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Blazers Weekly Recap: 12/14/15-12/20/15

By Spencer Gordon

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A Weekly Recap of the Trail Blazers Competition

Starting this week, Rip City Project will present a recap of last week’s games. Sort of like watching all the Star Wars movies before going to see The Force Awakens. For last week, the Blazers started strong, but have been struggling on their five game road trip (going 0-3 so far). Let’s break down the week before they take on the Atlanta Hawks tonight.

12/14/15 Blazers 105 vs. Pelicans 101

Why did we win?

Despite losing the fourth quarter, the Blazers held on to defeat the struggling Pelican’s at home. Sure there’s Damian Lillard’s 30 points, but it was the contribution of Gerald Henderson with his 17 off the bench that provided the necessary bench help that’s needed to win games. Give Mason Plumlee credit as well, grabbing 13 boards over Anthony Davis.

Improvements?

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They lost the fourth quarter by five points, saving the victory with free throws. Against a team like the Pelicans, their strength is in their athleticism, meaning smart basketball and not turning the ball over usually leads to a victory. They committed three in the fourth quarter, but none of which led to points. If they can take care of the ball in crunch time, a lot of the close losses could turn to wins.

What did we learn?

We can hold onto a lead with good free throw shooting. Despite free throw struggles from Plumlee and Ed Davis, if the Blazers are ahead, Lillard and C.J. McCollum can be relied on to perform at the line in crunchtime. It shows maturity and major promise going forward to know that you can count on your stars like that despite their age.

12/16/15 Thunder 106 vs. Blazers 90

Dec 16, 2015; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) drives to the basket in front of Portland Trail Blazers forward Noah Vonleh (21) during the third quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Why did we lose?

When a team is rebuilding, sometimes it takes a team as good as the Thunder to give a reality check. Kevin Durant was simply uncontainable. Even against our best defenders in Al-Farouq Aminu and Allen Crabbe, we just couldn’t match up with someone who’s faster, taller and more skilled with the basketball. Credit their defense as well, holding the Blazers to 35% shooting.

Improvements?

Rip City needs to find some post offense to take pressure off of the guards. When a game gets to the fourth quarter when it’s this early in the season, the game turns more intense and teams play harder. We don’t have LaMarcus Aldridge anymore to save bad possessions with his one on one play, which means the team needs to work together in order to give our forwards offensive chances and take pressure off our guards when they are swarmed.

What did we learn?

We’ve still got a long way to go. The west is a lot weaker this year and we are definitely in the playoff hunt, but we just have to look at the Thunder to see what brand of basketball we need to be at. They have superstars that trust each other after years of playing together, while our roster hasn’t had their first Christmas as a team.

12/18/15 Magic 102 vs. Blazers 94

Dec 18, 2015; Orlando, FL, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward Allen Crabbe (23) shoots over Orlando Magic forward Jason Smith (14) and guard Victor Oladipo (5) during the first quarter at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Why did we lose?

A surging Magic team punched us in the mouth, and despite “3J” coming alive in the fourth quarter, it was too little too late. Tobias Harris, Nikola Vucevic, Elfrid Payton and Victor Oladipo combined for 79 points, and that means victory no matter who you are. Also, Lillard continued his bad field goal percentage in Orlando, going 4-15.

Improvements?

The Magic in a lot of ways are who the Blazers are trying to be. Young players all around that trust each other and can score all over the court. This is why our defense should’ve been better this game. We play very similarly to them, which means that they shouldn’t have been able to score as easily as they did. When a player is hot, we need to be vocal and let everyone know where he is at all times by calling out screens and helping teammates find their man.

What did we learn?

We have a problem making in-game adjustments. Our offense stalls when McCollum or Lillard don’t perform to their usual standards. I’m sure the coaching staff is working different lineups in hopes of finding more offense in crunch time, but until that happens, we have to rely on our guards to lead us to victory. That’s a lot of pressure to put on young players and teams have pounced on it with swarming deny defense.

12/20/15 Heat 116 vs. Blazers 109

Dec 20, 2015; Miami, FL, USA; Portland Trailblazer forward Al-Farouq Aminu (R) chases the ball in front of Miami Heat forward Luol Deng (L) during the first half at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Robert Duyos-USA TODAY Sports

Why did we lose?

A combination of bad defense and Hassan Whiteside spelled doom for the Trail Blazers. We allowed a team not known for their shooting to shoot 57.3% from the field. Granted, Gerald Green made some shots that looked impossible, but they had too many open shots as a whole. Above all, Whiteside showed why the Heat are investing in him for their future. He dominated with ally-oops, rebounds and stellar defense on his way to 22 points and 11 rebounds.

Improvements?

Again, the Blazers held a lead early, but watched it slip away as the game progressed. Credit goes to Erik Spoelstra and his in-game adjustments, but the Blazers can’t be surprised by this. For example if Lillard makes three straight shots, they’re going to adjust and put more pressure on him. It takes a while to learn for a young team, but the Blazers eventually need to relax and adjust to a team’s new game plan rather than try and fight through it.

What did we learn?

We can compete with the NBA elite. We lost the game in the end, but there were numerous moments where the Blazers looked like the better team on the court. Lillard outplayed Goran Dragic, frustrating him enough to get him kicked out of the game for arguing. Our play caused four technicals on the Heat, meaning we were taking them out of their comfort zone. Despite our third straight loss, this game was an emotional victory, knowing they had to shoot that well in order to win.