Post game interview with Batum; Did Nate change the strategies before the game?

Very insightful interview. Always amazes me how candid foreign players are to their own press, and how often they get away with it. If I were McMillan and I'd read this interview, I'd first be disappointed in myself that I'd needlessly built some hard feelings, and then I'd be pissed off that Batum is openly questioning him in the media (even if it is foreign media). Batum's almost certain to get a lecture from somebody within the organization that the surest way to stunt your career as a rookie is to give media statements that undermine the coach. Even if it's true.

Anyway, this was a low point in Nate's coaching career. Not only that he made such a drastic change at the last minute, but that he really didn't give the team a lot of time to gel in the pre-season because he held out Aldridge, Roy and Oden so much.

Everybody makes mistakes, though. Hopefully Nate learns from this and moves on.

 

Yes absolutely. Not starting the second worst offensive player on the team disrupted our offensive and confidence. Even though Batum was MIA in his last game at Utah we all know better. (even though none of us were at the practice this week) Roy, LA , Channing and Blake were so shaken up by it they couldn't hit the side of the basket. And even though Travis had a good shooting night, he would have done much better coming off the bench. Rudy would also have played much better if Travis would have been playing with him. Nate cost us the game.

 

LMFAO repped

 

This is just so troubling to me. What we've seen so far during Preseason and this first game is a lack of confidence in his own convictions. He's got to get back to his original game plan. Batum was put in the starting unit for a very good reason. Sergio was first point guard off the bench for a good reason.

Nate's better than this. I know he'll do the right thing.

 

Agreed. Looks like right at the last minute, we completely ignored what we learned the entire past month.
We talk about players buckling under the pressure, but I think coaches can too, and Nate sort of did here in the opener.

 

Personally I could do without Batum's whiny ass comments. "he told me I was going to be in the starting five . . . blah balh balh . . . then he took me out of the starting line up". Me, me me.

Batum, and the decision not to start him, did not cause the Blazers to lose. I'm glad Nate has the nads to make a change when he realized he made the wrong call. He is secure enough to do what he thinks is the right thing to win the game instead of worrying what people think about the fact he changed his mind.

Nate's trying to win games and doesn't seem afraid to step on toes doing it. Get this squad down to a 9 man rotation Nate . . . we need the best nine to take us to the playoffs.

 

This was a little confusing for me also, since Nate had come out and named Sergio the back-up PG. In naming Sergio the back-up, he said he wanted to go away from the situation he had with Jarret and Sergio last year, where there was no difinitive rotation. Then game one he scraps that idea half way through?

I think it shows that although Nate "trusts" this years team more than the last few, it's still hard for him to change his ways of thinking...

 

He was asked directly what happened to him in the starting line-up, right? Why wouldn't he discuss that by talking about himself?

No, but it caused them to lose badly IMO. So your take is that Nate made the right call by starting Outlaw on a whim. It's one thing to be secure and another to be reckless.

 

IMO, you are badly misusing the concept of causal relationship. It may have contributed in part to the discombobulation on offense, but the fact that we lost GO after 10 minutes of play, and the Lakers are fucking retarded good probably had a whole lot more to do with the L than anything else.

 

Reckless? Isn't that a bit much? I can not believe our Fans in the last 24 hours. I realize we are all a little nuts but the hyperbole has gone to another level.
As far as the Sergio move in the second half....we were getting our asses kicked! So he tried something different. I have seen Hall of Fame coaches bench their entire first team to try to mix things up under those circumstances. That doesn't mean he has lost confidence and has scrapped his long term plan.

 

But that's my point. It contributed to their poor showing on offense. To what level? Well that's debatable. I firmly believe that had the rotation not been messed with Portland would not have started off so poorly.

Nate had no control over losing Oden or our go-to's shooting woes, but he did have control over the damn rotation. He hurt the TEAM with that decision.

