In Summary: List the flaws of this blazers team.

List the Blazers woes.

 

No depth
Old + young doesn't work too well
traded away all of our talent/depth for nothing ("addition by subtraction") to open up playing time for others, which hasn't worked out
Marquee players scared to shoot
Point guard is the most agressive offensive player
No backup Power Forward
No toughness down low
No low post offense whatsoever
Too many rookies/green players that seem to be learning the ropes
2 centers injured

 

Predictable, tired ass system on both offense and defense. AKA -->

 

We need a Center for that ^^^^ offense. We have no Center.

a la Orlando

 

Portland's two best players would thrive in opposite systems.
B-Roy slow it down half-court.
LMA uptempo game.

B-Roy has been counted on for too much for too long and it has worn him down faster then you can say Dwane Wade.

Portland's whole strategy for winning rests on the shakey knees of our center. You may pick which ever of the two you want.

Everyone not named Roy or LaMarcus (and to a lesser degree now Armon Johnson) plays scared since they know making a mistake sends them to the bench. When players go all out sometimes they screw up. Nate should encourage effort more then being careful. He does the opposite so he gets an overly careful team full of players overthinking every possession.
If anything this is my least favorite facet of the Nate Era. Players being tenative at almost all times. Sucks to watch and fails in the long run.

 

Nothing is wrong, everything is just peachy.

 

Durability.

Oh, and durability.

 

injuries
A star with real limitations
PG with 3-pt ability
Coaching is stagnant (not creative)
Pace
second unit is hit or miss
Starting SF does not get enough responsibility
Too many iso's
Not enough cutting
Not enough ball movement
Pick and roll (pick and pop is fine)
and a ton more but I'm getting tired of listing them all. leave some for others.


I really believe the team will be fine on defense once healthy, so that's just a matter of getting out of a defensive slump and waiting for health. But the offense is so problematic. In the end, I think this falls on Nates head. I think he has been a good coach up till now, but for the team to take the next step, they need a more offensive-minded coach who is willing to innovate.

 

A fickle fanbase.

 

More like unreal expectations. Once I came to terms that this team will be about 54 wins and one and done before the season began, it is much easier to deal with. The team will win some games it shouldn't win. It will lose some games it shouldn't lose. But in the end, we will probably be about where we were the last few years, over 50 wins, and out in the first round. Nothing has changed much from the previous year, or the year before. Just a few role players.

 

Of course were going to have unreal expectations. Shit, every draft pick since Dave Johnson we thought was going to turn to gold. Being a one-trick pony town with huge expectations is going to do that.

Oden coming back is the only real possibility of us competing in the playoffs. But seriously, this place is fucking bi-polar and sometimes I swear people want to spend the whole time patting themself on the back for being right about a player not being good, then they actually want to root for the team.

Too many people forget about 4 years ago when we were a 21 win team. I sure do, I was at every home game, people couldn't even give away tickets for those games.

Now we got fans acting like spoiled little bitches.

 

Listing the flaws or discussing the problems of a franchise does not mean I have unrealistic expectations. I went into the season understanding there would be issues that would hold this team back. I have been right on some, wrong on some. But, that does not mean that the issues can't be discussed.

Nor does it mean that a fan is fickle. I watch every game and root every hard for the Blazers. But that does not mean I am only going to stroke the collective cock of the Blazer organization.

I think that some people are putting too much blame on the fans for voicing their issues with Roy and the team, instead of realizing that these are professional athletes who are paid very large salaries to be in the public eye. People who think they are being paid for their basketball skills alone are incorrect. They are being paid to amuse basketball fans who spend great sums of money on the game. If the NBA were not on TV and played in high-school gyms, even though the level of play remained the same, the players wouldn't make enough to live. They make the money because they are on TV, Media, etc. Part of being in the public eye is that the fans get to analyze, criticize, hyperbolize (not a real word), and simple talk about their team.

 

I wasn't talking about you, you are GOD. Therefore, exempt from my discussions.

 

Yes I suffered through those days too. In fact, that was when I bought my season tickets because I could finally afford them. I don't miss them. Hell I remember one time where the Blazers went 5 games without a fast break point.

It also reminds me of some of the sun jobs that the Blazer PR staff has done. That is why when they sent out the pictures of AJ meeting Steve Nash earlier this year I just knew it was a sun job. It seems to me it was just a couple of years ago Martell Webster was meeting Ray Allen so he could ask him how to become a leader. AJ might turn out alright. But most of the players the Blazers PR staff has done feel good stories like that on have turned out not so good. But hey they put a role player and an all star in the same photo picture, and get the fans thinking that the player is going to be special. Works every time.

 

My expectations are that we play up to our talent level- whatever that may be. Right now, it's hard to do with our top two centers out and playing a SF at backup PF and SG at backup SF. But we're off to an OK start all things considered.

 

Yeah, those are just the "fans" that will just stop following the team when they start losing.