Game Day: Blazers (25-36) @ Suns (49-12), Wed 3/2/22

[ShelC]

[Mori Chu]

This was a nicely balanced effort. 6 guys in double-figures. Payne looked very rusty in his shooting but really moved the offense; it was great to have him back. He had 8 assists and it felt like a breath of fresh air to have him out there. Our wings really had a chance to shine tonight. All of Bridges, Cam Johnson, Crowder, and Craig had pretty good games in the 13-20 point range. As another person said, if we get that kind of wing performance in the playoffs, we're going to go far.

I agree with whoever said that Holiday still has trouble with turnovers and decision-making. But I really like his offensive game. He can drive to the basket, he has some nice floaters, and he can hit an open 3. I think the passing and turnovers will get better with time. I still like him much better than Payton.

I was hoping to see Landry Shamet have a big game since so many of our guards are out. He was okay. He ended up with 12 points on 4-12 shooting, including 2-8 on 3s. There was one sequence where he took a shot, it bricked out; he gathered and took another shot, it bounced out; and he got ANOTHER shot from 3 and put it in. Kind of ugly, but I'm glad he keeps shooting it. I do hope he'll find his shot by playoff time. Don't know if I would trust him with big minutes in the postseason, but we'll have to have him out there some of the time probably.

Portland's roster is really bad. I like Simons, but we were able to mostly take him out of the game after a hot start. Eubanks was a nice garbage man center and was aggressive at getting to the basket. Hart is an NBA player. Nice to see Brandon Williams out there getting some burn. Other than that, oof. Even without CP3 and Book, we should have blown out this team.

[ShelC]

Payne's ability to get downhill and put pressure on the defense is a dynamic we've been missing, even with CP and Book. Monty mentioned the burst and he's one of the few guys who has that - the other being Holiday. I like Holiday, tho he's still a bit raw as a PG. It's asking a lot for a new acquisition to run offense like we've been asking him to do, but he's worth keeping around and developing as another combo guard. There's a physical athleticism that he brings similar to CP.

Love what CamJ's been doing on the ball. He's a bit stiff and upright in his movements which may limit his overall ceiling, but that's just nitpicking at this point. He's been terrific in transition finishing and leading the break to go along with his shooting.

I still think Shamet is rushing his shots. Feels like he's shooting before he's even set or has the ball in his hands. Maybe he's smaller and afraid of the defense closing out so he rushes it. Someone needs to tell him to slow down a bit.

Glad we took care of business against the Blazers and everyone played well. RJ was saying that even the team last night could be a play-in team, which speaks to our depth and talent. It'll be good for this watered down version of the team to get these reps the next few games.

[Superbone]

Cam Johnson's little step back hop 3 pointer from the top of the key was interesting, but it's still hard to really believe it in a game like this one. Still another great game of him showing off some developed skills.

OK, didn't count and didn't happen, I guess.

[Superbone]

Thanks for all the McCoy content, Shel!

[ShelC]

No prob! I can't believe he's 88! Looks and sounds great.

Couldn't find any ESPN broadcast stuff tho, maybe they post it later?

[bajanguy008]

Luv to see it

[djy2j]

Ayton played much more focused in the second half.

Having Payne back certainly is a morale boost as well as having a natural ball handler out there to guide the ship better.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Cam Johnson's little step back hop 3 pointer from the top of the key was interesting, but it's still hard to really believe it in a game like this one. Still another great game of him showing off some developed skills.

OK, didn't count and didn't happen, I guess.

I'm pretty sure the Suns were up 20+ and he was being defended by a guy who won't be in the league next year. It's also the first time I can recall seeing him even attempt that type of shot from that spot. What I was trying to convey is that the context makes it more difficult to believe it'll become a part of his repertoire.

[Indy]

Cam Johnson's little step back hop 3 pointer from the top of the key was interesting, but it's still hard to really believe it in a game like this one. Still another great game of him showing off some developed skills.

OK, didn't count and didn't happen, I guess.

I'm pretty sure the Suns were up 20+ and he was being defended by a guy who won't be in the league next year. It's also the first time I can recall seeing him even attempt that type of shot from that spot. What I was trying to convey is that the context makes it more difficult to believe it'll become a part of his repertoire.

He did something similar against the Bucks earlier this year. A cross over step back 3 from the right wing 3 pt area.

[Superbone]

Cam Johnson's little step back hop 3 pointer from the top of the key was interesting, but it's still hard to really believe it in a game like this one. Still another great game of him showing off some developed skills.

OK, didn't count and didn't happen, I guess.

I'm pretty sure the Suns were up 20+ and he was being defended by a guy who won't be in the league next year. It's also the first time I can recall seeing him even attempt that type of shot from that spot. What I was trying to convey is that the context makes it more difficult to believe it'll become a part of his repertoire.

So, it's not possible he could do the same thing with somebody you consider an NBA player in front of him?

[Mori Chu]

I wish Payne would develop some more variety to his layup game. He seems to always try to blaze past the opponent and extend horizontally, hoping his arm will be past their reach. But when he's wrong, he gets viciously blocked. This happened to him last night. Payne would be lethal if he had a few more options around the basket such as floaters or hesitation moves.

[Mori Chu]

I just wanted to say this: The ball seemed to move really well last night with Booker out. I took the liberty of checking our stats from Sunday's game against the Jazz. Booker had 30/7/7 (!) but as a team we had only 24 assists on 86 made baskets (28%). Last night against the Blazers with Booker out, nobody scored more than 20 pts but we had 32 assists on 80 made baskets (40%). That's noticeable.

[Split T]

I just wanted to say this: The ball seemed to move really well last night with Booker out. I took the liberty of checking our stats from Sunday's game against the Jazz. Booker had 30/7/7 (!) but as a team we had only 24 assists on 86 made baskets (28%). Last night against the Blazers with Booker out, nobody scored more than 20 pts but we had 32 assists on 80 made baskets (40%). That's noticeable.

I think that can be explained by Booker having to be pg and the #1 scoring option. The ball moves just as good with Booker as long as he’s not handling double duty. I think with Payne back it should be fine.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Cam Johnson's little step back hop 3 pointer from the top of the key was interesting, but it's still hard to really believe it in a game like this one. Still another great game of him showing off some developed skills.

OK, didn't count and didn't happen, I guess.

I'm pretty sure the Suns were up 20+ and he was being defended by a guy who won't be in the league next year. It's also the first time I can recall seeing him even attempt that type of shot from that spot. What I was trying to convey is that the context makes it more difficult to believe it'll become a part of his repertoire.

So, it's not possible he could do the same thing with somebody you consider an NBA player in front of him?

"Possible" isn't the metric. Ayton hits half court granny shots before home games. So is it possible he could do that during a game?

My point is the Blazers suck and the game was out of hand when he tried it. I want to see him do it against real competition before I believe it's something he can reliably go to.

[dragickingdom]

Is it just me, or does Ayton seem to play much better against dominant big players and doesn't seem to know what to do when playing against undersized lineups. McGee plays big all the time (even when he does some bonehead things), but put Ayton in against players he should be crushing he passes out or takes a long bad 2. He also seems to forget to rebound and box out against smaller lineups.

[Indy]

Yes, he does. He needs the competition to pump him up, instead of self-motivation.

[Nodack]

Still a work in progress but, he has made a lot of progress.