Baloney. Travis was 1 for 2 in the 1st quarter. That is hardly preventing us from being schooled. It's not the point anyway. Nate showed a lack of confidence in the team by changing the lineup right before the game. That kind of thing seeps into the heads of young players. That is my opinion anyway.
Tells me he should have been shooting more in the first quarter. Perhaps he read all the "experts" on this board who were telling him to pass up shots?
He may have shot more had he, you know, been moving without the ball.......or not been standing around watching people get rebounds. He had a good cross-court skip pass out of a double team that should have been picked off, but he got an assist, so that's good.
Nothing against you PapaG, but I wish you wouldn't take things to the extreme and answer the question. I don't hate Travis. In almost every one of my posts, I've gone out of my way to say that, pragmatically, the results he had last night were ok. I pointed out when he had passes (which he doesn't normally do), I pointed out that he made over half his shots (though he only had, iirc, one layup attempt). I pointed out that yes, he went 2-4 from 3, but there were all from the corner, which is where he was making them last year, and I didn't see any improvement in his range or versatility. I pointed out that he had 2 offensive boards, but MOST OF HIS 35 minutes were spent watching other people get rebounds (as evidenced by his rebound rate and R/40 min stats being 2 less than his averages last year, when most experts said he wasn't adding much rebounding). I pointed out that his true shooting percentages and FG% were well below league averages, in the face of people in here telling me he's a good shooter. I pointed out the pass he made as good for being an assist, but being very risky. Sergio made a pass like that, got intercepted by Lamar Odom, and didn't play again. If Nate's using the "Pragmatism Rule" (if it works to get points, it's good), then he should be fired. I don't think he is, or should be. I've asked this multiple times now, and NO ONE has responded....what did Travis show you tonight to show that he improved one iota from last year? Oh yeah, and in an unscientific sampling of looking at his game logs, Travis had 9 games last year where he shot 60% or higher. He had 13 games where he shot 30% or lower. So yes, this game was, from a points outlook, successful. From an outlook of him improving? No. As long as he's playing like this, he's setting himself up for this volume streak shooting. And that's not the mark of a good player.
Really, the only problem with Travis in the starting line-up is he's a black hole with the ball. Anytime it's in his hands the ball movement stops and Travis dribbles, dribbles, dribbles and shoots a tough angled shot. I like Travis, and I think he has a place on this team, but the Blazers have better options on that starting unit, and Trav has a hard time getting them the ball.
I don't hate Outlaw, but I agree with a lot of what is said. Basically with Outlaw it is like this: Either he is making shots, and useful on the floor, or he is a waste of Oxygen. Because if he isn't making shots, he sure isn't a defender, he sure isn't a good rebounder. He isn't much of a facilitator. But when he is making shots, sometimes he can get on a pretty good roll, which is valuable in itself. Now that being said, I really missed Webster last night. He would have been one of those guys that moves without the ball that the Blazers needed in the lineup last night, and the outside shooting was atrocious. The Blazers only had one guy who was moving well without the ball last night, and his name was Rudy.
I'll take the opinion of Nate and KP over the opinion of "Brian from WA" or whatever. I'm not the one taking this to an extreme. Outlaw played a solid game last night, and you are one of the primary people bashing him. Your bias is duly noted.
Another, similar question might be this: What did Outlaw do to earn a second Nobel Prize last night? Your question is silly. How can we look at one game where, almost to a man, the Blazers sucked and judge Outlaw and his progress from last year? Even if we CAN do so... why? Ed O.
I know Kobe went off -- but -- I thought Outlaw's defense on Kobe was the best. There is nothing that we should take from that game last night. Burn the tape Nate -- except for the lone Oden highlight. The Blazers were aweful.
