There was a lot to be disappointed in, and this was one of them. Kenyon Martin is tough, but LaMarcus needs to take the ball to the basket more and draw some fouls, period.
If there is a person who thinks Greg gets one offensive opportunity a game, then there is no reasoning with them. Greg must've got 4-6 looks in the post during first quarter, and appeared to not even want to look at the rim, let alone shoot. As comfortable as a lot of people are with Greg being a larger part of our offense around here, I'm fairly confident (based of his play) that Greg does not want to. He will grow into that role, but he has to be comfortable with it first. This, "Nate only runs 1 play a game for Greg" stuff is total nonsense.
What Roy did this summer, and what LaMarcus did this summer, was negotiate obscenely large contracts for themselves. I guess that's the most important thing.
I dont' give a shit if Denver doesn't want to argue with the ref on their account. All I care about is the Blazers side of things. And who said getting a tech near the end? The best coaches get a tech early in the game when you can make up for it easily and not when the game is on the line. They get it early, and set the tone with the referee's for the rest of the game then, rather than let the refs butt rape them for 3/4 of he game before they get one. As soon as you notice some ref bullshit being continually called, you pull the "go apeshit" trigger and let them know you are not having it. Not 2 minutes left in the game.
That was yesterday. And reasoning with me is tough, I agree. You just have to try to bring it. Are we talking about Houston? That's what I thought PapaG was talking about, and what I responded to. I agree that he was passed the ball, back-to-the-basket, multiple times in the first quarter yesterday, and didn't even look at the hoop. That may have something to do with the fact that his coach told the world yesterday that he isn't in the game for offensive purposes. How much of your confidence is borne from seeing him catch the ball on the move and attack the rim? I submit "None", since it hasn't happened in his 48 minutes played so far this year. Once. "total nonsense"? Let me submit it to you this way: Nate and/or his guards didn't run a single damn play for Oden that involved getting him the ball in a good position to score. If you disagree, please offer some proof. I have the entire DEN game on DVR, I'd be happy to re-take a look. You seem to think that Oden sucks at the back-to-the-basket game against decent-to-good defenders--I agree. You don't seem to think it's a problem that that's the only thing they've tried to run to him. Who has passed him the ball on a roll once all year? Andre Miller, when he was stripped by Lawson. Anyone else? Bueller? Please, someone show me Nate force-feeding his big man. Please!
I've never seen anything to prove this. I recall Phil getting T'd up in games against us, but they rarely win those. I see Don Nelson get T's all the time, but the Warriors almost never win. Do you have a chart or link that correlates early technicals to winning? It would be interesting to look at.
I have said many times I think Oden should get the ball more, just not in crunch time. 4 seconds left in the game is crunch time. Therefore I don't think Oden should have part of the play. Period.
Of course he takes part of the blame. He had a couple of attempts at the hoop that missed. Had he made even one of those the game would have been different. But he doesn't get all the blame. That was a mental mistake by Roy. Oh, and right now he isn't half the player I think he will be. I believe it will be a couple more years before we see that guy on the floor.
I'd like to see people just let the guy develop. I'm very pleased with him, other than the fouls. I see no reason for him to be the primary option on offense. Neither do the Blazer coaches, management, and yes, even Oden himself. The only place I hear the call to do so is on this board, although it appears a lot of it is a tangent argument spawned from the larger "Nate sucks" faction. It seems to me that the people who think they are "supporting" him the most are actually assigning expectations to Oden that he simply cannot live up to at this point. It's a self-defeating sort of support, and instead of recognizing Greg's strengths right now, they lash out at others (Nate, Roy, Blake, fellow posters, etc.)for acknowledging his weaknesses when addressing the "Oden needs the ball" meme.
Last year he was getting 9.6 FGA and 6.2 FTA per 36 minutes. This year he is getting 6.0 FGA and 3.0 FTA per 36. It is very early, of course, but it's sticking one's head in the sand to say that nothing has changed when he has shot so dramatically less often than he did last year, and I think it's silly to state that this is part of a development path. Nate essentially has said they wouldn't make him a focus of the offense, he's not been getting nearly as many shot attempts, and I don't think that those things are independent. Ed O.
http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/10/postgame_video_denver_97_portl.html Greg is clearly shook up about the free throws. This is his first time in that situation EVER.
No. He stepped up to the line and needed to make 1-2, and he didn't. Does this mean the sky is falling? No. But to shield Oden of any responsibility isn't reasonable either.
