Thats common knowledge though that the Clippers are better than the Lakers.. just like Sergio is gonna be in the HOF
This team reminds me of the movie Major League 2. A great young team that had a great season the year before but couldnt handle the pressure of the upcoming season and signed a big free agent that didnt fit. Also lots of the guys got egos. If you never saw thsi movie... rent it. Really makes me think of our current situation.
no i said it reminded me of us. i suggest starting miller, roy, web, la, oden rudy first off bench with pryz. let roy play pg till he needs a break and then bring blake. play howard over outlaw and batum when webster or rudy comes out. trade outlaw yesterday.
McMillan is already "fixing" the team. He is FINALLY starting to get Oden the ball, and that means less shots for the other guys. Some of you might not be able to recognize this, but I think Oden is the primary reason why Roy is struggling right now. We didn't have much of a post game last season, and Oden rarely got the ball. This season we have seen a different Oden, and a different Blazers offense. It takes time to adjust. LMA struggled for the first few games, but last night he finally got into a rhythm. Miller was solid, and Oden was a manchild. The only thing missing was Roy, and he still had a decent night. He just needs his jumper to start falling. I think certain posters are looking for reasons to stir the pot. Pointing fingers at guys they know will rile up the fan base. Whatever. I'm very encouraged by what I've seen on offense. The fact that Oden has had 3/4 awesome games in the preseason is exciting. Once we are firing on all cylinders, this team will be unstoppable.
Getting Oden the ball more? He is only averaging like 9 shots a game. I won't be satisfied until he has 80 shots per game! On a serious note. Frankly, Roy and Aldridge should have the same "shot attempts" as last season. They shouldn't be the ones as effected by this. I think players like Rudy, blake, Outlaw and Webster will be the most effected. My guess on shot attempts by the big three is: Roy: 16 (not less than last season) Aldridge: 15 (not less than last season) Oden: 14 (much more than last season) Keep all pretty even and all should be happy. Of course in some games, Oden may get more and Aldridge or Roy get less, but on average, it should be equal.
Man if only we had a lockdown perimeter defender like Sergio. After three consecutive DPOY's and All Defensive team awards I don't see how this is in dispute. Does everyone on this board live in a parallel dimension? One addition to Maris' trade proposal is LMA + Przybilla for Zbo. We need a defensive post presence, someone who is a gritty lunch pail guy who can really control the paint on defense.
I can't put it all on Andre. Nash is just flat out sick! The bigs were not switching and rotating like they should. Andre def has never been considered a lock down defender,but others were at fault also.
An interesting bit of trivia. I checked the "+/-" ratings on ESPN. Only 3 Blazers were on the "+" side of the ledger - one of whom was Miller. (+2) Nash was at -5. In fact, all the Suns' starters were in the red. By contrast, their bench trashed our bench.
This team can be fixed fairly easily without making any moves but shortening the rotation. Some of the best Blazer teams of the past were good because as little as 7 or 8 guys were used in the rotation, and of those guys, they were all very talented and very happy with their playing time, and because their was very little variation in players on the floor, there was very little disruption to their continuity on the court. So this is what I would do if I was running the show: Rotation of 9 players. Starters Miller, Roy Webster, Aldridge and Oden. Backups: Rudy (both guard spots), Batum, Howard and Pryz. How I would use each player: 1. Miller PG only. 2. Roy woudl split time between SG and SF. I would use him as a point forward when at the SF spot. With Oden coming along, the SF are getting more shots in the offense and this gets Roy those shots. 3. Webster SF an SG when Roy and Rudy get in foul trouble. He can play PF on a small unit. 4. Aldridge at PF and center. Sometimes playing center on the small unit. 5. Oden-Center, dominate the middle. Sub rotations: 1. Rudy gets all the minutes at backup PG and SG, much the way Danny Ainge was used. Sometimes he would team with Miller. Sometimes with Roy. He is happy. Roy and Miller ar happy with playing time. Sometimes he plays with both when we have enough size inside to deal with all other threats. 2. Pryz is the primary replacement for Oden except for when they are trying to take our bigs outside. Then it is up to Howard to take up that slack. When Pryz is on the floor you should have him surrounded by 4 scorers. He is a garbage man. 3. Howard backs up Aldridge and Oden, depending on matchups. He adds a veteran presence to stabilize the bench unit. The last thing you want your bench to do is panic. that is what we have seen the last few games. He is not a black hole offensivly. How does this work when it comes game time, and how does it compare to our units we run now? 1. Game starts and we have a traditional lineup to match up with folks, plenty of scoring to get off to a good start. 