I just read a thread where you slammed Zach. Did you slam him when he was a "productive member of the team" or only after he was traded? Travis is Zach Randolph without the rebounding.
and any of the continual offcourt nonsense that surrounded ZR, which was the given reason by KP for his being shipped. This is a bad comparison for many other reasons as well. Maybe that they are both less then perfect lead players... but even thats a strange stretch to make. STOMP
I don't want to speak for Maxie, but I'm thinking he's also using the "doesn't pass much after given the ball" (which I will admit looks better this year than last, but he is by no means a distributor). Zach was pretty notorious for not passing very much. Travis (until this season) was thought of in the same way. But even if you say that Zach was only doing it to pad his numbers, he at least would go hard after rebounds. And there's the parallel of both stating how they want more shots so they can score more and be all-stars. I like Travis better than Zach, but I can understand when people see parallels.
Travis is averaging about a shot every 3 minutes or 0.33 shots per minute... thats far less then both LA (0.43) and Roy (0.45) and just this side of Rudy (0.31). On the other hand Zach is putting the ball up about the same rate this year (0.49) as he did in Portland (his last year in PDX 0.53)... right about one shot every two minutes. How in the world is this a parallel? Travis touches the ball on nearly every possession he's in. Without question he moves then ball more times then not. It doesn't always lead to an assist, TO, or a shot attempt, but unlike Zach dude does move the ball. thats some truly weak sauce you've got there. STOMP
Only after he was traded. Why? I didn't "slam" Zach, either. I said that a team just has to hope that his offensive plusses outweight his defensive liabilities.
Not me that said it. http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2008/08/rain_dampens_outlaws_day_not_o.html BTW, I'm glad he talked to his mom the other night. (http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2008/11/conversation_with_mom_brings_o.html) 13 rebounds and a win later, he should call her every night. And which is the truth? Nate telling Quick Travis has been playing great, or his Mom telling him she's not liking what she sees, and him acknowledging that he changed his game?
How so? You do know about Trout and his predilection for, ahem, shall we say, barely legal girls, don't you? He may not be dosing chicks with GHB, but he's not AC Green either. Also, there isn't a Blazer who loves the strip clubs more. But let's keep the topic on the court, shall we? Both don't really care about defense. Both love to have the green light to shoot. Both have a pretty low BBIQ or flat out don't care about a broad range of skills necessary to play the game. Both are black holes. They're the same player in so many ways.
In my post I specifically pointed out that UNTIL THIS YEAR you could say the same. In others in this thread I've said how I like that he's passing more. I don't understand why there's the vitriol here. It's not just me: http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/players/hollinger?playerId=2015 The scouting report on Outlaw says he needs to improve his jumper and get to the rim more (I'd add "better 3pt shooting", and he's done well hitting open 3's, so his TS% has gone up). Zach in 2006 (when many, including me, were saying he's a black hole, had an assist ratio of 7.9. Travis last year had one of 8.1. Do you think Randolph was just much better at setting up his teammates when he passed than Outlaw was, or that there really isn't a difference in passing? (Caveat: I'd really like to find a "# of possessions where player took shot vs. # of possessions a player passed" stat. If you find one, please let me know.)
I know he said it, I'm saying thats a weak thing to point to if you're trying to draw a unique parallel between these two. I'm sure that NBA players who believe they should be getting more minutes, touches and shots are in the vast majority to those that don't. Travis and Zach both breath air, is that a parallel? me either. Dude is playing well/improving and people are bending over backwards to slight him. STOMP
Apples and Oranges. Zach would hold the ball in the low post and occationally hit an open cutter... he'd very rarely pass it out of the post for an open jumper. Travis is not a post player at all. He's a wing who readily moves the ball but does not create off the dribble for others in the drive and kick manner that most wings generate assists. So while he's not a black hole, he's also not a great passer. STOMP
which one of those things shows up in the police blotter and/or embarrassses the team? This isn't a big thing with me but it obviously is for KP it's a flat ridiculous comparison. One is a post player the other is a wing. One is a long athletic high flyer who gets steals and blocks, the other glued to the ground. One blends well with his teammates the other sucker punches them. Travis doesn't jack it up at nearly the rate that ZR does... Zach is closer to doubling TO's shot rate then matching it. And to compare Zach's utter disinterest on D to Travis is just silly... he's not great at D he's OK, and according to his coach and my eyes he's made a lot of progress the last couple of years. He's certainly not absolutely pathetic on that end of the court like Randolph. Both did launch their respective Bball careers in William Aires living room though... STOMP
It turned out to be embarrassing for those connected with Jerry Lee Lewis... One doesn't have to have an identical game to have the same approach. Both are ball hogs and chuckers. The only difference is that Zach rebounds.
Where's the link? What's wrong with legal girls? Doe he love them as young as our beloved Jerome Kersey did? Barely out of middle school? You certainly love to spread hate.
STOMP, are you going to respond to me or what? A bit weak that you accuse me of "dodge city" and then ignore my defense.
Well there's a line Travis doesn't always toe...sometimes he steps over it. And it gives me no pleasure to discuss it, but we should stop pretending our team is the NBA equivalent of the Boy Scouts.
What player changes their style of play? Roy? Drexler? Webster? Seems to me that most successful players add a new wrinkle or two over time but generally retain their same style (whatever that may be) throughout their career. What did you think that Travis was going to come back 250 lbs and looking to bang inside? Your defense on him not improving his ball handling is either denial or forgetfulness of how bad he once was. Same with D. I used to compare his defensive footwork to a baby giraffe getting off an escalator. I've got no less of a co-sponsor on his obvious improvement then the coach. It's also obvious that you don't want to change your mind, that Webster is your guy, as you extend one slight after another TO's way... which is apropros for a scapegoat thread. For one example of many I could take issue with... Travis didn't have a single moment of good defense down the stretch of the last game as you claimed, he had many. Besides the strip of Foye leading to the breakaway Roy dunk, he had the heads up play blanketing Foye on the out of bounds play when no one else on the Wolves came back to help... that caused them to burn their final TO. He effectively was playing off of his man and doubling down on big Al clogging up their attack. He effectively contested drives to the rim. Yet you claim he's had one good play out of six seasons You've said your piece. I've read it and seen it for what it is... whats to discuss? STOMP
