There's been a lot of speculation on this board on how Nate plays Blake in terms or roles and minutes. I thought this very interesting article on Blake brings out some of the similarities between the two: http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/jan/15/blake-seems-to-be-cured-of-all-that-ailed-him/
from my recollection Nate was never much of a shooter but was an excellent defender... I'm not feeling it STOMP
great.... seriously, it is obvious that Pritchard needs to take the decision away ffrom Nate....by trading or not resigning Blake....otherwise you may as well just trade Bayless and Rudy b\c those guys are going to sit on the bench playing reduced minutes while Blake gets 30-40 minutes a night....this is a bad joke....
If we don't let Blake go or trade him by next season I will have lost all confidence in our organizations ability to assess talent. That being said I truly think Pritchard knows Blake is not a part of this teams future if we're planning on being an elite team.
This is asinine. How many rings does Derek Fisher have? Blake is certainly capable of filling a Fisher type role.
I know i almost always have Blake included in my trade proposals (he does have an expiring contract), but I think I would be sad to see him go, and I think the team would miss him also, and not just on an emotional level, he just somehow is an important cog. If the Blazers included him in a trade at the deadline and then resigned him after 30 days or next summer, that would be OK.
Now that Blake has been given an appropriate role (back-up PG), he's playing much better. His PER has risen from a season low 8.3 to 10.5 since he's been moved to the bench. I don't mind him in that role, but I absolutely hated it when he was totally sucking and still starting in spite of getting totally outplayed by Andre Miller. I do agree that we have a bit of a log jam at guard when everyone is healthy. I see Rudy as the most likely to go. I think he has good trade value and with Brandon Roy here, Rudy will never be more than a back-up scorer off the bench. Bayless will eventually be able to play that role. For now, I'm fine with Bayless backing up Roy and Blake backing up Miller. I cold see Blake being gradually phased out as Bayless starts to get more consistent (he's not even lose, yet). At that point, Bayless would be getting big minutes backing up both guard spots. After another year of Andre Miller as the starter, Bayless could (assuming he's ready) move into the starting PG role and we can either decline Miller's 3rd year team option, or keep him around if he's willing to accept a lesser role. Of course this all assume Bayless improves steadily and Miller slowly declines - neither are a given. Back to Blake, I don't mind him in the back-up role he's best suited to play, but I also would not hesitate to trade him if a decent offer was made. BNM
I've been saying for a while now that I think Rudy will be gone. I think he wants to start and that will never happen. He isn't big enough to play small forward and he isn't quick enough to play point guard. He is the most expendable on the team. I hate it though. Rudy is one of my favorite players.
How can Nate see himself in Blake (more than Miller)? Blake is a shooter. McMillan never, ever shot, even from midrange, until his last couple of years (when he made a couple of shots all season, then claimed that bad coaches had stopped him from shooting all those years). McMillan shot outside far less than Miller does (like, never). As for the other matters--Nate is still bad at knowing which situations to use Blake vs. Miller. He needs to change his system while Miller is in, so as to not depend upon the PG emergency shot at the end of the clock. Neither will be traded because we have no glut of PGs--Bayless is a SG, for now and always.
Read the qoute....Blake's MENTALILTY reminds him of himself during his playing days, not his abilities as an NBA player.
What's with the Blake bashing after he gives one of his best performances of the season? 18 pts (7 of 12 shooting), 6 assts, 4 rebs, and a steal in a victory over the Magic.
