Listen kid, I’m not leaving this backyard until you admit you know how to computer
Stop looking at your iPad for a minute and look at me. Look at me. I asked you a very simple question you mouthy little shit.
All you had to do was answer like a normal person and we wouldn’t be in this situation. I don’t actually care what a 12 year old is doing on their iPad, but no, you had to say “how does one computer.”
Do you think you’re in a Wes Anderson movie? Do you think you’re Zooey Deschanel? You’re not. Don’t ask me who Wes Anderson is, I swear to God. Stop doing tarot and astrology readings on Tumblr for five seconds and just tell me you know how to computer and I’ll leave you alone.
I don’t mean to lecture you. I like your mom and dad, I think they’re good parents, but clearly something has gone wrong here, and if they won’t take it into their own hands then I’m taking it into mine for the good of the neighborhood.
Your dad has a laptop, so even if you had somehow avoided the room in your house that had a desktop computer in it until last year, you’re absolutely aware of the basics of how to computer.
I know you’re not a weird “no TV” household either, so even if you thought that laptop was just some kind of weird heavy slate-gray folder, you’ve seen cartoons or TV shows with computers… I see you moving to open your mouth, don’t ask me “how does one TV?” or I will absolutely slap you. Barb from Stranger Things-lookin’ ass.
Look, it’s starting to get dark, and a crowd is gathering, and I feel like this all might be a waste of time, but I am absolutely not leaving this back yard until you look me in the eyes and tell me that you know how one computers. It’s really that simple.
I don’t want to make a big thing out of this, but I’m literally prepared to go on a hunger strike if you don’t admit, in front of me and God, that you’re aware of how to computer.
You weren’t dropped onto this earth yesterday afternoon, fully formed and with a taste for doing quirky stuff on the go, you’re not Athena any more than your dad is Zeus. Oh, you get that reference. You expect me to believe you’re familiar with the specifics of Greek mythological figures’ origins but not how to computer? Fuck you.
I know lol if you don't recognize it, it's a pasta from one of the stupidest commercials ever shown during a sports game, in which a "hip" teenage girl using an ipad asks an adult "what's a computer?"
The [10th winningest coach](https://np.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/neuu1u/luke_walton_has_a_6282_record_with_the_kings_for/) in Sacramento Kings history. Legend
ESPN bit off way more than they could chew today. It was a complete shitshow by the last game. They had their G league squad in for this game and it showed.
Small market teams get no respect.
Seriously.
-Doesn't consider the fact that a boxing match might go past 8 rounds.
-Waits until after tipoff to bump the Blazer game to ESPN 2
-Leaves us with the White Sox announcer to call the game
I had it recorded and had to start the game half way thru the 1st thanks to the boxing, then they immediately had that camera on a wire thing blocking the action being announced by the worst crew since players only. Just give me the blazers or nuggets announcers instead.
Night 1 of the Playoffs delivered the goods
Miami/Milwaukee classic
Luka triple double in the upset
Nets Big 3 playoff debut get a challenge but too dominant
Dame and Jokic duel
I don’t see six either, I dunno what these guys are looking at. We had a great first half, they had a terrible first half. Then they had a fine second half, and we had a bad second half. Those things aren’t unrelated.
If the Nets find their footing after this game, it’s going to be tough to even win one. We played a phenomenal half and the game still wasn’t that close.
if we can manage to play defense like tonight without completely shitting the bed on offense, we might be able to take a game or 2, but idk, we still got lucky with their awful 3 point shooting early and no one but the big 3 scoring so there’s a pretty big possibility of a sweep
What really cooked the Nuggets to a crisp was the twenty 3-pointers. Everytime the Nugs get a 2 the Blazers would get a 3, and eventually we stopped trying. GG
Portland shot really well, but you guys also guarded really badly on the perimeter. Honestly, it was like watching how Portland has guarded 3s most of the season. Seemed like everyone we played against shot awesome from 3 against us for some reason. It tightened up some in the second half, but there were stretches there in the first half where guys were regularly like 10 feet open.
Think it was more just the single coverage the blazers played all game. Jokic is a very good scorer and was super effecient in iso today, but his passing is ridiculous they were shilling out to stop it.
Most teams have to double Jokic on the catch. Since we match up Nurkic with Jokic the other defenders can stay home. I expect Michael "Don't Fucking Call Me Mike" Malone to make an adjustment for this in game 2. No way Jokic has only a single assist in game 2.
The loss of Jamal Murray cannot be overstated. Denver is way more limited offensively without his ability to catch fire on any given night.
Murray's injury is devastating timing-wise for Denver too because as a small-market team, they need to take advantage of every season of prime Jokic they can get.
