I'm a lifelong 'Skins fan and you and TSE are killing me! I have to laugh to keep from crying when I see what Dan Snyder has done to my team.
Blake does one thing well that Miller doesn't--shoot the long ball. You'll note Denver sagged off him and dared Dre to shoot from outside. He didn't disappoint them when he did pull the trigger. We're integrating a lot of new pieces. Blake will eventually be surpassed by Bayless and Miller. However, Roy has to get comfortable with them first.
Your right. But the one thing that I point out a lot is, the best role players on teams know their limitations and play within those and don't try to do too much. Blake tries to do too much. Steve Blake should just be Steve Kerr. Shoot open 3's. He can't finish in traffic. He isn't a great setup guy. He isn't a great lob thrower. Just space the floor and shoot your 3's.
I'm with you on his limitations. However, I think it's the very fact he plays within himself so much that Nate likes to have him on the floor. Blake has had a couple of tough games, but IIRC, he's never been a fast starter.
You know Nate may think that, but every time I see Blake try to do too much on a fast break, I think otherwise. The other thing I would point out is, that when it seems the game is on the line, Blake definitly exits that "within himself" box. It wasn't that long ago that the playoff game against Houston where we were only down by a bucket, that he shot a running 30 footer with 13 seconds left on the game/shot clock when we could have set something up. Just like how last night when he comes in with a tight game and throws a pass to nobody on his first play in. But there have been many games where he hits a spot up 3 at a critical juncture, and all goes well. So I don't buy that "within himself" arguement. I think Steve Blake is one of those players that when the game is fast, furious, and important, he makes bad decisions if asked to do anything else but take spot up jumpers. He panics.
starters Rudy Roy Martell Aldridge Oden bench Miller Blake Travis Nic Joel scrubs Bayless Howard I could see bayless replacing Miller or Blake as a backup in time.
I have been screaming about going big for a long time. Both of the SG have enough PG skills to get it done while they are in together. But I would adjust your lineup by the following guidelines: 1. I would restrict the guard rotation to 3. Miller would be the 3rd guard, and they would split all the minutes unless there was foul trouble. This way they all are happy with minutes, and they are all used to playing togethr at the end of the season, rather than doing what Nate did last year, where Rudy and Roy didn't play together all year for the most part, and then he tries to change it come playoff time. 2. PF off the bench would depend on the matchup. Travis doesn't matchup well if the PF are fast enough to guard him. So I would go with Howard, who is smart and would overpower smaller, faster PF types. If a slow guy is in that can't guard Travis at the perimiter, then I would put Travis in. 3. When is Batum back, can you really include him at this point? 4. If Blake keeps stinking it up he may lose his guard spot to Bayless as a 4th backup.
This is the first year where I've really noticed Blake trying to play above himself in Portland. In the past he knew he just had to be better than Telfair, Jack, Sergio, Boykins, Bayless, etc. He knew that "his game", although very mediocre, was still a lot better than those guys. He came into this season knowing full well that a much more decorated point guard was going to take his job. So it seems he showed up in the best shape of his career (a good idea) and the idea that he was going to out-Miller Miller (a really bad idea). Last year he had a PER of 14.4 (a career high). Kinda crappy, especially given his defense. (Andre Miller is coming off a pretty decent 18.6 PER season). But you know, we could live with that. That 14.4 player is why Nate gave him the starting job. Especially because so much of it came from killing threes. Blake's PER as he tries to impersonate Miller is currently a whopping 2.1. In 47 minutes of total action he's got 5 assists, 3 turnovers, 7 points and is shooting at a .222 clip. He's taken 7 three pointers and made 2. You could chalk it up to a couple of bad games, but he was just as bad in the preseason. Last year two losses were the difference between the 5th seed and the 2nd seed in the West. McMillan has to be feeling the pressure already to yank Blake from the starting lineup. If he has one more game in a row like the ones he's been having, I see him getting shelved.
Using PER as a straight-up comparison isn't exactly fair considering Miller's much higher usage rate last year. I'll be interested to see what happens to Miller's PER as his touches diminish.
Yeah, that's definitely true. My point wasn't that Blake sucks and Miller's good when you look at PER. I just threw that in there as a means of demonstrating how much pressure Blake must have felt going into this season. Miller is on the downside of his career, and yet last year his PER was leagues beyond anything Blake has ever even come close to. Blake seemed to take this threat to his minutes as a personal challenge to overhaul his game. So far the results have been a disaster.
BTW--it's not like Miller is setting the world on fire in his first two games. He's got a PER of 8.8 so far, which is worse than Sergio's worst PER. I'm a big fan of Miller, so it pains me to admit that his overall badness is getting overshadowed by Blake's overall wretchedness. Our point guard situation, supposedly a strength going into the season, is a complete mess right now. It's only been two games, though. I keep having to remind myself that.
Seems to me that, if Nate's giving the running game a 10 day trial, that's about what the trial period should be for Blake starting. Imo, Brandon needs to shit or get off the pot. If he wants the ball in his hands all the time, fine, start him at PG. If he wants to play PG, start him and Rudy together. That is what I've hoped for some time now. If Roy doesn't want that, he should shut up about starting the next best PG, Miller.
Yeah that's what it's really about. I feel like until Roy is comfortable with Miller we ought to try this lineup: PG: Rudy (liked what I saw defending the lightning quick Lawson last night not incredible but he looks like Tayshaun Prince circa 2003 compared to Blake) SG: Roy SF: Martell (Like everything I've seen from "The Definition" this year) PF: LMA (Wake up LMA they almost maxxed you out and the seasons started!) C: Oden I think that team would freaking kill on Offense with two legit 3 point threats (Rudy/Martell), two credible slahsers (Roy and Martell), two creators (Roy and Rudy) and theoretically two post presences (LMA/Oden). I think you have one of the best line ups and Roy is still comfortable. Rudy playing off the ball could be insane once he and Roy gel.
