Missing every single member of their starting core, the Portland Trail Blazers fielded Ryan Arcidiacono, Shaedon Sharpe, Matisse Thybulle, Trendon Watford, and Drew Eubanks at tip-off against the Chicago Bulls on Friday. Predictably, they lost in spectacular fashion, 124-96.
But the game was good training for a lot of players who would not usually log such heavy minutes. Particularly Sharpe, who played a team-high 38 minutes and scored a team-high 24 points.
After the game, Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups was asked what the young guys got out of this blowout, and he had the right answer.