From the Weekend Dime: Hmm. Weren't there some numbers that showed that the Blazers got absolutely killed when Aldridge played the 5? I seem to remember that.
He is probably taking last year into account, where the small unit with Aldridge at the 5 did pretty well. Lets face it. No units are playing well this year, so I am not sure a scout would bank much on that. I wonder how the scout can say that when the effective FG% of the whole team goes above 50% when Oden is in, and sinks into the low 40's when he is out.
Someone explain to me then, how our team seems to play better when Oden is on the floor and not in foul trouble? Explain that one and you win at life.
Actually they play better when he is on the floor and in foul trouble too. We just rarely see them do it because Nate has no gonads.
Playing Aldridge at the 5 right now doesn't really make much sense anyway, when you have to go with Juwan or Dante on the floor, while Greg and Joel sit on the bench.
Even if the Blazers are worse on offense (I don't believe they are - he has the highest FG% and TS% on the team) with Oden in, they are MUCH better on defense and rebounding with Oden at the 5 rather than Aldridge. People focus so much on offense, but defense and rebouding are even more important - and that's what Oden brings that Aldridge doesn't. BNM
Every team Shaq has left has been better too. That scout is off base. I actually had a chance to sit and watch a game with a pro scout about a week ago, and he had the exact opposite thing to say.
Yeah thats it... the Blazers are imploding because Oden is getting 3 and a half more minutes per game than last year.
The team is certainly adjusting the way the play with Oden in the lane on offense and this probably has cut down on some of Brandon's drives to the hoop, but longterm these guys have to learn to play together and that's the only thing that matters. Other than that though, shit this team hemorrhages leads or runs the moment Oden steps off the floor, I don't need an advanced scout to tell me that.
Scout ... that's that old jeep thingie that broke down all the time and had upside down windshield wipers, and people couldn't give them away even when running. The word doesn't have "reliable" connotations.
