Oden has 10 fouls in two games. Joel has 11. Aldridge has 9. Why? Oden is a foul machine, as much as we wish he was not, but why are all three of them consistently fouling? Are they fouling their own men? Players that have beaten other players off the dribble? Offensive fouls? It's so early that it's tough to pick up patterns, but I was just struck by how all three of our big guys have been in foul trouble so often... Ed O.
Some of those fouls have been of the offensive variety (illegal screens, charges, etc.) so I'm not really sure if there is any kind of "pattern" yet, but my guess is that it's a combo of the refs having not called any preseason games and the Blazers inability to cut off dribble penetration on a consistent basis by wings and guards -- my guess is that they are being asked to play goalie more than they should and because of it are picking up more touch fouls inside.
Yep Nik hit it right on the head. Its been a combination of offensive fouls and guards not stopping their guy on D. Basically the last few years, our bigs have been set up for failure by the guards not clogging the lanes. It hasn't changed this year, we haven't done anythign to address it. I noticed last night that Rudy actually did a better job guarding the speedy Denver PG then Blake or Miller did. He used his length to cut them off, and was smart enough to cheat over the screens with Lawson because he can't hit from the outside.
Joel's have been more puzzling to me. Joel is just standing there, setting a screen and the other guy just flops into him and gets a call. These refs are buying into acting way too much, and some of our players do that, too. It's just way too frustrating to watch sometimes.
Holy shit, if I could remember and count the times Blake was torched by Brooks and Billups, you'd be able to understand why our bigs are in foul trouble. Blake is TERRIBLE on the perimeter. Last year I wasn't really watching that as much, until we hit the playoffs, but this year after spending all summer w/you guys talking about defense, etc, I am honing in and paying special attention to it. and wow, he sucks at man-to-man defense against quick guys.
It's not just Blake, as much as you'd like to blame cancer and the Hindenburg on him as well. Miller has had his share of problems not to mention last night leaping up twice into shooters. Joel's foul level is unusually high in the first couple of games. That needs to get rectified because I don't see Oden lasting more than 20-25 mins a game the way they blow the whistles on him.
It is multiple things... Yes our guards, (Miller, Blake) struggle keeping their man in front of them. Another thing is our Wing players do an atrocious time taking the defender into a pick. Many of our moving picks come because the ball handler leaves room for the defender and the Screener has to step out to try and catch the defender.
It's because refs dont call the games how they should be called. They have bets, games and bullshit like that like to see who will call the first foul, how long they can go without calling a foul, shit like that. Bet you they had a bet who can call the first foul on Oden and get him out of the game.
Hey I like Blake. I'm not saying he's the cause of all our problems. He totally blew it last night, but he's also won us some games. Problem is, Nate in that situation, you don't throw him in at that point in the game cold. Now in regards to the defense, more often than not, I see Blake/Miller lose their guy on the drive. Moreso Blake than Miller. at least in the last two games.
Miller has never been a good defender. Blake simply doesn't have the foot speed to keep up with quick PGs, nor is he big enough to post them up. I would think Bayless could stay in front of these kind of PGs, but last year he was smoked too. I thought when Nate put Rudy on Lawson, Fernandez had just enough footspeed, in conjuntion with his length, to do a decent job on him.
Nene has fouled out both games! Haha. Martin managed to only get three his first game, so he's sitting at nine... Ed O.
I noticed that too. If Rudy can play that kind of defense I wouldn't mind shipping Blake to Phillie for a Cheesteak and starting Rudy at the point. At least Rudy can get LMA and Oden the ball down low. I think part of the deal with Oden and Przybilla racking up so many fouls can be attributed to something Donaghy said: (I paraphrase here look up DaRizzle's post if you want the exact quotes) "The NBA doesn't like defensive stoppers, anyone slowing down Superstars is targetted for example Raja Bell." You have to wonder. I kept hearing the announcers say they wanted more from Oden on the Offensive end. If you give any credence to what Donaghy said then it's just one more reason to develop Oden's offense in actual game situations. When Oden starts scoring more he will get more calls. I think this is virtually axiomatic.
LOL where did you get your avatar? Hillarious. Again I wouldn't fire Nate unless we could get Brown, Poppovich, Jackson, Thibedeau, Stan Van Gundy or possibly his brother.
