NBA/Blazers 2026-27 Thread

[pezsez1]

After the Denver game, Coach Nori praised Lillard's defense and also acknowledged there are times for putting better defenders on the floor. I think it was in response to pulling him from Denver's final possession when all we needed was a single stop. As a die-hard Dame fan, I have zero problems with this and I love that 1) Nori has figured out how to optimize Dame defensively and 2) that Dame has fully embraced the role. Some people vehemently believed that Lillard was incapable of playing defense and too selfish to defer to others, and so far this year he's proven those people to be 100% wrong, and I'm loving it!

[Phalanx]

After the Denver game, Coach Nori praised Lillard's defense and also acknowledged there are times for putting better defenders on the floor. I think it was in response to pulling him from Denver's final possession when all we needed was a single stop. As a die-hard Dame fan, I have zero problems with this and I love that 1) Nori has figured out how to optimize Dame defensively and 2) that Dame has fully embraced the role. Some people vehemently believed that Lillard was incapable of playing defense and too selfish to defer to others, and so far this year he's proven those people to be 100% wrong, and I'm loving it!

I get a chuckle out of these posts. What are you, his PR firm? The guy sucks at defense. Of course Nori is going to encourage him to play defense, what is he supposed to do, publicly lambast the 36-year old who they only brought back to sell tickets? It's like asking Nori to tell the Chinese reporter in all the pressers that Hansen sucks and will never be a starter in the NBA. Not going to happen. Like I said, they stick Lillard consistently on the guy on the other team least likely to try and score. Nobody has to take my word for this, just watch a game. You can see who he is guarding, and you can see him get yanked whenever they need to protect a lead. The part that nobody is saying out loud is that he isn't shooting worth a darn, and opposing defenses are starting to key on other guys as a result. Lillard needs to work on putting the ball in the hoop. I would say he should do some practicing in his private gym, but...well...seems like he already tried that.

[bellsduck]

After the Denver game, Coach Nori praised Lillard's defense and also acknowledged there are times for putting better defenders on the floor. I think it was in response to pulling him from Denver's final possession when all we needed was a single stop. As a die-hard Dame fan, I have zero problems with this and I love that 1) Nori has figured out how to optimize Dame defensively and 2) that Dame has fully embraced the role. Some people vehemently believed that Lillard was incapable of playing defense and too selfish to defer to others, and so far this year he's proven those people to be 100% wrong, and I'm loving it!

Nori’s actual comments were more measured than that, so saying he "praised" his defense is you reframing to make a point.
What he said was Dame is a “fine defender” / “not a problem defensively” and praised him for accepting the offense/defense swaps when they needed a stop.
I am glad Dame is buying into what coach is doing. I think he has matured immensely the last 1 1/2 years and sitting out a year helped that. Of course, winning also helps. And, bonus, it seems like the roster just really likes each other. I don't think he would've handled being pulled late in games 5 years ago as well as he does now.
Dame has never been a negative effort guy and that's why so many people like him; the limitations (size, consistency, instincts) are just real, and Nori is managing around them better than has been done in the past.

[Phalanx]

I agree that to some degree Lillard is buying in to the enthusiasm. He seems more about the team than he was before he left for Milwaukee. I will also go so far as to say that playing with Giannis in Milwaukee taught him to play second fiddle better than before. What I will not agree with is that he was never a 'negative effort' guy. He absolutely has been a passive player on defense for years. Even Milwaukee fans ripped on him for it. If he is engaging more now, then cool, but we'll see how long that lasts.

https://basketballforever.com/2024/01/0 ... ad-defense

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/dami ... the-bucks/

No system works if the best players aren't committed, and at the moment, to suggest Lillard is uncommitted to playing defense would be an understatement. In reality, the guy is playing some of the laziest, flat-out worst defense of his career, and that is really saying something for a guy who has always been a pretty apathetic defender. It's been borderline disgraceful at times.

[bellsduck]

Well...fair points. I agree historically he's been quite apathetic on the defense side of the ball. The Bucks stretch was ugly and there were clear stretches of passive, low-effort defense. I probably overstated it saying he was never a negative effort guy. But I do think early in his career with Portland there was at least some effort given to improve, which definitely did diminish as his offensive game grew.

[pezsez1]

What he said was Dame is a “fine defender” / “not a problem defensively” and praised him for accepting the offense/defense swaps when they needed a stop.
I am glad Dame is buying into what coach is doing. I think he has matured immensely the last 1 1/2 years and sitting out a year helped that. Of course, winning also helps. And, bonus, it seems like the roster just really likes each other. I don't think he would've handled being pulled late in games 5 years ago as well as he does now.
Dame has never been a negative effort guy and that's why so many people like him; the limitations (size, consistency, instincts) are just real, and Nori is managing around them better than has been done in the past.

