Last 3 W-W-L

HOU 104-85

NOP 132-119

LAL 110-114

Well shit.

That sucked.

I’m not quite sure how to feel about these last 3 games. I do know Scott Foster is the devil. I was at the Blazers v. Lakers game and it was gross how much purple and gold was there. When the game ended it sounded like a Blazers win without the streamers. All the emotions that came from the playoff losses, the Meyers Leonard contract, the Will Barton trade, and the Nolan Smith pick, was all being suppressed by one thing; the Lakers streak. For 16 games I had a keystone that kept all the frustration and disappointment at bay (well the streak and Dame’s buzzer beaters). But, this Lakers loss, despite the 17.1% from 3 and 26 points from the bench, cuts deep. I’ve been trying to rationalize all night and morning to chalk it up to a shooting anomaly or incompetent, moronic, and dumbfounding officiating, but why did it have to happen against the Lakers. The elation from Laker fans is sickening. No one in a Kobe jersey should ever be smiling. They should have such overwhelming amounts of self loathing that smiling is physically impossible. You lose your right to be happy when your fan hood is based on a monster like him. Plus, Lonzo has a dumb shot.

Anyway, the last 3 games have been what I believe to be a mirage. With Harden and Davis out the Zers were very lucky. We did not learn a lot about this team except that our bench is shakier than we are willing to accept and that Zach Collins is very young. From having a +/- of +5.3 in the previous 3 games, to a -7.7 in the most recent 3 games, he is the microcosm of this team. I’m not putting all the blame on him, but when he is clicking so does the rest of the bench. And having Mo out hasn’t helped. It puts ET as the first sub in and takes away some of his minutes running the bench unit. Before the Lakers game I was thinking about all the good stuff to write about; Biggie playing good minutes, Dame starting of another all-NBA season, Snake Layman looking serviceable, or CJ looking like he was back in stride. However, it is difficult to be joyful after a loss like that.

Winners last 3 games:

Nurk – He is averaging a double-double with 18.7 points and 10.7 rebounds and has, and I know this may come as a shock so please sit down if you are reading this, been dunking the basketball. I know! I didn’t think he could do it either, but it’s true. And if that didn’t make you choke on your avocado toast then listen to this: he made another 3. I’m happy with the increase of minutes that Jusuf is getting. He’s starting to get my hopes up that the Bosnian Beast still lives.

Biggie – He averaged 13.4 minutes in the last 3 games, and besides the Lakers game, looked really solid. He rebounds well and his footwork is much more in control. He hit a 3, which means Neil Olshey can finally stop blackmailing Terry to play Meyers.

Losers last 3 games:

Meyers – He’s shook. What little confidence he had has vanished. It wouldn’t be so bad if he wasn’t being paid $10,250,000 a year on top of it. I am sick of the organization starting every season saying “Meyers looks great, he has really matured and bought into improving this off-season.” What he needs to do is watch a video of any NBA player that has ever played and watch them rebound with 2 hands. Every time he rebounds with one hand I die a little on the inside.

Zach – He is just on the struggle bus. But, the bus can stop and drop him off. I’m not putting him in the losers category to show panic. I still think Zach is going to have a good season and that he can be a long term contribution to the Blazers. But, he is young and showing that youth. I’m along for the ride though.

Ripcity – I’m not going as far to say that half of the fans at Moda were Laker fans. But, I will say that Laker fans made Ripcity look bad. There was a buzz in the air while walking out of the arena and It wasn’t from us. It was sad. And having that streak broken was sad. Having sadness caused by a team with Rondo on it is a bummer.