 

Maybe I'm just being nitpicky, but you said caused not contributed ... and yes I agree that it probably played a role in the loss ... not a huge role, but certainly a role and I don't know how you can quantify the magnitude of the effect, especially when Travis seemed to have a decent night (at least offensively).

I do hope Batum gets reinjected into the starting rotation, as I think his defensive contributions and passing far outweigh his lack of experience and iffy offensive production, esepecially considering that that alternative is Travis.

 

I suppose it is possible that at some point the Blazer's coaches realized Lakers would be playing basically a zone defense and felt like they needed another jump shooter in there, at least for this particular game. The question is, why did it take them so long to figure this out?

 

No. He made a decision without thoroughly weighing the consequences. That's reckless IMO.

Not sure why you're labeling my stance as "hyperbole". I don't feel my thoughts are exaggerated or unwarranted.

Look I like Nate as a head coach. I think he's the perfect fit for this team. He's a Trail Blazer (sorry Sonic fans). But, for me, for the first time, he made a strange move and it backfired. I'm not jumping off the bandwagon. I'm not wanting Nate's head. I'm just very puzzled by these couple of moves. It goes against everything the team has been working on during Preseason. It just doesn't fit.

It may seem like a small thing, but the Blazers have built a certain amount of trust with one another. To pull Batum, Outlaw, Rodriguez, and Bayless from their respective roles the morning of the game demonstrates a lack of trust in what they've been developed over the past two to five months.

And who's to say that after adjusting and storming back after halftime, that subbing in Sergio's second unit wouldn't have held been a better move then so quickly turning to Bayless?

Last time I looked this is a sports forum to discuss the Portland Trail Blazers. I'm not down on the team. I'm extremely excited about this coming season. I just have some worries about how Nate is handling things presently.

 

So that's where you were going with that. Yes, you're being nitpicky. To be more precise, IMO, Nate's decisions were one of the causes. Better?

While Travis played very well, there were four others on the court that weren't. Coincidental?

 

I'm curious about what the repercussions are going to be for Nicolas for making those comments. Do you think Nate will punish him?

 

CtC, I see you are discussing this with several posters and I'm not here to pile on (I agree this is a Blazer discussion board you are just raising an issue).

But how do you know Nate decided to start Outlaw on a whim and therefore was being reckless? I think it is just as easy to say Nate said he would start Batum on a whim and after careful consideration (and a sleepless night) he decided wrong call to start a 19 yr old opening night on the road against the Lakers.

My take is Nate announced that he was going to start Batum . . . he felt uncomfortable with that decision and after giving it a lot of consideration (I'm assuming that because it is his job and Nate has shown he is a reasonably intelligent person) he decided to correct his mistake and start Outlaw . . . which yes I do think that was the right call.

 

couldn't agree more. It's laughable that fans are so sure they know whats what with personel and personalities from watching preseason games and reading a quote or two to the point that they're calling for the coach's head after one game.

This little guy reminds me of most of the posters in this thread.

STOMP

 

If Travis plays solid and Batum continues to improve, it's not Travis who is EXTREMELY expendable once Webster comes back. It's Martell along with his 10M+ cap hold figure... those dots are pretty easy to connect.

STOMP

 

Sounds like we are on the same page on this thread. It was Outlaw who had the break out year last year and was the one most teams were trying to get this summer. Nate came out this summer and talked about the value of Outlaw and no trades were made. Now the Blazers have a good asset in Outlaw in that he can create his own shot, teams want him and he is locked in at 4 mil/yr . . . reasonable contract.

This was the year to see if Webster would have a break out year. He could do what Travis did last year and show he is a legit NBA player . . . and maybe even increase his value over Outlaw's because he is more of a natural SF. But the burden is on Webster this year to prove himself.

It's funny because there wasn't a lot of Webster love last year (not a lot of hate either) but as soon as he goes down, all of sudden he is the answer to the Blazers problems at SF. I don't think so, I think he was a potential answer, but this year was suppose to decide that and I could see Webster going before Outlaw. (Of course if it is by trade, maybe Blazers trade Outlaw because you can get more for him.)