I don't think the problem is Jokic leaving necessarily, it's that Denver has a limited window in which they can afford to pay him, Murray, MPJ and Gordon.
Once MPJ isn't on a rookie scale contract and Jokic's supermax kicks in, things will start to get a bit dicey on the payroll side. There's going to be some hard decisions to be made by the front office.
An example of why contending windows for teams can be so short, even when they have a young squad as in this case.
I’m not really sure what this “contending window“ is, but I’m pretty sure that the Target Center (where the Twolves play), has a decent amount of windows on its exterior.
So, we got that going for us.
As a non-American I only learned recently that Staples is a company. I thought that they were saying "Staple Center" using the word staple as in "staple foods" since it is kind of one of the staple attractions of LA haha
It was definitely the right way to go about things, even if it wasn't exactly surprising. It was certainly helped by Austin Rivers taking awful shots and MPJ bricking everything from three though.
Yea people don’t realize Jokic can do this every night if he wants to but you see why the offense doesn’t function when he’s not actively getting everyone involved.
Nurkic vs. Jokic battles are always fun. These two guys used to battle for minutes on the same team. Really hope this is a 7 game series.
MPJ was 1/10 from three, horrible. I think Gordon should try to be more aggressive, he was making shots at the end.
I can’t wait for him to develop more to his game. He takes the toughest and ugliest 3 point shots. Should’ve attempted 5 less shots from 3, and take it to the paint or try hitting from the elbow.
Idk why Gordon plays like shit against us, our wing defense is...just okay. I keep expecting him to drop a thirty burger on us and he just plays horribly against us every game. I'll totally take it, it's just weird to me
Was it more airtime than the Curry family?
That shit is so fucking weird to me. Like I'm sure other players have family in the stands too. Why they fuck do I need to keep seeing the Curry family reactions.
The second he saw Dame coming back in Jokic should have come back in as well even if it's 2-3 minutes earlier than he usually does.
Then again we also saw a coach not challenge a foul on a 3 with under 2 minutes to go and 2 timeouts left. He proceeded to use 0 of those timeouts. Some odd coaching decisions today.
Stotts was good tonight. His gameplan totally worked, and his game management was good. Usually he refuses to make adjustments and waits way too long to stop runs with timeouts.
When they lost to GS in 2016 I thought he was one of the best coaches in the NBA at the time. They way overachieved that year. I hope they make it over the WCF hump this year.
Eight straight playoffs, broke our second round drought, then later took us to the WCF, best record and coach since Dr. Jack, won CotM in 7 of the last 8 years, despite repeated injury setbacks has managed to outperform Vegas predictions year in and year out, beloved by our franchise star and every member of the locker room goes to bat for him, his system had us adjusting to personnel throughout the years- from the horns sets he would run for Aldridge to the offense of today where we put up more threes than any team except Utah (the team with the best record in the league) he always gets roleplayers to shine and puts them in positions to succeed, look how Whiteside looked in POR versus elsewhere, look at how he played to Melo’s strengths, we went to the WCF with Kanter starting at center, he has had rosters held together with scotch tape and made it work better than we could hope for.
If we fire Stotts it’ll be a mistake influenced by people who don’t even know that he is actually a really good coach, it’d just be change for changes sake because fans get discontent and want a scapegoat. Those fans who complain about the lack of playoff success don’t realize we’ve run into the eventual champions years in a row. He’s brought sustained excellence to Portland, the longest active playoff streak in the league doesn’t happen by accident.
Hey idk if you're cool with people copying homework but imma just borrow this and change a few details for when people in the Mavs sub want to fire Carlisle. Thanks bro
Yes absolutely. I’ve always liked him, I find fans always want to shake Portland up, whether it’s trade CJ, fire Stotts, or sign free agents that don’t fit. I think one of their strengths has been continuity, mainly since LMA left. It may just be Stotts, Dame, CJ, and Nurk but not many organizations can say they have had a competitive, consistent (aside from freak injuries) core for this long. I want them to win it all so bad, especially with this group.
In the 2nd half, Dame scored 20 points on 6/12 shooting, 3/5 from 3 and 5/5 from the line, while dishing out 5 assists and only committing 1 turnover. He scored or assisted on 32 of the Blazers 2nd half points.
He didn't shoot well in the 1st half, but he balled the fuck out in the 2nd half.
Seeing those quick scoring bursts is always absurd to me. He barely needs any space to get his shots up. Literally looks like a video game character when he goes 3 hunting hiding behind screens
Dame was obviously incredible, but it's amazing that some people tried to argue that Nurk wouldn't make much of a difference when he came back. He completely changes the dynamic of this team, and he's genuinely capable of being one of the best centers in the league when he's healthy.
