Game notes: back to .500! Latest in the season we’ve been .500 since Feb. 3, 2023!
* Good to see Deni back. He looked fresh almost like the absence rejuvenated him a bit, and looked as fast, physical, and quick as ever. He came out the game with 15 points in the first quarter – couple layups, a three, a pull back midrange, and didn’t look scared of contact. Also the behind the head pass to DC was a thing of beauty.
* Loved the way Deni and Shae played off each other in the third quarter. They each had possessions coming off screens, forcing the defense into rotation and hitting DC in the short roll, and hitting the other one for a cut. Need more of that.
* I thought Shae did a great job scoring, was an active cutter, and didn’t take too many contested long twos (which is one of my gripes with his shot selection). In the first half he didn’t do a very good job hitting DC in the short roll when he was blitzed coming off screens but he did a much better job of it in the second half and it generated several layups/open shots. Although he (as per usual) lost the ball quite a few times on his ball pickups/gathers. However some bad turnovers late in the game and a couple layups where I wish he would have gotten a whistle.
* Props to DC for putting together a monster game especially in his stint in the late third/early fourth. 36 minutes too!!!! Several offensive rebounds, an and-one off a dive to the rim, and a three. I also thought he is looking increasingly more comfortable in the short roll and even flashing some moves – in the first quarter they doubled Deni coming off a screen and DC took a dribble and tried to dunk on two kings. Even though he missed it, it’s nice to see DC feeling confident like that when he gets the ball in space. One of my favorite plays (that didn’t even record a stat) was when he was guarding Domas, absorbed the first bump and sat on his right shoulder so Domas couldn’t spin middle into a lefty hook and Sabonis turned it over (Lamar mentioned it on the broadcast too). Just so smart, physical, and good. Also the block on LaVine with 2 minutes left was huge.
* I like that Splitter changes some of the rotations based on personnel. For instance in the first half today, they knew Sabonis would be coming off the bench so he yanked DC first sub and put on Yang for a few minutes, and then brought back DC when Sabonis would check in. He’s also pretty religious about doing offense/defense substitutions at the end of quarters which is nice.
* Lineup of Love Cooke Rupert Cissoko and Clingan in the first quarter held their own. Good for them lol because that lineup has no business doing anything lol. Shoutout to Cooke pulling a vet move stealing the ball from Sabonis when he turned his head in the post.
* Love with a nice lob to DC to end the half. However in the second half I thought he was shooting a bit too much. In particular, there was a stretch in the late third/early fourth quarter where the Kings were switching everything and he kept getting the matchup against Sabonis, waving off Deni and trying to attack but I would have liked to see him try to get Deni switched onto Sabonis to attack, and it stagnated the offense a bit.
* The late fourth quarter made me nervous after how the last Kings game went. As Lamar said I really wish they would burn more time when the Kings score lol…
* Yang looked….rough out there. That was not great. On the plus side he had a nice reverse pivot lefty hook! And a steal! but the rest of his shift was pretty bad. A couple bad fouls, a defensive possession where he had his head facing the baseline (wtf?) and someone drove right at him for a layup, a travel, and an offensive foul where he grabbed his guy on a Gortat seal. I don’t think he’s quite ready yet.
* Shoutout to Toumani, 7/7 from the field, great defense on DeRozan and not falling for any dumb pump fakes.
WE ARE BACK TO 0.500!!!
My wife came down as I was chanting mvp for Deni. She told me to shut the fuck up the kids are sleeping. wtf
Swept the back to back. Absolutely huge.
Insane game by DC on a day we had no other NBA-caliber 5 available.
Welcome back Deni.
that was a professional NBA win.
Clingan had a really good night tonight
I need to say I loved how shae and deni flowed off of each others gravity in the third. Shaedon getting doubled making the right read or them loading up on shae when coming up the court giving Deni an open lane. Deni’s paint touches creating drives for shae off of attacking closeouts. It looked and felt amazing. It’s a shame that shae doesn’t have an assist to his name tonight because he was terrific as a playmaker it felt. But more importantly YOUR BLAZERS ARE A .500 BALL CLUB
Russ, Sabonis, and DeRozan all telling Deni he better be an All Star
Awesome to have Deni back in action, great win without Jrue/Jerami/Rob and against a team that’s been hot at home…and we’re .500 baby!
