Dante's Blazers vs Wade's Inferno game thread

Amen to that. Casspi has been solid.

 

Yes we do. One of our big 3 and two key rotation players out, Roy struggling, Blake can't hit the side of a barn, we're starting a second-round draft pick. This might get a little ugly for awhile.
Unfortunately for Nate, he didn't plan for any of this happening and I'll give him a little benefit of the doubt. He's going to take a ton of heat, but if we were fully healthy, I don't think we'd be struggling like this.

And I don't know if there's a magic formula out there to turn this around when we're trying to find a solution on the fly like this.

 

Roy missing 16 shots is atrocious.

 

But apparently he can hit the side of a backboard which I have seen twice in the last few games.

 

I was at the game. This team is losing it's soul. It's obvious that a trade should have been made. Rudy looks disgusted. I think we should move him, assuming he still has good value around the league.

I know that would cost us our best pure shooter, but he's just not happy or effective (most nights) here anymore. His supporters say he isn't being used right - that he needs the ball more and that he's not just a spot up shooter. Anybody see him fake the 3 last night, take a couple of dribbles and shoot a 10 floater about 6 feet? His t/o's are high for how much he touches the ball. And he's unhappy. He'll never be happy being Roy's b/u, and he can't play PG or SF for more than spot minutes. He might be great for an uptempo team, but other than popping a few 3's he hasn't shown much in half court sets. I say move him while his stock is still high, and frankly before he asks for a trade.

 

That's what happens when you chuck jumpers.

 

Even when he went he went to the basket he stunk. He missed a few of those left handed finger rolls - one of them didn't even draw iron (Oden followed it with a Dunk)

The team struggling isn't all Brandon for sure. But he IS the catalyst. I want '08-9 Brandon Roy back. I don't know who this guy is who's fumbling his handles, missing jumpers, and gets shut down by guys like Monta Ellis. I want to see the guy Ron Artest said there is nobody harder for him to defend. It looks more than mental to me - something looks wrong athletically. It's like watching a guy lose a step in his early/mid 30's only he's 25. Did he ever hang out with Danny Almonte? Maybe we should have checked his Birth Certificate before inking a max contract, because all of the sudden he looks like he's 35 years old.

 

^^ In somewhat of his defense, I did see a ton of contact being drawn and not called; however it was called on the other end for the Heat. The ref's were rather shitty last night

 

You're right blue, but I think part of the reason Brandon isn't getting calls is because he's not really "beating" the defense. Last year, that first step was deadly and the defender often rode his hip to the basket. Easy call. He's not getting by defenders as easily this season (why? I have no clue) so even though there is a lot of contact, the defender is for the most part in decent position.

He did get hammered a few times last night w/o a call though - No doubt.

 

Didn't get to see the replay until late last night.

The offense looked to flow a lot better when Miller was running the point (regardless of whether Roy was on the court or not). Everyone was moving, passing, we had multiple scoring threats.

When Roy was running the point (with Blake at the 2) the offense seemed to stagnate. Everyone just standing around waiting for Roy to do his thing; not much off the ball movement.

Miller looked to create for others, then score. Roy looked to score, then create for others. Both can work, but one is much easier to shut down.

After Oden scored his 13th point with just under ten to play in the 4th; we did not go back to him once, not once! WTF?!

The defence was just bad all around, except Greg, Joel, and Dante. Whilst I think Roy, and Miller is our best backcourt pairing offensively, we’d probably get torn up defensively. Why do we never seem to get back on transition defence?

 

Because they suck at D? Is that too simple of an explanation?

 

What do you mean by put in sooner? Your suggestion for Nate's handling of Oden, which you think was bad, was give him 2-3 minutes of rest in the second half.

Oden sat for a total of 3:17 in the second half. He played the entire 4th quarter. There is no earlier in a quarter than the very beginning. Sorry if what actually happened doesn't coincide with what you felt was going on. It is unfortunate we gave up some easy points in that 3:17. Ideally, Joel comes right in and we "don't miss a beat". Seems like too often this season, however, we are missing that beat. But you can't really expect Greg to play the entire second half. Well, you can, and I wish he would, but he'd die out there, and probably tire out in the 4th, when we need him most. So Nate did what he could. Left him out there the majority of the 3rd. Had to get him a breather, with the knowledge he was going to play him the entire 4th. So he snuck in a 3 minute rest at the end of the 3rd. Brought him back and he played the entire fourth quarter.

 

He certainly looks it. I'm not surprised that he's disgusted. To play within Nates slow down, low movement & clearout iso sytem; must be tantamount to being in a basketball prison camp, for a player with such flair.

Rudy, an olympic caliber player, has been totally shafted within Nates system.

Nate's to blame more so than Rudy imo.

 

I still remember Nate saying he was staying up all night thinking of different ways he could use Rudy and how versatile Rudy could be for the Blazers.

Nate's thoughts never get old. Always good for a laugh.

 

I honestly feel that every single player, with the exceptions of Roy and Blake, have been shafted by Nate's system.

 

How about a head coach who has actually played with a center in the NBA. Or at least coached one before.