Partly cloudy with a chance of showers, but it should be mostly sunny by the end of April ... provided that El Nino doesn't setup off the coast. Edit: Posted this before the poll. I'd call myself cautiously optimistic. I didn't expect them to beat the Hawks, but was slightly surprised at how badly they got outworked on the glass and the way they seemed to brain-lock in the final quarter -- Dead legs I guess. As for the rest of the team, the sheer number of injuries are mildly concerning and the way Nate is riding Blake is even more puzzling, but my guess is that most of this will be sorted by the all-star break (if that means Miller is traded I wouldn't be shocked, and if a small forward is brought in I also wouldn't be shocked). I'd call this "interesting times" for the Blazers, I hope they are able to come back home and handle their business; that would go a long way toward convincing me that they are starting to get over whatever weirdness seems to be hanging over them (the offense has regressed badly IMO).
PP! I am pleased with our team. I am not dissecting every second of every play and just trying to enjoy the game.
All in all, I am very happy with this team. I think Oden really needs to step up, the removal of Blake in the starting line-up to 15-17 minutes a game and WTF Webster?!?!?!
Concerned. We've beat some poor teams with a goofy lineup that is taking its toll on Roy. We need to get back to a more classic lineup very soon before it becomes detrimental.
C.O....little worried with Travis and Batum both on the sidelines for a considerable amount of time. It's time for my boy Rudy to shine!
8 and 4 is a good record, but the quality of teams is not even close to what it was in the early season last year.... Offense still looks slugish, but Nate will ultimatly give in, and start miller/sit blake (I Hope)
I think a lot more of us in here should do that. This is entertainment afterall.. sometimes we can lose sight of the fact that we arent on the team, and that it is a game to be watched and enjoyed. Its hard sometimes when you are so invested in this team. But Sometimes we all need to take a step back and look at things for what they are.
This doesn't quite look like the 60 win team I was hoping for. So I'm disappointed. Most of the problems I see can be fixed with better coaching: 1. Why is Aldridge being so badly under utilized? He's only averaging 32 mpg and 12 FGA's. The guy is shooting at a .493 rate, and he's doing it from everywhere on the court. He's about 3 feet away from having Dirk Nowitzki-like range on his shot. I know he's had foul trouble more than usual, and we're trying to integrate Oden more in the offense, but still...he's averaging 15 ppg when he could be averaging 21 ppg with a little better coaching of the offense. He's barely averaging more minutes than the relic of Tim Duncan. And it's not like he's being beat out by a more productive backup PF, because we don't fucking have one. He's got such a high release and he's so mobile that defenses can't really stop him from shooting. The only thing keeping him from scoring more is that his teammates and his coach don't seem to think it's a priority. 2. Somebody needs to tell the coach what PER is. Then they need to point out Bayless has a PER of 20.3 while Blake has a PER of 8.9. It's insane that at the end of a five game road trip Bayless gets under two minutes of playing time. Jesus. He's played absolutely fantastic in limited minutes. So give him more. 3. Blake needs to go to the bench. McMillan has the perfect excuse right now that can help Blake save face. "Steve isn't hitting threes like he usually is. So I think we should try to get him back in his rhythm by having him come in on the second unit." Or whatever. Jesus, why the fuck am I even worried about how to break the news to Blake that he's not starter material? The guy is smart. He can probably see it for himself. 4. Both Roy and Aldridge should never be seated on the bench at the same time in a competitive game. 5. Ditto with Roy and Miller. 6. Ditto with Oden and Przybilla, unless one of them has fouled out. 7. Our guards need to defend better, and probably draw more fouls, to protect our bigs. Nate needs to sit down with each guard after every game and point out in the tape exactly where their incompetence led to a foul on Joel, Oden or Aldridge. None of this stuff is terribly difficult to implement or even that controversial on this board. So I voted for "cautiously optimistic." If we implement just a few of these changes, we probably win that game last night.
Frustrated probably describes me best. I think the 3 guard line up is stupid Bayless has outplayed Blake this entire year, yet gets no time compared to Blanky Oden should be fed the ball as much as possible ISO's are dumb We ran a couple of games and beat the hell out of our opponents, then stopped and struggled to score 90
Cautiously optimistic. -- Oden is taking strides. -- Miller is starting to blend in. -- Rudy is coming around. -- We are winning in spite of the ridiculous three guard lineup. I believe I had us at 54 or 55 wins, and I think we'll still be there at the end of the year. Ed O.
C.O. The guys have been playing OK and still getting wins. They have to figure out the rotation though!
I am pretty pleased. I thought it would take longer to figure out the new line and the integration of Greg and Miller. While we are nowhere near where we can be, we won more than what I thought we would. I thought we would be 5-5 or 6-6 before we really started rolling, so, yes, I am pretty pleased. This is a very big difference than what we were doing before. The biggest thing that bothers me is the fact that Brandon is much more of a jump-shooter in the new scheme, 79%/19% in jump-shots/close shots vs. 66%/31% last year is not good.
C.O. but i think once we start playing quality teams.... simmons prediction will be close.... to us hovering around 500. all year ending a bit better then 41-41. with no trade... we are very average and boring.
The couple of games I've watched, sure does appear that teams are sagging/doubling on him a lot more than last season.
