Portland Trail Blazers Hold Off Atlanta Hawks Thanks to Deandre Dominayton & Clutch Hustle Plays

Portland Trail Blazers Hold Off Atlanta Hawks Thanks to Deandre Dominayton & Clutch Hustle Plays

In today’s show the Blazers hold off the Hawks late and DeAndre Aton is just straight up dominating welcome lock down Blazers let’s get into it you are locked on Trailblazers your daily Portland Trailblazers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day what up world it’s your past first

Point guard and Trailblazers reporter Mike Richmond you are listening to another episode of Locked on Blazers part of the locked on podcast network available wherever you get podcasts and also on YouTube thanks for making this show your first listen coming at you each and every weekday Monday through

Friday so make it a part of your daily routine make your first listen tell your friends to do the same it’s locked on Blazers your team every day in today’s show recap the Blazers win over the Hawks DeAndre Aon continues a dominating streak he’s been really good of late and

He was excellent in this one he got a bunch of help from ay Simon who recovered from a stinker first quarter to uh to have a big game for the Blazers we’ll talk about both of those gentlemen uh huge plays from the role players in

The final 45 seconds I want to close the show talking about scoring on the decline across the league and how the NBA has maybe stepped in to slow down the barrage of buckets or at least getting some easy ones that’s what we’ll do in today’s show uh let’s let’s do

What we do though fastest recap in the west this one looked bad early it looked like it was going to be a tough a tough one to um I don’t know I find a way to make a show I’m pretty I’ve Soldier through worse but like this one did not look

Good early down they were down 24 Blazers down 2417 after one uh Anthony Simon starts one of five in the first quarter and it’s like on every time it’s first touch he turns the ball over in a double team he goes one of five in the first quarter Blazers have 17 points

Against an Inc inedibly short-handed Hawks team starting viit kie and Wes Matthews it’s like if they lose this one and they score 85 points in this one um we’re going to have to say some mean things on the podcast right I know people are like there’s certain people rooting for

Losses or whatever but like you you don’t want them to look like they were about to look and then they just got going they just got going 30 points in the in the uh second quarter 35 in the third uh 5247 Hawks at the break uh

DeAndre 18 and8 at half time Deon Murray had 24 on 10 of 13 shooting in the first half uh but Blazers offense kept rolling in the third quarter they and they take the lead with a dominant run um to uh to flip what was a 16-point first quarter

First half Hawks lead on its head blers go up 8275 after three and they basically held the Hawks at Bay um to to um at the end of this game it look it looks like you know it was like they never led by double digits but they were

Up by basically five or seven the the whole the whole second half and but they couldn’t quite put the Hawks away and they kept doing things just enough to leave the Hawks in the game so uh when when the when it gets when it gets a little bit dicey is

Um closing it under a minute and uh the Blazers come down and they try to just milk some clock do the sort of prevent offense which they just like let a anre Simons go but athre Simons at this point has has uh 35 or whatever it is 34 I

Guess um at the time so it’s like letting him just go it’s like I think it’s fine if you just need one bucket uh up four to seal the game but they you know go way late clock and he takes a really tough Runner and the Hawks come the other way quickly Deonte

Murray gets all the way to the paint and uh and misses a layup this is a would a would be game time would be game tying layup with under a minute left uh but Clint capella keeps rebound alive Deon Murray ends up grabbing it it Cycles back out um to buan bdon

And uh and excuse me bdon bogdanovich and bogdon bogy like Steps in two a three he’s been bad in this game he’s three of 14 when he’s about to let this one go maybe three of 12 CU I think he took one late so um or three of 13

Rather but he’s like he’s been bad and like capital B awful but it’s like a top of the key3 that looks like it’s clean and it’s going to give the Hawks the lead except matis thel closes Out to the Ball gets fingertips on it blocks a three-pointer the NBA’s league leader in

