Before this season nobody ever talked about Webster as an "energy guy." It was always two things--"NBA body" and "great-looking shot." Watching Batum far surpass him while he wasn't even allowed to compete for an entire year has had a huge impact on his motor. If he keeps at it, he could morph into "Ruben Patterson with brains and a jumpshot," which would be freakin' awesome.
Im sorry to offend you or make you upset in anyway. As I post on these forums more often you will realized that im not the best with spelling and grammar and when im typing fast and its late I might mix up words sometimes, just the way I am, never was to solid in English class, lol... Also when I typed that I remember thinking that doesn't seem right but at the time I couldn't think of the proper way so I just went with it.
While he is right that there is no excuse for bad play, the team needs to play like they want it every night, and not just one night against Oklahoma. The best teams in the league will still almost beat you, and might still beat you, on a bad night. On a normal and/or good night they will kick the shit out of any of the teams from mediocre to bad on any given night.
It's that confidence and swagga we are seriously missing. For the most part, I see only Webster showing this kind of confidence, from the way he walks up and down the court, to driving to the basket and trying to dunk over people. That's what we need. I think we need to string a few "Fun Games" instead of the "Grind it Out" games to boost our confidence.
+1 I want the team to win. If Webster proves me wrong and helps the team - good for him. The next question is, will Batum be able to make up for the year of development he has lost? He hasn't just lost a year of progress - there is a good chance he will regress to where he was at the begining of his rookie season.
I guess that is the question, do the good teams have any fun games, or are they all business? Nobody on the Blazers has what I call "The Scowl" on their face when out on the floor. Game face. Warpaint. Whatever you want to call it. I don't think they should look at the games as fun at all. I think they should look at them as an ass kicking that needs to be administered, because the team across the floor is thinking they are going to do the same to you. A lot of folks were referring to Ruben Patterson up above. The one thing Ruben did every night that nobody on this team does now, is he played frackin hard every night. That is why he made so many teams even though he was a knucklhead. You never had to worry about his motor running. It's running, and ready to hit the throttle. He had that scowl I talked about. He had the physicality I talk about. The only thing he didn't have was basketball and daily life IQ.
I do not know how close Batum's injury is to what Wade had - but you have seen that Wade just was not himself the first time he came back. It was the year after that he regained what he had.
Well of course every game you take seriously, but being "Too Serious" makes you think TOO Hard. I for one think that when teams are looser, they tend to play to their skill much easier. Also, that "Swagga" I am mentioning, is a reflection of the same point you tried posting in response. I want to see in our faces that we know we can win games, not think we can. You come in the games wanting to completely destroy the other team. That type of confidence is what sets apart the champions from the pretenders.
