NBA 20-21, COVID and stuff

[Gil Dobie]

Wolves get a rare win and 23 points by Edwards in his 2nd straight start.

[JALMOND]

Once again, Lillard has to do everything and other teams are not letting him start. The double-teams are picking him up before half-court this season. Teams are selling out, letting anyone else beat them. And Kanter, Melo, Hood and Lillard are not strong defenders so teams are just running unchecked to the basket.

This year, we were supposed to be a fringe championship contender. Now we are just trying to survive. Lillard will want to play 40+ minutes every game and Stotts may let him, but if Lillard goes down, we're toast.

I guess it can be a good thing if Lillard has to do everything.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/308 ... bulls-late

[JALMOND]

Lillard questionable for the Sixers game Thursday. That usually means Lillard wants to play but the Blazers medical staff doesn't think its a good idea. He has some sort of abdominal pull. I wonder who's going to win this argument...

[GannonFan]

Lillard questionable for the Sixers game Thursday. That usually means Lillard wants to play but the Blazers medical staff doesn't think its a good idea. He has some sort of abdominal pull. I wonder who's going to win this argument...

Sixers are rolling right now and the Blazers already have guys out - would seem to be a no brainer to keep Lillard out of a road game they're unlikely to win anyway. Sixers have to go out to Portland in a week so get them on the flipside.

[JALMOND]

Lillard questionable for the Sixers game Thursday. That usually means Lillard wants to play but the Blazers medical staff doesn't think its a good idea. He has some sort of abdominal pull. I wonder who's going to win this argument...

Sixers are rolling right now and the Blazers already have guys out - would seem to be a no brainer to keep Lillard out of a road game they're unlikely to win anyway. Sixers have to go out to Portland in a week so get them on the flipside.

In football, they have "hide the helmet". I don't know what the equivalent is in basketball (maybe "hide the jockstrap"). Lillard wants to play every game and wants to play 40+ minutes a game. Even if Embiid doesn't play, Sixers are still sharp with Simmons, the Curry sharpshooter, and the ultimate Blazer killer (Harris) still playing. Plus the Blazers still have an early game Saturday in New York (not easy but much more winnable). Logic would dictate to sit Lillard for this game but no one affiliated with the Blazers wants to tell him.

[JALMOND]

Sixers are rolling right now and the Blazers already have guys out - would seem to be a no brainer to keep Lillard out of a road game they're unlikely to win anyway. Sixers have to go out to Portland in a week so get them on the flipside.

In football, they have "hide the helmet". I don't know what the equivalent is in basketball (maybe "hide the jockstrap"). Lillard wants to play every game and wants to play 40+ minutes a game. Even if Embiid doesn't play, Sixers are still sharp with Simmons, the Curry sharpshooter, and the ultimate Blazer killer (Harris) still playing. Plus the Blazers still have an early game Saturday in New York (not easy but much more winnable). Logic would dictate to sit Lillard for this game but no one affiliated with the Blazers wants to tell him.

Lillard ruled "out" for tonight's game against the Sixers.

https://www.blazersedge.com/2021/2/4/22 ... phia-76ers

For the best, I think.

[JALMOND]

Well, that was rather ridiculous...

[GannonFan]

Saw a weird stat - when the Sixers have Simmons but not Embiid, they are 34-34 overall. When they have Embiid but not Simmons they are 9-17. Granted, they've had more time and opportunity to learn to play without Embiid since he sits much more than Simmons does, but for all the criticism Simmons gets for not shooting he apparently is kind of a linchpin.

Sixers need Curry back too. He played last night, but sat out the second half. Still recovering from his bout with COVID. The Sixers bench has been a bit quiet for about a month now so not really a heckuva lot of depth. They could still go pretty far without the depth, but it can rise up and bite you along the way.

[Gil Dobie]

Towns is finally back with the Wolves. Hope they get a rotation figured out and win a few games.

[JALMOND]

An impressive trait that Lillard has is that, even when he takes a night off, he is still involved in the game, actually coaching up the Blazers' youngsters. Much like what coach Vanterpool would do with him and McCollum when they were starting out, you can see Lillard actually stopping Simons, Trent and last night with Elleby, on the way to the huddle or to the bench and point out a thing or two that they did and then talking about it. In a league where when the superstars have a night off, they usually spend it as a night off just sitting on the bench, Lillard is still in to the game, helping the kids understand their role. Even during summer league, Lillard will make it down for most of the Blazer games and be helping out from his seat in the front row.

Because of this, it is easy to see Lillard in some type of coaching capacity after his playing days are over.

[Gil Dobie]

Towns finally returns for his 5th game of the season. Now Russell out. Wolves give the Clippers a good game at least.

[JALMOND]

Blazers now 2-0 for the season against the Sixers as "Vintage-Melo" made an appearance with 17 points in the fourth quarter alone, including two clutch free throws late.

[JALMOND]

The Western Conference is on fire right now.

