Kudos to Webster! I don't see too many people seeing this, but Webster lost his starting spot. If you watch him, he's just as aggressive and still seems confident. He's been a real "Team Player" not making anything public. Almost makes me feel like Webster went into Nate's office and told him, "Hey I have no problem coming off the bench in order to get us out of this funk"
Kudos go to Roy. The folks on the radio who have called him arrogent and selfish need a reality check. Roy will do what is needed to win even if that means he plays decoy for the night. Everyone on the team had a moment in the spotlight against the T'Wolves. Too bad Mills and Pendergraph weren't available.
Kudos to Outlaw for being decisive. He took it to the hole, he shot from three, it did not matter, whichever he choose, he seemed confident with what he wanted to do and it worked out very well. Also, he drew several fouls instead of shying away from contact. Kudos to team play. Aside from Dante, who gets a pass, Everyone who played got between 18 and 27 minutes and had a +/- between +11 and +13. Thats impressive. Kudos to LMA for being unstoppable and having quick hands. Kudos to Miller, Blake, Rudy and Bayless for sharing decision making and making the right choices. Kudos to Joel for 13 boards Kudos to Roy for doing what's best for the team even if it meant only 2 points. I could go on and on, there are so many Kudos to hand out.
Nate and Roy for taking the backseat role in the last couple of games. But even more, willing to change who they are for the betterment of the team.
how does making provocative statements like that keep this thread positive? All it does is invite him to post something in response.
LOL thank you! The reason people were "hating on Nate" is because the team was acting completely insane. Now that Nate has embraced opportunistic running, letting Miller call the plays, and pounding the rock in to Oden and LMA I have almost nothing to complain about. My sole remaining criticism is that he is a little too minute based on his substitution patterns. That said, props to Nate for recognizing his mistakes and going with the team's strengths. Props to Bayless for embracing his role (some nice ball movement and assistage out there!). Props to Martell for constantly bringing the intensity. Props to Roy for being content (thus far) with being a decoy and distributing the rock. Props to Oden for his maturity this year. Props are damn near all around. Oh yeah Props to Dante Cunningham for shooting perfect from the field for his ENTIRE NBA careeer!
I think the biggest kudos may wind up going to Nate. His inability/unwillingness/whatever reason to coach an uptempo team is pretty well documented. Letting Miller impose his will on the game may be the biggest adjustment Nate has ever had to make as a coach. I didn't think he had it in him (and a big part of me suspects the commitment to pushing the ball will eventually go by the wayside).
My kudos goes to Roy . . . he alowed the Blazers to beat up the wolves without feeling the need to get his points. That can't be easy when early on you are in the hunt for being a top 5 scorer in the league, I'm sure he wants to repeat as an all star again . . . and probably feels teh weight of being a max out contract player who is expected to lead the team to the promise land. If Roy can push all that aside and really just play with the single goal of winning . . . again kudos to him because that is hard for any star player to try and accept. Sidenote: I like the Kudos to Nate for finally doing what many on this board have been saying for weeks. Only the I don't rememeber the people critizing Nate as being advocates to start Blake. So it's nice that posters are trying to get credit for giving the coach advise . . . but he really isn't listening to our advise . . . and he did not do what many are screaming for him to do . . . start Miller in place of Blake.
