No gloom-and-doom MIXUM-level negativity here, so if you are looking to vent, pick one of the other threats. The Blazers are at a dangerous point of the season for them, and also at a dangerous point in their eventual development into what we all hope they can become. The pieces suddenly don't seem to be fitting, the effort is there but the execution is spotty, and the rest of the NBA has discovered how to exploit the Blazers' weaknesses, and the team hasn't compensated. That's coaching. That's not the players, well, not all of them. First of all, Greg Oden. The Big Man is struggling, that's easy to see. He looks lost out there, the things that came so easy in High School and College just aren't flowing for him, and he looks a half-step too slow and too timid. The bottom line, and I've said this before, is that he's 20 years old. REPEAT: HE'S 20 YEARS OLD. He's had one year of college experience, and up until now, he's been able to get by on freakish size and athleticism. Now that he's playing vs. the best in the world, that's not good enough. The kid has to learn how to play basketball now. And he will. It probably won't come as quickly as we'd like, but it will come. I expect that during this upcoming offseason, Greg will put a lot of the pieces together. Secondly, Travis Outlaw and Channing Frye. Guys, you just don't fit here. That's nothing against you, you are both awesome people (especially Channing, who loves the city to death) who, playing in a different system with different players, would be solid NBA contributors. But here in Portland, you stunt the growth of what the team might become, and the sooner that you find somewhere else to play, the better. The near-term future point guard of this team is Sergio. It may be Bayless down the road, but right now, Sergio should be starting. Fernandez should also be starting at SF. Martell, when he returns, can anchor the 2nd unit with Blake, Batum, and Pryz. In my opinion, this puts the best 5 players, maybe not right now, but IN THE FUTURE, on the court for meaningful minutes. That's the way this team will learn and grow. As I said... it may not be as fast or as seamless as we all want it to be (ie WINNING NOW!!!!!!!), but the promised land is still possible with the core group that we have now. Some of the puzzle pieces may have to be exchanged, but knee-jerk blow-up maneuvers at such a critical time in the team's development are just plain stupid.
Decent points. I'd like to see what Sergio/Webs/Rudy does for a second unit. If anything, I'd like to see Bayless get the Batum treatment where he gets to start and play 15 min (more if playing well)...Sergio getting 20-25 (if playing well). Our best offensive flow seems to come with Roy/Rudy/Sergio.
Bayless needs to play more. Pritchard needs to acquire Gerald Wallace. These are the things that would alleviate a lot of the problems with lack of perimeter defense and lack of players attacking the defense. I'm not saying Bayless needs to start, but neither Blake nor Rodriguez are playing so well that Bayless should be locked out of minutes. He should be getting a decent number of minutes (~15) and be in the mix, to see how the team functions with him.
We need to find a PG that can stop the other teams PG from penetrating. That is where our problems start. I do not feel Blake will ever be that PG, he is a great 2nd string PG, but we need a strating PG on this team. I know that the problem with that is who can we get. There just isnt any PGs available that are a big upgrade.
Experience only helps players smart enough to learn lessons from their mistakes. TO isn't one of them. His scoring average is down and his game is just as inconsistent as ever in his 6th season as a pro. Is experience going to make Frye tough? Is experience going to give Sergio a jumper and defense? I don't see enough special ability in either player to think it's worth the time and effort to gamble on the remote chance either has quantum leap in their skills.
Sergio is shooting a blazing 37% from the field right now. Up from 35% last year, but still down from his rookie year and 42%. Not exactly encouraging. Sergio just looks like Beno Udrih on defense right now. Bad and lacking the lateral quickness to keep guys in front of him.
I don't think Sergio is the answer as a starting PG....personally I like him better than Blake, but Blake has been fairly solid...I don't know how anyone can complain that he hasn't performed above expectations (and I am not saying anyone in particular is)....as much as I am unsold on him...I have to grudgingly admit his play has been solid... I agree 100% on Travis Outlaw and Channing Frye though.....Frye in particular has been horrible...I don't know any other way to say it, he has been that bad IMO....I would start Ike over him... As for Travis..for every good play he has, there are at least 2 bad ones to offset it.....His defense last night was horrible with a sprinkle of a good play thrown in here and there...and his offense is predictable...dribble, dribble, jumpshot...he is not the answer here....When Webster gets back, he will move into the starting SF spot and Batum should take up the b\u SF with Rudy\Roy seeing minutes there in clutch time...I don't see where Travis fits... Mediocre offensive player...piss poor defender IMO...who occassionally thrills with a spectacular defensive play...and when his shot isn't falling..he is useless out there....I think one of the announcers last night quipped "6 year rookie" about Outlaw, and I laughed b\c the phrase couldn't be MORE corrrect about Outlaw...after 6 years there are still things he doesn't get...and probably never will...He just sin't the smartest player in the world and his other "talents" aren't great enough to offset what he lacks in court savvy.... Pritchard should trade the guy...both Webster and Batum are better all around players anyway...
His scoring down as an argument does not fly. Rudy is also coming off the bench as a scoring threat now.
HCP, if you want to say his scoring is down b/c of Rudy, that's a decent point. But his FG% is down, his 3pt%, while at 42 is good, it's way down from earlier in the year, and indicative of either a big regression or a big slump, and he's shooting 40% less FT's per game than last year. Steals are down, blocks are down, rebounds are down, in the same number of minutes.
I think that Travis's biggest problem this year is learning to work with a better set of team-mates next to him - specifically, Joel and Rudy. He is not the obvious #1 option on the offense anymore and as much as I like Travis's obvious talents - he is not the quickest guy to figure out what he needs to do in new situations as a basketball player - but - I still think that the hate people have for him is unreasonable - he does some things very well (he was our best defender on Dirk last night) and he is cheap and a backup... It is clear however that this team needs to figure out what it is and how to improve on it.
Could be his coach puts him out there with the wrong players. Could be Blake and Roy are freezing him out. Could be your sample size is too small. Experience helps all those who survive it.