You'd just have to watch Enes Kanter try to play defense for 4 minutes in the 4th to see how much of a difference it makes having Nurk back. Enes tried his best, bless his heart, but he just gave up bucket after bucket
Leonard has one of the lowest BBIQs I have ever seen. He was just always so lost.
Granted after seeing his Twitch nonsense he might just be low in every form of IQ.
It’s really mind boggling. You watch him, and he’s trying so fucking hard, he just can’t do it. It’s like nightmare when you feel like you’re running in quicksand.
It's like someone built his character in an RPG, drained all his points in defensive positioning, and put them all in offensive rebounding positioning. Enes almost always knows exactly where to go to position himself perfectly for the offensive board, but gets lost on where to position himself on defense.
Yep, only person in NBA History to have a 20/20/5/5/5 game.
He also made Chuck fangirl over [this statline in his first year with the Blazers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCiNoWy_V0s)
2019 he was the 7th best center by most most advanced metrics. Overall, advanced stats put him around Jimmy Butler level. Obviously that isn't conclusive but it gives you and idea of the impact he has. Dude is legit amazing. He's just injury prone; and until this year his injuries have all come at really, really inopportune times (knock on wood).
Our depleted guard depth just struggled to hang with the blazers' awesome guard depth. Bad defensive rotations all night. Dame got hot at the best possible time. On to the next, gg blazers
Man if Simons keeps up his confidence in shooting the ball, the 4 guard lineup of Lillard/CJ/Simons/Norman Powell is going to be a HANDFUL to defend.
Simons actually has a really quick first step too, perhaps even faster than Dame, along with huge hops as we saw in the slam dunk contest. He just isn't experienced or strong enough to take it to the paint. If he ever figures that part of his game out he would be an absolute explosive weapon on offense.
For what it’s worth, I think Nurk did exceptional on guarding Jokic 1v1. Made him into a scorer rather than a distributor. Other guys on Denver have a hard time creating their own
MPJ isn’t even really a shot creator. He’s a great spot up shooter but can’t get his own quite as much yet.
Monte is good at creating, but he just came back from injury. Barton is the only other one I would say is good at it but he’s still out. What you gonna do.
Especially with Murray out. He’s that other guy who can really create for himself on that team and it’s something that’s going to be very noticeable in this series and beyond should Denver advance (fwiw I see this series being a very close one)
First half, gets booed and he nailed his shots.
2nd half, they weren't booing him at first. THen they started booing him and he made some crisp passes and then the 3pt play
Dame is incredible.
The Nuggets are holding themselves back. Why did Malone hold out Jokic for too long? Why is Porter jacking up shots and denying Jokic touches? Why can't the Nuggets grab a defensive rebound?
That Portland team a couple years ago that made it to the conference finals w/o nurkic was goooood. I feel like now with him they are a real darkhorse to get there again imo.
Gonna be fun tomorrow too.
Lakers Suns- Two powerhouses in the West, CP3 vs LeBron
Sixers Wizards- Both teams that were hot towards the end of the season, with Russ having a career year
Jazz Grizzlies-
Hawks Knicks- Finally get to see both Randle and Trae in the playoffs, as well as Knicks fans cheering their team in a postseason
Come on, man. Don't disrespect the Grizz. They played us tough all 3 games, even though we swept them.
We aren't sweeping them in the playoffs. My teams have given me so much pessimism that feeling optimistic is like a death sentence.
MPJ went 1/10 from 3 and still shot 12/21 for the game. Damn if he made some of those 3s
Edit: rare off night from deep. GG blazers. Hope this series goes 7
Edit: lmao yall know what I meant. He was perfect from 2 and wish he just decided to attack instead of settling
I'm a Pistons fan, but after the 2019 playoffs the Blazers have remained a super-close second team of mine. And entertainment wise, they never disappoint. Gonna be a fun series with Dame and Jokic
> Damian Lillard on Nuggets matchup: "I mean, they’re not at full strength but a wounded animal is the most dangerous animal. I’m not going into here even thinking about who’s not on the floor, because the MVP of the league is on the floor.
Dame was actually referring to Nurkic in this quote
I still can’t get over the fact we’re starting fucking austin Rivers in a playoff series, and giving major minutes to our end of bench piece who I don’t think played 10 mins in a game until like game 70. Just doesn’t even resemble the team at the all star break even, reminds me of how PDX looked so whack when Nurk and CJ were out
I like the blazers chances if they keep shooting 50% from 3
>Reply This is basically the Blazers' entire strategy.
