possible. I think Nerlens Noel should be taking most of the minutes. But you have to play Adams to justify that contract.

Kent Bazemore is so sneaky on that backside or in this instance a side…side block. I thought the rim was going to decapitate him.

Melo seems more apt to move the ball this year and it’s paying off. Everyone knows that Carmelo will ISO for 17 seconds in a shot clock, but he’s moving the ball well this year. If he doesn’t have something in a few seconds he’s moving the ball and catching the defense sleeping.

Boy, is CJ feeling feisty tonight or what? He tried to throw down on Noel. It didn’t go down, but you have to appreciate the hustle there. It looks like CJ has finally woken up this season. That is not good news for the rest of the league if this is the case.

Speaking of Noel, he’s gotten a couple easy lob dunks. Might want to tighten that up. This is something the Thunder have been doing for years. It seems to be a staple of Billy Donovan‘s offense.

Portland responds by doing it with Whiteside and getting the old fashioned three-point play.

Again, the ball movement. The Blazers are not stingy with passes tonight. Numerous guys had wide-open three-point attempts and they kept the ball going until they got a layup from Nassir Little. Earlier in the season those would have been long misses and tonight it is two points.

One thing that has not changed is bad three-point shooters making three-pointers against Portland. Dennis Schroder, Darius Bazley, and Terrance Ferguson have all knocked down threes tonight. They are not good shooters, but they are knocking them down tonight.

Thunder outscored the Blazers by three, 24-21 in the second quarter. Whiteside has 19 (three short of his season-high) and Rodney Hood has yet to hit the rim tonight. I think Whiteside ahs a 20-20 game in him tonight. Let’s see if this line jinxes him. I hope not.

Oklahoma City starts off the third quarter with a 7-2 run. The Blazers seem flat and that is not to be unexpected. They have been flat every third quarter at home so far this season. Moda even seems dead. Did they eat a bunch of turkey at halftime? The refs are acting like Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Paul George all play for the Thunder still. Some really questionable calls happening to start the quarter. Took four minutes for the Blazers to get into the penalty.

SGA does not know how to deal with Lillard. Dame has bullied him to the basket and has drilled two threes when he has played back. Carmelo has also killed SGA on a couple of switches. SGA needs to hit the weight room. Not this offseason, but now.

Melo has been killing guards when they switch. He murdered Satoransky and White when they switched.

The game has slowed down a great deal since the first quarter. OKC is 24th in pace and they would love to be like the Knicks of the 90s and keep the game below 85. Blazers are going to get that before the end of the third, but that’s where OKC wants it because they don’t have an offense that even a mother could love.

The ball movement has slowed down quite a bit for the Blazers here in the third as well. Chris Paul is their only consistent offensive player.

And there we go! Blazers moving the ball. Hood and Dame with back to back threes and the lead is back up to 22. OKC has the 25th ranked offense in the league and this might be hard for them to come back on. That is unless Chris Paul has one of those game-changing quarters.

Blazers scored 41 in the third and have pushed their lead to 27 points entering the fourth. Blazers extend the lead to 30, Melo checks out and Portland wants a curtain call. Not sure how you pull that off in basketball.

Carmelo Anthony murdered the Thunder on switches and got many big dunks tonight.

Damian Lillard led the Blazers with 27 points, CJ added, 22, Whiteside had 21, Melo had 19 on 9-11 shooting, Hood added 14, and Simons had 14 off the bench.

Jaylen Hoard was the only Blazer to not score tonight.

Random Thoughts

  • When Jusuf Nurkic is healthy I want to see the Blazers trot out a lineup of Nurk, Whiteside, Skal, Melo, and Dame.
  • I want to see Moses Brown in the slam dunk contest during All-Star Saturday Night.
  • These cream colored city uniforms are fire. I might have to get myself one.
  • My wife doesn’t think I can drink two bottles of wine and not ruin Thanksgiving dinner. Challenge accepted.
  • TIL: Kevin Calabro is scared of giant bats.
  • Chris Paul is the Ric Flair of the NBA. The dirtiest player in the game.
  • If Honey Bucket is giving out prizes at a game I don’t want it. Nothing good comes from Honey Bucket.
  • The new Grudge movie does not look good at all.
  • Living in Southern California you are always on edge for the next big earthquake. My dog has such violent dreams she shakes the whole house and I think there is an earthquake. I’m not joking.

Next Up

The Blazers stay home and welcome in the Chicago Bulls on Friday night. Tip is a little after 7:00 PM.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Uncategorized

Ranking the 2019-20 NBA Point Guards

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda
Stephen_Curry-e1572925455320.jpg

This has become the most dynamic position in all of the league. Gone are the days of a true pass-first point guard and today we have guys who can score literally from anywhere on the floor (Stephen Curry and Damian Lillard).