Block three-point attempts according to the BL lasers broadcast gets a huge huge huge huge huge block with uh 45 seconds to go the Hawks don’t have to foul cuz only a two-point game they end up they do end up fing not on purpose but just like after some defense amre Simons

Drives and gets gets a foul on on a body blow and he HS two free throws so puts it back to a four-point game so it was going to be a layup to tie it or a three-pointer to take the lead instead Blazers get a huge block from t two free

Throws from Ant push the lead back to four the the Hawks come down and jonay muray who who’s having a big old game hits a three it’s a one-point game with 17 seconds left the hu need to foul but they don’t need to foul right away um

Blazers have to call timeout to advance the ball they get it into DeAndre and they do pretty much foul right away I I thought they they went a little early on that but da is a pretty good free throw shooter it’s good news for the Blazers

He makes the first uh puts the Hawks or puts the Blazers up two and now all the Hawks need to do is you know if he makes it fine uh three-point game you get a three off if he misses it get the rebound they put two centers in to get

The rebound they put Fernando and Clint capella in there comes off the rim hard to the right Tani Kamara slaps it to the corner keeps it alive chases it down in the corner I thought DeAndre Hunter straight up fou to monik Kar on purpose grabbed his arm that would have been

Better for the Hawks instead Cycles the ball back out to anrey Simons he dances away from Clint capella who doesn’t realize he needs to foul Hawks now have to foul in a two-point game anrey Simon hits two free throws pushes a two-point lead to four and the Blazers hold on to

Win that’s their fastest recap in the west Blazers win 106 102 um the final 45 seconds were fun like ma stable huge block to Marty Kamar huge offensive rebound and complimenting the plays from the Blazers two best players on the court tonight DeAndre aen and amre Simons who who made free throws

To made free throws to ice the game da made one an makes two but like the big plays came from the role players to win this one uh DeAndre Aon finished with 33 points and 19 boards on 15 of 20 shooting Anthony Simons after a one of

Five first quarter a one of five first quarter it’s like oh no no finishes 9 of 18 to close the game so shot fine 50% from the field for the from the final three quarters um and scored 34 points after that first quarter uh it’s or excuse me 33 points

After that first quarter he just it was it was it was going to be bad and then it wasn’t bad he had a really really solid close to the game hit a huge three with two two and a half minutes left to push the lead back to six as the Blazers

Were trying to to pull away I thought ant was really good in this game seven boards and eight assists for him filling out the box score uh just one turnover in 43 minutes Simons was really good no Jeremy Grant in this game still no Jabari Walker in this game for the

Blazers so they started d o Banton and Chris Murray uh like I said in the other side John de Murray had 40 on on 15 of 29 uh did not shoot nearly as well in the second half five of 16 after halftime the Blazers went to his own and

That that really um that really helped them slow him down because they could guard him with multiple people and they were just like we’re going to Zone Murray we’re going to force him into shots he doesn’t necessarily want to take let him let him get you know let

Him see multiple bodies it’s kind of a way of double team teaming without like true man-to-man principal double teaming um because you can send one and a half and then help out from that one and a half because of your principles um but like you still got to play man you still

Got to like match up in a Zone in the NBA but it’s but it’s a it’s a way to like show more bodies while while sticking to some man principles and they just said anyone else it’s going to be anyone else and and and bogy bdon

Bonovich goes three of 15 three of 15 West Matthews one of seven uh DeAndre Hunter four of 12 vit kie is you know two of four but he’s he’s he’s just not he’s not going to bomb away he’s not going to take my man vit’s not going to

Take like 15 shots to to really have it um make a difference and it was just like okay do Jon Murray is going to shoot we’re does Jon Murr is either going to shoot a hard shot or it’s going to be anyone else taking jumpers and the

Blazers um held on with that strategy down the stretch they win this game though because DeAndre was great and he’s been great and a and an’s been really good let’s talk about those two gentlemen in the second half deandre’s deand Ron is is putting it all together

