So, this was our inaugural look at the 2013/14 Blazers. After a long summer to work on their games, I'm curious if anyone noticed individual player development over last season? My brief observations: *Aldridge - didn't look much different. I was hoping he'd look better dealing with double teams, but he looked just as tense as he did in the past. I was hoping he'd developed the spin move toward the basket when the player overplays his inside, but I saw him try once and he didn't spin toward the basket when he did. *Lillard - didn't see any runners (made) that he was reported to be working on. The three looks as silky as last year. He still has some trouble finishing in traffic. I didn't really notice his D, should have paid more attention. Seemed a lot of Dragic points were on picks where he got left behind. *Batum - his boards are up. I'm not really sure that's a result of him making a more concerted effort though. Didn't see any postups or taking his man off the dribble. He seemed as passive as always. *Freeland - I thought he looked good and I know I'm in the minority here. He seemed very active to me. *Wes - wow. Everyone is right, something is not right with the guy. His body may just be wearing down, he doesnt seem near the athlete he was when he first got here. If his shot isn't working, he's a just taking up space. I saw no new, developed twists to his game. I guess those were are only returning players who saw action tonight.
Mostly I didn't see anything "new" in last night's game. Aldridge's, Batum's and Lillard's best and worst parts of their style was on display - LMA's jumper was money, he rebounded poorly, Nic was hesitant on offense, but tried to be a faciliatator and Lillard's shot was great, but he wasn't exactly setting people up either. I did think Wesley looked less mobile than I remember and the new additions were very underwhelming. Really though, there's nothing long-term to take away until we're about ten to twenty games into the season; after that I think it's safe to say that you'll have enough to start making generalizations about improvement or guys making significant changes to the way they play.
he also didn't score a basket, didn't get to the free throw line or even grab a rebound! as for the OP, I liked what I saw out of Freeland. Nothing special, but monumentally better than last year (but that's mostly because last year he was atrocious)
I think Wes is struggling with some identity issues. He doesn't want to be boxed in as a 3 and D shooting guard, but the fact is that's what we need from him the most.
after all the practice he still has no handles, accept what you are good at and focus on that. However I do think he's lost something physically, whether that's a specific current injury or the culmination of many over the past years I don't know
Wes can't create his own shot or get to the FT line. This has always been this issue, but it's more noticeable now that his 3-point has seemed to have left him. I've always said he and Batum shouldn't be in the starting lineup at the same time, now I don't think he belongs anywhere near the starting rotation. The floor won't open up until we can improve at the SG spot with someone that can collapse the D with their slashing.
I think he is a matchup play now and until whatever is going on with him is fixed he needs the old Outlaw treatment. Comes in takes a few shots if he misses them, to the bench he goes. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk
I can see him supplanted by CJ fairly quickly when that foot heals. Even when healthy, he's a streak shooter that doesn't get into the paint. Nice locker room teammate, but he's a bench player at best in the NBA.
He was also in the only Blazer in the absolute best position he could be in for the entire night. Kudos to him
Pretty much agree with this and the OP. As much as I hate LMA, I (foolishly) was expecting more from him out of the gate. I know it's only one game - but it's also 7 years. His defense looked worse than ever before. And somehow so did Lillard's. All that talk about him fighting over screens? Bah! I also think that this monumental failure falls on Stotts. He didn't have them prepared. It's starting to look/sound a lot like Nate's lip service to defense. Did Stotts just expect that the addition of a "true" C would fix the defense? The P/R coverage was different, but it certainly wasn't any better and it may have gotten worse. Instead of having Lillard go over the top - which results in him being left in the dust because the big isn't doing anything to prevent the ball from turning the corner - Lillard should be going under the screens. That's the only way the coverage will work with the big sagging into the paint. Otherwise you need the big to jump the screen and quickly recover to his own man - this is what good defensive teams do. Why can't we do it? Honestly the only person I've seen do that in the past few years was Hickson. Say what you want about his defense, but he knew how to jump the pick and quickly recover.
All that said Blue9, one game does not a trend make. If they're still playing like this ten or twenty games in then people should definitely hit the panic button ... just not yet.
Could be that with the heart thing, his conditioning isn't quite where it needs to be. Still, he went 9/7/4 last night, and at least showed up to play, unlike Lopez and Mo Wllliams.
Unlike Lopez and Mo, Wes has played like shit since we ended training camp. Mo and Rolo have been pretty effective to this point, while Wes has been a ghost. I'm willing to overlook one bad game from them.
