Miller was incredible last night. The guy is one of the savviest offensive point guards I've ever seen. He did a couple of up-and-under moves that were just spectacular.
Heresy!! Slander!! Ignorance!! Don't you know anything about NBA basketball!!! I made the same points in my thread "What's Wrong with Roy" and got viciously attacked for it. Watch out, my friend, you are treading on dangerous ground . . .
My issue last night was this. Portland played an uptempo style with player and ball movement the first half, but stopped in the second half. Now I think that's the coaches fault, but I won't argue it because the players could have been at fault as well. Coach/Player decisions that upset me last night 1. Our play at the end of regulation. It was out of a timeout, and obviously the play was drawn up for Roy to go ISO against Durant. That's a bad play call by the coach. Roy held on to the ball too long and was forced to take a bad shot. That is a bad play by Roy. 2. Westbrook killing us on the glass. There were never any adjustments made to combat that, so that's a bad move by the coach. Miller needed to man up and make sure Westbrook didn't get anywhere near a rebound, so that's on the player. 3. Miller shooting too many jumpers. Is that really the best shot we could get? If so, that's on the coach and our offense. Miller knows he is not a good shooter, so as a point guard, you need to take it upon yourself to get into another one of the 3 sets we have. 4. I liked the fact that they kept throwing the ball into LaMarcus for easy allyoops, but other than that, there was no attacking the rim. This is where we miss Bayless IMO. So I thin the coach failed because he didn't have our team attacking and drawing fouls, and I blame the players for not taking it upon themselves to get to the free throw line.
Absolutely loved the ball movement early in the game. Lots of easy buckets and kept OKC working defensively. Do not think I have ever seen that out of this team. Wished I had fallen asleep for the rest of it though. There are plenty of excuses we could use (underhanded, coming off a long road trip) but give Ibaka credit for defending LA and OKC for not giving up.
Should make some great game film and hopefully teach them some lessons, only solace I got leaving the RG last night
Miller took 18 shots last night and made 7 of them while only getting 2 FTA. Plus, Westbrook fucking owned his ass, and Westbrook's rebounding was an embarrassment for the Blazers. Has Miller heard of boxing out? When Westbrook rebounded the missed FT from behind the shooter while Miller stood there picking his nose, I about threw the remote at my 52" HDTV. When your "point guard" has more shots than your All-Star SG, you tend to lose games. When you "point guard" gets thoroughly abused on defense, you tend to lose games. If Miller was "incredible", then Westbrook is the league's MVP.
You only blamed Nate 5 times in this post. You're slowing down, man! What did Nate do right that made you go so easy on him?
You must not have been paying attention to the Jumbotron when that girl in the low cut red shirt started shaking it. She about knocked herself out and they panned away from her immediately!
Most of those bad shots came in the second half when we couldn't buy a bucket. The guy had 10 assists in the first half, only one in the second. What changed?
I see a lot of people pointing towards the offense as the problem. OKC shot over 50% both half's of the game. Portland was out rebounded by double digits. What do you think your chances of winning are when the opposing team scores on over 50% of it's posession's and gets 11+ more posessions than you do? I have said this a thousand times. If you have an efficient offense and out rebound your opponent you will win a majority of your games.
Yea and the crowd started cheering! Tig ole bitties Sure did in the first half, over 60% FG. Not so much second half. Should make a great comparison for the team to see.
He starting dribbling more, shooting more, and passing less. It reminded me of how he played early last season.
He didn't have a great second half by any stretch, but it's pretty hard to dribble more when you don't actually have the ball as much.
Miller took 10 shots total in the second half and overtime. He made 4 of them. 10 shots without having the ball as much, and that's a good thing?
I've noticed that when things start to stagnate, and nobody is stepping up, that's when Miller kicks on his offense and starts jacking up shots. It's like he feels he has to shoulder the scoring when nobody else is. I'm not saying it's a good thing, but at least SOMEONE was trying to score when the team was ice cold.
Bingo. He looked to pass it to Roy down the stretch and Roy either didn't get himself open or passed it right back. At this point there's like 10secs left on the shot clock and Miller has to try and create something. Roy needs to step up and takeover and not put his team in a bad position on offense. My favorite is instead of taking a shot with 5secs left on the shot clock Roy will pass to Camby or Miller who then take a 18ft jump shot. Really, Roy?
Roy has publicly stated 2 years in a row (maybe 3) that he wants the ball in his hands more. That's nice for his personal stat line, but it's a selfish demand from someone who needs to learn some humility and realize there are several players who are far better ballhandlers and setup men. Until Roy embraces the concept of moving without the ball, learns how to catch and shoot on the run, plays lockdown defense, and trusts his teammates, neither he nor the team will reach their true potential. We'll never challenge for a title until/unless he matures in this manner.
I agree it's always been Roy that is dragging us down but this is still all on Nate as the coach who decides who plays, who gets the ball, who calls the plays...