Finally for the Blazers we we’ll talk more about him and more about amrey Simons in the second segment first I want to tell you about prize picks it’s daily Fantasy Made Easy America’s number one fantasy sports app with over 3 million members easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy

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You dollar for dooll on your first deposit up to 100 bucks pick more pick less it’s that easy all right DeAndre Aiden came in to the Blazers media day and and told us the assembled media there that his name was dominating cuz that’s what he does then

He started out to hear and he wasn’t good and it was like oh I’m going to that name that is not a nickname that you should that you should bestow upon yourself if you’re going to struggle as much as he did and he did struggle and and then that’s that’s like the real

Truth of it they also truth of is over the last six games and even more than that over the last 15 games hooping absolutely hooping DeAndre aen has had almost he’s had 30 and 19 in two of his last three games uh he finished tonight with with 33 points on 15 of 20

Shooting 19 boards including four on the offensive end uh you know he he gets a block he gets steal he gets an assist he doesn’t he doesn’t like he’s not going to fill out the BLX the box score in the way that like some maybe some other sort

Of more Gody centers are going to are going to put up there right he he might he might not do that but what he does well he does so dang well and I think that’s the key that the Blazers have figured out what does deand rton do

Where does he want the ball how are we going to get it to him and and you know what is the way that we can maximize his unique set of skills and I I think that’s the real truth to this season the Blazers just figured out how to use

DeAndre a and coming into this game over his last nine games he was averaging 20.8 points and 14.3 rebounds on 63% shooting and then tonight he has the monster game that he has 33 and 19 like um and I think there was a play in the fourth quarter they come out of a

Timeout and this really speaks to kind of like how they’ve figured it out they did something he just don’t see teams do just this is just like the type of play the type of action this an action more than a play but type of an action uh

That you just don’t you just straight up don’t see teams do in 2024 they got the ball on the on the the left or ball in the middle of the Court anrey Simons passes it to the left wing and then he goes to set a screen away to

The low block and typically these these little down screens from guards to free up a center are just you free up a center and they come all the way up to the ball and you set a screen and you just want like some movement to get everybody kind of

Um to get his man DeAndre aton’s man and and the ball handler into sort of like having to think having to guard moving parts so the center is coming up to the ball as the ball’s coming down at him and and you kind of make uh make guys

Make make multiple decisions but instead the blers they’re not they’re not doing that they’re setting a screen this little like a down screen action um to to get DeAndre in a mid-range jump shot he comes off a screen from his point guard catches at 15 feet and curls right

Into a jump shot like a like straight out of 204 he just he came and took a catch and shoot jumper from 16 and 1 half feet 17 feet like just a step behind the behind the free throw line they wouldn’t have done that for him early in the year they didn’t know

How to use him figured it out um it is a little bit challenging cuz da wants the ball like at the foul line he basically from the elbows you know either elbow on either side but like that that about a step um outside of the lane and catching

It at 15 ft he doesn’t really want to catch lower because he wants to be able to face up and use his face up game um he doesn’t want to catch out wider he doesn’t want to like he he wants it in the middle of the court so creating ways

To get him in the middle of the court and just not running straight up pick and rolls for him or if you do run a pick and roll Run It Wide so he can get back to the middle or run those little actions that get him catches right there

Like they’ve just figured out how to use him and he’s like he’s delivered by shooting 15 of 20 like he takes two free he got you know intentionally fouled at the end of the game so he took two free throws took no three-pointers he does his damage right there between 4 feet

And 20 feet like he does his damage right there he’s um you know he had a funny broken play where he had a big dunk and he had another one inside where he scored and he had a he had also scored out of the post overs with a hook

Shot but for the most part he was torching the Hawks just by shooting jump shots um Clint capella a couple times didn’t close out to him because like he doesn’t guard people where he has to close out to 17 ft he’s like in in most

