This, to me, is all about perspective. I'd argue that the absolute nothing he gives us on offense results in our starters having to expend more energy trying to keep us in the game. Could be one reason why Dame is slumping and completely worthless on D. There's also the opportunity cost argument -- Blake was billed as a key veteran signing. Bringing him in precluded us from going after a guy like Barbosa, Augustin or others. I think it's fair to argue that a guy who was brought in as a key piece to play D (isn't), score off the bench (doesn't) and run our second unit (can't) is a fairly substantial part of the problem.
All five starters got their ass kicked and the coach was out coached. It doesn't matter who the PG on the bench is.
We're getting our ass kicked by Calathes and Udrih. Backups can absolutely make a difference. Blake may not the the #1 reason but he has to be on the list.
Blake played his best with a healthy Kaman this season. He's come into games and racked up 7 assists in 5 minutes, made some momentum changing shots and helped us win games. He's a role player and wasn't brought here to score. Fact is we came out and got dominated almost every qtr off the series. Poor play is contagious. Our bench has produced more this season than it has for a long time and he's helped. He basically took Earl Watson's spot on the team. CJ was to provide the scoring Mo gave us before and CJ had two horrible games to start the series. You can't dig a first half hole against the best defensive teams and expect to win.
I admire that Blake put's in max effort every time he's on the court - but, imo, both he and especially Kaman, are done. They've both lost a step and are too slow to be effective.
Yeah, Kaman is pretty worthless after about 5 minutes of game. Blake regresses in the playoffs... a shame
The problem is Memphis doesn't respect our outside shooting so they can pack in the paint. Blake is good at getting the ball to the bigs.
I don't expect much from Blake in the scoring department, but he needs to be able to contribute something on offense. He can't just be a passer. The defense has to at least fear his ability to knock down a shot. I had very low expectations for him this season, and he has somehow managed to do worse than I expected.
Here's my biggest frustration with Blake, and I suppose, my hatred for him notwithstanding, it's not entirely his fault. With LA not signing his extension, last offseason was our chance to show him we were dedicated to winning. It was where we were supposed to finally have a bench, thanks to the veterans we brought in, namely Blake and Kaman. Whether or not expectations of Blake were met or not isn't the issue to me. It's the fact that he hasn't done enough - in my mind - to fulfill that "promise" (granted, it wasn't made by him, but still...) Aside from an infrequent flash in the pan from him(followed by a few weeks of mediocrity or worse) and a reliable 4 minutes per stretch from Kaman (followed by another 6 of inefficacy), those two have done almost nothing to bolster our bench. In fact, just about all bench output has been provided by the development of our younger bench players (and a few good months from Dorrell).
Kaman and Blake were huge in our early season success. Kaman has been injured off and on since the allstar game. Both have helped our bench production all season. Nobody has shown up for the playoffs..I think they deserve credit for contributing to the best bench production we've had in years.