I guess I didn't realize that Joel was in such foul trouble. I still think it's a legitimate question. Why are both our centers always in foul trouble?
Could someone tell me something about the rotations in the game; it was on too early for me to watch it here. I see that Blake and Miller had 31 minutes and Bayless only 4; so is one of those three always on the court? Does Nate drop one of them out of the first unit early and then bring him back in with the second unit? And who was that?
From Jason Quick: http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/11/trail_blazers_93_memphis_79_pi.html
I think it's a good thing. I want Oden conscious of his fouls. He needs to play smart. Once he has mastered this foul problem, then it will become less of an issue. Right now, however, the most important thing is keeping him on the floor. I'd rather he play a little tentative on the defensive end and play, rather than be super aggressive and sit.
I'm in the same boat. At first I heard about this new rule Nate imposed and thought it was a bit silly and kind of rigid, but after some reflection I think it's important for Nate to hold him accountable and to help keep him cognizant of what he's doing out there on D. Greg's biggest sin is that he actually tries on defense on every possession; most guys in the league don't seem to attack guys quite as forcefully as GO tends to do on a possession to possession basis, if they are beat they'll usually retreat or step away. The fouls are are really the only thing I see holding him back from being a 32+ minute a night guy. His offensive moves are starting to look patient, controlled and dominant, he's blocking shots at a ridiculous rate, he looks active, healthy and mobile, he just can't seem to avoid the whistles.
Hello guys, I just created an account because I was notified that the password to my stream was leaked here. I'd like to mention that the password was private, and not to be distributed except by my own invitation only. It is mentioned *very often* in the channel that the password is not to be shared publicly. Thanks for your interests, and I hope you respect my wishes in the future.
It was a great stream, thanks, I got in before it got private! Hopefully I can get in tomorrow too per the usual arrangements. ( )
I think it's a good thing as well. Certainly I hope G.O. stays aggressive and isn't all passive out there, but any way to keep him in the game and be conscious of his foul problem... it's worth a shot.
i'm saying let him play until 3 in the 1st quarter, 4 in the 2nd, 5 in the 3rd. other than that, let him play his normal minutes. there are times when it makes sense to pull him earlier than that, but as a general rule i think he should be allowed to play through it.
i don't see it as being a good thing. why sit him for fouls he might potentially commit? if he's ever to "master his foul problem", he's going to have to learn to play with fouls at times.
He was given a year to play with fouls and that didn't work. If Nate limits him to 2 fouls for the first half, there is a chance he can play with a little more freedom in the 2nd half. To me, it's clear that Greg needs to figure out how to avoid the ticky-tact fouls. If him knowing he'll be taken out for the rest of the half is what it takes to get him to figure it out, then great. If not, we'll have to try plan D.
And what happens if Joel goes down in the 2nd quarter? Or we need him down the stretch to play defense, but he has 5 fouls with 4 minutes remaining and he can't be aggressive. Where I disagree with Nate is his philosophy ofL "you have 6 fouls each game, you can't take them home with you." Burning up fouls, getting your team in the bonus early, and giving the opposing team free throws isn't something that will help us win.
he was? it seemed to me like he was pulled whenever he had fouls last year as well. him sitting out half the game to keep him from getting fouls really is no different than him sitting out half the game because he actually got fouls. the only difference is that if he plays, he might not actually pick up the fouls which could get him more minutes. if joel goes down, joel goes down. it's hard to plan injuries. it's not like that blazers don't have bodies they can put on the court in that situation. and telling oden he has one foul per quarter isn't going to take away his aggressiveness? seems like that could potentially keep him from being aggressive at all because he'd be too worried about picking up fouls that would send him to the bench. right. fouls are bad. the other team being in the bonus is bad. but having one of your best players sitting on the bench is also bad. so there has to be a balance there. i personally think that oden should be given a chance to play through them. nate obviously disagrees. it's not the end of the world and i don't think nate should be fired over it, i just disagree with his decision.
Really ugly game, especially in the first half. I was also really disappointed with Oden's IQ when he picked up those 2 fouls... but ended up being really pleased with him in the 2nd half. We are starting to play better in general, and we are 3-0 with that new lineup. I also wonder why we go away from LMA so often when he starts hot. As for Greg, if he can limit his fouls, he has a chance to have a special year this year. As for him only getting 1 foul per quarter, I'm not sure I agree with that. If it changes his mentality to be more cautious and not foul, then I think it is good. But I think we need Greg out there as much as possible. I'm in favor of letting him play through foul problems. When he gets three, you can pull him until half time. If he gets five, you can pull him until early-mid 4th quarter. Other than that, let the kid play. Anyway, Go Blazers!
It isn't as if Oden can cause 20 fouls. He's capped at 6. The difference between 4-5 fouls and 6 from Oden isn't going to amount to very much in terms of extra free throws for the opposition. The difference between Oden playing 22 minutes and 32 minutes will amount to a lot. I'd never heard that quote from McMillan, but I fully agree with it. His actions, though, didn't seem consistent with that quote. I pretty much agree with rocketeer. Give him 3 fouls in the first quarter, and then limit him to 1 per quarter. If he ends up fouling out in the fourth quarter, so be it...at least he played every minute possible. If he's managed more than that, then he ends up leaving minutes on the table that he could have played.