2. First sub is for Webster, and it is Rudy coming in. Roy slides to SF. Folks like it when there is a change of pace with the 2nd unit. This 2nd unit would be 3 smalls surrounding to bigs who can run. Pace of the game picks up. Everybody is still getting their minutes. 3. At this point we have forced the other coach to match up to our speed. Dictating the pace of the game to our comfort is the most important factor in giving yourself a chance to win. This is where we hit them in the face again. Rudy slides over to PG. Roy slides back to SG. Juwan Howard comes in at PF and Aldridge slides into the 3 and we go big. Real fucking big. Not for long. Just long enough to make the other coach make a move. Keep them adjusting to our moves is the key. Dicate the game. 4. The other coach is reeling from the way the game is being pushed on them at this point, but it also time for our stars to start to get a blow. Aldridge comes out first because he has been chasing a SF at this point for a few minutes. Batum gets his minutes. 5. Pryzbilla slides in for Oden. Time for the big fellah to get a rest. Miller comes back in, but for Roy. He is surrounded by guys who like to get up and down, and a garbage man who doesn't need shots. This unit is in long enough to give the stars a blow. 6. Starters cycle back in again to finish the half. They cycle back in in the same order they went out in. Rinse and repeat in the 2nd half. 1. Why does this make sense over what the Blazers did last year? Last year when the Blazers played good defensive teams they would get behind early because of their lack of scorers in the starting lineup. Good teams put you down early and down never let you get off the mat. By running 2 non scorers in the starting lineup, the Blazers got behind early in almost every meaningful game against a good team. This addresses that. If you are going to have 2 non scorers in the game, it should be during the part of the game that the other teams "not best" unit is in the game. That is when the bench is in. 2. Why does this make sense with playing time? Every single player that I think has legit talent gets major minutes that would make most of them happy. I could give a shit about the rest of them. If they want more minutes, then start bringing something to the table to show you deserve playing time. 3. Why does it make sense to play players out of position? Some of the most successful years in Blazer history were because the most talented players filled multiple spots on the floor. The key was finding your most talented players time on the floor to produce. Cliff Robinson played 3 positions. Danny Ainge sometimes played up to 3 positions. Clyde played 2 positions. Porter played 2 positions. The same could be said in the Pippen years. Pippen played 4 positions. Steve Smith played 3 positions. Rasheed Wallace could playe 3 positions. Now that being said, because Oden is getting good, more shots are coming from the SF position. Just like Dennis Scott got shots from Shaq, Bruce Bowen got shots from Duncan, Rashard Lewis got shots from Howard, you can go on and on. Because of this, Roy now slides over to SF some to get his shots. He plays a 2 man game with Oden, and Aldridge is the pressure outlet. Enjoy. Tear it apart. Do what you will.
Back to the original topic. There are 3 possible explanations for what is happening. A) We have aded 2 guys who are competing for spots in the rotation (Miller and Webster), and have a 3rd who is trying to expand his role. (Oden) Can you say "transition period?" B) Roy "got his" and is no longer hungry. C) Roy has mutated into Kobe lite, and is irrationally jealous of Miller and Oden stealing "his" spot-light. Now, which do you *really* think it is?
If we were to do a 3 guard rotation of Roy and Rudy and Miller, I would like a PF consolidation maybe for backup. Blake and Outlaw for Haslem? then the minutes are as such.. Miller, Rudy, Roy, Batum, Webster, LMA, Haslem, Oden, Joel?
Self-pwned. I posted this before hearing the news that Oden and Miller will both be opening the season on the bench. At the time I posted it, I was confident that "A" was the right answer. Now, it looks like it may well be "C". I had such high hopes for this season too.......
That assumes Nate is the one calling the shots. Sounds to me as if the inmates are running the asylum. What coach can we bring in who can fix that? Back when Roy threw Zach under the bus, I told people that was a bad sign for the future. People laughed. Not so fargin' funny now, is it?
I think "throwing Zach under the bus" was a good thing for the team. But I agree about Brandon "50$ autographs" Roy worries me. I mean, it is clear Oden and Dre have nasty teamwork. But Brandon "scary thoughts" Roy is having trouble figuring out his role in this.
