This year’s Portland Trail Blazers might not be very good, but they definitely have a flair for the dramatic.
Consider this past week. At Houston, they had a struggling Rockets team on the ropes, a team that fired their head coach just that morning and was blaming everyone left, right and center for a terrible start to the season. The Blazers let them use the ropes as a springboard, as impetus for a knockout blow that cost Portland the game, and led us Blazer faithful to wonder just how bad this losing streak could get.
As the Los Angeles Clippers, a good team helmed by two legit superstars in Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, came into Rip City, things were looking grim, until…
Lillard Time.
Ed Davis was the player of the Clippers game, putting 17 and 15, cleaning up the Blazers’ frequent misses, and generally providing a shot in the arm Portland desperately needed. However, that Herculean effort from Davis didn’t put the Clippers away. It took Lillard’s three consecutive three-pointers and an assist on a Mason Plumlee and-one, and some actual, honest-to-God DEFENSE, to send the whiny Clips packing.
In consecutive games, we saw the bad qualities of a young team and the good qualities of a young team. In Houston, the Blazers couldn’t finish the game and let the opposing superstar player (James Harden) hoss his team to the finish line. At home against the Clippers, despite poor showings from the youngest players, Lillard, Davis and CJ McCollum used their skills and talent to overcome a good Los Angeles squad in front of the Rip City faithful.
With Thanksgiving a couple days from now, I took some time to think about what I’m thankful for. It’s an exercise in thought that’s frankly needed every once in awhile, if only to realize that no matter how bad you have it, there’s always somebody that’s got it worse. Perspective that some people don’t want, but everybody needs.
I’m thankful that the Blazers are entertaining this season. I’m thankful that Lillard is taking on his new role and succeeding at it, as much as he can; doing what he’s doing, even though he’s being handsomely paid for it, isn’t easy. I’m thankful for McCollum doing his best to prove that he belongs on the team. I’m thankful for Ed Davis busting his butt trying to help his team win, even with a 20-year-old kid starting in front of him.
I’m thankful that Meyers Leonard is keeping his head up despite separating his shoulder, for Mason Plumlee proving that white guys are athletes too, for Al-Farouq Aminu demonstrating that he does have something resembling a three-point shot (though he’s struggled shooting lately), for Allen Crabbe, Noah Vonleh and Moe Harkless learning NBA defense the hard way (those lessons will pay off for them).
I’m thankful for my father’s continued good health, for my brother being…my brother, the folks here at OSN being patient with me, and most of all, I feel thankful that there are actually people that will read my opinions about professional basketball. Thank you!
Alright, time for picks! Let’s go!
(Stats courtesy of NBA.com and basketball-reference.com. All games broadcast on AM 620 Rip City Radio.)
Tuesday, Nov. 24: vs. the Chicago Bulls, 7:00 PM, CSNNW
The Skinny: The big story concerning the Bulls over the summer was the firing of head coach Tom Thibodeau, and replacing him with former NBA player and Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg. Thibs was a curmudgeonly sort who rubbed both his players and his bosses the wrong way, and even if you’re a multi-millionaire who’s a certified basketball genius, you will eventually pay for being a curmudgeon.
They replaced him with Hoiberg, whose offense at Iowa State shredded the college game for years. Hoiberg is also reportedly a more affable man than Thibs, and the only real question I had about the hire was Hoiberg’s health. He had a mild heart attack a couple months before being hired, and the NBA coaching lifestyle is much, much more stressful than anything he did in college.
Chicago during Thibodeau’s tenure was known as a defensive-minded ball club that struggled to score, partially due to star guard Derrick Rose’s knee issues costing him most of four years of his career, partially due to Thibodeau working his guys to death on defense, then sparing little imagination for the offense.
Hoiberg was hired to remedy that. It will take awhile to completely do so, as these stats show. The Bulls are 23rd in Offensive Rating (98.9), sixth in Defensive Rating (97.7), 22nd in Field-Goal Percentage (43.2).
While they are shooting the ball from three very well (37.6%, sixth in the NBA), they don’t shoot as many as most teams do, only putting up 22 a game, good for 18th in the league. Chicago also scores a large percentage of their points from the midrange, considered by stat geeks like me as the worst place to shoot a basketball.
