Processing Scoot Henderson’s First NBA Game

The Portland Trail Blazers’ loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on opening night of the 2023-24 NBA season was hard for some folks to take. The Blazers never really had a chance against the determined, veteran club from L.A. Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Russell Westbrook outshone any combination of players the young Blazers could assemble.

It’s one thing to talk about these things on paper. It’s quite another to see them unfold before your eyes. The shock appears to have gotten to some Blazers fans. Rookie point guard Scoot Henderson is receiving more than his share of criticism after a 5-11, 11 point performance that saw him miss every three-point shot he attempted and match assists with an equal number of turnovers.

这个问题从the Blazer’s Edge Mailbag summarizes the vibe.

Dave,

Is it me or did we expect to see more from Scoot? 11 points and 4 assists isn’t much and he looked bad out there. Russ outclassed him totally. How’s he’s going to be the franchise savior? I just don’t see it. He looks like a jumpy G League point guard more than a lottery pick.

Les

Harsh.

Let’s have a little mercy on Scoot. When a team including Leonard and George targets you, you’re in for a long night no matter who you are. When it’s also your first ever NBA game? Yeah, that result isn’t surprising.

Instead of looking at Henderson’s successes—admittedly muted in this outing—let’s take a look at how his mistakes were made. He got caught in traffic while pushing the ball towards the rim. A couple of times he tried to needle passes through defenders. He also got his shot blocked driving for layups. Those are signs of aggression, a player trying to make things happen. Scoot did that all game long. He got bopped in the nose, but he didn’t quit.

I like those mistakes of commission at this point. I’d far rather see him try to make things happen and get send packing than see him disappear or remain meek. If his approach was a little different, he could have gone 3-6 with 6 points, 2 assists, and either 1 or 0 turnovers. I don’t think that would have been a better game. The Blazers wouldn’t have won anyway. and Scoot wouldn’t have been getting feedback on how the game is played at this level.

We all would have preferred a 20-point, 8-assist performance out of the third pick in the NBA draft this year. Instead Scoot was tasked with running the offense and trying to score against a packed-in defense that was fully aware that neither Scoot, nor anyone else on this team, was going to kill them from three-point distance. 20 and 8 just wasn’t in the cards.

If anything, I’d like Henderson to get stouter on defense. The court vision will come. Distance shooting probably will as well. Scoot’s size and reflexes could make a huge difference on the defensive end. If there’s not enough coordinated connection around him, that side of his game won’t develop quickly. If you’re going to worry about any part of Henderson’s game this season, choose that one.

As for efficiency, assists, and turnovers, 81 games remain in the season...his rookie year. Henderson will adapt to the NBA game. The Blazers will play lesser opponents as well. Odds are, sometime in the next few weeks you’re going to be looking at an 18 and 6 or 23 and 4 performance from Scoot and salivating over the possibilities.

Point guard is the hardest position to learn in all of basketball. If you don’t want to give scoot the three years he needs to pick it up fully, at least give him more than one game. He and the Blazers are learning together. It’s bound to be a bumpy process.

Thanks for the question! You can send yours to blazersub@gmail.com and we’ll get to as many as we can!