It's obvious Nate is harder on players when they turn the ball over. He got on Sergio and Outlaws case on several occasions. I think he will run more, but I doubt we will be in the top 15 in running. For all of you who want us to run more, why? Tell me all the coaches that preach running that are consistantly in the playoffs? Not many. It is more fun to watch at times, but taking care of the ball, defense and running a good half court offense will get you further in the playoffs. Would everyone rather have Don Nelson here who runs all the time? Phil Jackson, and Popovich don't have running teams, but I like where they are at in the playoffs every year over Golden State. I don't think Nate is a elite coach right now, but he is a good coach in my opinion. I don't think we could hire a better one so I won't be hard on him if we run less then other teams. Miller will help and maybe we run a few times more every game.
Nothing is bending over backwards if I tell you that I expect the situation to get better but the team still will not be a fast pace team. There are two elements needs for efficient fast-pace teams - good execution on offense from the PG position and good defense. The Seattle Supersonics under Nate were horrible defensively - not a big surprise when the best big-man he had was probably Danny Forston (or was it Reggie Evans? Does it matter?). Add the fact that he had pretty crappy point-guards for most of time - and it is clear that his record in Seattle (over .500) was actually fantastic. He tailored a good system to a team with good shooters but crappy defense and sub-par creation from the PG position. The Blazers, under Nate have gone from a weak rebounding team with sub-par defense to a very good defensive team with fantastic rebounding - the next step will clearly be something that is willing and capable of pushing the ball in transition. Blake, valuable as he was - is not that player - as shown during his Denver tenure. Brandon is well known for imposing his own pace on the game than the other way around and Sergio was a running disaster. Miller, has historically been a much better PG in fast pace than anyone we have seen in the red and black for quite some time. Adding the fact that this team has good rebounding, is not bad defensively anymore and now has a willing and capable point to push the ball - yes, I expect them to get better. If you choose to look at history but ignore the picture as a whole and point only to the facts that support your pre-determined theory - sure, why expect change. I think that when one realizes that the combination of defense, rebounding and good ball handler that can push the ball and make good decisions in transition is a unique combination in Nate's history as a head coach - so yes, I do expect things to change. I do not think this will be a fast pace team - but I think it will be faster. My expectation is a San Antonio like pace when they were winning all the time, 20-25th (they were 27th in pace last time they won but 23rd and 20th the times before) - Good defense, Great half-court execution and when the opportunity is there to push - they will. The now have the athletes and the basketball IQ to do it. It is not Nate that will determine it - it is the players. Good coaches tailor the system to maximize the talent of their roster. Nate finally has the roster that will be good pushing the ball - and I expect him to allow them to do that.
i guess it's just been maris and hasoos who seem to have the idea that "nate will never let it happen" and are saying so in a negative way. i think it's pretty simple. if nate thinks the team will win more games by running more, he'll encourage them to run more. if not, he won't.
I would like to point to an interesting thing about pace - since offensive rebounds basically "extend" a possession instead of start a new one - good offensive rebounding teams basically seem slower than they are. For example - in the 2007-2008 season the Blazers pace was 87.9 and they collected 901 offensive rebounds. In the 2008-2009 season the Blazers pace was down to 86.6 possessions per game - but they actually collected 1060 offensive rebounds - or on average, an extra 2 per game. So, in theory - the Blazers were actually up to 88.6 possessions per game when you compare their pace to the pace of the previous year's team. You can also see it in their points per game - they went up from 95 PPG to 99 PPG. When you actually adjust pace and offensive rebounds - The Blazers were not dead last in offensive possessions as they seem from raw pace numbers - they were probably 25th in the league in "effective possessions".
So if they didn't get those offensive rebounds, then they would be running more? I guess if they only were average in offensive rebounds, then the opponent would get the ball faster, which means that they MIGHT run more often, but... I don't think it's that big of a deal. That criticism or pace is a real one, but I don't think it significantly impacts pace's ability to determine if a team runs compared to the rest of the league or not. Ed O.
Pace measures possessions - and proper possessions - as in, proper attempts at making a field-goal or get to the foul-line are impacted by offensive rebounds. Was New Orleans a faster team than the Blazers last year? Their pace was higher by 1.1 possessions than the Blazers - but they also took 4 less offensive rebounds per game than the Blazers. This tells me that in reality, the Hornets, while on paper a faster team than the Blazers - were not...
I don't get the obsession with running. More easy buckets would be nice after stops, but I couldn't give two shits if this team still ends up with a snails pace if it's able to execute and win at a high rate.
As did every other team in the history of the game. And the Sonics did it in spite of Nate, not because he told them to. They were just used to playing that way and had enough balls to defy him. Probably why he left Seattle. What's your point?
Actually, it doesn't tell me one way or the other. Offensive rebounds create possessions but NOT possessions that can result in fast breaks... so the Blazers getting more offensive rebounds has no bearing on whether the team runs more or not as far as I can figure. Ed O.
Ya, I don't want to be a fast pace team, just one that takes advantage when the numbers are there. If you have a advantage take it, but if not play a half court game. Kind of like Nate's first 7 secs or last 7 secs. Another factor in fast breaks is the outlet pass. If we are controlling the boards and we can cheat getting back we should get more fast breaks regardless of the PG if we get good outlet passes.
Andulusian, I post with Kingspeed: I know Kingspeed; Kingspeed is a friend of mine. Andulusian, you're no Kingspeed. As always, you submit a meaningless arguement. TO% is less than useless without assists, assists-to TO%, steals, rebounds, and overall team efficiency. By themselves, TO's are not an indication of anything specific Portland was 8th in offensive efficiency last year while Philly was 13th. Which is why Philly was happy to let Miller move west. http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/holl...//insider.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/teamstats As for Sergio's uncharacteristic increase in TO's last year, it is simply a by-product of being reined in by Nate constantly, which helped the defense get set when they wouldn't have been otherwise.
So we are not friends anymore Maris? Am I not allowed to bask in the glory of beautiful central Oregon with you anymore? Sear bananas on the hot flaming grill, bask in the glow of the setting sun or practice synchronized swimming? Oh, Maris, Maris, Maris. If I had only known... ... I would have still not cared one bit... The facts are the facts. Sergio was traded for a 7 places bump in the draft, in the 2nd round - and Miller was signed for pretty much every penny available in the cap - so I am pretty sure that these bastards that want to sign Kobe agree with me... Allow me to channel another one of your friends and point you south to Sacramento... Oh, and BTW - you still can not read statistics. The stats you linked to were playoffs stats. Portland was actually 2nd best in the league during the regular season - but it was not with Sergio in the lineup - since the team's offensive rating was 113.9 while Sergio's was 103 - the team was 10.9 points better per 100 possessions as a whole than they were when Sergio was in the line-up...
Do you want the team to run, or don't you? Because if you do, Outlaw will be playing some PF on a running second unit.
Actually, wouldn't the "facts" be that Nate's teams have always finished at or near the bottom in pace?
