I hear talk about the concerns about this team, and that it needs to be fixed, and that a consolidation needs to be made. I dont disagree with the consolidation part.. but what would be your plan to "fix" this team?
Can't; Were damned if we do, damned if we don't. People were screaming for a shoot-first point guard last season to take pressure off of Roy. Well we got that and now people/person are screaming that we need a pass-first point guard to give Roy more shots. It's a no-win situation. EDIT: It's a win situation however, if Oden continues to kick-ass
Miller/Outlaw for Conley/Jaric (Jaric expiring to make the $$ work). Conley would at least distribute the ball, and trading Outlaw for Jaric opens up shots for the Blazers because Jaric won't see the court.
I think it's too early and we have too little information (since we do not get to see it that much) to really tell. This team has gone a big change this off-season, even if it seems like a small one. They brought a new ball-handler and it will take Roy some time to adjust - once he does (and I have no doubts he will) - they will flourish. Add the fact that Oden is finally the force we all envisioned - and it is further need to adjust. They might have a rough start to the year - but once they get it going - they are going to be something else to see...
Not me. I wanted a PG who could defend perimeter guards. Tubs Miller needs to get his ass in shape, because Steve Nash was blowing by him time after time.
I hope so, but perimeter defense and containing PGs is still the same concern that it was last season with Blake.
They don't need a consolodation trade. Portland just needs to tighten up the rotation. A 3 guard, 3 forward and 2 center rotation would be best. Unfortunately, I don't know if that is possible with the current team. My lineup would be: Miller/Roy/Rudy Batum/Wester/Roy LMA/Howard Oden/Joel Every other guy on the team should ride the pine and be happy they get paid way more then any human being is actually worth.
I don't think we could trade Miller until December 15th. I like Conley. Have liked him since he was a rookie, and wish we were able to buy low on him, if there was that possibility, with Outlaw last offseason. While I feel a consolidation trade could benefit us, many of the ones I see proposed are essentuially just handign away players, because we don't have the shots for them. If we're going to do that, I'd rather sit them on the bench then just dump them. If we don't have the time for Outlaw, for instance, I don't want him to become a problem, but I also don't want to give him away for nothing, just to get rid of him. Before last season, a lot of us talked about how deep we were, how good our bench was, how our bench could start for some teams, etc. Webster got injured, and all of a sudden, that just didn't seem like the case. One injury seemed to throw things off. Well, that and poor play. We still had a bench that performed well during the season for long stretches, but there was definite inconsistencies. Crap, I'm starting to ramble and lost my intial thought. Basically, I like the idea of a consolidation trade when it improves our team. If we were able to get someone like Conley, that would be nice. If we could find some stud SF, that would be great. I just don't see a reasonable consolidation trade that is really going to consolidate minutes well.
We can fix with the players we already have. The players need to communicate better on the defensive end. Our help defense needs a lot of work, and that's only effective with proper communication. Some of the players need to worry less about their offense and more on their D, especially from the perimeter. I think all the players we have right now have all the tools necessary to be a great defensive team. That's what we need to work on the most. Also, those damn outside shots are starting to get me frustrated. Of course we have the talent to score from the perimeter, but I would love to see everyone try and take it to the paint more often. Looking at this roster, there isn't a single player, other than blake that can't score in the paint. I want to see more of that as well.
Conley is a decent defender. Honestly, if we could somehow drug Oklahoma to trade for Westbrook, we would be in great shape. He is the perfect model for the PG we need. But I would take Conley, just because he knows Oden so well.
Nash blows by everyone time and time again. Nash is old, but the dude is a sneaky son of a bitch. Kinda reminds me a lot of "Stockton", thinking he's a slow and aging player, yet the dude always manages to get by you. Listen, this is Miller's what, 4th game as a Blazer. I already said before that let's wait until this team is playing during the regular season and Miller has maybe 10-12 games of reg season under his belt before we judge him.
Fix? It's only the preseason. Get a grip people. You add a new major piece to the team, and there's going to be growing pains. At least give it some time in the regular season before trying to make more changes (that will cause more growing pains, and so on).
Blake, Outlaw, Bayless, Rudy for Najera and Harris http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=yja9fku
I don't understand who people think Miller or Bayless will not fit alongside Roy, but think Harris will.
