Game Day: Trailblazers (9-14) @ Suns (10-13), Fri 12/11/15

[Superbone]

In Hornacek's defense, Knight has had many big fourth quarters after lackluster first halves. It just didn't happen last night.

[Ring_Wanted]

I know. Even EJ said 'you know Knight is going to get hot at some point' (or something like that), which usually does happen, but he was palpably ice cold. Bledsoe tried to take over, and Booker was being his generally smart self. I would have gone with that as much as possible in the 4Q. Also, this was a good game to use Warren extended minutes as Portland plays little defense.

[Superbone]

Yeah, Warren has been in a bit of a slump as of late. Probably due to his inconsistent playing time.

[Vladimir_Taltos]

Sigh...can't believe I bought NBA League Pass to start watching games so I could see that one. God are they missing Chandler's defense...which speaking of...D? what D?

VT

[Indy]

The were running lots of plays for Booker, but he was being well guarded (or manhandled if you are a suns fan) to the point where he couldn't get to the spot he needed to.

[carey]

Sigh...can't believe I bought NBA League Pass to start watching games so I could see that one. God are they missing Chandler's defense...which speaking of...D? what D?

VT

Permiter defense was atrocious. I was literally yelling at the t.v. every time they went under the pick only for Crabb, McCollum, or Henderson to drain a 3 right after. It was so predictable.

[Indy]

Sigh...can't believe I bought NBA League Pass to start watching games so I could see that one. God are they missing Chandler's defense...which speaking of...D? what D?

VT

Permiter defense was atrocious. I was literally yelling at the t.v. every time they went under the pick only for Crabb, McCollum, or Henderson to drain a 3 right after. It was so predictable.

TO be fair, Crabbe was getting some great screens that left no room to squeeze through. And that guy was just amazing. Not amazing like he hit his open shots, but amazing like he was unstoppable. I think EJ was saying he should have changed his name to Jordan for that game.

[Nodack]

I started the game with an eye on Knight. It was like whoever Knight was guarding scored every time. I think they actually fed the ball to whoever Knight was guarding.

[pickle]

So it turns out I managed to find this game on the internet after all.

Bledsoe is becoming quite the deadly mid-range shooter, which he shoots with a great deal of confidence. I still worry when he launches 3 pointers (even though he hit at a high clip for this one), but I can see at times when he is open for a three, he prefers to pump fake and take a dribble for a 20 footer. That's smart, I suppose, as he knows his strengths and uses them. His around the basket game still needs improvement. I remember at least two drives where he beat his man and then misses gimmes. He also had a couple of nice pick and roll passes, one in particular to Cory Jefferson that was very pleasing to the eye. Hope that aspect of his game develops more consistency.

Knight was stone cold and by the 4th quarter it was pretty obvious that he had lost confidence. There were several shots that he would ordinarily have just pulled up for that he chose to pass up instead. I find that on defense, when he gets beat by his man, even by just half a step, he simply gives up, and then the play develops and maybe a big comes to help and force the ball out of his man's hands, he isn't there to recover or to pressure the passing lanes. Cold shooting spells, I can live with. Giving up on chasing your man or switching onto an open player, that's unacceptable.

Price played very aggressive defense and I think Knight could really learn from him. Maybe that will draw some energy from his offense, but ... at this age, he should simply work on his conditioning to be able to become a two-way player. The 3 pg lineup was a bit painful though. And the 3-pg with Booker and Teletovic at the end of the game, I realize all is lost anyway but come on.

Len was very aggressive in this game and also gaining confidence in that 15 footer. I love that. Also the guards were feeding him with alley-oops more when they drive and draw attention from Len's man. Also love that. When he goes up for a shot near the rim, he isn't attacking the rim, instead opting for finesse moves. I wish he would just rise up and go for the dunk every time when he's within about 5 feet of the basket. Not that I care so much about dunking or that I can't appreciate a nice post move or two, but at this point in time I just want to see that aggression out of Len, when he is clearly the biggest and most physical guy on the court.

Booker continues to impress, both on offense and on defense. If he had longer arms I imagine he would've gone in the top 5.

