Tonight Frye played with poise for the first time since the Spurs game on Halloween. For the entire season he played with no confidence. Tonight Frye looked like a guy that could be a longterm answer at the backup four. But it's only one game but it is encouraging.
Channing looked pretty spry out there tonight, taking it the hoop a couple times and showed us something he hasn't done all season long. It was very encouraging but it's too bad he hasn't showed it all year or else he might be a serviceable backup PF for us long term. I still think we need a bruiser down low to back up LaMarcus but I think Channing has one last chance to prove himself with a good playoff showing if he wants to stick around.
He's been very inconsistent this season, but he has had other good games. I remember pointing out how well he played against the Spurs when we blew them out at home on March 1. Actually, he played well in all three games he played in vs. the Spurs (averaged 12.3 PPG against them). He also played well in the loss in Cleveland, tonight, and in our early season blowouts over the Bulls and Heat. He's definitely a much more effective player when he's aggressive and starts by attacking the paint. That then opens things up for his jumper. Statistically, April was his best month. Like the rest of the team, he seems to be peaking at the right time. BNM
He attacked the basket and got to the line, even. He also had a couple of very nice passes. If Frye plays like this, he helps the team. Unfortunately, he doesn't do it very often and when he's bad, he's terrible. Ed O.
Uhm, he took like 4 jumpshots and just happened to make 3 of them. The guy's a low IQ player, who looks for his own whenever he does get minutes since they come so scarce. He's a lazy rebounder and defender. Not the long term answer.
If he continues to shoot like he has the past few games, I think he could be real weapon against Houston. One of the reasons Houston matches up badly with Utah is because they have bigs who can drag Yao out of the paint like Okur. I think Frye could effectively play that role for 5 or so minutes every game.
Low IQ player? I don't see that at all. He's soft, and tentative, and lousy a lot of the time, but he knows how to play the game. He made a couple of great passes last night, which is more than you can say for Travis Outlaw on any night of his career.
Channing didn't lose his backup PF job; Travis took it from him. The White Unit just works better with TO at the four. That being said, when Channing gets more than a couple of minutes at the end of a game and he knows one mistake isn't going to get him benched, generally he does well. I hope we re-sign him.
I don't think it's a fluke, I think it's all about his mobility - he has some back now. He no longer needs to hoist 25 footers with a hand in his face.
Exactly. As a matter of fact i was just going to start a post on this topic. LMA like all our big man are going to be in foul trouble and we are going to need Frye to hit that open outside shot when he is in. We will also need his length to front Yao on the double team.
I wasn't aware that he was playing hurt ALL year long before tonight. How did his find his mobility all of the sudden? (where has it been?)
It wasn't just last night. Channing has had several decent games since the all-star break: 2/25/09 - 15/7 vs. SAS 3/1/09 - 12/4 vs. SAS 3/19/09 - 14/4 vs. CLE 4/13/09 - 11/6 vs. OKC 4/15/09 - 12/4 (and 3 assists) vs. DEN After the 3/1 game I commented about how aggressive he was attacking the basket against the Spurs. One thing I like is that other than the blowout over the Thunder, Frye's recent big games have all come against top teams. I don't know if you can call 4 games over 6.5 weeks a trend, but these are the same kind of teams the Blazers will be facing in the play-offs. It's hard to establish consistency given his sporadic playing time, but any production Channing can provide during the playoffs will be a bonus. BNM
Frye is the Anti-Samson. When his grows, his abilities decrease. I think he needs to go full on bald.
Hmm... that's an interesting theory. I hadn't thought of that. He WAS injured before the season started. Could have been nagging him.
Every other Blazer injured this year came back too quickly, so perhaps Channing had the same thing happen to him too.
