What do Trail Blazers scrimmages and a good cut of meat have in common? Both should be taken with a grain of salt. Okay, that joke was a bit forced, but the point still stands: With scrimmages inside the bubble underway, the overreaction to preseason games is in full force.
We already saw what happened in the first game of Bol Bol within Denver’s giant lineup. Let’s face it, Bol Bol Bubble MVP sounds good.
Given the unusual circumstances of starting a season in the middle of a season, there is a blurred line that separates what to remove from games and what to ignore. So for the next two Portland scrimmages, what should you watch out for?
Fitness and health, especially for Blazers, should be the main thing. Jusuf Nurkic returned from a horrible leg injury on Thursday and looked like the same imposing center that fans saw in March 2019.
The Indiana Pacers didn’t play with Myles Turner or Domantas Sabonis, so Nurkic didn’t have the usual stiff competition associated with facing playoff-caliber teams. However, it was evident that Nurkic had regained his athleticism and ability before the injury. Even more importantly, he did not shy away from contact, illustrating that he has cleared the mental hurdle of the standard basketball movement after such a scarring injury.
Zach Collins also played his first game after a prolonged absence. Like his teammate on the front court, Collins did not avoid contact and defended himself with his usual intensity. The speed of his foot impressed when he was left with guards at the perimeter and he fired shots all over the court.
For the rest of the team, their health management focused on endurance. Two separate five-man starter and reserve units played almost every first two 10-minute quarters in Thursday’s game, respectively. Overall, none will stay on the floor any longer than that, so it seems the Blazers players are ready for 48 minutes of playoff intensity after the four-month hiatus.
The next lesson is player lineups and combinations. The list looks remarkably different than it did when the season was halted in March due to the return of Collins and Nurkic and the absences of Ariza and Swanigan. Head coach Terry Stotts has the next two scrimmages to experiment with player combinations and which five he wants on the floor to finish tight games.
He won’t be driving the five starters – five alternate reserve units for the next two scrimmages, so now is the time to determine who’s playing well with whom.
Stotts also said he will rotate players in Sunday’s game similar to how a regular game would play, although he has not decided how many minutes the headlines will play.
– Casey Holdahl (@CHold) July 25, 2020
Finally, the third conclusion of these scrimmages is Portland’s defensive scheme. Hassan Whiteside and Stotts briefly discussed pushing the ball harder to adjust to an interior-oriented defense. In the scrimmage against Indiana, the defense still struggled to force the shooters out of the three-point line and into the paint. The Blazers recorded seven blocks, but the Pacers scored 13 of 33 (39.4%) triples.
On the other hand, what should fans avoid overreacting to?
First: The fact that Portland’s near-complete roster lost to a Pacers team that lacked a true NBA caliber center. Remember, these games don’t count for anything and are a time for players to put their feet under them. Many player combinations have never shared the court with each other, so there will be a learning curve for the Blazers.
Along those same lines, for the second shot, don’t worry too much about shooting percentages. It is not a concern that Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum shot 1-for-9 from deep. If those percentages show no improvement in the third practice game, fans may feel a little concerned as a major showdown against the Grizzlies looms in the background.
Another not to go: all headlines or all banking lineups. The bank doesn’t have enough shot creators or facilitators to consistently score: Young boys need help from veterans, probably McCollum and Anthony.
The final part of the practice games so as not to put too much action on: Wenyen Gabriel. Yes, his game against Indiana was exciting. But he still has a lot to solve on the court. He’s young and there is certainly a lot of hope for his future, but the Blazers have a lot of great men who have shown that they can play significant minutes in crucial situations. Now is not the time to take a chance on a post player in development.
Given all that, if you take one thing away from this article, it’s ENJOY THE GAMES. We haven’t had basketball in four months and hopefully we’ll have a close this crazy season. As long as everyone in the bubble stays safe, just enjoy basketball.
