Does anyone else hate how Nate/Roy completely throw out all the good this team does together so it becomes the Brandon-against-5 show to end each game? Why can't we just cruise to a victory like normal, really good teams do? Why do we have to stop whatever we are doing that is working so well and go "Stop all that. It's Brandon Roy time." It makes sense SOMETIMES for him to have the ball and dribble out some time, or take that last-second shot, but now we're starting to do that with 4-5 minutes left and, miracles aside, it will bite us more often than not over a long season. It's basic coaching that you have to keep playing your game, feed the hot hand, play the guys who've had success this game, and never let up. Sergio, Rudy, Joel, LA, and Travis handed us a solid win that would have been a blowout loss without them, and then Nate pulls the plug and we go down in flames. Blake had no business being on the floor at the end and immediately hurt us at both ends. Roy hogged the ball despite being double-teamed for 4 minutes and ignored open shooters continually. I remember way back when Roy would drive and create, then pass to a teammate who was open. Now he just wants it all for himself. It's frustrating to watch, and eventually it will cause chemistry problems if not dealt with. (Sadly) hilarious that he has now replaced Zach as the black hole on offense.
I'm really not a fan of the iso-brandon offense. It can be effective, but we need to be ready to go away from it when teams adjust. LMA was on fire. Keep feeding him. Keep running the pick and roll. Rudy was playing well. I'm not necessarily saying that it's Brandon. It might be Nate. It has a history of working, but teams are adjusting to it. What concerns me is that everything shuts down when Brandon iso's. Nobody is moving. If you want to iso brandon, that's fine, but move without the ball.
To be honest I think it's more of a Nate thing. It's either a Brandon iso at the top of the key or a Travis iso at the top of the key. I really, really wish Nate would put in more offensive sets that had cutters and backdoor screens etc. I also believe this is a Nate issue because while people complain about some players it's been that way the whole time he's been here and that is through a lot of different players. So I have to believe it is a Nate thing and not a player thing.
Yes, that is what it looks like to me. I've noticed it for a couple weeks now, and it comes earlier and earlier each game, and he passes less and less, just wanting to score by himself even when there are wide-open shooters and he's swarmed. I think he wants to be Jordan, he wants the acclaim, the highlight reels, the sportscenter accolades. Kinda turns my stomach. I really think someone needs to talk to him, unless it's Nate telling him to ignore open shooters (which I don't buy). From a spectator POV, it's not a style I enjoy to watch. If I want 1-on-1, I'll watch tennis or bowling.
Yeah, the problem is that teams figure out Nate's two play offense and then they adjust to it. They know Nate runs the high pick and roll, so they adjust to it. They know he iso's Roy, so they double Roy.
Then Nate has no answer for when the double comes, its not like this is the first time teams have doubled Brandon. And why did Blake keep checking in for Rodriguez? Little guy had it going tonight. I am still not sold on Nate as our coach, too many things like these come up. He doesn't work the officials. He took out Joel tonight for no reason and we gave up points in the paint. Mind boggling.
I do not think that Brandon is being selfish. I think he is turning into a dominant player for his team, just like a LBJ or kobe or wade, and becoming a dominant player in the league. Let's face it, he's getting really good at the "taking over a game at will" thing. Really good. I have no idea any more what his peak as a player might look like. Perhaps off the charts... But I agree with the sentiments that Nate uses this ability of Brandon's as a crutch, and disrupts the flow of we have going for three and a half quarters almost every game. It's isolation after isolation down the stretch, from the same spot on the floor no less... We have too many weapons to settle for that.
I think if you look around the league the star on any given team will always have the ball in his hands coming down the stretch. I've got no beef with BRoy taking over at the end of games. No different then Kobe or Wade or CP3.
agreed. we are like the basketball equivalent of a Big 10 football team. we can grind it out against slow teams, but against anyone with speed/spacing/uptempo style/big play ability, we struggle.
Yeah I agree, and it's been something I've been paying attention to lately. Opponents are consistently shooting 50-plus percent against us, and we're 22nd in the league in opp. FG percentage. That's not a good stat.
I think overall Brandon has played great. But i remember this offseason Nate told him to look to score more and Brandon is. I remember not liking that. Brandon has been taking a lot of shots even when he is off, he is turning it over more and complaining to the refs a lot more. He is not setting up his teammates like he used to, even though his assist numbers are still there. He has gone from leaning more toward beinga playmaker toward a scorer now. But I think he is playing good ball. Sometimes I think it stagnates the offense because he ISOs a lot. Oh well..
Are you guys really complaining about Roy? WTF, the guy went off last night in the clutch until the other team doubled him then he gave the ball to his teammates who failed to deliver. He is quickly becoming a superstar. You win games like this and playoff games because of players like Roy, see Charles Barkleys comments from the Houston halftime. Also I believe there was a quote from Jameer talking about how Roy was almost video game like, unstoppable........
Lol, you'd think we just got screwed out of the game 7 of the WCF or something... Hot, lucky shooting and bad perimeter defense is what lost us the game, not Roy, not Blake, not Travis, although I would have much rather have had Rudy on Turk-agloo at the end...
I think this was our first loss is games decided by three points or less since early last March. I would say our end of game strategy is working just fine.
Yep. Nate has done a really nice job in end game situations. Roy has been clutch. You don't win every game... WE lost to a top 7ish team on the last (pretty lucky) shot guys. Its not the end of the world. Honestly, our guys will learn more from a loss than a win. There are things to take from this loss and then move on. We will be fine. We are 15-8, and not even CLOSE to playing our best bball... Not even close. So through the first 24, I thought we'd win about 11 of 'em... and we have a shot at 16 and 8. That is good. I really think that we have a shot to make the WCF this year... I really do. If we can finish in the top 4. Outside of that, I honestly think we go as far as Oden goes. He won't ever be dominant offensively, but as he continues to improve, I think it makes our team a lot better. We will be fine. PS - my post wasn't blaming Roy or anything. I've said this a couple weeks ago as well, just something I noticed. Anyone who blames Roy for this loss just isn't right.
The problem is we are playing "prevent defense" (with our offense) at the end of games. With a lead, we milk the clock to the point that we kill our own possessions. We had a full 24 seconds (if Nate hadn't wanted a time-out) to make the best of our last possession, but in order to milk the clock we got a much worse look than Orlando did with their 5 seconds. Heck, if Roy had shot the same crappy shot 1 second earlier, Aldridge's put back would have sealed the game.
I know this might be a shocker the Maris, but it was Outlaw's lack of execution, not Nate's play that caused the horrible shot attempt.
Roy could not have got the ball to him anyway after dribbling his double-team into the opposite corner just as they wanted him to. Either way, we lost it when Blake came in for Sergio and we tried to dribble out the rest of the game, rather than play ball. We gave up 9 straight points to finish, which will lose you just about any game you're being competitive in. Like all losses, it goes on the coach.
So, like all wins - it goes on the coach as well. Overall, I am glad you have come around and learned to appreciate what a fine coach Nate is to have us at the wonderful record we have.
