Exactly. If Outlaw could have played defense as well as a chicken with his head cut off, if he could of grabbed more than 3 rebounds as a PF, and if he could hit more than 33% of his shots (1-4 in the 4th), well then the shot he finally did hit in the 4th wouldn't of had to be a big one, would it? Honestly though, the case for keeping Outlaw got stronger tonight, not because of anything Travis did, but because of how GOD-FUCKING-AWFUL Channing Frye is. We'd be subjected to him every game if we traded Outlaw.
Theory, shmeory. Nobody is claiming that Outlaw is the best player at his position! He is what he is -- an energy guy off the bench, and we have to take his bad with his good. That being said, I can't BELIEVE how many fans are willing to throw him under a bus for contributing to a win (however close it may have been), but not doing it well enough. All this hypothetical nonsense is complete BS -- you have no idea how the game would have gone if some other hypothetical player were in there. You don't know that "Hypothetical Forward X" would have been able to lockdown and stop the Grizz comeback. You sure as hell don't know that HFX would have been able to hit that three. So enough with the "another player would have made it so we didn't NEED a game winning shot". I'm not stuck on Trav. He's a great backup, and probably always will be. I want an upgrade at the starting SF position as much as anyone. But it's not fair to bash a guy who plays his tail off and does what he does quite well just because he has some flaws and isn't starter material.
Riiiiiight. And if we had a FROG at SF (yes, SF) who had WINGS, then he wouldn't BUMP HIS ASS WHEN HE HOPPED.
that all depends on who the blazers get in return. someone like gerald wallace or tayshaun prince would have no trouble taking over the backup pf minutes that outlaw plays.
-5.2 net on/offcourt is worst for blazer rotation players. he may have a knack for hitting game-winners but for most of the game we'd be better off featuring somebody else.
-5.2 net means the team is collectively 5.2 points worse when Travis is on the floor. They give up five more points than when he is off of it. For some people who are so quick to bash on rookies coming off of knee surgery I don't understand why the flaws of Outlaw cannot be easily recognized by just watching the game.
I don't have a link, but I did explain the basic premise since you didn't seem to be able to understand what a negative sign and points meant.
for the year blazers have outscored opponents by 5.2 more points per 48 minutes with outlaw out of the game than with him in. http://www.82games.com/0809/0809POR.HTM
Kevin Durant is -7.2 in on court/off court. Perhaps OKC should get rid of him. http://www.82games.com/0809/ONSORT6.HTM
Actually, I lied. I do have a link because I decided to stop being lazy and go to 82games.com http://www.82games.com/0809/0809POR.HTM When Travis is on the court there is a 1.2 production. When he is off the court the team is 6.4 for a net of -5.2.
I counted 3 players tonight that played very well. BRoy, Joel, and Nic. The blame can be equally be distributed between everyone else. But the biggest fuck up of the game was Frye's weak attemp at slapping the ball in bounds before he ever got it. Instaed of being up 12 with the ball late in the 2nd, it went to 10 then 7 then 4. and eventually tied. Huge mental error at the end of the quarter.
I already posted Outlaw's +/- for this game, but whatever. I am sick of having to defend the guy against the irrational and nonstop attacks I see here. I hope he gets traded so you all have someone else to nitpick.
Kevin Durant has shown vast improvement. Travis is still making the same mistakes he did four years ago. I preferably enjoyed the one tonight where he almost got a charge on a two on one fast break but for some reason the refs didn't acknowledge him bowling into Darius. That is unfortunately a very recurring problem for Travis and I don't understand why people want to ignore this on a six year vet who repeatedly allows his man to get extra possessions for the opponent. Travis is a good kid but if you can trade him for an upgrade you do it and I don't think it's unreasonable to suggest that Travis will never get heavy rotation minutes on a contender. He doesn't have the recognition skills to do it. His best skill is shooting a contested jumper and everything else is pretty far down by comparison. That's good for a fifteen minute player but not a 25-30 guy.
