It's a good thing Blake happens to be shooting the ball well...because he's doing everything else miserably. Blake has recently run the point about as well as Webster would (w/o the defense). I'm so sick of our terrible first half of third quarters and start to games (exception at the start tonight). It's so clear the Blake just contributes almost nothing and motivates no one to move on offense because he doesn't reward them. Even though Nate stubbornly runs isolation plays into the ground, the players still move when Sergio comes in (tonight they didn't happen to make shots or catch the ball when he passed it though). Now obviously Lamarcus has plain sucked lately, Greg's struggled, and Outlaw's gone back to Mr. Stagnant, but can't we attribute a little of all three to Blake never getting the ball to anyone for easy buckets. Nate needs to step up the motion, Lamarcus needs to grow a pair, and Greg needs to become the player he's supposed to be, but does anyone else just feel sick of stagnant Blake ball? I agree there's blame all around, Roy hasn't been doing anything but isolation lately either, but why not mix it up once in a while and let Rudy handle a little (instead of being a fixed spot up shooter), is anyone else longing for the Houston Rockets game Rudy running around Artest? All this to say: It's a shared blame, but having a PG who gets out more in the open court and makes more aggressive passes in the half-court could help us. Conley's value is extremely low, and he's working with a team full of guys who have no idea of how to do anything other than score 1 on 1 with no post threat (of course he looks bad), is it the right time to make a move for him. I would imagine Blake, Outlaw, and Diogu for Conley and Walker (expiring) would work out, would you guys make the trade now? I really think we could use someone to feed the post and get our guys some easy buckets, he has chemistry with Greg, it would consolidate some guys, and KP was supposedly very high on him pre-draft and rumored to be pursuing him with Outlaw already. We'd still have plenty of depth: Conley/Sergio/Bayless (of course combined it's really only 30 mpg with Roy and Rudy) Roy/Fernandez Webster/Batum Aldridge/Frye/Randolph/Walker Oden/Pryzbilla/Lafrentz The 1 spot is very inexperienced, but the SG is always the leader on the floor for our team anyways, Conley has better handles and leads the break better than Blake anyways (two main things we need out of a PG), and I'm willing to learn through some aggressive mistakes, rather than passive hesitation basketball (where we just look at Roy). Of course I'd still rather go: Bayless, Blake, Outlaw for Nash, but I'm not sure Phoenix is ready for that yet...
Not in love with Conley's game at all. I don't know if his suckiness is just a result of being poorly coached and used inappropriately or not, since I would rather stick a hot poker in my urethra than watch a Memphis game, but the fact remains that he is sucking a big fat one right now and I'm not sure what value there is in adding yet another insanely young point guard to our roster. Blake and Sergio at the point may not be all-world, but it's been pretty steady so far. If there's going to be a trade please for the love of god, let it be for a veteran, legit starting quality, point guard.
Conley has been unimpressive this season but Mike has a lot of potential. He has Tony Parker quickness and is a good leader. His trade value is at an all-time low, he may be worth a shot.
I was never impressed with Conley and was shocked to see him shoot up the draft board projections late that year...then taken 4th. He may have PG skills, but they were surely inflated, playing with a beast like Oden in college. I hope we stay away from him.
Sergio is definitely improved from last year...I think we have to stick with him and let him continue to develop. Dude's only 21.
I like what I see in Sergio. But his offense will hold him back. He can't shoot to save his life and is not a good finisher at the rim. Same problem Telfair has, except Sergio is by far a greater playmaker.
Maybe Sergio should think about re-inventing his jumpshot? It's like he's throwing up laser beams out there.
Didn't he spend the summer working on it? Lot of help that did. I think it's too late for him to develop a consistent jumper at this point.
with Conley and Oden in the second unit? Sergio/Roy/Batum/Aldridge/Pryzbilla Conley/Rudy/Webster/Frye/Oden with Roy/Rudy closing and Sergio/Rudy getting quite a bit of burn
I was high on Conley heading into the 2007 draft and was hoping we could move Jarrett Jack for the 10th or 11h pick and grab him. That was before he shot all the way up to being a top 4 pick. He has been underwhelming so far, but learning to be an NBA PG takes time, especially when you have weak jump shot. Teams will back off you, clog the passing lanes and dare you to shoot. Anyone remember all the "Gary Payton is a bust" talk his first two seasons in the league? It wasn't until he spent a summer with Tim Grgurich working on his jump shot that Payton became a solid NBA PG. Conley is in a similar situation. His rookie number weren't that far off Payton's (more points, fewer assists, similar PER). The difference being Payton was a 4-year starter at Oregon State and Conley played just one year of college ball. He still has the potential to develop into a solid NBA PG, but he's a long way away and it will take time. He's been playing better lately, but it still very inconsistent, which is typical for a young PG. He certainly isn't ready to start for the Blazers. So, trading Blake (plus others) for him would hurt our play-off chances this season. So, while I haven't given up on Conley, I'm not sure a trade of him for Blake makes sense right now. Blake is solid, knocks down the open shots, hands the ball to Roy and gets out of the way and doesn't make stupid turnovers. Not exactly a Hall of Fame resume, but you know what you're getting from him every night and that might be better short term than an up and down young PG like Conley. BNM
I think you forgot that Roy currently plays PG for us. No one worries about starting a rookie SG, everyone frets about a rookie PG. our SG plays PG so it's not a big deal. It just means we rely on Roy and Rudy a lot, as is if either goes down already we're in trouble.
In which case, Blake, who can hit on open jumper when the defense collapses on Roy, is a better fit than Conley, who can't. So, I still don't see why we should trade Blake for Conley. If it's so Conley can be our PG of the future, I don't see that either. Bayless has all the same strengths as Conley, plus he's 2" taller and a year younger. I'd rather keep Blake and count on Bayless as out PG of the future. Trading for Conley would hurt us short term and he'd be redundant long term. BNM
Conley's strengths are ballhandling, court vision, and pushing the tempo, Bayless is terrible at all three. Plus I don't think Memphis would have a strong interest in Bayless w/Mayo there, we could probably keep him. The rumor I hear about Bayless is that (in addition to pt situation) he hates Portland and would like to play in Miami, but I'm not banking on it. However... Bayless/Raef/Blake/Outlaw for Marion/Livingston/Conley Warrick/Conley for Blake/Outlaw Marion/Livingston for Bayless/Raef/Warrick sounds alright to me...
There's an extremely low chance Sergio will improve his shooting at this point...you either have it, or you don't. I don't know what the hell his problem is, but he just can't shoot for shit. I had high hopes for him his rookie year, but now I think I've gotta face the facts: Sergio sucks ass at shooting and will never be any better.
No!!!! Why trade someone who is kicking ass???? Blake needs to stay. You will miss him when he is gone.
Saying Blake was the reason for our lackluster performance last night is way off the mark. Aldridge, Outlaw, and Oden were the primary reasons we didn't play well, not Blake.
bad shooters their first couple of years in the league: Stockton Hornacek Glen Rice Paul Kidd (still) etc etc etc teams that draft "shooters" end up with very 1 dimensional players, he's 22, give it some time, these guys don't have tons of practice time during a season with all the travel. The nice thing about our second half being so light is we'll get lots of practice/rest/going over sets time and be real ready for the playoffs (in theory).