In most NBA games a guy taking a long like a a long two you’re like great DeAndre Aon is exceptional at that spot um and I think the difference in he just looks more engaged because the Blazers are letting him letting him cook with the ingredients he

Prefers you know it’s it’s not a it’s not a huge huge diet of pick and rolls but I will say one thing I’ve noticed DeAndre has gotten way better at setting screens he’s not a bone crushing screen Setter like he is not going to set a screen and just like absolutely light

Someone up and give anony Simons like 40 feet of room by like you know cracking someone with a screen but he makes more contact than he has early in the year uh he’s getting better at flipping the screen like seeing like you know running up to the to the play where supposed to

Set a screen realizing okay flip it and like he’s he has good like he has good feet and he’s fast like he should be there should be a skill of his and I think he’s gotten better at it and he’s more in tune to it he’s more in tune to

It because he’s going to get the ball in his spots after he sets the right type of screen like if he if he makes contact it helps him as well I think he’s really dialed into here’s where I’m going to get it I’m going to get to eat I’m going

To get to I’m going to get to do what I do and play the way I want to play the Blazer’s figured it out and it’s allowed him to be the best version of himself um you know a lot of the knock on DeAndre and even this year in the Blazers

Blazers uniform certainly knock on him before he got here was that you don’t always get the best out of him like you know he’s just he’s not always playing at his at his like with 100% motor with like with his engine revving all the way and I think there were times uh

Particularly in in December where his his motor just wasn’t Revan it’s like hm he’s really not playing that hard but now that he’s back from injury you we haven’t seen one of those games we he’s had a couple stinkers in there but he hasn’t had games where it’s like is

DeAndre playing hard um I think particularly on offense his assertiveness to I know that I’m going to get the shots I want has really fueled him and he’s he’s been he’s been really solid in this game or in this stretch um and particularly the last handful of games like he’s almost had

Two out of the last three games he’s he’s had 30 he’s had 30 plus and 19 boards like he’s almost had 3020 games in two half last three um you know it’s like you know Kelly Kelly linck and Chris bue and uh Clint capella and uh and Bruno Fernando like it’s not he’s

He’s not maybe not doing against the best the best players in the world but 30 and 20 against anybody in the NBA is a freaking good nights and he was he was really good tonight I thought Amry Simons um this was an impressive night for him because of how he started like I

Said the first time he touched the ball he turned it over and kind of like a soft you know they they came they’re aggressive on him on screens all night and he comes off a screen the first play of the game they run a pick and roll for

Him and he just throws like a pass that’s not strong enough out of double teams it’s been a problem for him all year it’s kind of just like the strength of getting out of double teams first time he touches it turns the ball over one of five to start the game and it’s

Like I I’m starting I’m get my notebook out and I’m like okay I guess we’re going to talk about a bad ant night again like and then he was just so good he was so good in the final three quarters immediately five of nine in the second quarter finished with 16 on six

Of 14 in the first half but again like five of nine in the second quarter and got going five of nine for 14 in the second quarter got going like and then he to going um finishes with 21 after halftime helped bring the Blazers home like I said huge three-pointer with um

With about 2 a half minutes left and I thought his playmaking was was solid like he wasn’t incredible but I thought he he made the right play a couple times he had one spectacular pass that didn’t lead to an assist a fast break uh layup to Fast Break right-handed bounce pass

Dart to to matis thel who missed the layup but like that was the best pass of the game wasn’t even an assist but I thought he just making the right play making the right play and quickly making the right play and I think that’s the thing for an sometimes he will either

You know he won’t he won’t make a read right away and then it’s like oh he’s ball hogging and I don’t think it’s necessarily like he’s got this tunnel vision to the rim I think his processing is sometimes a little bit slow and the

More he gets a chance to do it is like the processing can be quicker and if you make the simple pass quickly it can be really effective and I thought he made a bunch of simple passes quickly tonight and was and was really solid um two minor things here scoot was awful in

