Something you guys haven't addressed is that when Blake, Web, Rudy, and Roy started to hit threes regularly it opened up the middle to be able to enter the ball or for Roy et all to do their thing. Early in the season everybody packed the middle and made life miserable for all.
Not true. Those players weren't hitting their shots and Oden always dominated the first quarter. And that was when they packed the middle. The biggest problem was when Nate would go away from it and it was too late.
Nate- that is a FLAT OUT LIE. Why do you keep saying that when it's not true? Blake gets the ball to Oden far more than Miller does. Blake also creates more easy baskets for Oden than Miller does.
All we have to look at is what has happened lately because that reflects how the team has grown. In the Minnesota game, Oden scored 7 buckets. 1 from Howard, 2 from Roy, and 4 from Blake. None from Miller. In the Chicago game, Miller had one assist to Oden. Also, Blake tends to get the ball into the post to Oden more often, even when Oden doesn't end up shooting. Blake will often get the ball into Oden two or even three times in a single possession.
You do realize that a post entry pass doesn't count as an assist if the guy receiving the pass does more than make a single fluid move to the hoop after getting the pass. Oden practically isos on the low block and backs his man down most times, Miller isn't getting credited with those passes as assists. It also doesn't count as an assist if Greg gets a shooting foul without hitting the bucket.
Did you watch the third quarter of the Minnesota game? Blake got the ball to Oden around 15 times. In that single quarter! He would post and repost Oden. Even on possessions in which Oden didn't score, Blake was still getting Oden touches. In addition to that, he spent the quarter setting up Oden for wide open dunks. That led to Blake setting up Webster for wide open threes. Then Blake got Rudy involved. And finally, he got he ball to Roy to let Roy get himself involved. It was a masterful quarter and an example of what Blake can do when the ball is in HIS hands, not Roy's or Miller's.
I'm well aware of all of that. And you're wrong. Oden doesn't back his man down most times that he scores. Totally false. Oden, in most cases, MAYBE scores twice a game with post moves. Most of his scores come from wide open dunks set up by his teammates or off of offensive rebounds. In the Minnesota game, ALL SEVEN OF HIS BASKETS were assisted on. None of those assists came from Miller.
Don't forget that Blake has the all-time NBA record for assists in a quarter. If you put the ball in his hands and actually let him be a PG, he is incredibly impressive. He has sacrificed a lot of his game to defer to Brandon Roy. But when you put the ball in Blake's hands, he's pretty amazing. Nik- I'm convinced you were watching the Ducks game during the third quarter of the Minnesota game.
For one quarter of his career, he was the greatest point guard in the history of the game. For all the other quarters in his career, he's been a good backup and sub-average starter. It's a better basketball career than most of us will have, I guess.
All other quarters? Did you see the third quarter vs Minnesota? A masterpiece. He could do that every game if given the opportunity but Blake usually defers to Roy because it's what he believes is best for the team.
This reads like Blake should be the next CP3, but chooses to give Roy the glory. That was a little funny.
Blake does sacrifice his game for Roy. That's a fact. Dude averaged 6.6 apg in Denver. He didn't suddenly get worse. His role was changed in Portland. Hey, take a trip down memory lane (college days): http://www.umterps.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/blake_steve01.html "Steve Blake has done everything you can ask any point guard to do. Steveĺs been a three-year starter. Heĺs got a chance to become a leader of this yearĺs team. His experience from winning a national championship certainly makes him one of the top returning point guards in the country this year. Heĺs played against all of the great point guards that have played in the last three years. I donĺt think any point guard has done more for his team than Steve has done for our team. I think he is a definite All-America candidate for his senior year." Dude won a championship at point guard.
The dude had a chance to lead in Portland already, then was outplayed by Jack. This was when Roy wasn't on the team. I don't buy that. I think he's a decent role player, but no "star" like you suggest.
Well, all other quarters combined and averaged, I suppose. He does have better and worse quarters. 'Twas a nice quarter, indeed. You can't go very far wrong calling that quarter a very fine quarter. I don't believe he could. Just as I don't think Martell Webster could continually reproduce his Quarter Of Doom versus Utah but chooses not to in order to help the team. That's the most noble thing I've ever heard. Blake purposely trading in a star career for a journeyman's career because he believed it best for all the teams he's played for. Blake might be the greatest hero in American history.
That's a fallacy, at least according to the actual stats. I do realize that actual stats don't seem to matter to you, however.
You got it the other way around. Jack started the 2007-2008 season. After three horrible games, Blake was made starting PG and has been ever since. And I never suggested he was a star but it pisses me off when people say "Blake never gets the ball to Oden." It shows me who actually watches the game and who is too busy typing on this board to notice the intricacies of the game.
Actually, I believe Martell could reproduce that success if he was made the #1 option in the offense. That magical quarter didn't happen by accident. It happened because Roy got HURT and suddenly, we had to create shots for Martell. We ran him off screens, got him the ball, made him the #1 option, and he delivered. I'm not saying that Marty would score average 96 ppg, but if Martell was treated like Rip Hamilton or Miller were in Detroit and Indiana, and run off screens and given shots, Martell could easily average 18-20 ppg. But not everyone can be the #1 option on this team.
Blake is not a star or a journeyman. He's a solid starter in this league. And if it was asked of him, he could average 7-8 apg at this point in his career (after all, he averaged 6.6 in his last season at Denver; he hasn't suddenly gotten worse), but that's not what we ask of him. We ask him to bring the ball up the court, give it to Roy, and stand behind the three point line. But in some scenarios, we choose to ride him and in those scenarios, he shines.
