Miller and Oden... who'd a thunk it?

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/11/portland_122_chicago_98_everyt.html

This is what some of us have been saying all year. Miller is the guy who is getting GO the ball, and it's obvious that Oden has been frustrated with some of the other guards inability to feed him in the post.

 

I woulda thunk it

 

Yeah the "breath of fresh air" comment was kind of telling. Rudy gets GO the rock too. The Blake era needs to end in the worst way. I would rather see Rudy, Roy and Webs or Rudy, Roy and Miller then the current lineup. Rudy should provide the range we need.

PG Miller
SG Rudy
SF Roy
PF LMA
C Oden

looks great except for Roy defending SF's. Man I wish Batum was healthy. I'm just not sure how we get Miller in as a starter without having a SF who can drain the 3 ball with some regularity. I'm not saying Batum could, but at least I would feel secure with our SF slot.

PG Roy
SG Rudy
SF Webster
PF LMA
C Oden

That looks fairly promising as well. Problem then is defending PG's. I say have Rudy do it.

 

And don't think his feelings on this issue won't impact any potential ideas of moving Andre.

 

The key is to get Oden and Roy to click and be on the same page. When that happens this team will be a Juggernaut.

 

I loved the balance last night. I thought the inside, outside game was executed perfectly.

 

I've said it before, but I would love to see Roy take on a Penny Hardaway type role, like when he and Shaq were on the Magic together.

[video=youtube;bAo0FJrDbDc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAo0FJrDbDc[/video]

[video=youtube;DvuLprzx06o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvuLprzx06o&feature=related[/video]

 

Penny was a special talent. I think Roy could play that sort of game, and I'd be thrilled if Roy could get that sort of on-court chemistry with Oden (Shaq and Penny supposedly had off-court issues, but that seems to be a Shaq thing, considering his issues with Kobe).

 

That's not a bad wish. I just think it needs to click for Roy at some point that Oden will also pass him the ball on cuts along the baseline and through the lane much like that give and go between Dre and Greg a few games back.

I'm not terribly worried long-run. It's clear to me that almost none of these guys (guards especially) have ever played basketball with a dominant post player, it does take time for guys to figure out how to make post entry passes and hopefully guys will also realize that Oden can receive a helluva lot more lobs than he's getting because he does such a great job sealing his man.

The more Greg passes out of doubles and then reposts the more rhythm these guys will get into. If the guards can play like they did last night, by letting the inside game develop early to open up their outside game then I think the Miller-Roy pairing can work -- their 20 minutes of overlapping play last night helped convince me that it is indeed possible.

 

He really was. I loved watching Penny when he was young and in his prime (before the injury).

 

Me too. Penny and Grant Hill were two of my favourite players of the '90s. Similar types of players, IMO.

 

And both were cut down by injuries. If Grant hadn't been injured before going to Orlando, I wonder how good that Magic team would have been with McGrady and Hill both in their primes.

 

I totally concur that is what I would like to see happen. I think it could happen. But one of the things that lineup had going, is the one thing which I harp on (to a fault) is that I would like the Blazers to go big. On the Magic, their 3 perimeter guys were Hardaway, Anderson, and Dennis Scott. The shortest of those guys was Anderson at 6'6" tall. The key was, all of them could shoot from 3 point land. Having a taller point guard was an enabler. For the most part, Hardaway could see over the top of and make post entry passes over smaller opponents with ease. He could also post up, which is another one of Roys strengths. If anything, the travesty with that Orlando team, was that it was never held together long enough to see what it could do. It took a very veteran Houston team with one of the best centers of all time to beat them.

 

I have used the Penny comparison before too, Nate. The Blazers would do themselves a favor by sitting Roy, Oden and Aldridge in a film room and play video of Penny, Shaq and Grant.

 

They could get away with that back when because hand checking was still allowed. A bigger player like Hardaway could hand check a smaller player and prevent him from blowing by.

 

That was more of a big guard era, though, I think. And their main competition was the Bulls, who also played a big perimeter (Harper, Jordan, Pippen). These days, especially with ban on hand-checking, we're in a small guard era. A perimeter like Orlando's would get penetrated pretty badly by all the smaller, quicker guards.

I love size 2-5 (and used to love the idea of a big point guard too...I wanted the Blazers to try moving Pippen to point guard), but I think in this era of the NBA, you need to have a quick defender at point guard. That's why I'm a big proponent of an eventual Bayless/Roy backcourt, because Bayless has the quickness and intensity to be a very good defender of the Tony Parkers and Chris Pauls of the world (as good a defender as one can be against such players).

 

Blake '08!!!

 

I think what we have here is a good, old-fashioned grand melee. Roy has picked his favourite point guard. Oden has picked his. Who wins? This is now ROY VERSUS ODEN AND ONLY ONE CAN SURVIVE.

Time for Blazer survivor, but this time only two names.

Oden 50
Roy 50

 

You are either a team with a fast penetrating guard, or you are a team that is victimized by them. All defenses get penetrated pretty badly by small fast guards these days. Look across the league. Do you see anybody that is known as a stopper for these guys? For the most part, the best you can wish for is to deal out more than you receive on the bad end. The only way to defend these guys is within the team concept. By going big, you give them a problem to deal with if you do it right.

Look at the game against Golden State. Roy was having problems going one on one with the faster Ellis because of how he was attacking the situation. He was getting the ball out high and trying to dribble in. That is tough against a fast player. But if he had run down to the post without the ball, and received it there, then Ellis is in his house of pain. The type of pain that deals fouls and gets pesky fast guards out of the game.

Secondly, a big guard like Roy can shoot jumpers all day over a smaller guard like they aren't even there.

Lastly I would point out Rudy is actually much better at defending faster guards than he is physical guards. He is built for speed and length. That is why he leads the team in steals. When he got matched up with Crawford who bodies him up, it wasn't so pretty.

It's all about making the game your game, not the other teams game. Make them deal with the problems you inflict on them. Play the game at your pace, and keep it in your comfort zone. The more you make the game comfortable for your team, and away from the comfort zone other teams like to play in, the better your chances for victory. Going big pretty much forces every team in the league to adjust what the Blazers do, if the Blazers enforce their will on the other teams.

Look at the Golden State game. Should those 7 guys have beat the Blazers? No. But they made the game be played at their comfort zone/pace, and Don Nelson tricked Nate into matching up with him instead of playing to his strengths. End result? Golden State puts one in the W column. That is the power of playing the game in your comfort zone. It is also why a running team will never win a championship. A good slow down team can always control the pace of the game, and take them out of their fast paced game. .