[Next Day/Game Thread] The Portland Trail Blazers (0-3) fall to The Sixers (2-1) 98-126 | Next Game: Blazers @ Raptors on 10/30 @ 4:30 PM

5 comments

1. BILLUPS SUCKS.

2. I truly believe that this team is badly coached and it shows. I’ve only watched small snippets of the first 3 games but it seems like there is no game-plan. All I see
   Is confusion and randomness. Just ball players doing their own thing, not playing like a cohesive unit.

   The team has not been together very long, so that also magnifies the problems and it’s understandable. I’m hoping that once they play some more games together and the team can gel, it’ll look like a better product, but as is now, it’s hard to watch.

   I understand that this is not a winning team, and this season is nothing more than tank season, but I still want to be entertained. The product being put out at the moment is not entertaining, the coaching needs to improve drastically to make this team somewhat look like NBA caliber.

   I’m Hoping the team improves and billups either starts taking coaching classes or be replaced.

3. Unpopular opinion but I’m happy for Billups to be here for the next couple of seasons. Love the cutting and energy from the young guys and that’s what seems to be a common theme from his teams so far. To me, seeing them play well is more important than this weeks results. Would love to see more Kris Murray and Rupert too

4. It’s crazy to me that people are surprised Miller started better than Scoot. Miller is a 6’9 knockdown shooter on a established team. I think scoot would be better and a lot more ready for NBA but this is a rebuilding season he has lots and lots of time.

5. What worries me the most after “just” 3 games is that this team does not look like they can win any game, looking at the schedule I have no idea when they can get the first W, even Detroit has looked much better than us without a couple of their good veterans, so we got no chance without Ant.

   Anyway, I know the goal is not to really win but rather develop and all that talk, but you don’t wanna infuse a culture of losing and no accountability into these young guys, there is real talent in the roster that is better than being the worst team in the NBA, just like last year’s team was better than a mediocre 13 place and a blatant tank to close out the season to mask the failures of the “competitive” run.

   I am not gonna pretend that I understand basketball and X’s and O’s but what the hell is this team trying to do? The offense is absolutely garbage, very slow and ugly, very hesitant, half-assed screens, terrible iso’s and mid-range shots, so few 3’s, at least none generated of a good set or a drawn play, and defensively, this 2-3 zone ran with players simply lacking a lot of defensive instinct and communication is just driving me nuts, like how many times in the past 2,5 years you have the first defensive possession, 2-3 zone and the other team gets a wide open 3 at the angle, seriously, very few teams pull off the zone as their main defensive set, the Heat are a perfectly oiled machine with a savant coach and elite defensive player, Chauncey has tanked with Damian Lillard having his best individual season and no personell to run the zone.

   I am not worried about Scoot, and yeah okay you want him to figure things out when teams don’t respect him as a shooter, but why not any pick’n’rolls at all, like in 3 games he never got a good screen set for him, he passes the ball everytime and doesn’t sniff it back, he is forcing in order to get some points, he will for sure get better but those early signs are worrying in a sense that he is almost set to fail in this set-up. The obsession with Jerami Grant iso’ing, getting the ball at the elbow so he loses it, clanking a middy or misfiring a pass late in the shot clock… that’s just terrible and yet is the pattern I’ve been observing these first games.

   I wonder how many games do we lose so Billups gets some slack and sees the door, I don’t want this to turn into the Silas’ Rockets, this roster can be better than a 20 win team this year but somehow is giving all the wrong signals that it’s gonna be worse, you watch the other teams and you have the “bad” ones looking way better than last year, particularly the Rockets and Pistons with their new coaches. I like a lot of our guys, and even Grant and Brogdon are really good vets to have around who wouldn’t look like they’re forcing stuff if used in a better environment, this reminds me of the Pistons team that had Grant as their best player and it didn’t go well, but that’s how Billups is running it.