I too think this trade got overlooked by the national media. The Blazers were picked to go far this year. That prediction got derailed by injuries and once we lost our 2 centers, this team was basically written off (not much national attention). But now the Blazers have a legit center again. If Camby can just hold down the center spot on the defensive end and the Blazers have a presence in the paint . .. this team can go as far as Roy can carry them.
It's stupid we still have Nate as a coach. There are so many better candidates out there. PJ Carlesimo, Avery Johnson, Byron Scott. Half the coaches in college could get more out of our roster than Nate it just boggles my mind.
Joel and Oden are much different shot blockers than Camby. Camby can cover a lot of ground, a lot more than those two centers typically covered. Neither one of those players has ever approached 4 blocks per game that Camby has approached in his career. Not even close.
I agree . . . but I think more important than that is for Bayless to hit that outside jumper consistently . . . I think that is the most important factor to Bayless being a successful PG.
[video=youtube;d0YkcWFDOXw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0YkcWFDOXw&feature=channel[/video] [video=youtube;NAv2uR1nvMY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAv2uR1nvMY[/video]
Both Joel and GO have a higher BLK% than Camby. They just did not play anywhere the same number of minutes per game as he did. GO's BLK% this year of 7.6% is higher than Camby's best year in block% (7.3). I think you are underestimating how good these guys are. It is very nice to have Camby - but as far as blocks, at this stage in his career, he is not as good as either GO or Joel.
How would you know anything about my respect for Joel and Gregs shot blocking? Having a high block percentage and actually getting it done are two different things. One reason Camby is out on the floor more than they are, is because he knows how to block without getting in foul trouble. Getting a block without getting the foul, is superior to guys getting blocks and getting fouls in my book. The reason he can do that? Because he is more mobile than they are. Mobile shot blockers like Camby, Birdman, are very dangerous because they can cover more ground. Joel and Oden oftentimes have to wait for the shot to come to them. Guys like Camby and the Birdman go get blocks.
Don't get your panties in a bunch. It was a way of saying that these guys had just as good shot-blockers to go against in practice. So - you think Nate gets Joel and Greg out of practice if they foul while trying to block? How is this relevant to the issue we are discussing? I am certain that if Greg gets 2 fouls in the first 10 minutes of practice Nate does not sit him on the bench for 15 minutes... This is a very nice observation - and I do not disagree with it in principal - but I do not think this is relevant when we are talking about practice and the kind things Rudy and JB will learn from Camby. Both of these guys have their problems getting blocked when they go hard into the paint - in other words - going at the shot blockers - and in practice, they have had just as good (or better) shot blockers to go against as Camby. Being blocked because some quick shot blocker comes from the far side with help-side defense is not the real issue these guys need to deal with. At this point, their biggest problem is being blocked directly by the bigs they go into in the paint, and for this - Joel and Greg are just as good if not better to practice against than Camby.
We will have to disagree. Marcus Camby has been named to muliple all nba defensive teams and even was once the NBA defensive player of the year. I believe he is superior in most of those areas, the only problem he has now is he is getting old. That is not to say that maybe one day Oden will make one of those teams. Maybe he will. But credit is not given for achievement which have not been achieved.
I have no doubts that getting Camby is good for this team both in games and in practice - I just do not think that this the kind of "wow - I get to practice against a shot blocker" moment you think it is. This team had 2 shot blockers who are, at this point in time, better shot blockers than Camby - and the guys we have practiced against them last year and at the beginning of this year.