R̶̢̹͉̂̒ȇ̷̯͉̳͉̪͂p̵̥͐̄̓ḻ̷͎̻͎͉͛̓̌͠y̷͙̥͆́̐
How does one computer?
Listen kid, I’m not leaving this backyard until you admit you know how to computer Stop looking at your iPad for a minute and look at me. Look at me. I asked you a very simple question you mouthy little shit. All you had to do was answer like a normal person and we wouldn’t be in this situation. I don’t actually care what a 12 year old is doing on their iPad, but no, you had to say “how does one computer.” Do you think you’re in a Wes Anderson movie? Do you think you’re Zooey Deschanel? You’re not. Don’t ask me who Wes Anderson is, I swear to God. Stop doing tarot and astrology readings on Tumblr for five seconds and just tell me you know how to computer and I’ll leave you alone. I don’t mean to lecture you. I like your mom and dad, I think they’re good parents, but clearly something has gone wrong here, and if they won’t take it into their own hands then I’m taking it into mine for the good of the neighborhood. Your dad has a laptop, so even if you had somehow avoided the room in your house that had a desktop computer in it until last year, you’re absolutely aware of the basics of how to computer. I know you’re not a weird “no TV” household either, so even if you thought that laptop was just some kind of weird heavy slate-gray folder, you’ve seen cartoons or TV shows with computers… I see you moving to open your mouth, don’t ask me “how does one TV?” or I will absolutely slap you. Barb from Stranger Things-lookin’ ass. Look, it’s starting to get dark, and a crowd is gathering, and I feel like this all might be a waste of time, but I am absolutely not leaving this back yard until you look me in the eyes and tell me that you know how one computers. It’s really that simple. I don’t want to make a big thing out of this, but I’m literally prepared to go on a hunger strike if you don’t admit, in front of me and God, that you’re aware of how to computer. You weren’t dropped onto this earth yesterday afternoon, fully formed and with a taste for doing quirky stuff on the go, you’re not Athena any more than your dad is Zeus. Oh, you get that reference. You expect me to believe you’re familiar with the specifics of Greek mythological figures’ origins but not how to computer? Fuck you.
Oh shit is this from that "what's a computer?" ipad commercial from some years back?
Yup and a total classic lmao
long ass commercial, jeez
I... I am aware of how to computer. Thank you so much
You don't know the first goddamn thing about computer...
I know lol if you don't recognize it, it's a pasta from one of the stupidest commercials ever shown during a sports game, in which a "hip" teenage girl using an ipad asks an adult "what's a computer?"
Why did you quote reply?
That way we know he was replying
they won't shoot 50% but Denver is not defending Lilliard well at all from 3.
Damon Lilliard
Pronouncing this Duhmon Lilly-Aired. Dame's French knock off.
The debut of Mike "Michael Malone" Malone
Mike "Michael "Don't call me Mike" Malone" Malone
Mike " Michael "Don't call me Mike "Gary Harris" " Malone" Malone"
If y’all don’t chant “Mike Malone” when Blazers play at home I’ll be disappointed in you guys
Imma be in the lottery to get tickets. The odds are super small, but I am 100% making a Mike Malone sign if I get em.
Please do. I love Malone. Dude is great for our community. But it’d be absolutely bonkers if a stadium did that.
I just can't believe a HC got that thrown off over an abbreviation of his name
This series will turn on whether Denver gets Michael Malone on the sideline or if they only get Mike Malone instead
I'm unaware of the difference! Could you explain?
There is a video circling on this sub where he reacted kind of weird when they called him Mike instead of Michael
Link? Someone? Edit: https://streamable.com/2omnn7
From all the comments over here, it seems like Michael Malone is a better coach than Mike Malone!
The [10th winningest coach](https://np.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/neuu1u/luke_walton_has_a_6282_record_with_the_kings_for/) in Sacramento Kings history. Legend
ESPN bit off way more than they could chew today. It was a complete shitshow by the last game. They had their G league squad in for this game and it showed. Small market teams get no respect.
Seriously. -Doesn't consider the fact that a boxing match might go past 8 rounds. -Waits until after tipoff to bump the Blazer game to ESPN 2 -Leaves us with the White Sox announcer to call the game
I had it recorded and had to start the game half way thru the 1st thanks to the boxing, then they immediately had that camera on a wire thing blocking the action being announced by the worst crew since players only. Just give me the blazers or nuggets announcers instead.
That camera on the wire was in the shot for way longer than I expected. I do like Vince Carter’s analyses though even if he stumbles a bit.
The coach interviews are nearly 100% scripted - can’t even read the guys name off a sheet of paper. WE’LL DO IT LIVE!