30. Ish Smith – Washington Wizards

Another one of the Wizards members ends up on the bottom of the list. Smith is a great backup option for most teams in the league, but he’s a bottom end starter. He’s keeping the seat warm until John Wall comes back or Scott Brooks gives the job to Isaiah Thomas.

29. Tomas Satoransky – Chicago Bulls

He’s a good player, I view him as more of a sixth man or first guard off the bench. He’s not a starter on a playoff team.

28. Terry Rozier – Charlotte Hornets

After a great 2018 (including playoffs) he fell off the boat last season. Let’s see if he gets back to where he needs to be.

27. Quinn Cook – Los Angeles Lakers

He and Rajon Rondo are going to go back and forth here a lot.

26. Lonzo Ball – New Orleans Pelicans

He has the tools and a readjusted jumper to be a very good player in the league, he just needs to stay healthy. I think he’s in a good spot in NoLa.

25. D.J. Augustin – Orlando Magic

I’m shocked he’s still in the league and that’s not a knock. He’s a decent player, but gets talked into the ground by most “analysts” out there. Ultimately he is keeping the seat warm for Markelle Fultz.

24. Ja Morant – Memphis Grizzlies

He’s going to be an exciting young player in this league.

23. Justise Winslow – Miami Heat

This has been a long time coming. He may just succeed at this position.

22. Delon Wright – Dallas Mavericks

The Mavs are probably going to run Luka at this spot a lot, but Wright is the starter by default.

21. Dennis Smith Jr. – New York Knicks

There’s a chance he loses out to Elfrid Payton. That’s all you need to know about Smith and the Knicks.

20. Reggie Jackson – Detroit Pistons

Bet he wishes he was backing up Russell Westbrook in OKC again.

19. Jeff Teague – Minnesota Timberwolves

I like Teague. He’s such a solid point guard. Not a great point guard, but he’s pretty good.

18. Dejounte Murray – San Antonio Spurs

I think Murray has a big year and moves up further in the rankings for next year.

17. Collin Sexton – Cleveland Cavaliers

Sophomore slump or does he go crazy with Garland next to him?

16. Ricky Rubio – Phoenix Suns

Ricky is so inconsistent. Some nights you might think he’s the best guard in the league (rarely happens) and others you wonder if he cares to play basketball on most nights.

15. Malcolm Brogdon – Indiana Pacers

He is going to thrive under Nate McMillan.

14. De’Aaron Fox – Sacramento Kings

The fastest guard in the NBA. Once he develops a consistent jump shot he’s going to be deadly.

13. Eric Bledsoe – Milwaukee Bucks

He’s always good during the regular season and then takes the playoffs off. Must be an after effect of spending so much time in Phoenix.

12. Trae Young – Atlanta Hawks

The heir apparent to Steph Curry.

11. Patrick Beverley – Los Angeles Clippers

The best on the ball defender in the league at the guard position. The guy you want on your team and hate when he’s not.

10. Jamal Murray – Denver Nuggets

He got the top 10 money and now he needs to play like it.

9. Kyle Lowry – Toronto Raptors

This is probably the last year we’ll see Lowry in the top 10. His age has to catch up to him at some point.

8. Mike Conley – Utah Jazz

He might be the missing piece in Utah. If he can find his offensive game the Jazz might be the deepest and most dangerous team in all the NBA.

7. Chris Paul – Oklahoma City Thunder

He’s keeping this spot warm until he’s traded and SGA takes over.

6. Russell Westbrook – Houston Rockets

He and Harden are going to have a lot of fun together. Not sure how many championships they are going to win together though.

5. Kemba Walker – Boston Celtics

Brad Stevens is going to make him a winner.

4. Ben Simmons – Philadelphia 76ers

Once he has a consistent jump shot he’s going to be #1 and it might be a decade before he gives it up.

3. Kyrie Irving – Brooklyn Nets

There is no denying what Kyrie can do. He’s had some issues the last couple of seasons, let’s see how he has grown this summer.

2. Damian Lillard – Portland Trail Blazers

Dame destroyed a franchise last summer. He has a legit claim at the number one spot.

1. Steph Curry – Golden State Warriors

There is no better point guard in all the league. He’s the best shooter, a good defender, and a good leader.

Other posts in this series:

Ranking the 2019-20 coaches
Ranking the starting centers
Ranking the starting power forwards
Ranking the starting small forwards
Ranking the starting shooting guards

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail