What's amazing is, watching the game and seeing Blake on the floor, you just don't think too much about him. I didn't see how he was a value on the team, yet here he is again, getting big minutes and the team wins. Just some really weird shit if you ask me. I really don't know how to explain that blake playing significant minutes actually makes us a better team? Mind boggling.
It was weird; perhaps he was in there for his "perimeter defense", and his ability to hit the "long ball", and lastly his ability to "defer".
Yeah I mean even when you see the 82games.com per, having Blake in the line-up is our best chance of winning. Even when his shot isn't falling. I keep looking at that, watching the games, and try to figure out why it is. It's just an anomaly.
I don't get it either; I really don't. I think getting rid of Blake is our best bet, specially when Rudy comes back. replace Blake with Rudy last night and imagine that.... ;o)
Roy got his minutes, Bayless got his minutes, Webster got his minutes. What is the issue? He fought through screens playing solid defense, he help spread the floor, he hits some open threes that helped us come back in the 4th. Not sure who else you wanted in there. He was playing well so Nate left him in. I agree as a play maker he is not good. But with Roy and Bayless in there he was effective.
Could be honestly. When you see him on the floor, he's not doing too much. I've seen some games when he looked awesome on the floor. Hitting shot after shot and playing some solid D, but I always remember the times when the game is on the line, and he freaks out. I think this is fool's gold, IMO. He is good when we aren't in some playoff or BIG GAME. Which could be misleading. Just keep watching the Houston series and see how badly Blake handled the pressure.
I didn't believe you so I had to check the box score. He really did play 38 minutes. 9 more minutes than Bayless. Huh. I'm trying to think of another time a player has logged that many minutes and been completely invisible. If you'd told me he'd logged 15 minutes I would've believed you. I don't know that he's a "glue guy" so much as a "I kind of stay low and don't screw up and before you know it the game is over and I've played 38 minutes" guy. I'll call that the "parsley guy" for short. When was the last time you complained to your waiter that there was too much or not enough parsley?
I saw him hit 4 3s and play decent defense on both Nash and Grant Hill in the 4th quarter. I'm not sure how that is "invisible". I did notice how bad Andre Miller was in his 18 minutes. 1 more minute from him and Portland may not win the game.
What is nice about Blake is he doesn't pout or whine when he gets benched. He just rolls with it, comes off the bench and does his thing. It turns out his thing (defense, ball movement and playing off Roy) is needed on this team right now.
Both guys shot well over 50%, combining for 36 points, for the game. Nash racked up 13 assists. I know Blake wasn't guarding both guys all the time, but it didn't seem to me like he was a huge factor on defense. I'll have to re-watch the game and see if I was just missing something. The 12 points on threes were nice, though. I guess they just got overshadowed in my mind by the 56 points put up by Bayless and Roy.
Not only that - at one point he did such a good job fronting Channing Frye that he drew an offensive foul on Frye. Credit where it's due - Steve Blake played a very good fourth quarter.
True, I saw that. I just don't think its worth continually burying Bayless in favor of these random efforts we get from Blake and in some regards Miller.
Blake was fine last night. Bayless and Roy were drawing a ton of attention which kept guys from closing out on him which opened up his three point shot, and for once he rewarded the team by hitting shots he should be able to hit. The only trouble is, he was basically a 6'3" small forward last night, with Martell a 6'7" power forward. It worked, but I'm not so sure that's a lineup I'd like to see again. All I know is that if you could move Blake or Miller (I don't care which at this point) in combination with another player or two and get a defensive minded small forward with a nice outside stroke and good intangibles (another glue guy if you will) then I think this team should pull the trigger, and if not a pure 3, then a flex forward with a similar skill-set would be a good way to go too.
Well put. We are desperate for a 6'8 player with a pulse. Webster was that guy last night, but I've lost hope in him doing that regularly.
Seriously? He doesn't whine because he knows he'll play almost 40 minutes a game even if he doesn't start. And please don't say defense is Blake's thing. AND Ball movement? Unbelievable.