Semantics, that looks like praise to me. If I'm unhappy with the way someone is performing at work I'm not saying that person is a "fine manager" or a "fine creative specialist." He's not calling Dame a lockdown defender or comparing him to a defensive specialist like Jrue, simply saying that he's a good defender who does his job with no issues. All the hyperventilating about him being a traffic cone is pure silliness.

Dame has always been an unselfish player. He never wanted to be the only star on a team with a bunch of no.3 (and lower) options. Heck, he begged Olshey to get him some help so he wouldn't have to do everything himself. Now he has the kind of roster he's always wanted and you're seeing him play accordingly. Some people were wrong about this; time to take those "Ls" and move on.

And yes, massive props to Nori! Small sample size of games, but how can we not love what we're seeing? So far almost everyone on the roster is playing better than they were last year. Toumani is taking better shots, Deni and Dame are playing great off each other, Deni and Ja found ways to co-exist before Ja's injury, Clingan looks even better defensively, as a team I think we're rebounding better... only Scoot seems to have significantly regressed.

My one question is will Nori elevate Jrue into the starting lineup to play alongside Dame, or will he keep him in the second unit to really own that Sixth Man/closing unit role?

[Phalanx]

Sheesh, these refs are really inserting themselves a lot in the game. Makes it hard to watch.

Deni and Jrue sure have it going with that fork/kick-out play they do. Deni takes it in the paint at an angle and if the man comes to him, he kicks it out to Jrue for three, and if not, he lays it in. He does it with Toumani as well. It's really nice to have guys on the perimeter who can reliably make that shot.

Meanwhile, Lillard finally found a guard he can drive on. Poor little Gillespie not so great at keeping up with his guy.

[pezsez1]

Great games by Deni, Dame and Clingan! Deni was an assist machine, Dame had another game getting to the rim with ease, and Clingan was simply too big for Phoenix. More strong contributions by Jrue off the bench. Upward and onward, 6-1!

And again not in this box score... Dame creating gravity for Deni and Clingan to work. Also enjoyed watching Jrue settle the second unit in key moments and effectively play some 2v2 with Williams. Just really smart ball by our two veteran guards.

[bellsduck]

5-0 on the road and leading the West.
Clingan is upping his game.

[Everythingsducky]

I seriously think Nori was a great hire. No idea prior. I’m not a Tiago hater. But Nori, just kinda nails it. He talks the plays, the strategy in post game interviews…however he is coaching, the players definitely have his ear. His rotations have been spot on, for the most part. Can’t complain with the record, especially the road record. Lots of open shots in this offense.

[Boom]

Agreed. Nori is very good.

[Phalanx]

Did anyone think he left the starters in too long tonight?

Sounds like Vit fractured his ankle. Looks like we'll be seeing even more of the 2-way kid from OKC.

[Everythingsducky]

Did anyone think he left the starters in too long tonight?

Sounds like Vit fractured his ankle. Looks like we'll be seeing even more of the 2-way kid from OKC.

Way to piss on a 6-1 start. Are you seriously questioning Nori’s moves at this point? Genius.

[Phalanx]

Did anyone think he left the starters in too long tonight?

Sounds like Vit fractured his ankle. Looks like we'll be seeing even more of the 2-way kid from OKC.

Way to piss on a 6-1 start. Are you seriously questioning Nori’s moves at this point? Genius.

Wow, okay. So apparently you liked how long the starters were in.

People get triggered over the most trivial things.

Aren't you the author of that huge rant last summer about how we shouldn't even care about the team because they are moving and the city sucks anyway and two building are going to be rotting side by side, etc? Yeah, I am the one raining on everyone's parade.

Btw, if I wanted to piss on the 6-1 start, I would mention that the Blazers haven't played any of the actual contenders yet, and the only quality team they have played so far, they lost to by 21 points at home. I might also point out that the schedule gets a lot harder starting Friday and the chances of them still having a winning record by the end of this month are not great (although a bit better after the injuries in Min and OKC). From there, I could go into the fact that there is no way Lillard or Jrue make it the whole season playing 30 minutes a game and once the inevitable injury to one or both of them happens, this team looks a lot different from a ball-handling standpoint, and because they are playing out of their minds right now. Well, not Lillard, but Jrue has an efg% through 7 games of .664 which is about 80 points higher than he has ever had in his career and he can't keep that up forever, not to mention Toumani at .726 which is about 160 points higher than he had last year (or ever). Some offensive regression is almost guaranteed and deeper and more talented teams with draft picks from the last two years that are still figuring out the game will begin to rise to the top as the season wears on and the Blazers, who have zero of those up-and-coming players because they gave the last pick to Chicago and picked Hansen the year before will be lucky to survive the play-in.

There, how's that? See all the stuff I could have said, but held back because I also was enjoying the 6-1 start? Give me some credit here.