They've shown some damn good, gritty play over the past 10 days. If they can keep this up, we'll definitely make the playoffs. I wonder if having an offensive threat from 18 feet at every position has changed the way teams play us and thus thrown them outta their own game. Tonight and the games against San Antonio and Dallas were not supposed to end in Blazer W's given our lack of depth. Un-freaking-real. Great job, guys!
Exactly. The Rockets continued a 25 game(or something) winning streak 2 years back when Yao went down. The ball movement is more crisp. The players know their roles. Aldridge and Howard complement a smaller attack much better. They are playing much harder. Throwing the injured players in doesnt necessarily augment the attack. Of the current injured players who are out, I think only Joel, Batum, and Rudy fit back in seamlessly. We can be a dangerous regular season team with this smaller lineup, but probably no more. We still need Oden to seriously contend. We still have growing pains to go through before we're onto something special. That said, this is still fun!
I'm fine with how today's game was played and the substitutions. Today was a COY-worthy performance from Nate. He kept his rotations short, he played the hot hand (Blake didn't come out in the 4th and kept bombing away on Denver like it was Dresden), let Bayless run the P&Rs while Roy was guarding Melo in the last 6 minutes, let B-Rex play through his craptasticity so that he could produce in crunch time, etc. The question I have, though (and I'm slightly more willing to give the BoD after the last couple of games) is if Nate would've kept Blake in if he was 0-5 on those 4th-quarter 3's instead of 4-5. In the last 6 minutes, Bayless was playing PG. Roy was in the SG role (even though he was guarding 15) and Blake was spotting up in the corner and firing away. Blake's role could (IMHO) been just as capably (if not moreso) filled by Webster, Rudy or Batum.
Odd man out: Based upon what has developed over the past four games, who is the most tradable? In order: [of the healthy] All rhyme and reasoning considered: Rudy #1 Blake #2 Miller #3 Webster #4 Cunningham #5 Howard #6 Pendergraph #7 Aldridge #8 Bayless #9 Roy #10 .... and of the injured, who is the most likely to be traded (for all ryhmes and reasons): Outlaw #1 Pryzbilla #2 Mills #3 Batum #4 Oden #5 With the above noted, I think we look to trade Rudy plus picks for a big: Lee? Okafor? Gortat? Simply makes the only good sense for the short term and long term.
I feel really, REALLY bad. I had to sell them last week because my wife changed our plans...............THEN our plans changed again....so we COULD have gone to the game afterall! I caught the 2nd half on TV. Man, was I wishing we were there! Thanks, all the same.
Why would we trade Przybilla? He is the perfect center for this team. He doesn't need the ball, and he is an animal on rebounds and blocks. With this lineup, you don't need a scoring center, just someone to keep them from dominating inside.
I totally agree with the fitting in of Przybilla, Rudy, and Batum. We don't need log jams at positions, just good players and some young guns that give 100% when called upon. Add these three to what we have now and we have a very well balanced team.
those guys would fit fantastic (as would a passing 3/4/5), it's time to get rid of stale ball Blake and Outlaw, they contribute almost nothing. Blake's shot was wet last night, but if we're leaving a guy in the corner wouldn't it make more sense for it to be Rudy or Webster? They can make a greater impact on D and provide some size. Blake/Outlaw for a currently underproducing Diaw makes a lot of sense IMO. Miller/Bayless Roy/Rudy Webster/Batum/Cunningham Aldridge/Diaw/Pendergraph Howard/Diaw/Pendergraph that's a pretty high IQ team IMO. Diaw is playing like crap right now but has always played well when relied upon which he would be here.
Blake had 14 points in the 4th quarter last night. Perhaps Nate and Roy know a bit more about winning basketball than members of a message board.
Rudy and Outlaw. The other two you mentioned have never proven that they can be counted on at the end of a close game to hit big shot. Not even mentioning Outlaw is hilarious, BTW.
Perhaps. And perhaps they don't. Which is why you see a lot of Nate angst on here. I'll guarantee you that for each 14-point 4th quarter he's played (and good for him! And to Nate for keeping with the hot hand) I can point out an instance where Blake shouldn't have been in the game and played poorly. You're usually above one-game told-ya-so's, but maybe after seeing some of the other threads you wanted to chime in?
I see a lot of Nate angst here because people think that they know how to coach the team better than Nate. I then laugh at the logical pretzels that people must then make to continue the over-the-top and silly Nate-bashing when Nate shows he is one of the better coaches in the NBA. Imagine had Nate been healthy during the road trip when the team went 1-3. Does that become a 3-1 or 4-0 trip? Good times.
