Subscribe Feed (RSS)Like I said on “Talkin’ Ball” last night, this was not a game to get worried about. In their fifth game in seven days, the Blazers played a very good game. In fact, that’s as well as they’ve played all season.
In mid-November, you can’t get worked up about the outcome, it’s how you’re playing that really counts. I said that in some of the Portland wins — yes, it was fine that the Blazers won but the real issue was they weren’t playing well.
I’d like to have seen Rudy Fernandez get some shots early in overtime. The guy hits a stunner like the one he buried to tie the game at the buzzer, I’d come out in the overtime and want to try to ride him. Instead, he really didn’t get much of a chance until it was a pretty hopeless situation. And he responded favorably.
Portland opened the game establishing both Greg Oden and LaMarcus Aldridge in the post. Now THAT’s how you’re supposed to start games. It’s too bad that later it reverted to more of a perimeter game.
And I’d also mention that this game showed how much it hurts the team to start — and use throughout the game — three guards. Portland was pounded on the boards all night long and a lot of it was just expecting the two big men to do all the rebounding.
You’ve got to get boards from your small forwards and off-guards, too. Portland’s stock in trade is rebounding the ball but that’s going to be difficult to maintain against the more active or taller teams without another forward in the lineup.
UPDATE — forgot to mention this earlier. The zone defense really makes it difficult to rebound, too. It was effective in terms of getting misses out of the Hawks, but blocking out when you’re playing zone is problematical and Atlanta found numerous paths to the offensive boards. Long-term, zones are usually not much of a solution in the NBA.
Good game, though. Atlanta is getting a lot out of its talent right now. Be interesting to see if the Hawks can keep it up for a significant length of time.
Tags: Atlanta Hawks, Dwight Jaynes, Greg Oden, LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland Trail Blazers, Rudy Fernandez
Kudos to Atlanta. They never gave up, kept the pressure on all night long and eventually our tired legs started to translate into turnovers and they were right back in it. Great game, Rudy is clutch.
Good game to watch despite the loss. Unfortunately, the biggest thing I will remember from that game (not including the news about Paul Allen) was how terrible Martell Webster looked notwithstanding the monster dunk he had. He just didn’t know what to do with the ball.
Nate’s decisions to play, or not play, or call plays for – Rudy, continues to utterly confound me. He was obviously on fire last night, getting them to overtime, and then he becomes invisible.
Too many turnovers in the 3rd Qtr sealed their fate. Roy is trying to get others involved, but maybe should have been a bit more selfish.
If they had a bigger cushion in the 4th, they just might have pulled off an improbable 5 win road trip.
Blake and Webster continue to underwhelm.
Love Rudy, but he’s a lot of the reason we go to zone. He plays his best defense in that zone, but is the only guy who is an “out of his area” rebounder, so it kills us on the boards if Rudy is boxed out.
We might need to go to a doubling defense if we want to continue the 3-guard. And give Rudy equal time with Roy and Miller to see how he does.
Blake 40 minutes! You have to be kidding me.
Against an awesome rebounding team like the Hawks why do we want Prybilla collecting dust on the bench when he is the #1 rebounding center per minutes played. Play all three 7 footers at the same time with LMA at the 3. Roy 2 and Miller or Rudy at the 1.
Would it kill us to try it and see how another team responds. No, of course we just always react to what the OTHER team does to us.
i agree…let us dictate what the other team does….and atlanta is not that good
I don’t know if I’d want a triple tower lineup, but Blake playing 40 is ridiculous. Put Rudy or Webster in the starting lineup and be done with it already. Webster was really playing nicely at the beginning of the season. His minutes are really dwindling. 25 mins in garbage time against Minny, only 11 against a bigger Atlanta team. Makes ZERO sense. We aren’t going to be effective playing this small ball crap.
Overall to go 4-1 on a road trip that saw 5 games played in 7 days is impressive. I will take that everytime.
We should have won in Atlanta. Sitting Miller in favor of Blake has cost us games (this one included) yet Nate sticks with him.