30 8 8 and it felt like just a casual game wow
Deni’s chemistry with literally everyone is incredible, it’s comical.
Deni looks good! Clingan dominated! And we are back to 0.5! Go Blazers!
Wife said I could put up the Clingan FatHead in the bedroom tonight
“Duuuuuuuub”
-Deni Avdija
Crazy, Deni had 28,8,8 and I’m like “c’mon Deni, seriously?”
DC HUGE
Splitter is doing a great job, on point challenges, got this team playing great with an entire g league squad of the bench.
Deni “imma drop 30,8,8 casually” Avdija
Shae had 3 fouls in the first quarter and I thought this might be one of his bad games.
Boy did he turn that shit around.
Love to see the guys keep finding a way to win. Man, I hate to be that guy, but this is starting to feel like a special group of dudes.
Deni with a casual 30-8-8 but I think tonight, I was more blown away by DC.
Just a rebounding force out there and his offensive game is coming together nicely with more room to grow!!!
So I’m looking at the upcoming schedule for the next few weeks and I’m like…this is supposed to be an easy schedule?
We got the Heat, Raptors, and Celtics next which are all good to great teams.
Then we get Washington – which should be a Deni legacy game.
And then we get the Knicks, Cavaliers, and Suns which are also all good to great teams.
So 6 out of the next 7 games are quite challenging. Am I crazy or where is this “easier remaining schedule” I keep hearing about?
32 comments
A little too close for comfort vs the Kings again, but a win is a win. We are back at 0.500 and next game we should have Deni, Jrue, and JG!
Cling Kong is such a fucking beast, and a real ass competitor.
Him seamlessly filling in as the starting center and making huge strides on offense has been so big for us.
Blazers back to .500 and rising! Let’s fucking go!
Sac were moving the ball well on offense but their defense?
Deni, with some of his moves, made it look like one of those YouTube videos where a pro NBA player plays in the hood.
Deni, Sharpe, Clingan big 3
We finally made it back to .500 🥹
Good guy Sacramento letting Deni stat pad a bit before the all star selections
Did you say .500 record and easiest remaining strength of schedule?
https://preview.redd.it/tkplnegeh8eg1.jpeg?width=573&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a7807fc0c24189d85f0af5cccca4857678b5fa3
.500!!! 8-2 in the new year baby
Back to back what’s up this is how we roll now
Game notes: back to .500! Latest in the season we’ve been .500 since Feb. 3, 2023!
* Good to see Deni back. He looked fresh almost like the absence rejuvenated him a bit, and looked as fast, physical, and quick as ever. He came out the game with 15 points in the first quarter – couple layups, a three, a pull back midrange, and didn’t look scared of contact. Also the behind the head pass to DC was a thing of beauty.
* Loved the way Deni and Shae played off each other in the third quarter. They each had possessions coming off screens, forcing the defense into rotation and hitting DC in the short roll, and hitting the other one for a cut. Need more of that.
* I thought Shae did a great job scoring, was an active cutter, and didn’t take too many contested long twos (which is one of my gripes with his shot selection). In the first half he didn’t do a very good job hitting DC in the short roll when he was blitzed coming off screens but he did a much better job of it in the second half and it generated several layups/open shots. Although he (as per usual) lost the ball quite a few times on his ball pickups/gathers. However some bad turnovers late in the game and a couple layups where I wish he would have gotten a whistle.
* Props to DC for putting together a monster game especially in his stint in the late third/early fourth. 36 minutes too!!!! Several offensive rebounds, an and-one off a dive to the rim, and a three. I also thought he is looking increasingly more comfortable in the short roll and even flashing some moves – in the first quarter they doubled Deni coming off a screen and DC took a dribble and tried to dunk on two kings. Even though he missed it, it’s nice to see DC feeling confident like that when he gets the ball in space. One of my favorite plays (that didn’t even record a stat) was when he was guarding Domas, absorbed the first bump and sat on his right shoulder so Domas couldn’t spin middle into a lefty hook and Sabonis turned it over (Lamar mentioned it on the broadcast too). Just so smart, physical, and good. Also the block on LaVine with 2 minutes left was huge.
