I don't think that's true; I almost think that Camby's return might be somewhat responsible. I thought Wallace was doing some good aggressive stuff, somebody on the team needs to be in there in a position to catch a short pass when Wallace is driving into the middle. They will adjust to him I think.
I wonder if Gerald is feeling how Oden felt when he first arrived? All these eyes on him suddenly. It would be nice to give him our support. HCP, if you can pass on any good wishes, please do!
It's not Gerald's fault.. there's just a lot of moving parts right now, with Roy coming back and Camby. It's gonna take time to gel. It's also a good sign that he cares so much about wanting to fit in. And it'll probably be more about trusting each other on the defensive end. With Wes, Batum, Wallace and Camby.. they're too good that they should be able to figure it out.
He seems to have fit in with the guys nicely. Playing cards with Dre, Wes and Patty on the flight down here to Sac tonight. I think they just need a couple more games together. I don't think he is the reason we played like shit tonight anyway.
I don't think there's any reason to start worrying. We JUST added Wallace, and Camby JUST came back. I hope he understands that, and I hope people will give them time to gel. It doesn't happen over night.
Hi All, I've been reading this board for a long time now all the way back to when the big migration happened. I'm getting sick and tired of trying to talk Blazers with people in the midwest who don't care about basketball though so I figured I'd finally create an account. I think Gerald Wallace will be fine, it takes more than two games to get used to each other in a structured system. I'm more concerned about Brandon Roy reintegrating in a secondary role, and LaMarcus losing his killer mentality.
First, welcome aboard. Second, if you've been reading us for some time, what possessed you to join??????? Lastly, I agree with your thoughts. Roy is going to be an oft injured player for the remainder of his career and to yo-yo him in and out of the lineup will create constant issues with chemisty/continuity.
I've always seen Roy as an iso heavy, need the ball in his hands type of player. It remains to be seen whether he can be an effective "closer" off the bench and a second or third option the rest of the time he is out on the floor. I think Camby will be ok. After all, it is only two games. Regarding your question, I think it was somewhere between the racism thread and Mixum's constant ray of sunshine that encouraged me to finally pull the trigger!
I think Roy's ISO play makes LA less aggressive as he can't get into the flow of the game. Makes perfect sense to me!
remember KP's claim of preferring to do roster movement in the offseason rather then in the middle because it disrupted team chemistry? Gerald will find his role as he and his teammates get more familiar but it's not surprising that they haven't been clicking perfectly yet. Any chance half of this board won't be frothing at the mouth demanding trades at next year's deadline? STOMP
I was listening to the 5th quarter last night on 95, and i think Michael Holton brought up a good point on the show. He mentioned that what this team needs now is "road games" for GW and the rest of the team to mold more as they are traveling together and staying in hotels.
Exactly. When Wallace was on the bench in the 1st quarter, the team was still struggling with defense and if it weren't for Batum's bailout 3's the game would have been completely out-of-hand before he even hit the floor. The problem is that our guards are, well, easy to guard. Matthews, Andre and Roy aren't guys that can create high percentage shots or get to the FT line consistently. To make matters worse, they have been getting killed by faster opponents on D as well. Lowry was a great example. Wallace was a great addition, but this team needed scoring/playmaking in the backcourt as well.
I tend to agree -- or at least that was my gut reaction to the last couple of games -- he seems to play hard, he rebounds just like I remembered him doing in Charlotte, he defends, he's tough, strong, physical, but the team looks like they're back in training camp trying to integrate 3 fairly prominent pieces. And not to turn this into a bash Nate thread, but I don't like the way he's decided to try and integrate him; sure he needs to keep the playbook simple to start off and isolation sets on the wing certainly play to Gerald's strengths as a slasher/scorer (especially when matched up against guys like Scola, Patterson, etc.) but I really wish he would have focused on getting him the ball on the move off of curls and baseline cuts instead, because the offense completely freezes up when they clear out the side for him. Bottom line: This team may not make the post-season this year because of the hiccups they are going through, but the addition of Wallace should pay dividends over the next few seasons after he's had a full training camp or two to get fully integrated. I'm still happy they got him.
