What Do You Want the Blazers to Show During Preseason?

The Portland Trail Blazers showed a lot of positives in their preseason opener against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday: a fast-paced offense, that physical defense, a smooth Shaedon Sharpe, a hot-shooting

Toumani Camara and more.

Portland’s deep bench ultimately coughed up the game, surrendering a 19-point fourth-quarter lead to lose 129-123. However, outside of that finish and rough opening performances from rookie Yang Hansen and veteran Jerami Grant, everything else about Game 1 was promising. At the very least, it showed proof of concept for how the Blazers can achieve their training camp goal of being a defense-first, fast-paced team.

So, over Portland’s final three preseason games, what else are you looking for the team to show? What elements of their game and which players will you be watching the closest?

For this writer, I want to see if they can sustain this up-tempo style beyond one game and if things continue to look as functional when the team doesn’t come out shooting 7-12 on 3s in the first quarter. As a prominent advocate in the Start Shaedon Sharpe Society, I also want to see if Sharpe can keep his foot on the pedal and continue to look as comfortable on offense. He’s tantalized with his great talent before; consistency will be the key for him in a pivotal fourth season.

Finally, I want to see how much progress Yang can make in his rookie learning curve through three more NBA games. A 7-foot-1, 20-year-old rookie center struggling in his first game against legit NBA competition isn’t surprising. However, the Blazers are counting on Yang as the go-to backup center to start the season with Robert Williams III out due to injury. They are depending on the rookie immediately, so how ready he looks will be an important storyline as opening night approaches.

These factors will be circling in my head when the Blazers take on the Sacramento Kings at the Moda Center tonight at 7 p.m. PDT. But what do you think, Blazer’s Edge readers? What are you looking for throughout the rest of the preseason? Let us know in the comments below!