This game this was a awful scoot Henderson game uh 17 17 and a half minutes he came off the bench he’s on a because they’re playing a back-to-back he’s on a Min restriction there’s no way his like when he was on a minutes restriction before he played 26 minutes

So I assume he’s like a half the game type of thing 2425 in that range he didn’t play down the stretch cuz he was awful which stinks right because you want him I want him on the court like at in important moments like in a three-point game with two and a half

Minutes left I want scoot out there learning how to play at this type of uh game but he was he was like not they needed matis thel out there game saving ma thel out there um he they they just it was it was time and they were like

Leaned on a little more on Chris Murray who was not good either on offense like he does some Chris Murray does good stuff on defense every time he plays but he turned the ball over six times um and he was just he was just generally bad on the offensive end but scoot didn’t

Deserve to play down the stretch um whatever my personal preferences are this he just didn’t deserve to play down the stretch he was really bad in this game one of eight two points 04 from three one of those threes is a is a uh

Is a heave he took an end of the quarter shot so like let’s call it one of seven of3 if you really want to get into the math one of s0 of3 is also a bad game he was bad in this game um kind of troubling because I don’t think it was

That uh it wasn’t just the bricks like who cares really about the bricks it was the the decisionmaking driving driving into the paint without a plan and without a like a I’m going to you know he did this against the Celtics the other night too I’m going to drive right

Into Luke cornette oh he’s big and I thought he did it tonight again too driving without a plan um a couple when he when he when he gets his feet under and he takes shots that like look like he’s on balance he can be a decent pull-up shooter and then he just like

Gets too in either too deep into the paint or too much in a hurry and his feet are just a mess and he doesn’t have the shooting touch to make up for bad feet um and I think he can like I think it’s that I’m going to drive kind of

Downhill attack mentality um where it’s like you need a plan or you need a counter if the plan doesn’t work and he doesn’t have he he he hasn’t showed a ton of that this year and I thought tonight was particularly bad after like just kind of normal rookie struggle game

Against the Celtics I thought this just a straight up bad night against um against the Hawks um Ryan ruper didn’t play I don’t think this is that big of a deal but I do find it annoying like uh Justin manah played over him I mentioned that I was going to complain every time

Down the the stretch of the Season every time manah plays over uh ruper maniah played 15 minutes one of three two points um not remarkable um he you know he’s not remarkably bad not like meaningfully good he’s you know he’s not a very good offensive player but he

Brings on defense you know I watched the last two L Ryan ruper games I watched him I I I I see all his minutes he was bad in those games like I’m not surprised that he’s not playing um he was he wasn’t good and I think you know

Chy bips wants to win and all those things he wasn’t good you’re not going to play guy someone who’s bad I just think at this point in the season um and I maybe Joe Cronin doesn’t believe in this and maybe this is the right thing

And for like sort of the health of the franchise not meddling is the right thing but I would tell the coach you have to play Ryan ruper i’ would say you have to because you know Justin man is just probably more effective than him now going to make less mistakes rookies

Who generally play are guys who are going to make less mistakes um and be more competitive on defense and and mani certainly that like then ruper is going to he’s a lower mistake guy and he’s a better Defender like in terms of just like executing ruper has certainly a lot

Of higher defensive like potential and and tools um he’s just not very good at it right now but it’s like just play just play the youngster play the teenager I don’t think it’s that big of a deal like it’s not going to like torpedo rups development or

Anything like that and I don’t even think it’s like um if this wasn’t a daily podcast it wouldn’t get mentioned on a weekly show I don’t like maybe it would maybe people are R up about that but I think this is like the specifics of minutia of of locks on Blazers that

Were mentioning this to some extent but like play him play him again I don’t think it’s a I think it’s very minor it’s kind of what I buried it at the end of my thoughts but like it’s something I I noticed and I promised I would mention it so I am

Mentioning it because how could I not notice okay uh I want to talk about something that has been a trend across the league uh that’s what we will’ll do uh to close the show join me in that third segment won’t you first let me tell you about Robin