Their percentage of points scored via midrange is the fifth-highest in the NBA. They’re also 27th in percentage of points scored in the paint, showing a lack of ability to both penetrate into the paint and pass into the post. A team that employs Pau Gasol, however diminished he might be, should be better in the paint.
If you’re curious, Chicago is 11th in the league in percentage of points scored via three-pointers.
The plan going forward for the Bulls offensively should be to cut down on the midrange jumpers and manufacture more good looks from three. With Rose lacking explosiveness after all those knee injuries, Jimmy Butler being a glorified 3-and-D guy asked to be an All-Star, and the inaccuracy of Nikola Mirotic so far this season, things are still a work in progress for the Bulls.
They’ve still played only 12 games. We’ll see if Hoiberg can bring his vision to fruition with this current team in time for them to mount a real challenge to Cleveland in the East.
Player To Watch: CJ McCollum. If Hoiberg matches up his players by position defensively, McCollum will be hounded by Butler.
Butler is long, tenacious, fast, smart, and he hardly ever takes a break; he’s been among the league leaders in minutes per game ever since he broke into Thibodeau’s rotation. If McCollum tries his one-on-one routine against Butler, he’s going to get swallowed up, and the Blazer offense will stall.
Prediction: Sorry to be a killjoy. Portland loses.
Saturday, Nov. 28: vs. the Los Angeles Lakers, 7:00 PM, KGW
The Skinny: The Lakers stink, and they stink for many reasons. They’re young. They’re poorly coached. They’re lacking effort at times (like in the last game these teams played). But I touched on those subjects last week.
This week, we talk about Kobe Bryant.
Bryant’s 20th season has gotten off to an atrocious start:
10 G, 31.1 MPG, 16.3 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 3.7 APG, 33% FG%, 20% 3PT%, 2.2 turnovers a game, 28% usage
The usage stat means that while Kobe’s on the court, 28% of the Lakers’ possessions end with him shooting the ball or turning it over. Looking at those craptastic shooting numbers, that’s obviously not ideal. The only thing positive you can say about Bryant’s season so far is that he’s healthy, other than the usual older player issues he deals with.
There’s a certain sadness in watching athletes that have been playing since I was a child either retire or go through this slow professional death. Some, like Dirk Nowitzki and Tom Brady, are aging more or less gracefully. Others, like Bryant and Peyton Manning, have pretty much fallen off a cliff.
I’ve watched guys like them do their thing, and become among the best ever at it, since I was 11 years old. Being 29 now, I can hardly remember an NBA or NFL season without any of those players. It’s weird to see them diminished or just plain terrible, and it’ll be sad to see them go.
That’s life, though. Everything has an expiration date, whether that’s tomorrow, a year from now, 70 years from now, or a billion years from now. I cure those sad feelings by watching Stephen Curry and his band of merry men obliterate everything in their path, or the youngsters in Milwaukee learn how to score at a league-average rate while maintaining their defensive prowess, or even seeing a young, bad team make baby steps…like the Blazers.
I wish there was more to enjoy about Bryant’s probable last season than him chucking contested 20-footers and missing, but since he’s built a legend by making those difficult, low-efficiency shots, I guess it’s fitting.
Player To Watch: Ed Davis. With the roll he’s been on lately, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him starting by Saturday, Vonleh’s potential and the future be damned.
Davis’ effort, hustle, and timely rebounding will be harder for coach Terry Stotts to keep on the bench the longer Davis can keep it up.
Prediction: Portland won pretty easily in LA, with Lillard hanging 30 points and 13 assists on the Lakers’ young, overmatched backcourt. Look for Lillard to dominate again in a Blazer victory.
Last week, the Blazers went 2-2 while I recorded a 3-1 week. My only miss was the Clipper game; I picked them to lose to the Clips.
Trail Blazers’ Record: 6-9
Jared’s Picks Record: 6-9
Bro Counter: 29 to go!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Try not to pass out on your Uncle Fred’s favorite armchair after devouring a solid pound of turkey, please.
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