Last night's game kinda reminded me of the Houston playoff series in which Roy displayed too much individualism. Granted, LMA was having a terrible game so he probably felt compelled to put the team on his back, However, IMO, when he does that in great proportions, he hurts the team. Jordan had to learn that. So did Kobe.
ABM - where else were the Blazers going to get offense? Juwan Howard? Webster went from Microwave to Icebox. Blake couldn't throw it in the ocean. LA did have 22, but outside of him who would you rather have shoot? At least in the 4th quarter - I want Brandon to take over right now. If he got the hot hand down the stretch, we could have won that game. I don't know how else we could score when Cleveland tightened the screws defensively.
Personally, I want Miller (even Blake) to create easy baskets for others......like I saw glimpses of last night. Also: I'd like to see more of Bayless. Let him float and drive. That end-to-end to end a quarter was sweet. I want to see more. I'd like to see more of Cunningham. Call more plays for his nice little mid-range jumper. I'd like to see less standing around watching the Roy show.
It was sweet - but typical of the coaching staff, he probably got benched for most of the second half because he missed that layup/dunk - even though he got two free-throws out it.
I'm sure there are at least 2 players that would like to see less of the Roy show. One of them had the ball in his hands last night and ignored Roys call for the ball several times in a row. The other may have elected for surgery after Odens injury because he knew who would be dominating the ball now. Just my opinion. No facts
Miller/Blake don't inspire any confidence in me. I'd love to see Bayless get more minutes and shots. What about this "standing around watching Roy" business? Don't you see the same thing when Miller has the ball? There's no cutters, off ball screens, motion for anyone. It's a lot of one-on-one. I hate it, but I guess I just think Roy is our best one-on-one player.
Well this is an interesting topic. Remember how a few days ago how I talked about how the starting unit basically has 3 guys who get almost nothing? The only quarter we thrived in last night was the one where Martell went off for 13 points. The rest of the game we got nothing offensivly from him. Now that being said: Fast Forward to the 4th quarter. Roy is trying to score to keep the team in the game. Martel hasn't hit anything since the first quarter. What happens? He drives in, puts up a tear drop, but Lebron is there. Why? Because he doesn't guard Webster anymore because he isn't a threat. They have surely scouted him, and know he is streaky at best. Blake had a doughnut. No need to guard him, he isn't even going to shoot. So now people. Folks talk about how Webster and Blake do the little things that help the team win. IMO one of the little things is scoring some so the opposition can't cheat over on your main guys in crunch time, is one of those things needed by role players to be effective. Just enough to keep them honest.
I think Roy is delusional if he thinks that him going 1v2 or 1v3 while the rest of the team stands around waiting for a kick out with less than 3 seconds left is going to lead this team to an NBA title, let alone a playoff series win. Roy is a very good player but he is not LeBron, nor is he Kobe and niether of those guys could do it all on thier own either.....
Who is he going to defer to? He really has no choice. He's our first option our second option is very inconsistent and very mediocre this season. A legit third option? we never had one in the Brandon Roy era.
I think we need to be starting Miller and Cunningham. At least we will get some mid-range shooting and rebounding from CUnningham, and Miller will help spread the floor by helping move the ball.
The facts are that some of our players are shooting so badly, he no longer trusts them. and I agree with Roy on that fact.
Switch Blake and Webster with Mo Williams and Anthony Parker, and Roy looks a lot better. Roy looks just like he did last year, but he doesn't have the same spacing. Blake and Webs are either off completely or too tentative to jack up open shots. Miller's shot gets no respect from defenders, and Outlaw/Rudy are missing as well. Roy's game relies on beating his man one-on-one and getting to the hoop, but defenders these days are just sagging off their men on the wings to help close the lane on Roy. I watched up close how every time any Blazer helped double LeBron, James found the open man who made the Blazers pay for doubling. Same thing happened on the other end with BRoy, but our "shooters" didn't exactly make the Cavs pay. We either need a re-vamping of the offense, a trade for some replacement shooters, or our guys to get back from injury and gain some confidence.
Fat chance. GS loves Morrow. Their coaching staff regularly refer to him as the best shooter in the league. And he is. And to add to the above point, playing Blake for 35 mpg exacerbates the situation. He is drawing absolutely zero respect from his defenders, and he's so reluctant to shoot, that he's just playing into their hands.
But you know, we didn't need Steven Jackson... I mean Gerald Wallaces averages have only gone up to like 30 and 10 since he got some help in Charlotte.....But, nooooo we couldn't have a guy with a shady background on the Blazers, were too goody goody for that...
