add to it that oden fouling too much was overstated anyway due to him being a rookie, picking up a reputation of fouling a lot early, and just being so big in general. there were numerous times last season where oden would get called for a foul for simply playing defense and when joel would do the exact same thing no foul would be called.
I was talking about this on another thread, and it kind of goes with how I feel about what I have seen in the pre season. This is how I feel so far(considering Rudy hasn't played so far really): Right now outside of Roy, Aldridge, Oden and Rudy, I don't think this team has improved much, if at all. Batum doesn't look any better than last year(I can't think of one thing that I have seen that has shown he has improved.). Martell doesn't look any better than 2 years ago. Outlaw in fact looks worse than a year ago(he is getting out played by Howard big time). Bayless I am not sure on yet because he has had some impact while out on the floor. Steve Blake is still Steve Blake. Just don't ask him to do anything but shoot an open jumper. Miller is crafty, but is starting to manifest the outside shooting woes he has always had. He needs finishers around him to function, and yet we team him with 4 guys who like to shoot jump shots most of the time.
Cake, Crapzano was speaking specifically about the report that Nate has decided to start Joel of Greg. I think it's a relatively fair topic to discuss.
I've watched, but haven't seen much of Oden in the highlights. Haven't seen any clips of him moving to block out guys or setting picks or anything involving footwork much, just dunks mainly. Got some links, I'd be grateful? Still, I'd be stunned silent if he had progressed to being a better defender than Joel, position-wise and intelligence-wise. Joel is no slouch, and isn't exactly on the downslide of his career.
simply not being a rookie will be huge. add that to actual improvement meaning there should be less legitimate fouls to call on him and i'd expect fouls to not nearly be the problem they were last season.
Przybilla has 10 times the basketball IQ of Oden. At the end of last season, it was no contest between them. Oden will get there, but it will take another season. Oden has raw strength, rebounding, etc., but Joel pleases Nate with his nuances on all aspects of the game. Some coaches would start the raw young buck and lose games while he learns, but if I know my buddy Nate, he'll go with Przybilla.
The 54 wins were kind of a fluke, to be honest. The team came from behind to win a ton of games last season. Way more then a 54 win team typically would. If they go with the same lineup this year and fall behind as often as they did last year, I would expect their record to go down. Probably 47 or 48 wins and a first round exit from the playoffs.
I don't think leading hte league in come from behind victories is something that teams who have success in the playoffs do.
Have you ever met Joel? Nice guy, but he's not a member of MENSA. I think you're overstating things. Joel had the exact same problems when he was a rookie. In fact, the refs didn't let up on him until his second or third year here. I don't see how Nate can keep Greg on the bench when he can be a difference maker on both ends of the floor. Joel isn't an offensive weapon in any way, shape, or form.
Phooey. 2 of the games were humiliating beatdowns. The other 2 losses were winable games that the Blazers lost because the Rockets out executed them down the stretch. (collars getting a little tight there guys?) Portland had HCA, and their star player was having a good series....and they still never had a realistic chance of winning the series. I call that "dominated".
that's great. you probably would have found a way to discredit the blazers had they won the series, so i'm not really worried about it.
I prefer to think about it in a different way. Portlands stars showed up to play, and the rest of the team was dominated, especially the bench. People yammer on this board how deep this team is. Outside of Roy, Aldridge, Oden and Rudy, and possibly Miller, there isn't a whole lot to write home about with this team. Last nights game against Utah where it was basically Roy and 4 scrubs vs the Utah Jazz should have puncuated that. Portland is not deep. They are heavily laden with guys who can't differentiate themselves from the 11th and 12th guys on the roster.
DING DING DING DING DING! Winner winner chicken dinner! For all the griping about who should play, it's obvious that the guys are 100% role players on this team, and would be role players on any other playoff team.
Play-off basketball is a different world. Teams tighten up their rotations, focus harder on defense, and have more time to scout/gameplan for their opponent. All of those things worked in favor of the Rockets.
We got our ass kicked in one game, and it was largely due to the fact that Joel and Greg talked Nate into playing Yao straight up.
you always seem to have a negative view of anything the blazers do. i absolutely am giving the rockets credit for beating the blazers. the rockets were the better team during the series, but they certainly didn't dominate.
