I'm tending to agree with a comment made by Charles Barkley tonight: Portland needs a banger PF that can score under the bucket. As much promise we all see in LMA, he's NOT going to be this type of player! Yes, we blew it by not drafting Blair! Short of complaining, can we package Travis + Blake or Bayless and a top pick and pursue a solid veteran PF that can bang?....and score from 3 feet in? Yes, we are rebounding - but we are NOT scoring in the paint! And we should not expect this from Oden, Pryz, LMA or Howard. If we plan to win a championship - it will happen only after this weakness is addressed. Any thoughts?
3. Low post scoring. I love LMA, but dude needs to get under the hoop a little more. But I agree with your 1 and 2.
Biggest weakness: Nate McMillan What bangers are out there? We just need a low post scorer. My favorite choices: SF/PF: Michael Beasley PF/C: Tiago Splitter - For the future, obviously. The guy is the best big not in the NBA.
its really simple.... 1. miller should start 2. we need a banger at pf. la is too soft. we have been saying we need a banger for a year. 3. need a vet coach to get us to next level. nate isnt going anywhere this year. even if we start 1-18...i bet they keep him. im beginning to think simmons was on the$$$
Gross. I don't like either of those pics! I choose LMA and Greg. We just need a coach that will write up plays for them. Ahhh, that is nice to see again. I like to tap pussy, not read it.
Yo Dante, just grab the firefox mod, and you wont even see THAT. everything about him just isnt visible, even threads started.
I'm so tired of hearing Barkley yap about how the Blazers don't have a post presence and are a team of jump shooters. You could argue the same thing about the 4 teams that made the conference semi's last year. 1) Cleveland. Ilgauskas hasn't seen the paint in about 8 years. 2) Orlando. Remember Dwight Howard criticizing SVG for not getting him the ball down low in the playoffs? Well, because his back to the basket game isn't pretty. 3) Denver. Nene? Carmello is the biggest low post scorer on that team. 4) LA. Bynum was a non-factor in the post season. He barely played in the finals. And Gasol will get you a few post up buckets, but he likes to float out on the perimeter too. Brandon Roy is a "jump shooter"? Somebody should tell Charles to watch a full Blazer game and not just the highlights. He can get to the basket/FT line and get easy baskets/points. How many big men are there in the league today that can consistently score in the low post? Duncan, Shaq, Yao (when he's healthy) In almost any era you look back on through modern history in the NBA there are a hand full of teams that have a dominant big man who can score in the low post. Everybody else has to figure out another way to win, and you can win w/o it. The 1990's Bulls, the early 2000 Pistons (talk about a team of jump shooters!), the Celtics of the last few years (KG isn't a low post scorer anymore) . . . I agree that we need to get more easy baskets, but it doesn't have to be through the low post. A penetrating PG can break down a defense and get you good looks. Maybe Miller is that guy, or maybe Bayless will be. Or maybe we trade for another PG. We already have Brandon who can get to the basket almost at will. We don't need to trade for a low post scoring big man as Charles suggested. Besides, who the hell is on the trading block that fits that description? Of the hand full of guys that even have that kind of ability, they aren't going anywhere. So be it, we'll win another way. It's been done before. Barkley is an idiot.
There is nothing wrong with your SF as your best low post threat. As long as he scores.... Carmelo is a beast.
Our weakness is that we don't like tough teams. With few exceptions, last year Houston, Denver, and Boston owned us when the game was important. The question is if our guys can be coached out of their softness or if they have to learn it the hard way or somehow they come to the realization that the good teams are not going to roll over. One of the problems with those two huge extensions we gave to Roy and LA is that they get paid the same for the next six years whether they play inside or not or play defense or not.
I said all summer long that our biggest need was backup power forward, but nobody believed me. However, as far as biggest weakness I would say it's merely unfamiliarity with playing together at this point. We had a lot players miss games in the pre-season and we never developed into a cohesive unit. It will take about 10 to 15 games and then we'll be clicking.
Seems to me that our biggest weakness is failure to take advantage of our biggest strengths. Although the sample size of games for this season is small, last night still is a case in point. Denver came into the game having played the night before and having not arrived in Portland until the wee hours of the morning. The Blazers' biggest strengths are rebounding prowess and depth at the guard and SF positions. That would seem to add up to a perfect scenario for running the Nuggets out of the gym by looking for outlet pass and fast break opportunities, yet the Blazers never seem to do that. Oden or Przybilla grabs the rebound, covers up and waits to hand it off to the PG who then slogs it up the court where we generally settle for a perimeter jump shot. All of which played nicely into Karl's game plan. I've tried to be fair to Nate on this board and give him time to adjust to the changes in his roster, but dang....
Agreeing with some, disagreeing with others, but I say low post scoring, it was blatantly missing last night, and Roy wasn't getting the penetration he needed to make up for it. He had some nice drives and got to the line well, but we needed 10 more points out of him since LA decided to take the night off.
For all the yapping I do, it's not that bad. I know I jump on Nate and certain players, but I need to calm down on that. Right or wrong, I have to start looking at the big picture. Eventually things will work themselves out. My original post should have had low post scoring in it. It is definately a weakness. Right now I would put that thrid behind Nate and PG play though. Same things really as last year, which is kinda scary. On the other hand, Miller and Howard are huge upgrades over Sergio and Frye. Not to mention Oden is improving, and the team will figure out how to use him eventually. I guess most of us need to relax, and have faith in the management of the team. Come playoff time, we will be alright I guess.
McMillan has always coached this style of basketball. I think Portland needs to run more pick and pop with Roy & Aldridge like the Magic did with Hedo & Shard. They also need put Miller in a speed lineup so he can do what he does best and deliver the alley oop passes.
