Who steps up!!!??? I'm sorry for ROY but he's well paid and he's lived the NBA dream, he'd have had bad knees regardless, he's just got 80 million dollars to ice um up with! How he got maxed with knees like those is baffling but hey let's move on... We've done it with Sam, missed Sabonis's best years, ODEN out and now ROY soooooo...... Which Blazer will see this as a Golden Opportunity and make the most of it? I could see a real special triangle being made with an ODEN who will feel needed again with LA and Batum... I'm betting on Batum starting to shine.... If Oden pans out with the way LA is playing we are right back in it.....
I'm not sure anyone on our team has the disposition to fill the shoes of Brandon Roy. The only person who comes close is Rudy, but he doesn't have the skills.
Like last season, when Roy missed time, I'm guessing Andre Miller will pick up a lot of the slack as the attacking guard. Batum has already shown more aggression than previous years and I hope keeps it up.
Batum is basically a 17 ppg scorer now if you throw out the two games where Nate inexplicably played him for 17 and 13 minutes. That's at 30 mpg. I think it's time for him to take the next step up and be a 35 mpg guy who gets 16-18 shots/night. Hell, maybe more. When you have a wing shooting .508/.385, it's time for him to take more shots. He's almost being too efficient, taking only extremely high probability attempts. Without Roy we really don't have that luxury.
I'm thinking, no. KP wanted to give Roy the full 5 years and Vulcan was miffed so they took the negotiations over and Larry Miller actually signed Roy- to the same 5 year deal. So if it's a reason for a firing, Larry Miller would have gone as well. My thinking is that the team had fair knowledge of Roy's knees, but felt he was obviously still serviceable enough to give 5 more years at a fairly high level.
I think he's a guy like Rasheed was who could be forced to take a lot of shots if the coach made him, but isn't naturally inclined to do so. Travis Outlaw also kind of used to be that way, so you have to be a little careful how much you push. When I get impatient with how Batum is being used, I always try to remind myself of Outlaw. Nate has invested a lot of time in forcing Batum to focus on his defense early in his career, but it is an investment. He'll always be a good defender. Outlaw doesn't even try, and never really did once he discovered his jump shot.
I'm just wondering if it's an age thing... or if it's because he grew up playing ball in Europe. I think "team" is emphasized more over there, am I wrong? Here we have kids who are the best player on their team, whether it's middle school, high school, or college, and they tend to be the entire offense. I remember when Chris Rodgers played at Wilson, he WAS the offense. I never got to see Damon play, but I imagine it was much the same.
Maybe. Pau Gasol spent nearly his entire NBA career at around 19 ppg, when he clearly had the talent to score more. (He did 23 ppg last year.) Ginobili was never a volume shooter. You have to remember Batum is only 22. At that age Nowitzki had started to ramp up to 21 ppg. That was Brandon Roy's first year in the league, and he was only a 17 ppg scorer. It's a little early to say if Batum will forever be a Shawn Marion-like opportunistic scorer, or a franchise-caliber player. I think the only way to really know is to feed him 16-18 shots a night and see what he does.
I'm just wondering if that score-first mentality is something that's driven into the minds of American kids from a young age...
Batum may not be naturally inclined to look for his own shot, but I think if he's instructed to take a lot of shots, in an offense designed to get him those shots within the offense, he'll take them. He'll never be a "Give me the damn ball and get out of my way, I'm taking this thing over" guy. But I think he can be a "The team is successful with an offense designed to get me 15+ shots, so I'm going to take them" guy. The only question is whether the team IS more successful putting the ball in Batum's hands that much. I think it's quite possible, because he seems like a smart guy who makes good decisions and plays within a team concept. So I doubt giving him the ball a lot would backfire. Hopefully he has the talent to keep scoring at a good efficiency when defenses focus on him. Remains to be seen.
Yeah, I hear you. I play some hoop down at the Y and I seem to be the only guy out there passing or setting screens. I think it throws people off, including teammates. But then I'm a really lousy shot with no athleticism. I've figured out that the only way people are going to pass it to me is if they expect me to pass it back.
I think it is and part of the problem is the 3 point shot. Before that was the "it" thing, players were much more well rounded. Now, when I watch kids play all they do is launch long shots.
Damon had Aaron McKinnie (sp?), one of the best players in the state, to share the load. Maybe a 60/40 split. Of course, Damon improved tremendously the next year at Arizona. I don't think many people expected him to become that good that quick.
Actually, I think both Miller and Matthews have the ability to drive to the hoop and make things happen. I'm looking for both of them to step it up.
The key players: - L.A. will have to have a solid game (read: be aggressive). Expect an above-average 20 and 10 from him for a win - Miller will be Miller. - Batum and Rudy both move well without the ball, and this will be key in a Blazer win. - The biggest question mark is Wes Matthews. He doesn't deserve to be starting and we all know it; proving us wrong would be a wonderful, much-needed, and (frankly) overdue surprise.
My cousin used to date Damon's best friend and was good friends with him. Went to middle school with him and everything. She always tells good Damon stories during the holidays. I guess he was a big time punk.
Totally.... Funny side story, when Greg Oden was at 24 Hour Fitness and I was playing on his team, we LOST because the other idiots on the team were jacking up threes instead of giving the ball to Greg and getting out of the way. Hey, Greg Oden is on your team, what are you going to do? I'm going to jack up some threes!!!!
