I, for one, have been begging for a couple of years now for some offensive flow that doesn't revolve around high pick-and-???s that generally never evolve into -and-rolls. Last year there was a bit of hi-lo with LMA in the high post. There've been a couple of times that the roller has been passed to. But for the most part, we're a jump-shooting offense, with most of our shots of the long-two variety--the most inefficient shot in basketball. The first quarter was great for me on the offensive end (I don't think I need to bring up defense, do I?). It was the highest-scoring and most efficient quarter tonight. Why? he're my quick hitting first (and part of the second) quarter log: Enjoyed Nate opening it up a bit. Liked Roy attacking and knowing no one could stop him. He had something working and kept with it. Hated Greg only getting 3 shots. And based on what I saw tonight, his only TOs were 3-in-the-keys, he made his FTs, he made 2 of his shots, and didn't turn the ball over. All while (at least in the first) showing some pretty good recognition and passing skills. What more, I ask, does the guy need to do? Miller: 4-9, 7/8FT Rudy: 3-9, 0/2FT Travis: 1-8 2/2FT Blake: 1-4, 0FT Total: 9-30, 9/12 FT Center Position: Oden: 2-3, 2/2FT Joel: 1-2, 0FT Total 3-5, 2/2 FT And people wonder why Barkley calls us a jump-shooting team.
I'm so glad I was in the air flying form Honolulu to Portland tonight and didn't have to watch this debacle. Is it just me, or does anybody else kind of want to see Blake benched and Bayless given his minutes? I mean it's not like he could do any worse on defense, secondly, Blake doesn't actually play point guard in the offense anyway and maybe, just maybe, with Bayless' athleticism and speed he might be able to actually play some man to man defense against a guy like Westbrook (who btw the way is going to absolutely embarrass "Blakey" tomorrow night) and god forbid he might be able to generate foul shots and attack the rim. Let Roy, Miller and Rudy create and just let Bayless play off the ball and play some fucking defense, is this too much to ask? Agh! ps. don't anybody give me any bullshit about "if he was outplaying Blake in practice he'd get the minutes" We've got Andre-fucking-Miller (a top fifteen point guard over the past ten years in the league) playing second fiddle to Steve Blake. Christ, Nate is starting to piss me off (and some of you will attest that I've been a mild Nate apologist in the past).
I've never been a Nate basher. But at this point, I'm ready to see Nate benched. I'd rather see what Adelman could do with our team. I also have this nagging feeling that the first thing Roy and LaMarcus care about is getting theirs -- at the bank. Mission accomplished. And that now, therefore, they feel perfectly entitled to get theirs in the games, without regard to what's best for the team. The team just feels dysfunctional at the moment. Mostly I just don't like Nate's offense.
I think no LaMarcus out might have been part of that problem, but yeah, that was pretty anemic after the first quarter.
