I present this Dwight James piece which I think is a pretty realistic assessment, although I still think that bringing in someone who has free rein to work on fundamentals (especially on the defensive end) could fix the problem without firing Nate. I think Cho should insist on this. Jaynes criticizes. the lack of preparation and adjustment by the coaches. He also talks about the roster deficiencies, lack of bigs and shooters; and he talks a little about individual defiencies, specifically Rudy and Matthews. http://www.csnnw.com/pages/dwightjaynes I especially like his analysis of defense: Because Portland, for years now, has not had a proficient defensive system that allowed players to know where help is coming from and how to deny opponents the positions on the floor they want. This has been a constant. I don't agree that Adelman or Dunleavy would be the answer to this or other coaching problems
Jaynes: "blah, blah, blah, Nate sucks, blah, blah, blah, everyone other NBA team does except Portland as they suck, blah, blah, blah, where's my vodka as I have more to write, blah, blah, blah..." Thanks, Dwight, the same ol' crap you've been dribbling out your ass as the last so many years. It's part and parcel why Portland has the worst sports media in the United States, hands down. So, Dwight, every team needs bigs, huh? And we never have, huh. Well, I seem to recall we have/had a couple of players named Oden & Joel. Both sustained injuries and I'm sure that's the fault of Nate and Blazer management. We had try outs, signed a few bigs and did what any other team could have done. But all we could get were scrubs from the d-league. Just like anyone else. And tell me Dwight, what coach could have made the playoffs 2 years running losing over 50% of his starting lineup foe either the entire season or a large part of it? Dwight, a kind word for you is moron. We did the best we could with what we had. It's so damn easy to just say the team wasn't prepared, but do not forget, each season in the playoffs we lost to a better team. A better team, Dwight, a better team- a team seeded higher. So every year it's the same crap. "Portland needs to get 9 all-star players and an all time great coach or else management sucks. Well, that's fine Dwight, but last I checked Miami isn't trading LaBron for Babbitt and we're not getting Howard for Patty. YOU may think we can, but I have some bad news for you that you'll have to filter thru your scotch & tonic soaked brain. Ever wonder why only 1 team wins the title each year, Dwight? Rotate on it for a while. It's a heavy thought. And as for this year's playoff series, you seem to forget we won game 1 in Dallas but due to unexplainable poor reffing, we were denied the win. We would have been playing for the series the other day. That makes us a shitty team???? Can we make improvements? Of course. But for a team that has been unarguably the most unhealthy in NBA history over the last two years, we have done good things. Very good things. We're a consistent playoff team- which is more than can be said for the majority of NBA teams. If we get a bit more healthy, make 2 decent trades or so to shore up some areas and find a shooter, we're a legit title contender. So back off Dwight. Keep pumping booze in your laptop and maybe try writing something different. You know, something you understand.
What Dwight is saying is that there are many fundamental problems with the offensive and defensive system Nate runs. Are you really disagreeing with that?
Dwight is a complete idiot. Saying something that isn't idiotic doesn't negate his idiocy. The dude is a shit thrower and I think he is actually mixum.
Yes. Look, we're better than 70% of the other teams, on a par with 15-20% and behind 10-15%. And we're that way with the amount of injuries we've had. Hows in the world does that mean we have a crappy offense & defense???????? It tells me that with 2-3 starters, missing our top 2 players, some scrubs and a few d-leaguers Nate's offense & defense is better than than 70% of the league. What am I missing here? Because if we had a healthy Roy and healthy Oden all season, both seasons, we'd be one of the top 2 or 3 teams. And that's with Nate's offense & defense. Then Dwight would be slurring out how great Nate's offense & defense is.
If we had a healthy Drexler and Walton all season, both seasons, we'd be one of the top 2 or 3 teams. Nate is paid to get the most out of the current roster, not a hypothetical roster. If it was just a question of the defense, you might have a point. Totally shutting down a team like the Mavs is a tall order. On offense, however, the Blazers frequently looked pathetic against a very mediocre defensive team. The coach doesn't get a free pass for that.
I like Jaynes. He attracts opponents because he's always critical of his own team. He doesn't offer Xs and Os expertise. But he intuitively knows what needs to be changed. Change the coach and maybe the underperforming players will improve. If they don't, well then you move them too. But in pro sports, you don't rest and rely upon hope. Constant change, both roster and coach.
