NBA/Blazers 2026-27 Thread

[bellsduck]

God damn, this is fun.

Can't disagree.
That was a fun game.

[Phalanx]

Great sequence for the Blazers. First, Avdija looked to be fouled out and they changed it to a foul on the Laker. Then Ja makes a clutch shot, then Lillard makes a three. Love seeing this late game performance on the road.

We needed this game in Oregon, didn't we?

[pezsez1]

Every single Blazer deserves massive props for making this work. These guys are playing extremely unselfish, they're celebrating with each other, they're playing team defense, they're hustling, and they're making it look fun.

And yeah, mad props to Ja, he was fantastic tonight.

[pezsez1]

We needed this game in Oregon, didn't we?

Yes we did.

[Phalanx]

Four players over 20 points, overcame terrible foul calls vs Deni and Toumani in the first half. One gets the sense that one of the stars can get into foul trouble and others on the team can pick up the slack. When was the last time we felt like that in Portland?

Lillard took noticeably less shots this time - 12 compared to 18 for the last game. I think we can probably attribute this to Coach Nori taking him aside after the last game and telling him to spread the ball around more and stop hucking up prayers with guys draped all over him as if he were trying to re-live his playoff performances in all of those first-round drubbings. He still didn't shoot great in this game, only managing 42% from the field, which was the worst of anyone on the team except Scoot, while the rest of the team shot 62%, but at least the damage was mitigated somewhat by limiting his shot volume. The fact that nobody took more than 15 shots is a good sign that Coach is doing a great job involving everyone.

What did everyone think of Ja? That trade is looking better and better the more he plays. He now leads the team in the all-important +/- stat over three games, with Deni second. I didn't pay much attention to that stat until it was mentioned several times in this thread, but I can tell that it is a great indicator of player effectiveness because Scoot was a +4 tonight and Vit Krejčí was also +2. Oh, and Lillard was -1. Apparently that means the team was losing the game during the 32 minutes he was in. Do I have that right?

[pezsez1]

Dame did fine. I doubt Nori needed to talk to him, he likely just took fewer shots because he wasn't stroking it. But he found his shot in the fourth quarter, just in time. Only real flaw in his game yesterday was missing free throws. Not worried about that long term.

Ja looks fantastic, and the way he and Dame are playing together is great. Also the way Ja and Deni are finding ways to coexist. And Dame and Deni, for that matter. These guys already look like they've played a whole season together. It's probably helpful that Dame was so active with the team last year even when he couldn't be on the floor.

Lots to be happy about. Didn't even mention Deni doing Turbo things. And Toumani really maxing out his open looks. And Jrue really shining in the second unit. Everyone is being unselfish and making this work.

[Phalanx]

Dame did fine. I doubt Nori needed to talk to him, he likely just took fewer shots because he wasn't stroking it. But he found his shot in the fourth quarter, just in time. Only real flaw in his game yesterday was missing free throws. Not worried about that long term.

Oddly quiet on the +/- situation all of a sudden. I was waiting for one of those 'hear me out' explanations.

When I perceive coaching intercession, it is generally because someone is behaving differently than their long-established pattern. People don't usually fix themselves. For instance, Cronin signing Rob to a contract that only pays if 50 games are reached. Cronin never did a team-friendly contract in his life. Up to now, he has usually included a player option in the final year to give the player all the power. So Rob's contract to me is a sign that Dundon is heavily involved in originating deals now. That, and he did a similar deal last year on his hockey team with Frederik Andersen. In this case, Lillard just got done taking 18 shots last game. That is not because he was shooting well. That's his average per game attempts for his whole career. That's how many shots Lillard takes come hell or high water. So to see him only take 12 in the next game is a pretty strong signal that someone intervened. Coach Nori wants to win, and part of that is improving shot selection and spreading the ball around. If you listen closely to Lillard interviews, all of a sudden he is talking about the team being unselfish all the time. He didn't come up with that by himself either.