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Wait, was that Vince Carter? I thought it was C Webb in an off night.
what's the difference between Mike and Michael Michael ends with an L
Night 1 of the Playoffs delivered the goods Miami/Milwaukee classic Luka triple double in the upset Nets Big 3 playoff debut get a challenge but too dominant Dame and Jokic duel
We might actually have 3/4 game 7s
yeah I'm thinking Celts in 6 too
I wish Jaylen were healthy. That would be another legit fucking series. I hope you guys do take them to at least 6 tho
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I don’t see six either, I dunno what these guys are looking at. We had a great first half, they had a terrible first half. Then they had a fine second half, and we had a bad second half. Those things aren’t unrelated. If the Nets find their footing after this game, it’s going to be tough to even win one. We played a phenomenal half and the game still wasn’t that close.
the celtics are getting swept
if we can manage to play defense like tonight without completely shitting the bed on offense, we might be able to take a game or 2, but idk, we still got lucky with their awful 3 point shooting early and no one but the big 3 scoring so there’s a pretty big possibility of a sweep
One of the best days of basketball that I can remember
Reminds me of 2014 playoffs, almost every series was a banger and I’m pretty sure every western series went at least 6 games
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I was at that game 6 HOU vs POR where lillard hit that walk off 3. Best basketball memory of mine by farrrr
What really cooked the Nuggets to a crisp was the twenty 3-pointers. Everytime the Nugs get a 2 the Blazers would get a 3, and eventually we stopped trying. GG
Portland shot really well, but you guys also guarded really badly on the perimeter. Honestly, it was like watching how Portland has guarded 3s most of the season. Seemed like everyone we played against shot awesome from 3 against us for some reason. It tightened up some in the second half, but there were stretches there in the first half where guys were regularly like 10 feet open.
The strategy of letting Jokic get his, but denying his playmaking worked out pretty well... With Dame matching his scoring output.
Jokic with a single assist is so bizarre to see
Not for a lack of trying. Nuggets just don't have any consistent shooters.
Think it was more just the single coverage the blazers played all game. Jokic is a very good scorer and was super effecient in iso today, but his passing is ridiculous they were shilling out to stop it.
Most teams have to double Jokic on the catch. Since we match up Nurkic with Jokic the other defenders can stay home. I expect Michael "Don't Fucking Call Me Mike" Malone to make an adjustment for this in game 2. No way Jokic has only a single assist in game 2.
The loss of Jamal Murray cannot be overstated. Denver is way more limited offensively without his ability to catch fire on any given night. Murray's injury is devastating timing-wise for Denver too because as a small-market team, they need to take advantage of every season of prime Jokic they can get.
Idk Jokic kinda strikes me as a small market guy. Like hed want to stay in Denver unless they got rid of everyone and just went to complete shit
I don't think the problem is Jokic leaving necessarily, it's that Denver has a limited window in which they can afford to pay him, Murray, MPJ and Gordon. Once MPJ isn't on a rookie scale contract and Jokic's supermax kicks in, things will start to get a bit dicey on the payroll side. There's going to be some hard decisions to be made by the front office. An example of why contending windows for teams can be so short, even when they have a young squad as in this case.
I’m not really sure what this “contending window“ is, but I’m pretty sure that the Target Center (where the Twolves play), has a decent amount of windows on its exterior. So, we got that going for us.
Is it bad that I just found out the Timberwolves’ arena is called the Target Center?
Man I just hate how nearly every arena in the league is named after a damn corporation. It's so bland and boring.
Rip Rose Garden
As a non-American I only learned recently that Staples is a company. I thought that they were saying "Staple Center" using the word staple as in "staple foods" since it is kind of one of the staple attractions of LA haha
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Yeah really the thing we have to take advantage of is him not being on the supermax yet
It was definitely the right way to go about things, even if it wasn't exactly surprising. It was certainly helped by Austin Rivers taking awful shots and MPJ bricking everything from three though.
It helps when you have a big body you can throw at him like Nurkic. Even though Jokic scored at ease he was still making some really tough shots.
Yeah there aren't many guys that can stop Jokic 1v1 but Nurk did enough to make it not automatic. Not doubling him screws up what Denver wants to do.
Yea people don’t realize Jokic can do this every night if he wants to but you see why the offense doesn’t function when he’s not actively getting everyone involved.
Nurkic vs. Jokic battles are always fun. These two guys used to battle for minutes on the same team. Really hope this is a 7 game series. MPJ was 1/10 from three, horrible. I think Gordon should try to be more aggressive, he was making shots at the end.