You surmised that any of 3 players could have scored 14 points in the 4th quarter last night, as if what BLANKY did was easily replaced. I say it isn't easily replaced. Plus, now that BLANKY is nearing 40% on 3pt for the year, I have to give Nate credit for sticking with him while the jackals of the internet were bashing both guys for months.
Uh, until otherwise shown he's out for the year, while the others are projected back in Jan and Feb. It's "hilarious" that he wasn't mentioned? Really? I guess you're projecting both that he'll be back soon, and that his 20% 3pt shooting in clutch time will go up by around double? The other two I mentioned have not been in games at the end of close games to "hit the big shot". Perhaps that's another case for you to say that Nate's omniscient and we're all clueless. Because Blake was gangbusters last year in crunch time. Wait: In crunch time last year Blake was 35% from the field and 29% from 3, with an a/to < 2. 12 pts per 48 min. Or this year: (with thanks to Boob-no-more) where his clutch-time shooting is now 27%? If you don't think that Rudy and/or Webster and/or Batum will be a better weapon in crunch time than Blake is, then we'll just have to disagree.
What does Webster's clutch shooting look like? How about Batum? You didn't mention Outlaw because you can't stand him. This is well-known. The problem for you is, Outlaw has shown that he can hit big shots in the 4th quarter of close games. Webster/Batum have not. Now, continue to make your argument if you want, but mention Webster without mentioning Outlaw is a reach, especially considering that even this year, Outlaw has a higher 3pt % than the "shooter" Webster.
Yet you stated that either of them could just of "capably" filled BLANKY'S role last night. Based on what? Your personal opinion, apparently.
Fine. Blanky's never scored 24 in a quarter, ergo Webster should be in there for firepower in the 4th. Is that a logical pretzel? I say it is easily replaced (that Rudy is a better shooter, and that Webster and Batum are at the very least comparable, but bring much more value to the team defense than Blake). So let me get this straight....Nate's been bashed for a) Playing Blanky too much at the exclusion of other, better options at guard....b) for either telling his players not to run or not doing anything about it when they don't....c) starting Blanky when there are other, better options at guard...and d) not staying with the hot hand so that he can substitute someone (usually Blanky) back in to do basically nothing. Injuries have now forced Nate to an 8-man rotation where he plays his best players heavy minutes (Blake being one of those top 8 now...not so much when our team is healthy). Injuries have forced him to play Bayless more, which increases the number of "easy baskets" we're getting (including Blake's wide-open threes last night, which thankfully he hit). He has stopped starting Blanky. And last night he continued with the hot hand (Miller/Webster in the 3rd, Blake in the 4th) instead of sticking with his set substitutions. Nate was great last night. So was Blake. Amazingly enough, it was due to Nate doing many of the things that those clueless internet dolts who think they can coach better than Nate and Roy have been talking about for months and years, and Blake doing well at the one thing he does well. Good for both. Your point trying to bash people on the internet who may or may not have a clue about basketball, though, seems off.
The clueless internet dolts who have been crying for BLANKY to be benched, or even flat-out RENOUNCED last summer? If Nate had listened to them, BLANKY wouldn't even have been in the game last night.
WEBSTER IS HEALTHY AND AVAILABLE TO NATE. OUTLAW IS PROBABLY OUT FOR THE YEAR. That reason and that reason alone is enough for me to not write about him in a "what happens to Blake when the injured players start coming back" thread. Sorry if it doesn't for you, but that's not my issue to deal with. Yes, I can't stand players who are injured. Travis shot 20% last year from 3 when fully healthy in his crunch time minutes. Are you going to neglect all my posts from last year that "hated that" (since it's so well-known, maybe you think it's a given?). Once again, I mention Batum and Webster and Rudy because they are all capable of shooting 3 pointers at a reasonably good percentage and have proven that over full seasons of work. Blake is also in that conversation, while Outlaw is not due to his injury. If he was not injured, then I would probably advocate him playing over Blanky as well. But he is. (FTR, I would also play Oden and Przybilla more than Blake. Should I discuss that, too?) Blake is productive when he does well the one thing he does well. He's now shooting 37% on the year at it. (Webster's at 36.6%, Rudy's at 38.8%. Batum was 36.9% last year) Unfortunately, he has not shown a propensity to do that in crunch time (29% last year, 25% in 2007-08. BTW, Webster wasn't good in 2007 either at 10% in limited minutes.) In conclusion, all of the players currently healthy or expected to be back by the ASG (Webster, Rudy, and Batum) have comparable percentages to Blake in the one thing Blake does well, but Webster and Batum bring defensive pressure, Rudy brings playmaking ability and team D, and Blake, well, doesn't seem to much. It's my contention that when the injured players start coming back (and I'll even include outlaw if he comes back soon) Blake's minutes should be the ones that go down. To continue the trend of "when the best players play, the team plays better".
