The offense was smooth as silk against the Knicks. Thank God Oden wasn't there. It's unbelievable, too, how the offense was so impressive in the blowout win against the mighty Pacers. Oden left just in time! Ed O.
It sounds like LA was pouting over not getting the ball to start the game. Roy was pouting about not having the ball in his hands. If Joel all of a sudden starts hustling and playing like last year, we will know he was pouting about not starting. It sounds like Blake was our only happy starter.
We'll see how our boys look in Cleveland tomorrow night. Why Indiana let Brandon Roy and Lamarcus Alridge beat them is beyond me - I guess that's why they are Indiana. The Blazers have two guys that can score of the 9 they suit up these days - most teams are going to make the other 7 guys try and win the game. Roy is going to get more defensive attention now than he's ever seen. Who else do you have to worry about? Webster? Blake? Miller? I'd take my chances with those guys over Roy & Aldridge. Andre Miller was 2-5 on 3 pointers last night? Wow. I'm not sure if I'm more surprised that he shot 5 or than he made 2. I'm sure any team we play would be happy to see Andre shoot 5 3's.
Nothing at all to do with Oden, who played most of last year. Miller's presence/Sergio's absence, and Webster's presence/Travis and Nic's absence are the issues.
I actually would like to know what people expect to happen, because right now if you look at the team, those two guys have to put up near 60 for the team to even have a chance to win. Look around the team and what other guys are averaging. In order for the Blazers to have a chance most nights the facts are Lamarcus and Broy are going to have to put up near 60 to just keep us in the game. When Oden went down I fully expected their scoring to go up. Now the question is, can you live with the lack of defense, the lack of rebounding, the lack of points in the paint. (Outscored by Indiana in the paint last night, and Indiana is 3rd to last in the league in points in the paint.) This was only one game against one of the worst teams in the league without their main go to guy. Try not to ge too giddy.
If the Blazers offense is better without Oden, then the Blazers need a new offense. And a new coach. Roy and LaMarcus don't know how to play with a dominant center like Greg? Neither does Nate. Miller does though. And of course their stats are up -- it's now a two man team. It does appear Joel has been pouting along with them. That surprises me. Greg Oden makes this team significantly better. That is evident from simply watching the games. Greg could help make Roy and Aldridge better too, if they were willing for it to happen. Have fun with your personal glory and more money than god, guys.
Would people please stop with the incessant strawman posts? It's obvious that Roy and LMA are going to have to do the heavy lifting with the roster that we now have. Their stats are going to go up. Yeah, they're probably more comfortable with this type of offense just because they're familiar with it. That doesn't mean that they prefer this situation or that they can't play with Oden. Do you really think that they don't know that their chances of winning a title got a lot smaller when Greg was injured? Didn't you see the looks on their faces when he went down? No Blazer players or fans like what's happened with all of the major injuries. Why does it seem that the way some people around here have of dealing with adversity is to try to kick the rest of our players in the groin?
OK, Greg may not be 'dominant' yet in everyone's book, but Miller clearly knows how to utilize the big man, IMO. So, I'd say, since he came to Portland.
My point is that Miller had no more experience playing with a dominant big man than any of the other Blazers. The only advantage he has is he is viewed as a legitimate PG, which I will give you. He actually did look for Greg. It's moot now. So no use writing up a novel over it.
...I'd be happier than pigs in shit too if I was the 8th best player on the team, but I still got to start every single game despite who deserves it more
I agree with the posters that say this kind of quote is both good and bad. Good because our two main horses got it done when they needed to. Bad because they seem to believe this is a superior way to play in general. The current offense isn't going to win in the playoffs. If when Greg comes back they continue to feed LMA for turn around fade away 15ft jump shots and clear everyone out for Roy to break his man down then they can expect to loose in the first round of the playoffs year after year after year. I am not saying they need Greg to make a change. But they do need to make a change. The no motion, slow pace, no inside scoring offense makes the game far too difficult. Portland literally gets the fewest easy baskets in the league. I have no clue why this could be considered a good thing.
If your theories are right, and Roy can't play with Oden and can't play with any point guard other than Blake, then he's probably too inflexible to be a franchise or cornerstone player, since personnel changes around a franchise player quite a bit. Fortunately, though, I think you're wrong about Roy's inability to play with others.
I think it would just take some time, and a better coach. Look how long Shaq and Kobe struggled in LA before they came together. It wasn't pretty for quite a long time. It took a high end coach to get it done.
True. I prefer to look at life as you can only go forward from where you are today. Or, like Dory says, "Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming...." I just hope Greg can stop breaking himself. In the mean time, I've got to believe the other players will learn and mature and appreciate life with Greg compared to life without him, and that they will resolve to figure out a way to make it work for the better. At this point though, I've lost faith in Nate to be able to adapt his 'game' to implement an offense that effectively utilizes the players he has on his roster. Maybe he will surprise me next year.
I love Sergio, Travis and Nic but if you think this has nothing to do with Oden, you are kidding yourself. Last year he was the clumsy little brother and they didn't have to throw him the ball. This year he showed an offensive game and McMillan decided it might be a good idea to start the offense through Oden and that upset the veterans Roy and Aldridge. Miller had nothing to do with Sergios depature, so I don't see why you have it in for Miller. He never was given the reins to the team and that pisses me off. They could have already figured out how to play together if McMillan had put Blake on the second unit to start the season. That would have changed the course of the whole season. Nothing would have happened the same. Travis may not have gotten hurt, Oden may not be out and Rudy may not have elected for surgery. All because of Nate and Blake.
I agree with you. I don't think Roy is unwilling or unable to adjust his game, I think he just doesn't know how yet and the frustration makes him want to go back to last year when he experienced the best overall personal and team success of his NBA career. I'm not sure McMillan is the coach who can institute an offense with Aldridge in the high post, Oden in the low post and Roy clicking around them. I'd love for Portland to get "their Phil Jackson."
