8 playoff games under McDillon....

What an Odd entrace, bumping this old thread

 

Just updating the fail.

We've gone from getting blown out in the playoffs 37% of the time, to 45% of the time.

And to be fair I didn't even mention it after game 3.

 

I think Nik was probably right when he said that Nate seems to be able to make adjustments when he has a few days off, like game-changing adjustments, but during the game.. not.. so much.

 

i am going to text this stat to the 5th quarter. they won't read it

 

At the same time I wonder though how much it has to do with being stubborn and sticking with the original game plan than it is not being able to make adjustments. Not that it makes it any better, but maybe something to think about. Nate does strike me as the guy that says my way is going to work as long as we execute, and there's no need to change.

 

Bingo. It's the old Tom Landry approach. His game plan was never wrong - it was always the fault of the players for not carrying it out right.

Tonight, I doubt it would have made a difference. The players really weren't executing.

 

Steve Nash commented that Phoenix won this game because Gentry didn't throw out the game plan 6 minutes into the game despite them getting their asses handed to them. There certainly is a fine balance between being stubborn and being too quick to change. Being too quick to change has a ton of negative affects as well.

If we didn't get 100% out worked on the board tonight, we win. I don't know what gameplan could've cured that.

 

It's fine to say you should stick to what you know and what works, but Nate's sticking to what doesn't work. Rudy over Martell just like in games two and three, never ever taking advantage of Nash when he's covering Batum. Never, ever running plays for the team's most consistent 3 point shooter (Nic Batum), no plan for how to deal with the double-team because this is an isolation heavy offense, sticking to that idiotic '2 fouls and you sit rule' he has for centers, even when that center is a 14 year veteran and former DPOY, etc.

Granted last night's loss should probably be pinned more on effort and lack of hustle (especially on the defensive glass) but I just don't feel like this team gets enough of a lift from the sidelines when things start falling apart, and that seems to be because Nate doesn't really have any answers in the heat of the moment.

 

I'm really getting tired of Nate. I couldn't believe he put Rudy in and left Batum on the bench for so long last night. I doubt there is anyway to get rid of him. I sure hope someone else hires him away or at worse he signs another one year contract.

 

well, here's Dwight Jaynes, http://www.dwightjaynes.com/, sort of everything that might be wrong with our coaching in one post, most of it already mentioned by S2 posters. I agree that Portland has not, and usually does not, move the ball well:

"Normally, it’s a good thing when your team opens a big game by making a bunch of shots. But when it’s the Trail Blazers, and they’re hitting outside shots — and those shots are being made by Jerryd Bayless and Andre Miller — it may not be a great sign of things to come. In fact, it might be a warning sign. It’s just not going to keep happening. And it’s fool’s gold. The Blazers weren’t really playing as well as it looked when it was 9-0 and 21-7 — it was just some long jumpers going in, and that’s never likely to continue with this team.

The Blazers just keep trying to swim upstream in the playoffs. Isolation games just don’t work so well when teams have the opportunity to prepare. Don’t think the problems Brandon Roy had Monday night were only because he’s still fighting the residue of that knee injury. Oh no. This is stuff we’ve seen before when teams have had a chance to truly prepare for the Blazers. Most nights, Portland doesn’t move the ball and move bodies well enough to get Roy enough open space to take his man. Which of course leads to a big stall in the Blazer offense.

But there were so many other things that went off the tracks in that game, too. I mean, I’ve been critical in the past of Nate McMillan’s two-foul rule in the first quarter. This was another time when I think it would have been wise to stick with Marcus Camby even though he drew his second foul. Hell, he’s not going to foul out of that game. He knows how to play with foul problems. But at the same time, the flood of bodies off the Portland bench in this game astounded me.

Man, teams that win a Game 5 in a 2-2 series win 83 percent of the series. If there’s ever a time to shorten the rotation, this was it. Particularly in a road game and particularly in a game where there’s a full two days rest after the game. I don’t know I’d have run all these guys out there in the second quarter — like a JV coach trying to make sure guys get their letter at the end of the season.

And really, Rudy Fernandez plays more minutes than Martell Webster? Rudy plays 15 minutes and takes one shot? One shot? I cannot even imagine why he’s still in the rotation for this game. At all. Makes no sense. What does he have to do to be benched? How bad does he have to play? And fewer than 20 minutes for Nic Batum? Seriously? That makes no sense at all. And oh by the way, while he’s out there, might be a fresh idea to actually run some sort of play for him, don’t you think? He might be the most reliable outside shooter the team has.

And even though Portland had a great start in this game, I’m going to ask why Brandon Roy was not in the starting lineup? I think it’s tough enough for him to get back into the swing of things without playing an unfamiliar role. That off-the-bench deal can be difficult for a lifetime starter and he appeared to never really get into the flow. Start him or don’t bother.

All in all, it was just one more example of how tough it’s going to be for Portland to win in the playoffs in the future with this kind of offensive attack. Brandon Roy needs help getting shots. He needs to have a system in place that just might help him get open. He needs not to have to wear two or three players on his back. This means ball movement and player movement. Damn, I get sick of writing that. But when I keep seeing what I saw out of them Monday night, I just scratch my head.

Same with the Portland defense. Man, they actually started the game by trying not to switch that pick-and-roll. That lasted just a few minutes. Then it was back to Camby on Steve Nash. To the point that Mike Fratello said, “Portland wants to switch its bigs on to Nash on the pick and roll…” Actually, Mike, according to McMillan they DON’T want to switch. But he can’t seem to figure out how not to make it happen.

