The real problem is 40% of the starting lineup is injured and we've started the season with road games against the Lakers, Suns, and Jazz. When Oden went out I saw a lot of predictions that we could go 0-5 to start the season. Well we're ahead of that. It's not the end of the world, yet.
I think we all are. And I can bet Kevin Pritchard is as well. And I can bet Paul Allen is as well. If this continues with a healthy Oden, we'll be looking for a new coach. Bet on it.
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=454~2015~136&teams=17~17~22&te=&cash= BOOM! - ari gold
With that lineup, how do you get Batum on the floor? And that's my point. Everyone seems to want all our players on the court at the end of games, but we're only allowed 5.
Our problem is still the same as last year. We don't get easy buckets. We don't run enough for easy fast-break layups. We don't have a real garbage man down low grabbing loose balls he shouldn't be getting for easy baskets. Hell, we don't even get to the line all that much. Once again, we need Oden to be what he should be for us to be as good as we all hope/expect? us to be this year.
the real problem is through 4 games opponents are shooting 52.4%, worst in the league by a wide margin. find a way to fix that and the offense will take care of itself.
We are in dire need of a PG. I like Steve Blake, but he's really more of a bench guy who can steady the offense when the second unit is out there. To me, in a perfect world, the closing unit should consist of someone like Kidd, Roy, Batum, Aldridge and Oden. The next option should be Rudy if any of those asid players are in foul trouble. It's not a perfect world though, and instead of playing a unit like Nate the great does he needs to look at matchups and what is going on. Last night at the end of the game we were having trouble defending and creating space on ofrense. In reality Batum probably should have been in the game instead of Travis. Nate probably should have given Ike a shot to rebound and defend down low because neither Frye not Aldridge were doing a good job of it.
I did not get to see the game last night. So I have a question: How many points did outlaw get and how did his defense look in the fourth? Also if Batum had been in the game instead of Outlaw would his defense have compensted for Outlaw's absense? What if Batum had made say one or two shots and tipped the ball and rebounded and maybe been in the right place at the right time for a pass on offense, would he have accounted for? We only lost by seven. And we could easily have played Batum and Rudy and Roy together. Let Rudy run the offense on some of the sets. g
I think Travis had 3 points in the 4th, on a 3 pointer. He could have had more, but I don't remember His defense was awful Batum's defense is light years ahead of Outlaw's. Not to mention his rebounding and overall court awareness
I don't necessarily think the problem is we need a different PG or SF or anything player related. I think the problem is that it seems we don't have any kind of cohesive offensive strategy that takes advantage of our various players. We have youth and speed yet we play like the Pat Riley Knicks - slow it down and grind it out. Such an offensive strategy obviates some of the advantages we have of being both youthful and deep. It also appears to carry over into the defensive game, you play a lackluster offensive game and the defensive game tends to become more passive as well. Both offense and defense feed off each other and the energy works both ways. With a slow-it-down, passive, no-energy offense, it is difficult to imagine the Blazers having an aggressive, overpowering defense. Yeah, we could switch some players and improve our opportunities but I believe the largest impediment to the Blazers success sits on the bench and wears a suit. Gramps...
Don't let the 7 points fool you. We were down 3 with 24 seconds left, with the ball in Rudy's hands for a game-tying 3. He missed. the closest Blazer to the rebound was Rudy, following his own shot in. No one else was more than 4 feet inside the 3 pt line, except Roy the penetrator who was out of bounds. Travis did well from 3 last night. He also lost his man at least 3 times that I saw (granted, I was watching late on DVR), and wasn't going hard to the glass. LMA wasn't either. Frye, well, I'm not even going there.
Gramps, I've brought up a couple times what I think: that until Nate has a veteran PG that he knows is better than Nate was as a PG, he's going to micromanage. He's going to slow it down, he's going to bench for turnover mistakes, and he's going to run whatever "offense" he thinks is least risk-averse. J-Kidd or Nash would have free rein, because Nate understands that they know what they're doing and are relatively competent. (IMO)
He also made a free throw. apparently you didn't remember his 4th quarter block and steal as well... both on Kililenko. The Blazers started the 4th with the lead but gave it up early on in the quarter with Travis on the bench. The Jazz were the beneficiaries of several questionable calls on LA early and were in the penalty for most of the quarter. Aldridge had to take a seat and promptly fouled out with a few minutes left when he did come back in for the stretch. Travis's D is nothing great and I don't think he had a good game by his standards, but it wasn't nearly as bad as you're painting it. That 3 he hit was their first bucket of the quarter and it came with about 6 minutes left... or... it was a team loss. btw... he's shooting 58% from 3 pnt. range so far this year. I like NB STOMP
Travis had a good stretch for about 3 minutes in the 4th quarter. Besides jacking some 3's and making them, he didn't do anything else. Look at the boxscore and look at +/-. When Batum, and defender and intangibles guy was in the game, the Blazers were up big. When Outlaw and Rudy were in, they were down big.
I know stat geeks everywhere will cringe at this, but blocks and steals do not tell even a fraction of the story on defense. Batum makes it hard for the other team to run their offense. He gets to places he is supposed to get to to interupt the flow of the other teams offense. Travis tries to stay in front of his man
