Late-Game Execution

So the two regular season games I've been to this year have been both home losses, where we squandered leads in the fourth quarter. Whats been missing with this team? Is it all on Brandon Roy's absence? Or are they simply not executing?

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2010/11/trail_blazers_go_to_finishing.html

 

It's never a good idea to quarrel with a lead. I blame it on this.

 

Squandered.

 

It's execution. It's always execution. And sometimes it's just plain old missing a shot. It happens.

 

So, if a person is constipated, they may have trouble finishing a game?

 

Somestimes its a bench scrub that gets hot and hits 17 three pointers.

CJ Miles will not do that again for the next two and a half seasons.

 

Why did he happen to get hot against us, but not other teams? Instead of random good luck, was there anything the Blazers did to give him that luck?

And when he kept making them, shouldn't McMillan have made an adjustment? I was yelling at my team--Watch Miles you idiots!!! Then the Nuggets would once again pass it around and he'd be unguarded again.

 

The team has been relying on Brandon iso ball late in the game for years now. It might take a while to actually execute an offense plan where others have to produce in Q4.

Go Blazers

 

The world's worst mis spelling in a post.

 

Yes it's been terribly frustrating to watch. Great execution and ball movement all game long then once we get a lead the execution goes out the window. I really don't think we have a lack of scorers, just a lack of discipline in our late game offense when under pressure.

 

This reminds me of the old John McKay line. When asked what he thought about his teams execution, he replied "I'm all for it"

Another great line was saying his team was only 3 or 4 plane crashes away from the playoffs.

 

Pssst, here's a dirty little secret about the NBA: Most teams don't really play defense until the final quarter of the game.

Without a closer like Brandon (when he's in tip-tip form) there isn't another guy on the team who can command a double team (and deal with it effectively) which means once team's fully key on Lamarcus the well dries up. The catch twenty-two with Brandon was that the team always went to his isolation plays like a crutch throughout the rest of the game and did a whole lot of standing around when they there should have been more movement.

This team isn't abysmal and will probably continue to beat up on the weaker cousins of the NBA, but I wouldn't expect a whole lot of wins against playoff caliber opponents this season if Brandon is on a permanent slide.