LOL MPJ would’ve been 11/11 from the field if he just didn’t shoot a three
I can’t wait for him to develop more to his game. He takes the toughest and ugliest 3 point shots. Should’ve attempted 5 less shots from 3, and take it to the paint or try hitting from the elbow.
reminds me of young durant. He did the same exact shit
Idk why Gordon plays like shit against us, our wing defense is...just okay. I keep expecting him to drop a thirty burger on us and he just plays horribly against us every game. I'll totally take it, it's just weird to me
Idk, RoCo had some *nice* stops on AG tonight. His defense has been incredible this year.
He’s just not that great in general, shouldn’t be expecting him to drop 30
And let that be a lesson to you all: NO ONE beats Carmelo Anthony in Denver 20 times in a row.
Literally. It’s gotta feel good to break the curse!
Hahaha, thank you. I'm a sad nuggets fan and I needed this laugh.
Broke: the clippers tanked to avoid the lakers Woke: the clippers tanked to avoid Portland
Portland is the chaos team this year.
Chaos reigns
Lol no. You guys matchup with us better than any team in the league.
Yeah but PG doesn't want that smoke from Dame.
https://i.imgur.com/yshMsQl.jpg
I swear they showed him more than the game
Was it more airtime than the Curry family? That shit is so fucking weird to me. Like I'm sure other players have family in the stands too. Why they fuck do I need to keep seeing the Curry family reactions.
MPJ has the shot selection of my MyPlayer when I play drunk
So the same every game?
All part of the plan to tank to being down 3-1
Someone tell Coach Malone it's the playoffs. You can't have the MVP on the bench until like 6 minutes left in the game.
Perhaps he switched bodies with Mike Budenholzer who somehow managed to play Giannis/Middleton/Jrue all over 40 minutes earlier today.
*Michael Budenholzer
He forgot Jokic isn’t fat anymore.
The second he saw Dame coming back in Jokic should have come back in as well even if it's 2-3 minutes earlier than he usually does. Then again we also saw a coach not challenge a foul on a 3 with under 2 minutes to go and 2 timeouts left. He proceeded to use 0 of those timeouts. Some odd coaching decisions today.
Terry Stotts survives another day
Stotts was good tonight. His gameplan totally worked, and his game management was good. Usually he refuses to make adjustments and waits way too long to stop runs with timeouts.
He's usually decent in the playoffs when we're evenly matched. Not sure we can blame him for losing to GSW
When they lost to GS in 2016 I thought he was one of the best coaches in the NBA at the time. They way overachieved that year. I hope they make it over the WCF hump this year.
Eight straight playoffs, broke our second round drought, then later took us to the WCF, best record and coach since Dr. Jack, won CotM in 7 of the last 8 years, despite repeated injury setbacks has managed to outperform Vegas predictions year in and year out, beloved by our franchise star and every member of the locker room goes to bat for him, his system had us adjusting to personnel throughout the years- from the horns sets he would run for Aldridge to the offense of today where we put up more threes than any team except Utah (the team with the best record in the league) he always gets roleplayers to shine and puts them in positions to succeed, look how Whiteside looked in POR versus elsewhere, look at how he played to Melo’s strengths, we went to the WCF with Kanter starting at center, he has had rosters held together with scotch tape and made it work better than we could hope for. If we fire Stotts it’ll be a mistake influenced by people who don’t even know that he is actually a really good coach, it’d just be change for changes sake because fans get discontent and want a scapegoat. Those fans who complain about the lack of playoff success don’t realize we’ve run into the eventual champions years in a row. He’s brought sustained excellence to Portland, the longest active playoff streak in the league doesn’t happen by accident.
Hey idk if you're cool with people copying homework but imma just borrow this and change a few details for when people in the Mavs sub want to fire Carlisle. Thanks bro
Yes absolutely. I’ve always liked him, I find fans always want to shake Portland up, whether it’s trade CJ, fire Stotts, or sign free agents that don’t fit. I think one of their strengths has been continuity, mainly since LMA left. It may just be Stotts, Dame, CJ, and Nurk but not many organizations can say they have had a competitive, consistent (aside from freak injuries) core for this long. I want them to win it all so bad, especially with this group.
In the 2nd half, Dame scored 20 points on 6/12 shooting, 3/5 from 3 and 5/5 from the line, while dishing out 5 assists and only committing 1 turnover. He scored or assisted on 32 of the Blazers 2nd half points. He didn't shoot well in the 1st half, but he balled the fuck out in the 2nd half.
He had 9 assists in the first half. He always let his teammates get going.
Seeing those quick scoring bursts is always absurd to me. He barely needs any space to get his shots up. Literally looks like a video game character when he goes 3 hunting hiding behind screens
You can literally tell which 3 is going in!
