I wonder where Batum's 10 extra minutes should have come from last night. Matthews? Roy? Miller? Rudy? Johnson?
Phil wants to be like Nate. There is a reason he diagrammed the last play of the game for Blake. All these years, Phil sitting there, seething and plotting. How can I be like Nate. How. How. and then - Boom. The sky open, the violins sing, the fat ladies are, well fat - and KP sends Blake to Phil, only, because of a mistake he ends up a Clip instead of a body of water. It's magic, you know.
lol@Comment From Martin Do you agree with Simmons' comment that Portland fans are like "soccer moms" in their evaluation of their players? John Hollinger: I got multiple soccer mom tweets from Portland fans last night. It's like they're proud of it now. via Hollinger chat... http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dimelive-101027/daily-dime-live
With respect, and I've watched a lot of L*kers games since moving back to SoCal 8 years ago, but he does do it. You must not have seen it. But I would argue he doesn't do it as often since his team as currently constructed doesn't have the kids we do that need it. But I agree that Phil's style is largely different in that he largely let's guys go out there and make mistakes and pay for it, then goes back in practice and let's them know if they keep doing that they'll keep paying for it. He does chew asses in game as needed though. And I'm not recommending you watch more L*ker games. Nic shot that ball wayyyy too early in the clock, even if it was open, and missed. Against the Suns that could be fatal. He needs to use better judgement and he needed to hear it. I've got no complaints about Nate in that situation but I also think comparing his style to Phil's style is unfair based on that one incident.
I watched the slo-mo replay of that pass and I'm still not sure who Kobe meant to send that ball to, Blake or Gasol. It did look a bit like it was for Gasol but was off target and sailed to Blake. Blakey made good. Yay for him. Phil's a hero. All is good in Lala land.
I know a lot of folks that are Blazer fans aren't used to seeing it, but there are guys in the league, when they get going, who can just come down and hit a shot in your face, even from several feet outside the free throw line. Portland has not had such a player in many years. Nic's shot was questionable. But sometimes, a heat check is needed. Because if the heat is on, you need to cook before it is gone.
I Can't imagine nate came down very hard on Batum for taking that 3 since Batum took another one shortly thereafter. Unless the story is Nate ripped into Batum after the game . . . I'm guessing, giving Dwight's stance on Nate, that Dwight is exagerating. What is being missed is one of the biggest "Nater-haters-rant" is Nate is inflexible, yet this thread is about Nate adjusting his roster to what the other team had out there. Is Nate really that inflexible? Also, talking about Phil, seems like he might have his own love affair with Blake playing him 21 minutes and at the end when the game is on the line. Nate has a love affair with Blake, Phil has a love affair with Blake . . . maybe Blake actually deserves PT?
George Karl had a love affair with Blake as well - and for a good reason. He is a good role player. He knows what he can do, what he can't do - and tries to stay within these parameters. The constant bitching in the forum is really no indication of anything other than the forum's prowess at bitching.
Blake is a coaches dream. Smart player, doesn't try to play outside his skillset and puts out effort on D. Hitting a corner 3 is all he really needs to do offensively on that Lakers team.
Hey, I'll give props when props are due. I liked how Nate immediately started the game going after Nash. Batum was really making them pay for that matchup, and it didn't stop when Matthews entered the game either. You'll notice, that Grant Hill/Andre Miller thing didn't work out so well for them this time around. Hill had 4 points and 3 turnovers, while Miller almost had a double double.
Miller completely was a different player in the 4th quarter last night than he was earlier in the game. He did a great job of initiating a passing offense instead of standing in one spot pounding a nail into the floor with the ball. If he plays like he did in the 4th quarter the majority of the time, then I'd think hard about trading him at the trade deadline, if that is part of Cho's plan.
Sorry, are you saying you would trade him or you wouldn't? I think it depends most on how the team is doing by the trade deadline and what's available. Or maybe how well Armon Johnson is playing? If we're winning, I'd hope that Cho would leave the team alone. At worst, we can always pick up his option and trade his expiring contract NEXT season.
