I think you're right, but I do think they would have eventually figured out a way to make it all work. Even with the personalities, McMillian wasn't shy about sitting certain players in favor of others to attempt to find which mixture worked best.
Nate himself admitted to having trouble juggling playing time when the roster was at full strength. It was an obvious problem that Nate was struggling to resolve. That doesn't mean it wouldn't have worked itself out. Perhaps if so many guys hadn't gone down KP would have made a consolidating trade. Perhaps Nate would have told some guys to sit down and STFU. Who knows? I do think Nate will remember this year and take a couple of lessons to heart. 1.) Not jerking guys around equals them being more comfortable which in turn increases their performance. 2.) A shorter rotation is better then a longer rotation. Though right now the rotation is a bit too short, getting LMA and Blake back will put it right about where it needs to be number of players wise. Nate hasn't always been the greatest coach, but he has been very good about admitting mistakes and learning from them. Now if only he would learn not to use a zone against a team that is hot from the 3 point line.
Disagree slightly. I think KP knows it as well, but b/c the bolded is true it's a bit tough to make a deal that doesn't rape us. I'm sure he could send Blake, Outlaw and Bayless to NYK for Eddy Curry, but that doesn't mean he should.
Not necessarily. We have 7.6M in expiring contracts and plenty of overseas players' rights that cost someone like NOH or UTH nothing. Bayless could probably be sent off in a trade tomorrow.
Thank you!!! I agree with this wholeheartedly. Brandon is #1 in the pecking order. Not Oden. Not Aldridge. Brandon.
Was this ever really in doubt? It wasn't a matter of somebody supplanting him as the #1 option as it was integrating other talented guys WITH him. For several reasons that made sense. 1) It makes the team harder to defend. 2) It keeps Brandon fresh if he doesn't have to run the whole show. 3) It keeps the other guys happy. Greg Oden isn't Ben Wallace or Tyson Chandler offensively - how motivated does Greg stay if he never touches the ball? You can go up & down the roster and say the same about other guys. Lamarcus needs some shots. Rudy needs some shots. Outlaw . . . . When we started the season, there were probably 6 or 7 guys who felt like they COULD be the 3rd option behind Roy & LA. That's too many.
The problem was that we were pounding the rock to him and LMA on the block tons. Greg is a better offensive player than what we have seen so far - but I think that it makes more sense to let him grow into a bigger offensive role slowly. There is no rush to pound it to him as much as we did early in the year.
For your info, somebody who travels with the team and reads this forum is very disappointed in me and called me out! His last name rhymes with Feeler!
It's funny you say that. There's a lot of people (on this board) who felt like Greg wasn't getting the ball ENOUGH. So who's right? I don't know. I know that the Brandon Roy I watched in December (especially the last 2 weeks) is NOT the same guy I watched in November. I kind of feel like Greg being out opens the middle more for B-Roy. Even if you don't go to Greg, he's still down on the blocks posting and his just his pressence makes the defense focus on him/the paint - there always seemed to be extra defenders around the basket. When they run the high pick and rolls with Juwan or whoever, the middle is open more now than it was with Greg. I don't know what they do when Greg comes back.
How about an actual pick and roll where Greg gets the ball on the roll to the hoop occasionally? It would have the added benefit of being a play scouts have never seen us run.
I have heard Nate telling someone that we went for an entire quarter without running any play for Brandon. I can also see the usage% for our guys, Brandon, now - with all the time without the bigs has a usage% of 28%, Greg has 21% - and you have to remember that Roy, as a guard, touches the ball a lot more than the bigs. If Greg and LMA (at 22%) had such high usage%, and Roy's usage% is as low as it is - it tells you something. Let's look at other great small-guards for comparison - D-Wade's usage% is 35%, Kobe is 33.7% Let's look at LAL's bigs - Gasol is at 19.2% and Bynum is at 19.0% - and both of these guys are further along, offensively, than Greg is... This tells you something... We were under-utilizing Brandon. Simple as that.
You may be right. But I also remember he wasn't playing nearly as well - seemed out of sync. He was missing shots, getting his shot blocked more than I've ever seen, having a hard time with his handles. He was stuggling. I guess you can make an arguement (to your point) that he didn't have the ball in his hands enough to get it going.
Likewise This team strives with adversity, being the underdog gives them the spark to do the unimaginable. Limited roster is developing those who need it most. Rudy, Batum, Webster, Bayless, LA, someone is bound for a breakout
My gut feeling is that what they tell us - that guys did not know they roles that well is right. I suspect that even when Roy had the ball in his hands - he had time reconciling what his natural instincts told him (attack) and what the game plan was (pound it in the post). Again, I think that Oden has to become a bigger part of the offense than what he was last year, but it has to happen gradually. A Greg Oden that is a glorified garbage man but has a play run for him each quarter - is an offensive force you can not ignore, you have to box him out from the offensive glass - so it is harder to switch on someone like Roy or JB that are attacking the rim - and if you do it - Roy will find him sooner or later. Roy's best attribute is his BB IQ - if people double and triple team him - he will find the open man - and if GO is that open man - sooner or later Roy will adjust to getting the ball to him. Just do not rush it. You have one of the best offensive players in the league in Roy - a true quarterback of modern half-court offense. It just makes no sense not to utilize him properly. Greg will improve as he gains confidence, experience and chemistry with his team-mates. No need to rush it. We have seen Roy defer to LMA when he (LMA) was hot. I trust that Roy will do the same when he is confident that Greg will do that same.