Leuer and Len are developing some nice chemistry. I guess this is what our team had envisioned when they built the lineup... had the Markieff situation not become what it is that is. How much does Leuer weigh? Around 240? Feels like he lacks the bulk to stand his ground when posted up, which is what drives me to think that he's not quite starting caliber yet. Love his effort though.

Teletovic is a bomber, who does not seem terribly affected by defense flying at him at top speed, and that's probably why we brought him on board. Eddie Johnson said that Teletovic should have passed more, but honestly I like what he's doing. Just catch and shoot and constantly pressure the defense by letting them know that his trigger is just that short. Also there was one pick and roll situation he got Lillard or McCollum on his back, and instead of backing down he brought the ball back up to the 3 point line and used his size advantage to launch a shot over the defender, and I thought that was quite a good play too. Any time you have a mismatch you exploit it, whatever it may be. He doesn't need to always pound the paint just because he's a 4.

I've noticed that during pick and roll plays the roll man is given a lot of leeway to move around. Often they roll before the smaller defender decides to go above or below the screen, and simply seal them on their backs to force a mismatch. I can't quite tell if that's legal; feels like a moving screen to me to be honest. And this happens on both sides of the court. Our bigs do this as much as anyone.

[Mori Chu]

Knight sucks.

[Ring_Wanted]

Knight does a number of things well, but defending a dynamic backcourt is not one of them. That, combined with his poor passing, means that if he is not scoring he is useless, which is why he could make a terrific 6th man.

Let's see how he bounces back against the Wolves.

[Superbone]

Booker continues to impress, both on offense and on defense. If he had longer arms I imagine he would've gone in the top 5.

Then I guess I'm thankful Booker doesn't have longer arms. I've never noticed that he has short arms. I'll have to look for that.

[Nodack]

Knight sucks at defense. He doesn't suck overall. He has had a lot of games where he was the offense for the Suns and without him we would have lost. He really sucked last game overall but, one game doesn't make a career.

[pickle]

Booker continues to impress, both on offense and on defense. If he had longer arms I imagine he would've gone in the top 5.

Then I guess I'm thankful Booker doesn't have longer arms. I've never noticed that he has short arms. I'll have to look for that.

I'm not really griping that his arms are short per se, but he doesn't look like the typical player that the NBA loves these days, the Draymond Green type who can play an inch or two taller than they are thanks to their longer reach. He's certainly got the poise and the shooting stroke, as well as the desire on defense. Yet when I look back at last year's draft boards, he was rated as low as the high 20s by some so called insiders. I know experts get these things wrong too, and I'm happy they did, but I'm shocked that a player like this, in this age of pace and space, didn't get picked up earlier than 13th.

[Ring_Wanted]

Booker was not a starter for Kentucky and probably many thought he'd be too raw to favor over other lottery talent in a deep class. This was touched before, but I still think Utah made a big mistake by picking Lyles over Booker. If/when Exum comes back, that's a crazy young and gifted backcourt.

[pickle]

Booker was not a starter for Kentucky and probably many thought he'd be too raw to favor over other lottery talent in a deep class. This was touched before, but I still think Utah made a big mistake by picking Lyles over Booker. If/when Exum comes back, that's a crazy young and gifted backcourt.

But Utah also committed 13 mil per to Burks, so they probably weren't looking for a 2 guard during the draft. I'm not sure what type game Lyles has, they might have wanted a third big to come in behind Favors and Gobert, after having lost Kanter.

I digress a bit, but I'm still surprised at how they just let Jefferson and Millsap go without any compensation, and plug in two more near all star quality big men. That's an embarrassment of riches.

[Ring_Wanted]

Either rookie was going to be behind a young veteran, be it at the frontcourt or backcourt but Booker's shooting is much more scarce than Lyles' (alleged, can't say I've watched him) jack of all trades game at PF.

Besides, it is not very probable that you are going to want to move Favors-Gobert, whereas disposing of say Trey Burke lets you keep Burks while opening space for Booker.

Exum-Booker-Hayward-Favors-Gobert plus Burks-Hood off the bench leave you one backup PG away from being 'set' as you still have Trevor Booker and Pleiss at backup PF/C (as upgradeable as that may be).

Needless to say I am happy the Jazz didn't see it this way and Booker fell into our lap.



(btw Burks makes barely over 10M per, not 13M)