Has been pretty bad, I agree with Rice that Nate will go mainly with the starters in the playoffs. At the same time, come on boys step up. They shot 3-14 tonight, and nobody got the to the FT line. They also had 6 of the 11 turnovers. We need them to step up their game, because if we have any foul trouble in the playoffs we are going to need minutes from them.
I had such great expectations for our bench in the preseason. Now we see that most of them are really really streaky that can't seem to keep leads vs anyone.
Uh, preseason? Back then we had Oden and Joel healthy, which meant we also had Outlaw and Blake. That was our depth.
I'm not happy they've been sucking, but it is nice to have such a solid starting 5, because that's the thing that matters the most in the playoffs -- a deep bench will get you a few extra Ws in the regular season, but you when it counts with your top 6 ... I guess I just wish our 6th best player right now wasn't Juwan Howard (and that's not a criticism of Howard at all).
It's true. Bayless had a few games in mid-season where he came in and played like B-Rexxx. Still not a true PG, but he was effective. Since then, more often than not the team really sucks when he's on the floor.
exactly... they main guys I had hope for off the bench starting the year were Joel Rudy Blake & Travis. Unfortunately injuries/time off seem to have conspired against Rudy, Bayless has lost the somewhat reliable J that he had going in the first half of the season which kept the D honest, & Martell is bringing about what I thought (not hoped) he'd bring. Howard and Cunningham have actually far exceeded my hopes for their play. Hoefully Rudy and Jerryd find their respective strokes. That would really really help matters STOMP
I sometimes think Rudy is trying to play his way out of the Blazers' future plans. We know he can get the job done....but he just isn't doing it. Either his back is shot, or he has some serious issues between the ears. I don't know what to think about Bayless. The problem doesn't appear to be lack of effort. Maybe he just doesn't have a great B-Ball IQ?
It worked for Sergio ... I think he's smart enough, I just don't think his instincts match up all that well with what he's being asked to do; he's a scoring guard, not a distributor or a game manager -- well, I guess I should be honest, he's playing like garbage regardless of fit/role/skillset.
Ever since Rudy strained his quad and missed a game he's been a little off/shitty. I thought he was actually doing pretty decent before then. Hopefully by the time the playoffs roll around he'll be back to being Rudy. They get 3 more days off now.
he isn't Andre Miller, but with his athleticism he doesn't need to be. What he needs is to be able to hit open jumpers at a reasonable rate when they swing it to him in the half court game. His percentages are still well up over last year but they've been falling during the 2nd half of the season. His D strength and quickness are all positives that continue to garner him PT, but dude has got to regain confidence in his outside stroke as teams seem to be leaving him open on purpose. STOMP
I think the saddest part of the bench right now is the outside shooting. It is fucking atrocious. When they miss those 3's, it allows other teams to run. For all of the supposed sweet stroke 3 point shooters that are on the bench, they sure do clang a lot of shots. Maybe it might help Rudy in the pre game warmup if he didn't just shoot left handed 3 pointers and fuck around the whole time, and actually focus on the shots he will get during the game.
like i said friday... bench NEEDS A MAJOR MAJOR FACELIFT THIS SUMMER rudy - has regressed beyond imagination. if he didnt have the big euro name... nobody would care if he got cut tomorrow. if his 3 doesnt fall... hes useless cause his defense is as bad as sergios. bayless - god its painful. his jumpers are a guarantee fast break for the other team. his defense is like rudys. no court vision. its ugly. webster - least hes hitting the backboard instead of all air. i will say out of these 3 guys... webster at least plays defense and rebounds but his shot is a joke at this point. howard - tired and slow on defense. needs that jumper to offer anything. cunningham - dumb fouls, and a decent jumper. this is a major major concern. this will be the reason we lose in the playoffs. our bench is hideous.
The subs looked better last year because McMillan made Roy the King and everyone else served him. Now that the system is a hybrid between Roy and Miller, Roy is half out of the game and the subs are totally out of it. McMillan doesn't know how to design a fast break system, so everyone's confused on what to do. Why don't we get some old grizzled vets who smoke cigars and know what to do. Then, it won't matter who the coach is or what he wants.
