This game was not lost in the fourth quarter; it was lost at the beginning of the second period. And it's Brandon Roy's fault. At the start of the second period, Yao Ming and Battier were both on the bench. That meant that Houston had no one over 6'9 to defend against Aldridge, Pryzbilla, and Oden. Roy should have gathered his team together and said, "Let's go to the hoop, guys. Drive it hard and make them try to block your shot." Instead, Roy kept settling for jump shots (and missing), and never tried to force the ball inside or dish it off to someone else. Houston jumped out to a 15 pt. lead with several of its reserves on the court, and the Blazers were never able to make up the difference. This one is on Roy. As the leader of the team, he has to learn to take advantage of the other team's weakness when he sees it, and take it to them. He can't just save it all for the fourth quarter.
Agreed - B-Roy not only couldn't shoot tonight; his decision making (normally very good) was bad as well.
What I don't understand is why we couldn't take advantage of Roy being doubled. If there's two guys on Roy, someone has to be open. It's simple math. We have one of the worst offenses at finding the open man. We haven't handled the double team well all season. It's like we lose our minds when Roy is doubled. Rather than pass it around the perimeter, Roy tries to force it up with three guys around him. It's stupid basketball.
TROUT and Blakey did the same shit bad in the first half. going one on one...pissed me off to no end. SELFISH basketball.
Ahhh, win some and lose some I guess. Roy has certainly won his fair share, I'm comfortable with him losing a few also. One might also say that 6-15 from Lamarcus was equally as destructive to our chances.
That really was the thing that lost the game for us.... forget Blake.... forget Outlaw.... forget the refs..... if LMA has a great game, we win. It's so crucial for him to play well. He takes pressure off Brandon when he plays well. Unfortunately, LMA layed an egg tonight and we lost.
That's just dumb to say it's Roy's fault. Great players have bad nights. Roy's entitled to, after being the only guy to show up in game 1, and carrying the team with Aldridge in game two. This one is on McMillan. Late in the fourth he kept Fernandez out of the game for about 3 minutes, despite the fact that he was on fire all night and killing three point shots. Instead he leaves in Outlaw, who is have a miserable series. You put Fernandez back in there and I think we win it. If you want a scapegoat, it's on McMillan. If you want two scapegoats, look to Aldridge. The guy vanished for much of the night, and played pretty lousy defense on Scola. If Aldridge just has an average night, or Outlaw shows up at all for this series, or McMillan keeps Fernandez in there throughout the fourth quarter, we'd be up 2-1 right now. That's the playoffs for you, though.
Well, I think we're really seeing who stays and who goes. I think Travis is gone after this season (I'm hoping).
Aldridge also had a poor showing, but Roy should have told him to get down on the block at the start of the second period and he would get him the ball. He should have INSISTED on it, and DEMANDED it. This rests on Roy, in my opinion, because Roy is the leader of the team and the guy who sets the pace. He completely missed a golden opportunity at the start of the second period.
But why can't McMillan do that? This is McMillan's team, no? He calls the plays, no? Sometimes I feel like we have Maurice Cheeks back on the bench.
This is not about having "a bad night." It's about failing to recognize a golden opportunity. I'm not even talking about Roy's shooting percentage, which was pretty bad. I'm only talking about not seeing the mismatch on the court that was there for the taking.
Agreed. McMillan should have insisted on it. But Roy is the playmaker and the leader, and he has to recognize these kinds of situations himself.
I guess I'm not too upset because you've got to take the occasional bad with the very frequent good. I just keep repeating to myself that "this is a learning experience, this is a learning experience, this is a learning experience ..." It's hard to watch, but I can't think of a better baptism by fire with regards to their opponent. Is there another team that would present so many challenges and matchup problems for their offense? If they can somehow figure this out and solve this puzzle (or at least stay competitive throughout the rest of their games) it's going to pay some serious dividends either in the next round(s) or next year when (if?) they make it back to the playoffs.
So, since Nate obviously didn't insist on it, you are saying we lost tonight because Roy didn't blow off his coach?
You're an idiot. Teams go through lulls. Roy is playing balls-out three straight games against arguably the two very best perimeter defenders in the league. He's the only one consistently showing heart and leadership, even in that thorough ass-kicking we received in game one. He overdribbled a little tonight, but he sensed the same thing I could see--the team was starting to choke a little. He tried to do a little too much. That failing doesn't compare to the giant turd Outlaw has laid in this series, or the incredibly bad decision McMillan made to play Outlaw 30 minutes to Rudy's 22 tonight. Or Aldridge playing like a scared bitch. Just because you are the leader doesn't mean everything bad that happens is your fault. Sometimes the people you are leading just fuck up. Especially with a young team in their first playoff experience.
I agree with everything you say. Tremendous learning experience. And look how close the score was at the end!! The Blazers are figuring this out as they go, and I think they can still win the series. I honestly didn't expect a game this close in Houston, after we were blown out in Game 1, but we had a chance to win this thing in the last 2 minutes. That's a very good sign for the rest of the series.
Don't blame Brandon. He's never been in that spot before, leading the bench. He didn't know what to do nor does he have the necessary skills to do what needed to be done. That's Sergio's job, and he's eminently qualified. So blame Nate. He blew it.
Of course not. I never said it did. But when Yao Ming goes to the bench and our best player keeps lofting up jump shots instead of delivering the ball inside to his big men, that's just stupid. And tonight it cost us the game.
Brandon doesn't have the necessary skills? And Sergio does? This thread is getting very, very confusing.