* I like that Splitter changes some of the rotations based on personnel. For instance in the first half today, they knew Sabonis would be coming off the bench so he yanked DC first sub and put on Yang for a few minutes, and then brought back DC when Sabonis would check in. He’s also pretty religious about doing offense/defense substitutions at the end of quarters which is nice.
* Lineup of Love Cooke Rupert Cissoko and Clingan in the first quarter held their own. Good for them lol because that lineup has no business doing anything lol. Shoutout to Cooke pulling a vet move stealing the ball from Sabonis when he turned his head in the post.
* Love with a nice lob to DC to end the half. However in the second half I thought he was shooting a bit too much. In particular, there was a stretch in the late third/early fourth quarter where the Kings were switching everything and he kept getting the matchup against Sabonis, waving off Deni and trying to attack but I would have liked to see him try to get Deni switched onto Sabonis to attack, and it stagnated the offense a bit.
* The late fourth quarter made me nervous after how the last Kings game went. As Lamar said I really wish they would burn more time when the Kings score lol…
* Yang looked….rough out there. That was not great. On the plus side he had a nice reverse pivot lefty hook! And a steal! but the rest of his shift was pretty bad. A couple bad fouls, a defensive possession where he had his head facing the baseline (wtf?) and someone drove right at him for a layup, a travel, and an offensive foul where he grabbed his guy on a Gortat seal. I don’t think he’s quite ready yet.
* Shoutout to Toumani, 7/7 from the field, great defense on DeRozan and not falling for any dumb pump fakes.
WE ARE BACK TO 0.500!!!
My wife came down as I was chanting mvp for Deni. She told me to shut the fuck up the kids are sleeping. wtf
Swept the back to back. Absolutely huge.
Insane game by DC on a day we had no other NBA-caliber 5 available.
Welcome back Deni.
that was a professional NBA win.
Clingan had a really good night tonight
I need to say I loved how shae and deni flowed off of each others gravity in the third. Shaedon getting doubled making the right read or them loading up on shae when coming up the court giving Deni an open lane. Deni’s paint touches creating drives for shae off of attacking closeouts. It looked and felt amazing. It’s a shame that shae doesn’t have an assist to his name tonight because he was terrific as a playmaker it felt. But more importantly YOUR BLAZERS ARE A .500 BALL CLUB
Russ, Sabonis, and DeRozan all telling Deni he better be an All Star
Awesome to have Deni back in action, great win without Jrue/Jerami/Rob and against a team that’s been hot at home…and we’re .500 baby!
30 8 8 and it felt like just a casual game wow
Deni’s chemistry with literally everyone is incredible, it’s comical.
Deni looks good! Clingan dominated! And we are back to 0.5! Go Blazers!
Wife said I could put up the Clingan FatHead in the bedroom tonight
“Duuuuuuuub”
-Deni Avdija
Crazy, Deni had 28,8,8 and I’m like “c’mon Deni, seriously?”
DC HUGE
Splitter is doing a great job, on point challenges, got this team playing great with an entire g league squad of the bench.
Deni “imma drop 30,8,8 casually” Avdija
Shae had 3 fouls in the first quarter and I thought this might be one of his bad games.
Boy did he turn that shit around.
Love to see the guys keep finding a way to win. Man, I hate to be that guy, but this is starting to feel like a special group of dudes.
Deni with a casual 30-8-8 but I think tonight, I was more blown away by DC.
Just a rebounding force out there and his offensive game is coming together nicely with more room to grow!!!
So I’m looking at the upcoming schedule for the next few weeks and I’m like…this is supposed to be an easy schedule?
We got the Heat, Raptors, and Celtics next which are all good to great teams.
Then we get Washington – which should be a Deni legacy game.
And then we get the Knicks, Cavaliers, and Suns which are also all good to great teams.
So 6 out of the next 7 games are quite challenging. Am I crazy or where is this “easier remaining schedule” I keep hearing about?
Avdija should be our primary point guard right?