http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/01/staying_the_course_mcmillan_ke.html I'm cool with that! Hope JB has a good game this time!
Man, wouldn't that be great? Bayless comes out with about 15 points and 5 assists, knocks down a couple of 3's and gets to the line a few times . . . . I just want to see a glimpse of what Mike Rice says he sees in practice.
What's this?!?! Nate staying with something that isn't working? I can't even believe that for a second. I'm sure his gameplan is to get Travis more time on the floor too. The sit down was probably to say he would get 47 minutes tonight. The thing that cracks me up is that he says it's not one guy. I agree, it's the unit itself that doesn't work. That's why you change the unit.
Bayless and Sergio really don't have much chemistry and are pretty brutal defensively in the last couple games. I'd really rather see Sergio and Rudy teamed up in the 2nd unit. Nate recognized there were problems, so I assume he tried the Blake/Bayless combo and found it pretty bad in practice yesterday.
I think Nate can be conservative with his rotations to a fault. 3 games wasn't enough apparently. Will 4 change his tune?
I wouldn't be surprised if he turns back and changes the lineup anyway (think opening night, when he proclaimed Batum as the starter, only to change his mind before the game).
Um No. He said he was going to sleep on it. He did and decided against it. Chances are he probably talked to a few players about their play, and decided that it would do more damage to change it up again rather than let them acquire a flow together.
I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens. Somehow I'm guessing that after the stellar performance Nic put in the other night against the lakeshow, he'll go back to the well hoping there's still something there.
I can't wait to see Rudy try to guard either Stuckey or AI. Then Rudy make them pay by running constantly around the court and settling for a fadeaway 3
You can replace "Stuckey or AI" with "Rondo or Ray Allen" and be talking about the Boston game, where that didn't hurt us at all. You hate Nate - we get it. But at least get your criticisms right. Rudy's defense isn't what is killing us, it's the fact that we don't have a scoring punch in the second unit. -Pop
You think guarding Ray Allen is the same as guarding AI? I don't think so. And can you honestly say Rudy was the reason we won the Boston game? I think it had more to do with Oden, Aldridge, Blake and even Travis. Allen shot 2 for something bad, but none of that had to do with Rudy. I get the scoring punch off the bench, but I think even Nate sees Rudy doesn't look good at this point in the starting line up regardless of how the bench looks
IDK, I think its the right move to keep the lineup the same. If it isn't working well in the first half, maybe we can try it (the switch) out in the second half and see if that is more effective.
Blake/Bayless and Bayless/Roy have been practicing together all year. The new "wrinkle" is inserting Rudy into the starting lineup when he practices with the White Team. Ditto for Sergio and Bayless. This isn't about "one player"...it's about destroying what little "chemistry" or "cake-baked-ness" you have built over almost half a season of practice. This is 'Nate overthinking starting Batum in the L*ker opener'-esque. Conventional wisdom says "Don't start a rookie if you don't have to". Well, what's worse? Throwing a rookie into a situation he's practiced for, or throwing 2 rookies into situations they haven't been practicing for? This has "Guh" written all over it, for me.
No, I'm saying we got away with him guarding the C's two best perimeter players, so we can get away with him guarding the Pistons' two best perimeter players. And you could make an argument that part of the reason Ray Allen's shot was off in the second half of that game was because he didn't have any legs after having to chase Rudy through screens on the other end of the court. Blaming Rudy for our recent slide just seems ignorant, IMO. Outlaw? Sure. Nate's offensive gameplan and substitution pattern? Yep. Blake's suddenly cold touch from outside? OK. Rudy's defense? Now you're just reaching. -Pop
Rudy's shooting has been hurting us badly though, no matter how you want to look at it. The guy is missing open 3 pointers, open two pointers, open layups....etc. He's now shooting 41% from two and 38% from three. That HURTS.
I'm not blaming Rudy at all. I just think it's a dumb coaching move to have Rudy (who's not the best player we have to guard AI) in the starting lineup when a. He has been struggling as a starter anyway. b. We have another guy on the bench who is a lot quicker and would probably be able to stay in front of AI better. Maybe keeping Greg out of foul trouble a bit more.
