They should have played zone, they should always play zone. You can make a decision in man-to-man defense like putting Aldridge on Durant and even if it is a good move, one pick and the defense rotates and it's no longer Aldridge on Durant. If you play team defense the control is in your hands and the offense has to adjust. Sometimes, good teams like the Thunder would be able to score on you, it wouldn't be all 18-2 runs like in the first 3 games, but you have to realise that zone makes the other team work harder, gives opportunities to intelligent help defenders like Camby/Batum become dominant, lets players like Rudy/Andre roam the passing lanes for steals and, if the rotation is good, the other team would be turning it over a lot anyway. I'm not making it up, it's what happened when the Blazers played zone this year. And when they don't play zone? well, if they're something like +60 (at least) when playing zone and are just 6-4, I'm guessing they have a minus-rating when playing man-to-man and I just can't understand why it's still the preffered defense by Nate. Also, I think Wesley Mathewss is now officialy in the Jerryd Bayless/Martel Webster dog-house. The former two players in the dog-house are no longer with the team. Someone yelled at me he shouldn't be a 3rd stringer in another thread (because he's high-priced. who cares?...) but I think he should be getting end of the bench minutes. He's not very good at anything on offense, and this is an offense based on talent and creativity. You are either able to create (Roy, Andre, Armon, Rudy, even Camby from the top of the key) or you should at least be able to knock the open shot. Or, if you're Joel/Greg, the close-range basket. Or if you're Camby, the put back. When I'm speaking of a complimentary-player on offense, I'm speaking of Batum. Someone who might not be "great" at anything in particular but is at least above-average in almost everything. Wesley Mathewss is below-average at almost anything. Dante's offense is limited but there's that mid-range shot he's great at, he shoots it at a very high precentage, and is smart enough to know his limitations, stand where he's a threat and for 3-4 times a game, knock that shot. Dante is also a better defender than Mathewss. Wesley Mathewss could maybe succeed in a very well-structured offense, when he's playing next to probably the best PG in the business in Derron Williams and for Jerry Sloan who's well-known for getting the most out of his players. But even Utah wouldn't match our offer! I don't want to see Camby, Batum, Rudy, Roy and - Mathewss late in 4th quarter and I don't care what the reason is. He shouldn't be playing when Armon, Andre, LMA are on the bench. If the reason is what we're paying him, that's even more rediculous! Rudy and Armon are playing for a tenth of what he's getting and are ten times better, Dante is playing for a tenth of what he's getting and is 5 times better, Batum plays for a tenth of what he's getting and is 20 times the player. Wesley Mathewss' salary could be seen as Paul-Allen-Charity as far as I'm concerned, at least until he starts playing MUCH better. For at least the next 20 games, I don't want to see him playing in 4th-quarters (in a perfect world it'll be 2nd-halves) of non-blowout games.
I'm surprised there's not as much McMillan blame around here... There is no reason Batum and Miller shouldn't have been in the game at crunch time. Hate to say it, but Roy's defense late was one of the reasons we lost this game. He was getting blown by at will. 5 rebounds by the teams starting PF is brutal as well.
Batum should have been in my the 6 minute mark. Rudy was playing well, but Batum was our leading scorer.
I'm over it. This team has had so much bullshit lately with Roy's knee, Oden's unknown status, and the ups and downs of our bench. I have already said my peace about McMillan. There's only so many times you can complain about his rotation or his offensive sets. His handling of Batum is standard, so there's really no reason to bitch and moan. I genuinely think this team has reached as far as it can with McMillan at the helm, so until they replace him with a new coach, I have accepted our fate.
