I was a believer that Roy at 3 was best for the Blazers and I can admit I am wrong. It was apparent last night, when I saw Roy get extremely tired in the 4th quarter. Usually a player normally not known for fouling, that foul out of a game, is a sign of being tired. I really though Roy playing 3 was going to help his energy more, since he wouldn't have to fight through pick after pick chasing a SG. But I think him having to body the bigger forwards really hurt him. I understand this was 5 games in 7 days, but he's been through this before last season and still took over in the 4th. Another disadvantage was Roy is a good post-up player against guards. That option is void against a SF. So please put Roy back at SG Nate.
you would need a SF and to move one of the PGs back off the starting role. Who do you move back, and do you think Webster would help us improve? From what I've been hearing, he is not all there yet.
You don't think any of it had to do with playing 5 games in 7 nights on the road, do you? What big bodies were beating him up consistently that otherwise wouldn't if he was out there without Blake or Miller?
Don't you think that a lot had to do with it being the end of a long road trip? Is your complaint that Roy shouldn't be asked to defend people bigger than him? Good thing nobody ever says that to Chris Paul. Or Raja Bell. Or Joakim Noah. Or Delonte West (while he was still on his Meds last year). Or Rashard Lewis. Etc.
Gomes took him right to the block in the second MN game. The Wolves went away from it because... well, they're the Wolves. There are a variety of small forwards that can punish him physically on a night-in, night-out basis. Having him outsized and outmuscled in every game to keep the double PG lineup is ridiculous. Ed O.
And because obsessing on posting up Roy takes a team out of its game plan. We killed the Wolves, remember? You really think that if only they'd milked Gomes in the post EVERY PLAY, they'd've won? Don't let the fact that we just won 6 games in a row (and would've been 7 if either Blake hit shots he normally does or the refs hadn't missed three obvious calls on Atlanta) affect your thinking in any way. Because, after all, the point is NOT to have your team win games, oh no. I bet the Suns of Nash's second MVP year were just an offense to your cold hard hoops realism, weren't they? They played a guy who was drafted as a PG at center! They played a SF at PF! Logic insists that they shouldn't win a single game! Why couldn't the teams they kept beating just realize that?
Why are the choices only between a couple of times and every time? If the T'Wolves had posted up Roy on a consistent basis throughout the game they would have had more success as a team. That doesn't mean they would win, but they sure would have been a whole lot closer. I am not looking forward to Roy guarding Artest, Pierce, Odom, Beasely, etc... If you think the Lakers and Celtics won't take advantage of Roy at small forward you are fooling yourself.
Roy is a SG. Rudy is a SG. And both are seeing a lot of time at SF. We really need a legit starting true SF. Webster is not a starter in this league. Outlaw and Batum are out for the year so we are stuck with playing our SG's at SF.
It does? Getting Roy beat up and in foul trouble while getting relatively easy shots takes a team out of its game plan? Wow. They should change the game plan. You think I think that. Really? No. The point is to play as well as possible and build towards the playoffs. Winning is a byproduct of playing well. I don't see how anything I've posted would lead you to go down that path. Ed O.
I say lets give Webster some real time and see how he responds- have Blake/Bayless be the guard backups.
What path? But seriously Ed., you know I love you and all, but you do obsess about positions and heights almost as much as about ages and "potentials". Whatever works, man. Go with the flow.
Nate did and he looked pretty damn good in the first 4 or 5 games, but then he started to look increasingly out of control on offense (crazy ass shot selection, going cold from the perimeter, throwing up ridiculous junk in traffic) and completely unfocused on defense (silly fouls, not rotating properly, etc.) and now he's completely spastic on the court ... he couldn't look any more lost. Nate has done exactly what he should be doing and that is to minimize his time on the floor until he can start playing more within himself and regains focus in the 12 to 15 minutes of burn he's been getting. Rudy had a similar problem at the start of the season and when he started to play more compactly and more in the flow of the game his minutes went up.
This. If the Blazers are going to play Roy out of position, at least find a better excuse than Steve Blank.
Even last season I didn't think Roy is a good forward. He got tired in games last season, too, and was saved for the 4th quarter. Losing weight was going to help him at guard, but it hurts at forward. This lack of a SF would have been helped if Pritchard hadn't signed the injured Pendergraph and Mills instead of Udoka. Also if he had gotten Hedo or another forward. We were all expecting a SF this summer.
Yah, I never understood why they chose to move Webster to SF. Wasn't he a SG in school and play that primarily? Blake should just be traded; hes good when he's on and goes well with Roy, but w/Miller we don't need him and Bayless is imho improving every game.
Webster does not have the handle to be a SG. I think that if you look at Blake's career stats vs. his stats this year, it is pretty clear that he is not a SG - but is much better as a PG, even if he is not an elite PG.
He doesn't have to be elite, but Nate is playing him like a #3 option on the starting unit. It boggles my mind.