And speaking of Nori's messaging, did anyone notice him repeating the Ronald Reagan slogan about how much you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit? (it's actually a quote from Harry Truman, but Reagan made it famous). A coach in Portland quoting Ronald Reagan is another harbinger of changing times for the Blazers.

[pezsez1]

It's really not that surprising. Dame pulled back his shot volume and deferred to Giannis when he wasn't the best player on the Bucks. Now he's not the best player here, and he's deferring to Deni while also working with Ja, Toumani and others. Contrary to what some people believe, Dame's DNA has never been that of a ball hog. It's just that Neil Olshey handed him a roster where it made more sense for him to shoot it rather than pass it off to an open Aminu or ???? f*** it I literally just had to google who was on the Blazers roster before 2022 because outside of CJ the # of legit scorers Dame had to work with was just that bad lol.

Now we've got Deni, Dame, Ja and Toumani providing that open-3 scoring punch. It's a new world, my Blazer brother. Not to mention Jrue, who is still plenty capable, and RWIII might also be the best center the Blazers have had since Arvydas Sabonis. I mean talk about guys putting their egos aside, how about RWIII playing hard off the bench?

[Everythingsducky]

Great game, loved the energy. About the only negatives I can come up with, is that Vit should sit, and that Scoot is so bad, he is not long to be wearing a Blazer jersey.

[Greenblood]

Seems like it could be interesting to see what the Blazers' record is Thanksgiving week, at which point they will have played 12 of their first 17 games away from the friendly confines. If they're well over .500 at that point and assuming they've played a fair representation of quality teams, would seem to bode well for the rest of the season.

[Phalanx]

It's just that Neil Olshey handed him a roster where it made more sense for him to shoot it rather than pass it off to an open Aminu or ???? f*** it I literally just had to google who was on the Blazers roster before 2022 because outside of CJ the # of legit scorers Dame had to work with was just that bad lol.

You say stuff like this a lot, talking about Aminu being the only guy who could shoot from outside besides C.J. It feels like you need a bit of a refresher about who Lillard played with.

Lillard's 11 seasons with the Blazers included:

3 Seasons with LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews and Nicolas Batum. LaMarcus was a 7-time All Star and Batum was a more developed version of Toumani. Matthews was around .395 from three during his time in Portland. In that time Lillard missed the playoff once and made the playoffs twice and made it to the second round once.

8.5 seasons with C.J. McCollum, who was at or near 40% three point shooting five of those seasons. In fact, his career from three is 39.5%, which is well above Lillard's, despite his very high usage. The only reason he didn't make a few all-star teams is because Lillard had better PR people. If he had dropped a couple of rap albums, he would have made it.

4 seasons with Allen Crabbe, who shot over 41% from three during those years - way, way better than Lillard.

1.5 seasons with Norman Powell, who average 18 points per game and later made an all star team. His career 3-point percentage is also .395, much higher than Lillard's.

7 Seasons with Meyers Leonard, lifetime 39% from three (better than Lillard). Meyers was a disappointment as a center - he didn't rebound and he didn't block shots. He had one skill: outside shooting.

1 season with Seth Curry, who shot 45% from three that year (way,way,way better than Lillard), the year they made it to the WCF.

3 seasons with oft-injured Rodney Hood, but his 3pt percentage was over 37.2% which is just a smidge better than Lillard's career mark.

3 seasons with Gary Trent Jr who shot 39.4% from three while with the Blazers, way better than Lillard.

2 seasons with Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony who shot 40% from three while with the Blazers, way better than Lillard.

5 seasons with Anfernee Simons, who shot 38.7% from three which was - you guessed it- better than Lillard.

So yeah, not just Aminu. He actually had good shooting around him a lot of the time, he just usually choked in the playoffs. He's been in the league 14 years and has never won a single Conference Finals game. Incredible level of futility.