Ass clown thinking of starting Matthews over Batum permanently

Agreed. I wish we could see this lineup for at least one or two games, but I cannot see Nate making such a bold move. I'm also unsure how Brandon would respond to this.

Now seems like the perfect time to try such an experiment (team losing, Roy needing rest, . . .).

 

It's really hard to get a feel for Brandon's attitude right now. He might welcome it, or he might throw a tantrum. It's hard to say how a three-time All-Star will react to coming off the bench, regardless of whether he's injured.

 

Oh Shit.... It has "officially happened"

pdxtrailblazers

Breaking news: Wesley Matthews will start in place of Nic Batum tomorrow night. More coming soon on www.blazers.com
6 minutes ago via Echofon

 

pdxtrailblazers
Breaking news: Wesley Matthews will start in place of Nic Batum tomorrow night. More coming soon on www.blazers.com
6 minutes ago via Echofon

 

I think I pretty much considered the season to be a smoldering pile of ashes when Oden went down for the season. I don't know why, but for some reason I just don't think this team has another gutty season in them. There's too many good teams to take their place now.

Lakers
Mavs
Spurs
Hornets
Thunder
Jazz
Nuggets

With teams like the Warriors, Suns, and Grizzlies on the bubble. If Denver trades Melo they will probably tank, but it's hard to say when that will happen. I just don't have a good feeling about this season. Is this team just waiting to click, or are they showing major weaknesses that need to be addressed via trades?

 

@pdxtrailblazers:

Fire this idiot now. If he thinks Nic can perform better as a bench player, then he's even more clueless than I had originally thought.

Fuckin panicking. And he's making the wrong player the scapegoat again.

 

Worth a try, but Nate will never do it.

This reminds me a little of the end of the Cheeks era. Damon blows his assignment - Mo hollers at Miles.

 

this team needs a spark off the bench badly scoring wise.

to make the playoffs 5 things will need to happen....

1. beat 90% of lesser teams

2. roy play 80% of season effectively

3. stay healthy

4. trade for a scorer off the bench AND maybe a pf

5. batum career year and stays in starting lineup

 

ed... do you see any of those taking place? percent chances?

 

Choo-Choo? (with defference to mm, LOL)

 

Choo choo is right

 

He's been the starting SF for 2+ seasons now and that's been his tole on offense from day 1. Hard to be aggressive on offense when you coach NEVER calls a play for you. Nic's job is to stand in teh corner, watch Roy drive and get ready for the kick out when the defense collapses on Roy. The problem now is ROY, not Batum is less aggressive. He drives les, and when he does, he no longer commands the same defensive attention he used to. So, fewer kick outs to Noic for open 3s means even fewer shots and less scoring.

Perhaps, since Roy's game has changed it's time to abandon the Roy ISO as the basis for the offense and come up with some plays involving more ball and player movement in the hope of getting other players, like Batum, more involved in the offense.

Don't blame the player. His role hasn't changed. Blame the coach for failing to adjust to the circumstances.

BNM

 

Bingo. This kinda reminds me when Oden was healthy for that good stretch of games and Nate said, "don't worry about offense, whatever comes to you comes". Really Nate? You want one of the most talented Centers in a longtime to be a lunchpale type?

If its not Roy and an ISO, where or where do we go?

 

Call it desperation, but I still want to believe in Batum. He is not, however, a guy who creates his own offense....to be effective, he needs to be part of an effective system.

Frankly, I am really missing Outlaw and Bayless. For all their flaws, they could sometimes get things going when the offense broke down.

 

Don't blame the player? Seriously? Don't blame the player for playing with little effort, missing wide open shots and not rebounding and not playing good defense? Hmmm, K.

The problem with Nic right now is Nic, not McMillan. Batum was playing just fine this season before the last 4 games(2 w/o Roy/2 with). His level of play is noticeably down and it has nothing to do with McMillan unless you think going 2-8 with 5pts and 0 rebounds in 38min is on Nate. If you do then this discussion is over.

edit - Read over the bolded part.

Sorry, the facts don't support your claim here. Before Batum was benched last night he was averaging the 3rd most shots on the team per game. He's taking more shots than ever right now, not getting "fewer shots". I don't understand how you came to the conclusion that Nic is getting "fewer shots".

 

Put Batum in an offense like Utah or SA's and he would flourish. Some semblance of motion offense would be awesome.