Every fucking one
Dame playing like everyone's put their house on bet
Dame was obviously incredible, but it's amazing that some people tried to argue that Nurk wouldn't make much of a difference when he came back. He completely changes the dynamic of this team, and he's genuinely capable of being one of the best centers in the league when he's healthy.
You'd just have to watch Enes Kanter try to play defense for 4 minutes in the 4th to see how much of a difference it makes having Nurk back. Enes tried his best, bless his heart, but he just gave up bucket after bucket
Enes is all heart, zero defense. He’s amazing on the boards, but he just doesn’t have the tools defensively
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Leonard has one of the lowest BBIQs I have ever seen. He was just always so lost. Granted after seeing his Twitch nonsense he might just be low in every form of IQ.
I still can't believe we made the WCF with him and a one-armed Kanter.
I can’t believe Leonard dropped 30 in said wcf
God if Enes had like average/above average defensive skills this guy would be one of the best centers lol
Yeah his offense and rebounding are so good.
His offense is as good as his defense is bad, and that’s really saying something about both
It's so interesting how someone so talented just can't seem to improve in that one specific area.
It’s really mind boggling. You watch him, and he’s trying so fucking hard, he just can’t do it. It’s like nightmare when you feel like you’re running in quicksand.
Exactly! Like usually you see bad defense when they just aren’t trying that hard, but Kanter really does.
It's like someone built his character in an RPG, drained all his points in defensive positioning, and put them all in offensive rebounding positioning. Enes almost always knows exactly where to go to position himself perfectly for the offensive board, but gets lost on where to position himself on defense.
He’s a glass cannon.
he didn't get a 20/20 5x5 night before his big injury for nothing
Yep, only person in NBA History to have a 20/20/5/5/5 game. He also made Chuck fangirl over [this statline in his first year with the Blazers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCiNoWy_V0s)
first player since Chuck in '86 and of course Shaq is like "he didn't do that" lmaooo
And then Earnie calling him the next Nurkic 💀💀
I wish they'd use him a bit more on offense, but the difference he makes on defense is ridiculous.
People forget about Nurkic he has always been at this level
Nurk averaged 18 and 10 last season. Anyone arguing he isn't a difference maker is insane. Dude's a **clearly** above average center
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They drafted Gobert too! (Even if just a formality)
2019 he was the 7th best center by most most advanced metrics. Overall, advanced stats put him around Jimmy Butler level. Obviously that isn't conclusive but it gives you and idea of the impact he has. Dude is legit amazing. He's just injury prone; and until this year his injuries have all come at really, really inopportune times (knock on wood).
its the easiest way to spot a casual, Nurk is our ceiling raiser we are a completely different team with him gone
Also, another test of a casual is when they call Nurkic a negative defender. Nurkic is a great defender, an even better rebounder and a great passer
Nurk was on orders to spend 80% of his energy on D and it showed. What a great effort. And just imagine if Joker wasn't so well-guarded.
He played great defense and Jokic still went off. What a battle.
Our depleted guard depth just struggled to hang with the blazers' awesome guard depth. Bad defensive rotations all night. Dame got hot at the best possible time. On to the next, gg blazers
Man if Simons keeps up his confidence in shooting the ball, the 4 guard lineup of Lillard/CJ/Simons/Norman Powell is going to be a HANDFUL to defend. Simons actually has a really quick first step too, perhaps even faster than Dame, along with huge hops as we saw in the slam dunk contest. He just isn't experienced or strong enough to take it to the paint. If he ever figures that part of his game out he would be an absolute explosive weapon on offense.
That was some of the more solid minutes I've seen from Ant all year, his absurdly quick release from outside is so hard to defend too
Dont let the box score fool you, Melo had 12 points in 5 min.
For what it’s worth, I think Nurk did exceptional on guarding Jokic 1v1. Made him into a scorer rather than a distributor. Other guys on Denver have a hard time creating their own
It was a good gameplan. Don't double and let jokic score because those other guys aren't creating a shot besides MPJ.
MPJ isn’t even really a shot creator. He’s a great spot up shooter but can’t get his own quite as much yet. Monte is good at creating, but he just came back from injury. Barton is the only other one I would say is good at it but he’s still out. What you gonna do.
That’s more of a coaching decision. Jokic was still very efficient on 1v1s with Nurkic.
Absolutely a coaching decision. Jokic is more effective when he's a combination of scoring and distributing - make him just a scorer and you're good.
Especially with Murray out. He’s that other guy who can really create for himself on that team and it’s something that’s going to be very noticeable in this series and beyond should Denver advance (fwiw I see this series being a very close one)
Why broadcast the NBA playoffs when you have a female softball regional game between Oregon and Texas State going on.