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I’m still Mike Richmond and you are still listening to locked on Blazers there was there is some reporting going around the league the last couple weeks first from Blazers broadcast uh partner broadcast contributor Tom Harrow who writes uh substack side note Tom’s Persona on his substack is so deeply different from how

He is presented on the broadcast um no further comment uh and also eth Ethan Sherwood Strauss who writes his own substack these are both stories behind pay walls but it’s good reporting so I’m going to share it here I’m not going to share the like deep details um unfortunately the way journalism works

Now is that you got to have a kajillion subscriptions because that’s the way this thing is keeps that’s the way people can keep on reporting um that’s life I wish I wish it wasn’t that way and guess what lockdown blaz is free every day wherever you got podcast or

Five days a week if if nothing else uh but both habro and uh Ethan shood Strauss wrote about the downturn in scoring across the league since a monster monster early season when we saw 460 plus games in December and it was like every night the scores were 133

122 and you know some old fogy folks were getting worried about it they were you I’m I’m sure you have someone in your life who remembers sort of the NBA from if not the early 21st century then even before that but he like you don’t

Have to go back that far to the to the early you know 20 years ago I guess some plenty of college age kids were born in like 2003 but um right around then like the league there were some gross games there were some there were some Pacers

Pistons playoff games that ended in the 70s um but you know I think people miss those more in theory than they do in practice but but I think scoring was getting a little out of control and moreover scoring was getting the perception of scoring was getting out of

Control that’s the actual problem they perceived the perception of particularly casual observers was that the NBA doesn’t give a hoot about defense and they had Juiced the league so much for offense that it was the the league was becoming a farce so what did they do well according to the reporting from

Abro and Strauss stopped calling fouls abro notes that the free throw rates free throw attempts from December to February were on a steady decline from as high as 23 and a half in in November to down under 21 in February and you might think that’s not very many

But it is the the sort of statisticians will tell you that free throw amps first of all incredibly valuable um you know who else will tell you that my man Dean Smith shout out to tarhill Legend but like getting in the bonus not only you get free throws but like from shooting

Fouls but you can get some non-shooting fouls offenses get Juiced when teams are in the bonus calling more fouls leads to the higher scoring and it leads to you know you defend differently when you’re in the bonus and teams are just um you know there are there’s a decade of

Research that suggests that teams offensive ratings surge when they in the bonus part of that is free throws are e are the best often the best ways to score so the league at least According to some some speculation from Strauss and habber has just kind of cracked down

On some Ticky Tech fouls allowing for a more physical brand of basketball and allowing for because they’re allowing for a little more physicality and they’re calling fewer fouls we’re getting you know we’re getting games that are um a little bit cleaner you know the Blazers and Celtics just played

A game the other night where they took a combined 23 free throws uh the Blazers tonight on the own took 24 but like on Monday night Monday night’s game just a clean game between them and the Celtics and maybe a trend that has been in the

Works now post All-Star Break by the NBA that the the movement is in um I think sort of my general thoughts on this is that I think it’s fine um I think it’s a perception problem more than a product problem I will I’ll name drop someone

Here A friend of mine and and longtime media member here in Portland Joe Freeman asked me last night he said he asked me but just sort of my thoughts on like the general product across the league and I said that um for me someone

Who watches a lot of it like you know I watch um I watch every Blazer game and I watch a ton of League Pass games when they’re not playing like I love the NBA and I am I’m a junkie right like if I get I I’m not watching a lot of episodic

Television I’m watching the NBA like a nerd I love it I love it I think there’s an incredible amount of talent in the league but I said for for casual observers which I would I would classify Joe at this stage in his career no longer no longer covering the NBA

Full-time that it does always feel that way it feels like that the three-point shot has kind of bastardized the sport a little bit and that there’s a real homogenization of the of the offenses and the league and I think there’s there’s certainly if you’re a a viewer who appreciates the great details

