There doesn't have to be a single scapegoat. I'm just saying that changing what worked to get Roy some confidence was a bad idea. I blame Nate, too.
Miller's shot selection was bad, and he took too many of them. The team played better with Roy on the bench especially compared to Nate force feeding him the ball for a quarter and a half -- that killed our 'effort.' There was no effort to involve Webster at all. Marcus and LaMarcus need time to play together to get in synch -- sometimes it was hard to tell which one of them blew the defensive assignment or rotation. Batum killed in the first half then collected splinters in the second while our lead evaporated. I agree with maxie -- this is largely on Nate but there is plenty of blame to go around. I'm hoping they come together on the road trip. They have before.
It's apparent to me that, while the other guys are waiting for Roy's game to come around, it's affecting theirs (respectively) in various less-than-positive ways. Brandon isn't one of those super athletes. Essentially, he relies on a quick first step to be effective. He obviously doesn't have that right now. I'm not so sure he'll even get it....short of a long period of rest. With Brandon out, the guys will hunker down, and the various roles will then clearly emerge, then take shape. Hopefully, that results in a nice sync, coupled with some good wins down the stretch.
I think it's a bit early to be making any kind of judgments about Roy or the Blazers. If the Blazers don't have a winning record on this road trip, it may all be moot anyway.
I've sort of tuned out with teh two losses . . . what is Roy's status. Is he trying to play through an injury (can you do that)? Is the hamstring healed and it is a mental and rust thing? He doesn't look 100% What is going on with Roy?
He's not, but I think the guys still look to him to lead this team (offensively) and that's what's hurting us. I think there's a compelling reason why Roy said (following the Suns win) the way he feels, he might be out for the entire season. He knows, but I don't think Nate & Co. do.
I was very pleasantly surprised. That said, this trip is gonna be VERY tough on the hammy. I'll be extremely interested to see how it holds up.....................which I hope it does!