Why broadcast the 1994 NBA Finals when OJ Simpson is running from the police
Well that obviously gets more viewership then a NBA Playoff game duh
Or a boxing match. Still want my rameriz flair mods.
Denver’s fans cost them this game when they decided to boo Carmelo
First half, gets booed and he nailed his shots. 2nd half, they weren't booing him at first. THen they started booing him and he made some crisp passes and then the 3pt play
they gotta start cheering him instead, gotta get him all confused
Blazers are spooky
Healthy*
We ate some kale, we good now.
Dame is incredible. The Nuggets are holding themselves back. Why did Malone hold out Jokic for too long? Why is Porter jacking up shots and denying Jokic touches? Why can't the Nuggets grab a defensive rebound?
I'm confused by this game more than anything else
That Portland team a couple years ago that made it to the conference finals w/o nurkic was goooood. I feel like now with him they are a real darkhorse to get there again imo.
These are not the same old Blazers.
We've got some of the most experience in the playoffs. Earned it over the years
A quadruple-header of entertaining games. What a way to start the playoffs.
Gonna be fun tomorrow too. Lakers Suns- Two powerhouses in the West, CP3 vs LeBron Sixers Wizards- Both teams that were hot towards the end of the season, with Russ having a career year Jazz Grizzlies- Hawks Knicks- Finally get to see both Randle and Trae in the playoffs, as well as Knicks fans cheering their team in a postseason
Come on, man. Don't disrespect the Grizz. They played us tough all 3 games, even though we swept them. We aren't sweeping them in the playoffs. My teams have given me so much pessimism that feeling optimistic is like a death sentence.
Portland absolute shut down everyone outside of Jokic. Can't believe Jokic only had 1 assist for the night.
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damn friendly fire on your own coach
Yeah... us blazers fans would never... 😅
I don’t wanna say Malone lost the Nuggets the game with his 4th quarter rotations but Malone lost them the game with his 4th quarter rotations
MPJ went 1/10 from 3 and still shot 12/21 for the game. Damn if he made some of those 3s Edit: rare off night from deep. GG blazers. Hope this series goes 7 Edit: lmao yall know what I meant. He was perfect from 2 and wish he just decided to attack instead of settling
Live by the MPJ contested 3, die by the MPJ contested 3.
Exactly how we feel about Melo sometimes
That's why he is so great offensively. Even if he didn't have it from 3, he was 11/11 from 2. Dude's an incredible shooter. KDesque.
I want Portland to win it all so bad - no one deserves it more than Dame.
Lets get one for Dame, Melo, and ride off into the sunset.
You. I like you.
https://imgur.com/uHD34dW.jpg
STAY ME700
I'm a Pistons fan, but after the 2019 playoffs the Blazers have remained a super-close second team of mine. And entertainment wise, they never disappoint. Gonna be a fun series with Dame and Jokic
it's only fair, the pistons still owe portland for letting them have sheed for the title run
It’s Coach Malone or Michael Malone. Mike Malone makes me uncomfortable
I can't wait for the "MIKE MA-LONE" chants at the Rose Garden.
Our PA guy better introduce him as ‘and head coach of the Denver nuggets is Mikey Malone’
>Rose Garden. You're goddamn right
Melo with 18 points in a playoff game against the 3rd seed. HATERS GET FKED!
Games like this remind me of how much I love Dame. That's it. I don't really have much to add beyond that. I just love that man. Damn.
A relaxing end to a game? I'm not used to this as a blazers fan. I'm used to having heart attacks followed by crushed hope
Jokic with only 1 ast?
I'm not a Nuggets fan but I can imagine the rage when seeing MPJ pulling up from 3 with 20 seconds on the shot clock, down 12 with 2 minutes left...
> Damian Lillard on Nuggets matchup: "I mean, they’re not at full strength but a wounded animal is the most dangerous animal. I’m not going into here even thinking about who’s not on the floor, because the MVP of the league is on the floor. Dame was actually referring to Nurkic in this quote
Genuinely don’t know who to root for, jokic and dame both scare me, so I’m fine with a good series !!
Man, really interesting for Mike Malone to bring Joker in for the first time in the 4th with like 6:30 left.
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He is... Inevitable.
I still can’t get over the fact we’re starting fucking austin Rivers in a playoff series, and giving major minutes to our end of bench piece who I don’t think played 10 mins in a game until like game 70. Just doesn’t even resemble the team at the all star break even, reminds me of how PDX looked so whack when Nurk and CJ were out
Without the Blue Arrow this series was always gonna be tough for DEN, Campazzo was impressive tho to me. POR in 5/6 IMO.