I am not sure what we want LMA to do that he has not - he is fighting hard, he is playing defense, he is getting to good positions to take his shot. It is just not going down. Travis needs to do a better job off working on attacking the rim off the dribble. Rudy needs to demand more touches as the play maker on the 2nd team Oden needs to continue working as he has to get in game shape - then we will need to talk about what he needs to do Frye - it would be nice if he worked on a back to the rim game - but at this point - will it ever happen?
My list goes like this: Oden -- I believe Brandon when he says Greg's issues are between the ears and nothing to do with his physical ability. That kid aint right right now. Travis -- Inconsistent shooting is forgivable, terrible shot selection and inconsistent play, game to game and play to play is less so for a 6th year veteran. Frye -- so wedded to the jumpshot, and so bad on defense. Step it up Channing, the best thing about you right now is your ability to Blog Rudy -- Cold shooting streak, definitely going through an adjustment period playing so many nights a week, still a super smart player and will get it going. LMA -- Great effort getting low to mid post position, nice effort digging out rebounds and playing solid perimeter defense, but colder than a frigid polar bear on christmas ... just one of those things ... hopefully he snaps out of it soon.
They ALL need to step it up some. The ones that are playing well need to play a little better while the guys that are struggling have time to play through it. The guys playing so-so need to step up to carry the boys that will be carrying them at the end of the season. Just an extra rebound, steal, or assist here and there. The guys that are working through a rough patch need to play hard and play defense when their O is off. This team is YOUNG. They're, what?, 10 games into learning how to play together? They've taken care of home court, they've won the road games that they should have. (Ok, so they should have beat GS, get over it.) They've played 10/15 on the road after starting off with the toughest five game schedule in the history of the game. So....WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH HOW THEY ARE PLAYING? Most of all, ALL of these guys need to start HAVING FUN! They need to tune out the media/press/internet geeks and just have fun and play hard. The rest will take care of itself.
1) The Coach Nate needs to step up and get this roster set. It's not about playing time or ego, it's about getting the players that play best together on the floor at the same time. In my opinion, the team just functions far better when Batum is on the floor. And I challenge anyone to give me a rational explanation as to why you would assemble a starting unit, have those five players practice with each other, start the game together and then have one of the starting five replaced every game, leaving the other four players in a position to execute what they've been taught in practice with a player they haven't practiced as much with? Nate has seriously mishandled the Batum situation from the first game when he pulled him at the last moment and the entire team suffered badly. Nate hasn't improved the situation much. He also allowed the team to fall in love with the 3 instead of getting them in control early and coaching them to take a few steps in or drive when they have an open lane. It was obvious this team was taking too many 3's to begin with, but people only complained when they stopped falling. He should have brought it up before, it's inconceivable to me that you'd be a defense oriented coach yet let your players settle for a 3 on offense. 2) The GM The Blazers have one of the three best big man prospects in the last 30 years. Kevin needs to post haste and hire a position coach that is capable of leading Greg Oden to his highest possible potential. How many of you can name the person doing this now? You know who's working with Bynum? Kareem. You know who worked with Shaq? Well, Kareem worked with him too. KP and Paul Allen need to step up here and bring an elite level position coach. Bill Russell, how's retirement, want a job? Hakeem, how about you? What would working with an elite coach do to Oden's development? What would investing in Oden right now tell him about his value to the team? Right now Oden cannot dribble the ball. When the ball is in his hands he's indecisive, obviously unsure of what to do. But once he decides what to do he's again faced with the problem that he cannot dribble the ball. This is a fundamental basketball skill. He's being undercoached. Kevin, start treating your franchise with the respect he deserves. 3) The Franchise Oden, if you put your hand up for the ball down low, and seeing you Rudy instead defers to Sergio beyond the arc one more time, you need to put aside your pacifism for a moment and let him know that when the big fella wants the ball, you feed the big fella the ball. This team will not reach its potential without Oden in control of the paint. Oden needs to work on passing and dribbling and dribbling and passing. Oden needs to work harder at staying in shape, your body is your job.
Oden- time to step up big boy this is a mans game Rudy- think he's just in shell shock from the tough schedule. Spaniards aren't use to having to work this hard LMA- quit spending so many late nights with Harlow and your shot will start falling (reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer decide to abstain from Sex. Kramer last all of 2 minutes, Elaine is next but George holds out and his intelligence increases dramatically while he's not having sex)
