Mediocre Man (And Many Others) Will Absolutely LOVE This Piece...

Laid out rather well, I might add...


From: SLAM Online

 

Good article.

 

Yeah, and until Roger Ebert directs an Academy Award winning picture he has no business critiquing movies. Oh, wait....

Come on guys, he's not applying for Nate's job. He didn't even suggest Nate be fired. He simply stated what many people find obvious - Nate's offense is too reliant on a single player. Basketball is a team sport, yet Nate's glacially paced offense relies way to much on ISO plays. It's not like the Blazers don't have other offensively gifted players. Hell, they are stacked. There is no reason for the offense to be so one dimensional while the talents of other players are under utilized.

Prior to injury, Oden was under utilized on offense. After leading the team in scoring in the preseason, Nate told him not to worry about scoring, to just focus on defense and rebounding? Why? Why, even with Oden healthy, were the Blazers last in the league in points in the paint?

Andre Miller, a proven NBA player has been totally misused by Nate and is only beginning to show what he can do now that half the team is injured and Nate has no other choice.

Bayless is also under utilized, as is Rudy. We have a ton of great offensive talent on this team (especially when they are all healthy), but we don't have a system that takes advantage of that talent. Why not? Why can't our coach dream up an offensive scheme designed around more than one player?

I've particpated in a lot of "heated exchanges" lately about the misuse of Andre Miller, but what is even more disturbing to me long term is the misuse of Oden on offense (prior to his injury) and to a lesser extent, Bayless. The successful development of Oden and his integration into the team's offense are vital to any championship hopes - we need an integrated inside/outside game, not just all ISOs all the time. Nate simply hasn't shown any evidence that he is the right coach for developing such an offense.

Nate was a great coach for turning around this team. He is a great motivator that gets his guys to play hard. He also does a good job teaching the young guys fundamentals and limiting their mistakes. I'm afraid he's not the right coach for taking those young players, and this very talented roster, to the next level. And, I only hope Kevin Pritchard and Paul Allen reach that same conclusion before they squander a golden opportunity.

BNM

 

What if he were willing to learn/grow, though? I mean, after all, he's no dummy.

 

I don't know about BNM . . . but I think some fans have taken Nate's comments so personally (probably not the best comments by Nate) that fault will be found in Nate no matter what he does.

 

He has had plenty of opportunites to show growth in this area, but so far has wiffed on every one. Other than Brandon Roy (an perhaps Steve Blake - last year's model), name one player on this roster whose offensive talents are fully exploited. Oden - hell no. Miller, yeah, right. Bayless, not close. Aldridge, needs a faster pace to maximize his usefulness. Rudy, he can be so much more than a spot up 3-point specialist.

How long does he get to keep misusing the talent he's been given before Pritchard and Allen are willing to let him go? At the absolute very least, they need to bring in an assistant coach who can design a offense that will better utilize the talent on this roster - and I don't see than happening with Nate here. He's too much of a control freak to allow someone else that much responsibility.

BNM

 

I used to be a big Nate backer. His performance this season has changed my opinion. I want him gone - no later than the July 1.

BNM

 

Sorry, I missed that memo.

BNM

 

Hope I never work for you.

 

Makes two of us...


J/K

BNM

 

Well he did write the screenplay for Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

 

'Nuff said.

BNM

 

Dude, considering he was integrating new players and lack of players into the offense at the start of the year..I mean, geezum crimeny, cut the guy some slack. So Oden didn't get the ball every time down the court. Do we really need to re-hash this again? I think some people have very narrowly focused opinions about how any player should be used and if anybody deviates from that opinion then they must be a f'n horrible coach / judge of talent /etc.