Steve Blake

We can't possibly leave a LOTTERY PICK on the bench all season long. Bayless must eventually take over at PG.

 

I'll second this. Steve worked too hard to just give up on him now. We'll be fine with him. Anyone is going to look that bad against Tony Parker.

 

Paging Mr. Kidd....Jason Kidd

 

Steve Blake is our Derek Fisher. He can hit open shots, pass the ball to better players and not commit a lot of turnovers. I don't think he's a very good starter; he doesn't help you win, nor does he overtly hurt your chances of winning. He just tries not to cost you too much at that position.

I'd love to see another player step up and take the position. If Bayless isn't ready for it, perhaps Fernandez is.

 

I'd like to see Fernandez get the start at PG. He kind of disappeared last night (except for some nice rebounds). Even if all he does is help bring the ball up, it'll get him more involved in the game.

Really hoping we see the Roy, Fernandez, Batum, Aldridge, Przybilla lineup tonight. If not starting, then very quickly in subsititution. If our guards can't contain Nash, we put Batum on him.

 

Steve committed zero turnovers last night. Zero. This was in 33 minutes against a tough team. He hit his shots, one of which was very timely in the 4th quarter. If I remember correctly, right as the shot clock was winding down and their defense was amping up. Without Steve, we don't win that game.

To say that he's not that good doesn't seem fair to me. He's a steady influence on the team. What he does sometimes isn't recorded in the boxscore. And, I don't know many, if any, guards that could have slowed down Parker last night.

Steve is a quality starter IMO. There are several players I'd prefer over him, but I'm very happy to have him and believe he can be a big part of what Portland does this year.

 

I'd love to see that. I'd like to see a playoff team and playoff run this season, but really, the most important thing to me this season is to figure out how to fit the talent together the best. Even if it means some losses, I want to see the team's highest upside talent given a lot of chance to play together. That means, to me, Roy, Fernandez, Batum, Aldridge and Oden (once he's back). And Bayless, Webster and Outlaw as the main reserves.

 

He did disappear in the 2nd half. I think he only managed to log 1 rebound, 1 point, and 3 misses in the 2nd. Ouch!

 

I noticed that too. He does well as a reserve, but at some point you have to get the ball in his hands more. The ball would get passed to him, he'd make the right pass to another teammate, and he never saw it again. He can't dominate the ball, but he needs to see a few more touches. He's just too good to use like a Martel Webster.

My hope is that by making him a key part in bringing the ball up court, you get him more involved in the game.

 

+ was invisible on defense

 

I think Rudy was just playing in the flow of the game. Roy was killing them and Aldridge was hitting on 8 cylinders pretty much as well - there was no real need for Rudy to take over and play crazy. His shot was not falling - but he did rebound efficiently and managed to get the ball to Roy when needed. What more do you need?

 

Attention Blake Haters: 4-5 FG, 3-3 3pt, 11pts

 

Like last year Steve will have good games.

He's better suited as a backup.

 

Yep, but when he's in how's the teams overall performance? Not that good so far IMO

 

Steve Blake shot 4-7 tonight, including 3-4 from three. He had more success against Nash than did Bayless. Sure there are a lot of nights where he's not effective, but tonight he was pretty good. And pretty good is about the most you can expect from him night in and night out.

Edit: Oops, I had an incomplete box score. He shot 4-9 and 3-5 from three. Still pretty decent. He also had a rebound, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 TOs. Not great, but not terrible.

 

Roy is too slow and methodical to pair with Rudy and Batum. He'll drag them down just like Jack would.

He'll never be a fastbreak player.