Now we know why Brandon Roy called two players-only meetings even before the season began. He obviously saw trouble on the horizon, and wanted to correct it. But it's clearly gotten out of hand, and this team is misfiring in a big way. What was the problem Roy saw? My guess is lack of defensive intensity. We have a hard time stopping anyone, and our players don't seem to really care. Outlaw is a big culprit in this area. Another problem I see is too much one-on-one play. It comes from Roy himself, as well as Outlaw and Aldridge. This team has got to start passing the ball and playing like a well-oiled unit, or it's going to be a very long season.
As is Roy, so I'd be surprised if his problem with the team was lack of defensive intensity. Unless his desire is for the team to do what he, himself, won't.
I see three problems: 1) Oden. He hurts us more than he helps us. Turns the ball over more than he blocks shots. Fouls like crazy, can't stay in the game, can't hold on the basketball. 2) Our point guards. Blake had one good game (against OKC) and Miller had one decent game (tonight) but overall, we're not very effective at the PG position. They both look confused and out of sorts and have done more harm than good this season. 3) Roy's defense. No one wants to talk about this much but his man is lighting him up this season.
Without Greg, we probably would've lost by 10+ points. The Outlaw/Aldridge frontcourt was brutal defensively.
This is a contradictory statement. If he hurts us more than he helps us, then not being able to stay in the game shouldn't matter. (Or should be a positive)
if he hurts more than he helps, not being able to stay in the game is a good thing, right? damn b-roy beat me to it.
His going in and out of the game hurts us, prevents the team from getting into any kind of rhythm. "Here comes Greg Oden.... and now he's back to the bench."
so why not just keep him out there? that's where having a good backup center helps. that's one thing i really don't understand with nate. you have two solid centers. stop worrying so much about foul trouble. let oden play through it. if it gets worse, you've got a starting caliber center coming off the bench anyway.
Nope. Having our starting center coming in and out of the game breaks any kind of flow. Honestly, if we went back to starting Joel and playing Oden in limited back up minutes, we'd be better off the in the short term. Of course, in the long run, we need Oden to play through all of this, learn the game, and become a force in this league.
You are asking for the impossible. You can't just not play a guy and expect him to develop into an all-star. Get your head out of your ass.
I'm just frustrated. If we're going to get anything out of Oden in the future, if he is going to become a decent and maybe an All Star center, we are going to have to play him and deal with his shortcomings. But it's hurting our short term success.
Overlooking the exaggeration, from your point of view how is that bad? You don't think he helps and if he played his minutes on normal rotation there wouldn't be any "breaking the rhythm" issues (an effect which I'm doubtful has major impact, in any case).
Dude, you can't let your starting center foul out in the second quarter. PLUS, the more fouls he picks up, the less aggressive he can be. What's better? Play him with 5 fouls in the 2nd quarter or play him with 4 fouls in the middle of the 4th quarter? The latter gives him a chance to be productive without worrying about committing his last foul with the game on the line.
Why can't you let him foul out? What can possibly be wrong with letting him foul out if you aren't even going to use him later anyways.