1. Utah 22-5, 7 game winning streak, won 18 of their last 19 games.
2. Lakers 21-7, loss last night to Denver snapped their own 7 game winning streak
3. Clippers 20-8, 3 game winning streak, 7-3 over their last 10 games.
4. Phoenix 17-9, 6 game winning streak, 9-1 over their last 10 games including a home win over the East leading Sixers.
5. Portland 16-10, 4 game winning streak, won 6 of their last 7 including two wins over the East leading Sixers.
6. San Antonio 16-11, 2-game winning streak, won 5 of their last 6 games.
7. Denver 15-11, 3 game winning streak including a win last night over the Lakers.

From the East, only the Sixers (18-9) and the Bucks (16-11) could crack these standings.

[JALMOND]

All Star starters announced. Lillard not one of them.

https://www.nba.com/news/2021-nba-all-s ... s-revealed

Lillard's spot should have been cemented after Sunday's victory over Doncic. Lillard makes a contested 3-pointer for the go-ahead basket and Doncic can't make a wide open 3 for the win. Doncic is not anywhere near the level Lillard is right now.

[Gil Dobie]

Towns is back, but Culver and Russell have been out since. Culver may be back soon though.

[JALMOND]

The Western Conference is on fire right now.

1. Utah 22-5, 7 game winning streak, won 18 of their last 19 games.
2. Lakers 21-7, loss last night to Denver snapped their own 7 game winning streak
3. Clippers 20-8, 3 game winning streak, 7-3 over their last 10 games.
4. Phoenix 17-9, 6 game winning streak, 9-1 over their last 10 games including a home win over the East leading Sixers.
5. Portland 16-10, 4 game winning streak, won 6 of their last 7 including two wins over the East leading Sixers.
6. San Antonio 16-11, 2-game winning streak, won 5 of their last 6 games.
7. Denver 15-11, 3 game winning streak including a win last night over the Lakers.

From the East, only the Sixers (18-9) and the Bucks (16-11) could crack these standings.

And with the Jazz losing last night and the Blazers losing tonight, the West's long winning streaks have come to an end. The longest winning streaks are in the East...Brooklyn (5 games), Washington (4 games), and Toronto (3 games).

[JALMOND]

Ryan Saunders out as Timberwolves head coach. Raptors assistant Chris Finch named as new head coach.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/309 ... n-saunders

Some out here in Portland are not happy that David Vanterpool was passed over.

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/dami ... ching-job/

Vanterpool was instrumental in the development of both Lillard and McCollum and will make a good head coach some day. Not second-guessing here, the Wolves know their organization better than I do.

[JALMOND]

Blazers down 17 with less than 6 minutes to play, just dial up Lillard and get out of the way.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/310 ... -6-minutes

[JALMOND]

Blazers trade Gary Trent, Jr. and Rodney Hood to the Raptors for Norman Powell.

https://www.nba.com/news/report-raptors ... to-blazers

23 years ago to the day, Blazers traded Gary Trent, Sr. to the Raptors.

[Gil Dobie]

Looks like Seattle may get a NBA team back in a few years, with ARod and Lore buying the Timberwolves.

[JALMOND]

Looks like Seattle may get a NBA team back in a few years, with ARod and Lore buying the Timberwolves.

Interesting, when the narrative early on from the city was that they would wait for expansion because they "knew how it was for your team to be ripped from the heart of the city." Now it sounds like they are open to relocation. Seattle does need an NBA team, but this just sounds hypocritical.

Back in the day when the Sonics moved to OKC, Blazers owner Paul Allen and Mavs owner Mark Cuban were the only owners who voted against the move. It made sense for Cuban to vote against it, but it seemed odd that Allen would vote against it, too.

[JALMOND]

Lamarcus Aldridge announces retirement.

https://www.blazersedge.com/2021/4/15/2 ... retirement

Very sad. I can recall the times coming on here and debating with Gil about the many battles between Aldridge and Kevin Love back when Aldridge was a Blazer and Love was with the Wolves.

[Gil Dobie]

Lamarcus Aldridge announces retirement.

https://www.blazersedge.com/2021/4/15/2 ... retirement

Very sad. I can recall the times coming on here and debating with Gil about the many battles between Aldridge and Kevin Love back when Aldridge was a Blazer and Love was with the Wolves.

Health is more important than money, sorry to see him retire for that. Looks like his last game was against the Lakers.

I'm not a big Love fan anymore.

[JALMOND]

Lamarcus Aldridge announces retirement.

https://www.blazersedge.com/2021/4/15/2 ... retirement

Very sad. I can recall the times coming on here and debating with Gil about the many battles between Aldridge and Kevin Love back when Aldridge was a Blazer and Love was with the Wolves.

Health is more important than money, sorry to see him retire for that. Looks like his last game was against the Lakers.

I'm not a big Love fan anymore.

Love seems to have a tendency to burn bridges when he leaves. Duck fans are still upset over how he chose to go to UCLA over Oregon. And, if he were to leave the Cavs, I don't think many fans would be too upset either.

[Gil Dobie]

Ainge friendship with Kevin McHale, and trade for Garnett, got him his only title as GM