You know, there are so many excuses available for this team but I’m not sure any of them apply. Injuries? Plug Greg Oden in for Marcus Camby and that’s your team moving forward. Really, are things going to change much with the way Portland plays? What you see right now is kind of what you’re going to get. Yes, a healthier Roy will make a difference. But how much difference? At some point, somebody is going to have to take a hard look at how this team plays on offense and defense and decide if it makes the best possible use of the talent on hand.

And it’s high time somebody did that."

 

I guess a counter argument to Jaynes saying that this is our team moving forward (and implying that it's not gonna get any better) is that: Yes this is maybe our team going forward but they just having had enough time together to jell. And there have been so many different lineups all year due to injuries. Just in this playoff series look at the adjustments needed as Roy drops out and then just as the team is finding a rhythm without him, he's back in there.

 

If Steve Nash would have never been born, we win.
If we would have scored more points than the Suns, we win.
If the Suns would have missed 15 more shots, we win.
If the Suns would have not gotten funding for the new arena, they would have moved to Kansas City. I have heard KC has great BBQ which our players could have enjoyed on Monday and would have put them in a great, happy mood and, we win.


11 playoff games. 5 blowouts.

No if's.

IS

 

I am not sure what Nate can do to get players to step up. Half of the problem on this team is certain players don't come with their motor running on many nights. I can't remember which coach said it, but you shouldn't need motivation for the playoffs. Nothing a coach is going to say is going to get you going if the playoffs don't get you going.

 

We NEED more than one center, that will change everything and move us forward with our game plan (playing style)

 

We HAVE three... it's just that two are in the shop right now.

 

What does some random quote from some other coach have to do with anything?

Who wasn't motivated? What are you basing that on? I saw players doing what we've done all year. Standing around not moving themselves or the ball.

This team does nothing but ISO and stand around on offense and was once again clueless on defense which is allegedly McDillons specialty.

FFS, we're not talking about 1 game here. This is 5 of 11 games we've been destroyed.

WHY DO YOU ALL DEFEND MAC? HE'S NEVER DONE ANYTHING THING IN 10! YEARS!

This isn't some coach who's had close misses. He's never done a fucking thing. I simply can't understand why people are so loyal to him.

 

Mostly because the people who are against him are fucking annoying and generally bad posters who pick one thing to harp on over and over and over. Anyone who has to use a disparaging nickname for the target of their malice should simply be ignored.

 

That.

Repped.

 

Oh I see. He's a good coach because people are bad posters.

Got it!

Wrepped indeed!!!!!

 

Sorry, but since Mixum has left I'm gonna post this from Dwight Jaynes.The guy may be an idiot but a lot of the stuff he says strikes a chord. http://www.dwightjaynes.com/



"– Man, why did Jerryd Bayless keep entering that game? I know Andre Miller didn’t play well but he played just 18:26 compared to Bayless’s 29:10. One veteran media guy who has seen more NBA games than I have over the years turned to me at halftime and said, “That guy (Bayless) may be the most selfish player I’ve ever seen. And to keep putting him out there to watch him go to the basket to get his layups blocked is crazy.”

– Rudy Fernandez may have gotten hot in this game. Well, yes, he WAS hot. But seriously, he probably gave up more easy points than he scored. The guy bordered on tragic comedy at the defensive end.

– Martell Webster and Fernandez are pulling shots out of their backside, including several three-pointers with hands in their face, but when LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy come back in the game, the ball stops going to the weak side of the floor. It’s back to the two-man game with Roy and Aldridge and so the ball stops going to the hot hands. Stops cold. And speaking of cold, Roy was 4 for 16 and Aldridge was 5 for 17. Ugh.

– See previous item when talking about the Portland coaching situation. Unless this team changes its offensive system (or actually finds an offensive “system”) this is what’s going to happen in the postseason. The whole scheme is dependent upon those two guys carrying the team with a series of one-on-one moves out of isolation. Works in the regular season when teams have no prep time and cannot adequately prepare in the avalanche of an 82-game season. But in the post-season with time to prepare? It’s a suicidal offensive scheme. Portland made the Suns’ defensive scheme look like the legendary Pistons’ Bad Boys defense.

– One thing I heard afterward from several people — “Well, the Suns were just the better team.” Yes, I’m afraid that’s correct, as long as Nate McMillan is coaching this team. All the injuries have bought McMillan another season — one more year to show what he’s doing isn’t going to work in the playoffs over the long term. I’m astounded at how people don’t look at how many open shots Blazer opponents get out of their offensive systems and how many contested shots Portland ends up having to shoot because its players cannot create their own shots against double and triple-teams.

– Yeah, the off-season will once again be filled with the Blazers searching for “another guy who can create his own shot.” Damn, Roy can do that as well as anybody but not against three guys. Already, the Blazers play more one-on-one than any other team in the league. Roy is in isolation more often than LeBron or Kobe. HELP THE MAN! Get him some stuff that he doesn’t have to turn himself into a pretzel to get! Move the ball and move bodies instead of just standing around! Yeah, I know, you’re sick of hearing that. But the problem is, you’re going to get even more sick of watching it in the future.

– The Blazers used 10 players by halftime. Damn, 10? This is supposed to be time to shorten the rotation, right?

– Nic Batum was sensational at defending Steve Nash. But Batum is also one of Portland’s best shooters and he got just one shot — with Steve Nash guarding him. And he played only 13:59. What a joke. So often, he exited for Bayless — who gave Nash someone to guard. The entire season, the Blazers never figured out how to use Batum’s length to challenge Nash. What a totally wasted opportunity. Instead, we saw Bayless trying to take him to the basket — which the Suns finally figured out how to stop. Man, just have a big man drop off his man and go block the shot — Bayless isn’t going to drop the ball off to anyone, he’s just going to try to force something up.

– Greg Oden? Bizarre. That’s all I can say. We’ll have more time to talk about it this summer, but man, this kid has a long way to go.