If he's improved on not committing silly fouls, which it seems like he has, then our D is going to be fantastic. I'd like to see his offensive production improve just as much.
Some of what makes me very excited about having him fully healthy and really playing as we had hoped before the fracture: Last year, as many commented, Greg often seemed tentative and Roy confirms that last year he shied away from being "the man" whereas this year he doesn't. Makes me smile just thinkin' about it. Gramps...
Why the fuck wouldn't you want to feed the beast down low? I read quotes like this, and I feel like But the quotes from Roy, Aldridge, Monty, and GO bring me back to sanity.
I didn't intend to turn this into yet another Nate bashing thread, but it's absolutely hilarious. "I want that (center) position and Greg to focus on establishing our defense..." It's almost as if he has roles for every position, rather than assigning roles for the individual. C- defense (Przy) SF- spot up shooter (Jones) PG- spot up shooter (Blake)
Yep, it's sad. I wish Brandon would have that realization. I feel like when Roy sees that to take this team to the Elite level we have to establish Oden down low it will happen. I honestly feel like Roy should be the "god-mode" version of Outlaw's role on the team. That is, if we can't score with a fast break, or Oden or Aldridge we give it to Roy as the ultimate release valve. We can run sets for Roy when Oden or LMA aren't clicking and to confuse the defense. I honestly feel like when all is said and done Oden will end up being option #1 followed by #2 LMA and #3 Roy. That might sound crazy, but I feel like Roy will get his points in a variety of ways and can create off the dribble. Oden and Aldridge need to be set up and are insanely efficient when they get the ball in a sweet spot. I'm not sure it will happen or is justified to happen this season. I do think over time Oden will become unstoppable and the most efficient option on offense.
Haha, LOL at Nate. Our team was below the league average in scoring last year. Maybe someone should let our coach know that. We were also below the league average in FTA's per game. That might be something else Greg might be able to help us with. Our coach is an assclown
I think it's a little ridiculous to think you can have the center focus on defense, while everyone else focuses on offense and it's gonna work. You can't just have a guy play on the defensive side of the court and think he's gonna be happy. Remember Shaq's words, "You have to feed the big dog if you want him to protect the house"
C'mon MM, you're better than that. I get it that Nate has some limitations and I agree that he doesn't strike me as being particularly imaginative when it comes to formulating an offense that makes great use of all his players' talents, but based on efficiency (points per possession) the Blazers were one of the best in the league (second only to Phoenix if memory serves) Even the slow pace the team played wasn't really that slow since offensive rebounds (which they were by far the best team in the league at getting) didn't reset the possession clock. The only worrisome things are that Nate's guard heavy offense (versus a true inside-out attack) is that it doesn't take full advantage of the bigs and is a recipe for failure in the playoffs when it's absolutely imperative that you get big time contributions out of your power forward and/or centers to truly dominate. Hell even the Lakers championship was more fueled by Pau's and Odom's dominance than anything Kobe ever did. I do however agree with one underlying premise in your statement above, if Nate fails to properly utilize Greg in pick and rolls for yet another season when he's got a guy like Andre Miller on his roster then I will be pretty discouraged that he'll ever be able or willing to go big.
You know, it makes it a lot easier to play tough D when the opponent's two best big men are on the bench with foul trouble.
Defense wins games. Offense comes from good D. Play good D and the O will follow. I think that's all Nate is saying.
Sometimes I feel like when people say we need to get the ball to the big guy Nate thinks we all mean dumping it down to him 30+ times a game. I think Oden has clearly proven this pre-season that he deserves 10-15 legitimate touches a game. I think those would be best served for the team if those touches were at the beginning of the 1st and 3rd quarters. Oden in "dominate mode" would absolutely change the whole game with foul trouble for the opponents and opening up LA and BRoy. It goes back to forcing other people to play to us and not trying to play to them. This puts opponents in "pick your poison" mode. It doesnt have to be so complicated. Oden can do the rest throughout the game with offensive boards. At some point everyone has to start showing the same confidence in Oden and that includes Nate.
Nate's really saying the right things. Oden is really only in his second year. He's young and still deciding what kind of player he'll be. Habits he forms now will be with him a decade later. How good would Shaq have been if he'd had a coach in his ear right from the get-go that he's got to stay mobile, stay in shape, and really put in the work to be an all-time great defender? Or more close to home, how would Travis Outlaw and Zach Randolph look if they'd been trained in their early years to really focus on defense and rebounding, instead of being molded into designated scorers? Outlaw, especially, could have gone so many different ways. Eventually Oden could be our best offensive weapon. And I can just see that there will be many, many times this year where I say to myself something like, "Those idiots have Oden with Chuck Hayes on him 5 feet from the rim and they aren't giving it to him!" But I'll try to remind myself that the game plan is for him to us up as much energy as possible on the defensive end, and whatever offense we get out of him this year is gravy. I'd rather see him as a perennial DPOY candidate than a 24 ppg scorer. Eventually he may be both, but working toward the former is more important right now than the latter.
+1 Maybe Nate's just not trying to throw the stress/burden of carrying the entire team (a 50+ win team w/o Oden really contributing, mind you) on Oden's shoulders. Last year everyone noticed how down Oden was on himself and how frustrated he looked on the court. So suddenly he has one good pre-season and everyone wants Oden to be "the man" on defense and offense. Give it a little bit of time, people. Let him get his confidence up and halfway through he may be ready to take reins and run with it.
Well said. I dont think he needs to score 24 ppg to be dominate (although I think he can get there in the future). Right now for this team I honestly think 16 or 17 ppg could make him dominate on the offensive side of the ball and still leave more than enough energy and focus on the defensive side of the ball to be a force. Im not saying that the Blazers should demand that or expect it but it is very very possible. If you figure that his offensive rebounding will get him 2 put backs then thats 4 points right there. If he gets 4 free throws a game and shoots 75%then thats 3 points right there. That means if he shoots 50% then he only needs 10 legitimate field goal attempts or touches to get to the other 9-10 point needed to get to 16-17 ppg. There is no reason why we should be able to get him those touches throughout the game but more importantly to start the first and third quarters. That would be 2-3 touches a quarter. If he stays out of foul trouble that is absolutely possible. And its a totally fleixble plan. There will be games where he is on a roll like he was against Denver last week. If we are playing a team that cant stop him then you punish them till they force to go to someone else. If its not working we have 2 other all star caliber players to go to. I think that a large part of Oden sucess depends on his coaches and teammates having this kind of confidence in him.