There’s a ton of nuance in how you know all teams are hunting the same kind of shots dunks and Corner threes and and catch and shoot shots but the way that they hunt those threes is vastly different but that’s for the people who are in the weeds like you and I most of

You some of you maybe not but but many of you out there listening to like this particular podcast at this time of year like you you are in the weeds you’re deep in it you love the minutia love the Nuance but I think the the sort of

Larger perception and then sort of the Casual fan doesn’t love it as much and when they see games that are 13528 they just go to one of those Sports yelling shows in the morning the sports yelling shows they obviously didn’t stay up to watch Hawks Blazers they’re just going

To scream about there’s there’s no defense in the league so whether this is real whether the league and and Mark Stein over on his substack I’m just shouting out anyone who’s uh has a sub description based newsletter these days um what has the world come to all of

These people used to work at literally used to work at ESPN um but uh Stein wrote about it and he asked the league he said is this real is this like there’s been some reporting on it would you like to comment and they said you know declined to comment and said you

Know nothing’s changed nothing’s changed nothing like the comment was that nothing has changed and declined to elaborate further there’s been no call from the league to call less fouls there’s been nothing there’s no push to make you know allow for a little more physicality I’ll

Say this I think a league where there is a little more physicality is good but I don’t think a league where there’s I think the problem with officiating is not that there are too many foul calls or too few foul calls or anything like that the problem with the officiating

And our sort of feeling about the game is consistency if the league allows for a consistent level of of physicality and that continues through the playoffs and they officiate stars and role players exactly the same way they won’t but if they do that through the playoffs great

The league will be in a really good spot and people won’t care if you score 130 or if you score 90 because game will be good and will be enjoyable and team people like close games with Stakes you know I think that’s that’s what we’ve learned if you

Look closely at television ratings what do they like what are teams like they like um they like LeBron James they like they like Steph Curry and they like games with Stakes you know things like the inseason tournament and the playin games get a people watch them playoffs obviously people watch them um like

Those do numbers low stakes games don’t do numbers and games that are close in the nature of um our interconnected world you can text your friend and say hey turn the game on there’s 3 minutes left is awesome or they’re like looking at social media and they find out um

Close games and games with Stakes if there’s consistency close games games with Stakes I this is a good gamble if we get back to an inconsistent whistle it doesn’t matter if they’re calling less fouls and it’s more physicality the inconsistency will still burn the league

In the end um in general I think putting a slight cap on scoring is fine I think games I think normalizing games scoring 110 is is like is you know there’s been a big drop from uh as Stein reported in season almost a three-point drop from

The beginning of season to now um from the early season scoring which was like up at 1 117 and to now which is we below 115 um across the league that’s a big number to drop in scoring average in a few months um and and and Stein has has

More reporting on the specifics of that if you subscribe to the Stein line but like I think in general the thing that the league needs is consistency they don’t need a certain style of play they need a consistent product that you can know what you’re going to get and know

This is a foul and it’s a foul on LeBron James and it’s also a foul on Austin Reed Rees and it’s also you know a foul on D reef and it’s also a foul on Bruno Fernando and on down the line but uh if you want to check out

Those scoring drought stories I will uh I’ll link them in the episode description for this very episode how about this come back tomorrow we’re going to talk about the Blazers game against the New York Knicks they play a second night of a back toback against the Knicks on Thursday and then we’ll do

A little bit of look ahead because we’re getting to the conference tournaments of the of of the men’s NCA field and uh we will talk about prospects to watch over the weekend and moving forward and have a little fun with the tanon machine tell your friends about the program I

Appreciate you listening I’ll talk to you Soon

Deandre Ayton dropped 33 and 19, Anfernee Simons had 36, 8 and 7 and the Portland Trail Blazers held off the Atlanta Hawks in the closing seconds behind hustle plays from a couple role players. A fun little win. Tanking be dammed.

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