NBA/Blazers 2025-26 Thread

[bellsduck]

The Lakers also played without LBJ and Doncic last night I think.

[Greenblood]

I see, thanks. I guess we'll just keep watching for now . . .

[squintsdd]

I will fully admit that I'm pretty much a fair-weather fan and if the Trailblazers stink this year, you probably won't see me much on this thread. On the other hand, few things would make me happier sports-wise than an Oregon's only major sport professional team to be really successful.

So I'm noticing that the Blazers are currently 2-2, having played all four games v., at least arguably, among the top 10 teams in the NBA. Both losses were relatively close and both wins, including last night's win at LAL, were double-digits. So for those of you who follow the Blazers and the NBA much more closely than I (and putting the Billups thing aside for the moment), what's going on here? Are the Blazers better than expected, or is this just some early season luck? Have they accidentally found a really good coach in Splitter?

Ask five people, get five different answers.

The team will contend for a playoff spot this year, barring injuries or meltdown of chemistry. It's a defense-first team with good on-ball and off-ball defenders. The reason they aren't a shoe-in for a playoff spot is that they have a lot of guys who can score but no one you can consistently run your offense through. The top scorers are Deni Avdija and Shaedon Sharpe. So far, Deni is putting up solid numbers at 20 ppg which consists of a lot of buckets in transition and opportunistic 3s. I don't think many people would tell you he's in the top 25 in the league for guys you would want to give the ball to down 1 at the end of the game. Then the other scorer, Shaedon, is looking really sloppy to start the year rather than look like a guy who is poised to take a big step. Basketball is kind of like baseball, though, so it might be a cold streak and get better, but it would surprise if it gets so much better that he turns into the team's #1 scorer. In the absence of a true #1 on offense, you'll see guys like Jerami Grant and Jrue Holiday fill the void by forcing more shots than is optimal for their skillset. This looks like a .500 team so far, with a top 5ish defense and bottom 10 offense. The win over the Lakers last night was a gimme as both Luka and Lebron were out.

Not nearly enough sample size on Splitter. Need to at least get to the All-Star break to have any opinion on how that's working.

That was a long winded way to avoid saying that Billups isn't fixing games anymore, so who knows what this team really looks like

[Duck07]

Cedric Coward has been off to a hot start so I will understand those pining for him over Yang but I also know that with Hansen he gets the benefit of 2 years playing before we judge that. If he's so bad that Year 3 doesn't happen than obviously it was a Bust of a pick.

I think one of the real stories through 4 games is the efficient shooting and scoring for Grant and the ability to trade him and get away from his contract for an expiring contract, especially if they can solve the Chicago pick problem in the process.

Tiago should be a good HC for Donovan and he's had a good start to Year 2 so far.

[buckmarkduck]

Blazers played great without that dead weight around their necks last night. Really think we are one scorer away from really being a very good team. To bad we took Scoot

Yang Hansen pick was so much worse.

How do you figure? NBA picks are basically this- top 5 you can’t miss, equivalent to nfl first rounder. Anything after the lottery is you are hoping you hit but no guarantee-equivalent of a nfl 3-4 round pick.

[buckmarkduck]

Ny

[Boom]

Blazers played great without that dead weight around their necks last night. Really think we are one scorer away from really being a very good team. To bad we took Scoot

Yang Hansen pick was so much worse.

How do you figure? NBA picks are basically this- top 5 you can’t miss, equivalent to nfl first rounder. Anything after the lottery is you are hoping you hit but no guarantee-equivalent of a nfl 3-4 round pick.

The Blazers had a lottery pick and traded down.... The pick/trade was controversial in the moment and Yang looks 2 years away from being 2 years away. He's also clearly not a high level athlete. Slow footed centers have a hard time staying on the floor in the playoffs.

[StevensTechU]

Blazers score 46 in the second quarter tonight (as well as 33 in the 1st and 38 in the 3rd). I still haven't adjusted to the modern NBA because it feels like this should be impossible.

[pezsez1]

It's way too early to write off Yang. He's not going to look great this year because his fitness if far below the NBA standard. He will look a lot better in a year or two simply by working his ass off and getting in better shape. Strength, quickness, and overall athleticism can all be greatly improved. He looks like a guy who has never gone through a world-class fitness regimen.

Meanwhile, we're 3-2!

[Phalanx]

[

In the absence of a true #1 on offense, you'll see guys like Jerami Grant and Jrue Holiday fill the void by forcing more shots than is optimal for their skillset.

Hmm...through five games, both Grant and Holiday are well above career averages in fg%. Not sure where this 'forcing shots' thing is coming from. I think they both suddenly find themselves on a team that is using their skillset to better advantage.

Nice road win tonight, although I guess Utah is picked to finish last in the conference. Blazers actually have a winning record for the first time in awhile. Keep it going!

[Greenblood]

Yes, nice road win. True, Utah is indeed predicted to be pretty bad this year, but they did beat the Clippers, who are expected to be one of the better teams in the league, by over 20 in the Jazz's opening game last week.

Probably too early to tell anything at this point, but I'll just try to enjoy any success the Blazers have.

[Greenblood]

Will be interesting to see how the Blazers do in their 3-game home stand starting tomorrow evening v. Denver, LAL and OKC.

[Duck07]

Will be interesting to see how the Blazers do in their 3-game home stand starting tomorrow evening v. Denver, LAL and OKC.

They activated RW3 so my guess is that if Clingan gets in Foul Trouble we aren't seeing Yang on Jokic tonight.

Playing small ball is their best lineup so we'll see how many minutes he can go at the 5.

[pezsez1]

RIP CITY!!!

[StevensTechU]

Very validating win. Their defense is going to keep them in a lot of games but the offensive output by the four guys who can create - Deni, Shaedon, Jrue and Jerami - will determine how far they go. Those four shot a combined 43% from the floor and had 18 assists tonight.