Trade Oden, or Fire Nate One or the other please. If you aren't going to use an asset like that then trade him for guards and we can have four little guys running around firing up jumpers and Travis Outlaw can play center. Then Nate can have his perfect team, and they can all play pesky defense and if someone misses a switch it won't matter since all the players will be the same size. If you fire Nate you can bring in a coach that will utillize him.
Fuck that - the way this board panics after every loss, sell the whole fucking franchise to some potato-mogul in Idaho and move 'em there.
I would agree that much of the time people read too much into a single game. However, this loss was special. The Thunder are a horrific team. Portland made them look like the Lakers. After a loss like this, it is only natural for fans to question the teams heart and direction, because right now there doesn't seem to be one. I would also say that there are some trends from the last 15 or so games that should be troubling for fans. Letting teams shot over 55% in the first quarter in every game is a real concern. Having to come from behind in every single game to win is a huge concern. The teams seeming inability to simply pass the ball into the post is a huge concern. I don't think the team is going to miss the playoffs or anything like that. I do think that if some of the above doesn't change by the end of the year, then personnel and coaching changes will have to be made.
It's a long season. A lot of good stuff has happened and, along with that, some stupid shit is going to happen as well. Every team suffers through this to some extent - and more so when you're very young like this team is. Good teams lose to bad teams - it happens all the time, otherwise there'd be no use in playing the games. The goal is to win - and this team has won more than it has lost. So until they tank the rest of the season and go 30-52, I'm going to bitch like a moron pretending I know better how to direct this franchise than the people current in place to do it. It's annoying as fuck the way some people choose to look at this team. They lead the league in 4th comebacks and you'd think that maybe they'd get some credit for having heart and never giving up or something to that regard. Instead, it's like: "why the fuck are we trailing to begin with; we should be leading all the time!"
I understand your thinking. HOWEVER, why the FUCK do you have a player like Greg Oden on your roster if you are going to give him ZERO shot attempts against a player like Nick Collison in the first fucking half? Its not like this game is the only time this shit has happened either. If that is how he is going to be used, or unused we should have drafted Kevin Durant. Because they are wasting his abilities. WASTING THEM.
Because maybe Oden is not where 97.2% of this board expects him to be: a 20/10 instant hall of famer? He hasn't been able to consistently produce because he's often in foul trouble and even when he's not in foul trouble and getting his minutes and touches in, his offensive game is not anywhere near what you would call "dominating". And all of this, depending on which camp you fall in, is either expected because he's a rookie big man . . . or a flaming bust. Give the guy some time. Give the team some time. Yeah, it's great we got some/most of the pieces in place for a great team - doesn't mean it can all gel instantly all the time.
Oden will never be anything but what he is, if he isn't given the FUCKING BALL. Zero fucking shots against Nick Collision is bullshit and you know it.
I don't propose to know much. But I know enough to know that dude is halfway into his first season. He's going to be up and down. Last week, the board loved him. This week, not so much. Next week, it'll be up again. Then down again. So goes the trials of a rookie big man and so goes the emotions of a bunch of fickle fans. Oden does get his touches but he often passes the ball back out because either they're collapsing on him, someone else is open for a better shot or he just can't get the shot he likes right now (which is a two handed dunk). If you want us to throw the ball to him every possession and have him attempt to down whatever he can to get a shot off a la Zbo, I'll get on the Bat Phone with Nate right now and give him the message.
I think we should just waive Oden and fire Nate today. We won't try and replace GO, and if the Blazers are smart, they'll get a good pool of coaching candidates on local message boards. Anyone else would be better than an Olympic coach respected by all the league, who is in the running for coach of the year. If those ideas don't work, we should trade one player after each game we lose until things get better.
