I kind of feel the same way, but then again I'm an Oregon State fan, so my expectations are naturally conditioned to look for icebergs.
You know thats funny, when I was growing up, neither the Ducks or the Beavers won jack squat except for the Beavers basketball team. I went to U of O so I root for them when they play each other, but pretty much because of all of those years of misery, I root for the Oregon teams (both of them) in all other situations because of the bitchslappin we took for all those years. Last night was awesome, because I think for the first time, both Oregon teams got national exposure on ESPN to show that they can ball. I think it is a good sign for years to come.
I am not sure about Bayless either, but I am pretty sure Rudy fits with those guys very well. Hits 3's on outlet passes: Check Moves well without the basketball: Check Can make a pass into the post: Check Willing to hand the ball to Roy in the half-court: Check. Really I don't know what Rudy does that would make him even somewhat incompatable with the Roy, LMA and Oden.
Offensively, nothing. My only issue with Fernandez playing with Roy is that he has no defensive position other than shooting guard. Which either means forcing him to defend someone he can't (a point guard or small forward) or pushing Roy to defend small forwards, something he apparently has troubles with that affect his offense. Bayless can defend point guards. His offensive characteristics are a fine mix with the others if he's consistently knocking down open shots (a skill he's shown throughout his basketball career except last year). He can swing the ball around the perimeter like Blake does and he can get to the hoop and draw fouls like Miller does. I don't know very much about his post-entry ability, but he worked out all off-season with Oden, so there's some reason to hope that they're comfortable together. I am willing to see how a Miller/Rudy/Roy perimeter works. That, at least, makes some sense where a Miller/Blake/Roy perimeter didn't. But I hope to see a Miller/Roy/Webster perimeter soon and I wouldn't mind seeing a Bayless/Roy/Webster perimeter at times.
what would it look like if you made a thread asking how many teams keith bogans(starting ahead of manu) would start for? or rodrique beaubois(starting over jason terry)? or wesley matthews(starting over kirilenko)? the problem with blake this season isn't that he's starting but that he's playing too many minutes(with the blazers roster he should be closer to 20 per game than 30 per game) and he just hasn't been playing as well as he did in the past. if he can't get back to the level he was at last season, then benching him definitely makes sense.
to be honest, i wouldn't mind seeing a bayless/roy/webster/aldridge/oden starting lineup. and if roy doesn't start attacking the basket more, i want to see it.
Well he's obviously not on the same level he was on last year, and with a clear upgrade behind him, it only makes sense to bench him.
no, there being a "clear upgrade" behind him does not mean it is correct to take the starting job away from him. there being a better player behind him at his position means that he should not be playing the majority of the minutes at that position. unless you're saying that the spurs are making a mistake starting bogans over manu, the mavs are making a mistake starting beaubois over terry, and the jazz are making a mistake starting matthews over kirilenko. and in that case, you're simply wrong. the blazer can be fine with blake starting. "starting" doesn't mean playing the most minutes. batum didn't play the most last year at small forward even though he started. if "starting" blake but only having him play 20 minutes per game gets roy to be more comfortable, attack the basket more, and in general just play better basketball then that is what should happen. if for whatever reason roy isn't going to do that anyway then they should go ahead and give blake(with how he's played thus far this season) a seat on the bench but i think bayless should be the guy inserted who actually will aggressively attack the basket.
Atlanta Dream - NO Chicago Sky - NO Connecticut Sun - NO Indiana Fever - NO New York Liberty - NO Washington Mystics - NO Los Angeles Sparks - NO Minnesota Lynx - NO Phoenix Mercury - NO Sacramento Monarchs - NO San Antonio Silver Stars - NO Seattle Storm - NO j/k - I like Blake and he'd probably start for AT LEAST 1/2 of these teams...
Team USA -- Yes. Nate is an assistant coach. I imagine he would Tanya Harding the other coaches just to get Blake to start.
Blake 29mpg. Miller 26mpg. Blake 29mpg. Beaubois 13mpg. Bogans 18mpg. Mathews is a 6'5 Guard...Kirileno is a 6'9 forward. But he's only getting 23mpg. And I'll let you look up the PERs of those 3 you brought up compared to Blake's. But there's a high likelihood that they're "good" or "Great" when he's not.
Unbelievable how crappy Steve Blake got, after being the starting point guard on a team that managed homecourt advantage in the first round of last year's playoffs. I think the Derek Fisher example is appropriate - or Avery Johnson, for that matter. How many other teams in the NBA would they have started on, in the years that they were leading their teams deep into the playoffs? Blake doesn't need to be the flashiest point guard in the league - he just needs to run an efficient offense and hold his own on defense. Something isn't working, and you can certainly fault Blake for some of that, but I put more of the blame on Nate's inability to integrate new players, and the difficulty everyone is having in adjusting to one another (Blake included).
Does Blake need a manual and powerpoint training on how to make open 3's this year while Miller's on the bench? Does he need help understanding how to pass off to Roy, or do a pick and pop with LMA, with Miller sitting on the bench? They're in the game about 10mpg together. What makes Blake so much crappier this year in the other 19 he's playing? I'm starting to get tired of this "integration and adjustment" excuse. How are the Spurs or Magic "adjusting" to R-Jeff or VC ?
blake's PER is right in line with beaubois, bogans, and matthews(which is a bad thing). those are the guys i was "comparing" blake to. miller would be the one getting the comparison to manu, terry, and kirilenko even though he's not as good as those 3 players. and yes, kirilenko is much taller than matthews. matthews is still starting over kirilenko. they put him in the starting lineup to bring kirilenko off the bench. i don't agree with that statement. miller is no longer as overrated as he was in the offseason, but in general people here still rate him higher than they should. him starting or not is basically irrelevant to the blazers success unless inserting him in the starting lineup causes roy to start playing at the level he did last year.
Fine, so they are all having poor offensive seasons as far as efficiency goes, but I think you are neglecting a major difference between all three of those players you mention and the role they play compared to Blake. In Beaubois' case, I'm not 100% certain, but I suspect with his quickness and freakish wingspan he's being used at least part of the time as a defensive stopper on the perimeter, Bogans is primarily a defensive player as is Kirilenko. If Steve was a lockdown perimeter guy it'd be a lot easier to forgive the piss poor shooting numbers, but instead he's really nothing but a floor spacer who plays "OK" defense. If this was the Blake of last year that hit 42% of his threes and 43% from the floor I'd have no beef with him starting and logging 30 minutes a game, instead ... yeesh!
I'm tired of the "integration and adjustment" excuse, too - unfortunately, it's the root of the problem. The situations in San Antonio and Orlando are entirely different because Jefferson and Carter have well-defined roles within an established system. The Blazers are attempting to re-define how they run the offense, by emphasizing an inside post player other than Aldridge. So, everything Aldridge has been told the last two years ("play close to the basket, man!") and everything Roy has been told the last two years ("run pick and roll" or "attack your man and get to the rim") have all of a sudden gotten a whole lot harder to accomplish than was true last season. I don't like what's happening, and I feel like the Blazers should have adjusted and integrated by now. Problem is, they haven't, and going around blaming role players like Steve Blake is missing the bigger picture. Is Blake playing worse than last season? Yes. But so is Roy, so is Aldridge, and by the way, where are Outlaw and Batum, again? And then there's the brand new point guard the Blazers signed... it's a complicated mess, unfortunately.