Our zone defense would have worked had Nate had the courage to play Pryz with Oden. That thought never occurred to him because of his love affair with Blake.
Blake can only seem to pass to Roy in crunch time. Meanwhile we have one of the best 3 point shooters in basketball in Rudy but he rarely saw the ball.
I have a feeling if Miller were in there he would have gave Rudy the ball and in his spots. We were not the same team once Miller sat in the 4th
Amen. I like Blake, he’s a good soldier and a good role player, but damn I’m getting tired of the Nate McMillan/Steve Blake love affair. I never thought I’d say that, but Miller is a guy that NEEDS to be in the game when it counts, as the ONLY point guard.
Amen. Also, the love affair that Mike Rice and Mike Barrett have for Steve Blake is absolutely SICKENING!
To hear them tell it, Steve Blake never commits a mistake but when he does, they either overlook it or cover it up by saying that is so uncharacteristic of Steve Blake.
It’s so obvious Mike and Mike try to shape people’s perceptions of their “perfect” buddy. SICKENING!
i hear that….blake this and that…i guess they sit on the team plane right
doesn’t nate read our posts? it’s our team…and we don’t pay to watch steve blake play 40 minutes….
To be fair though, Blake doesn’t make THAT many mistakes. He’s a good safe bet, and a good PG. He’s just not AS good as Andre Miller. Blake’s been playing pretty well on both ends, 11 dimes last night was good, but not 40 minutes good when Webster only played 11 against a much bigger Atlanta team. I don’t know guys, I just hope at some point McMillan takes the kid gloves off of his offense and lets Miller completely run the show. The second unit needs some stability and scoring with Outlaw out now anyway, so it’s the perfect time to swap Webster and Blake in the lineup.
Thank God we don’t have to play the Hawks again this season, barring a Finals match. They’re like the Nuggets of the East–a matchup headache for the Blazers.
I guess my new wishlist item for the Blazers, even moreso that both Trout and Batum are on the shelf, is a nasty, athletic, 6′8″ havoc-wreaking forward. A poor man’s Josh Smith or AK47 (back before Kirilenko started to suck). A Birdman. A Tyrus Thomas. An Andres Nocioni.
The sort of guy who only scores by accident (or on dunks), but brings intensity, decent defense, and rebounding ability to the 3 position.
The sort of guy who Blazer fans love to hate–because he plays for the other team.
Batum might become one, though he’s not (yet) nasty enough. Outlaw doesn’t have the reflexes to be a game-changer on the defensive end, even when his shot is falling. Webster ain’t it. Don’t know about our rookie forwards; haven’t seen enough of them.
But Portland sure could use one of those. Even though they’re 8-4, and those four losses have been close games lost to good teams, we can always improve, no?
i agree with you too….a banger..havoc wreaker…yes i like a big lineup…and webster ain’t it
….a banger..havoc wreaker…yes i like a big lineup…and webster ain’t it
lol..you mean like Gerald Wallace, right? Good luck there. It’s going to be hard to get anybody like that when we can’t trade injured players and already have 15 players on the roster. Not saying I don’t agree, a little nasy would be nice, I just don’t see as being possible right now.
*nasTy..sorry
I was thinking more of a role player than a starter like Crash. (Not that I wouldn’t mind having Gerald Wallace on the team; I just don’t think we’re likely to get him).
On the other hand, Jordan just traded Raja Bell for Stephen Jackson. So there’s always hope for a good PSing.
Dwight,
What is up with M. Webster? His minutes have declined as has his production. Is he injured again?
1.blake again…so average
2. rudy is better with lots of minutes…he’s a game changer that needs room for some error
3. webster is average
4. good teams have great small forwards….it is a weak spot for us…very weak…i don’t think this team can compete at a high level with our sf’s
5. lma looked pretty good
6. darn oden is slow at coming along…hurry
7. miller is playing well..stop shooting outside shots
8. is roy going to be better?…he’s good….but not kobe, or wade, or lebron
9. roy has a ceiling…he’s there right?
and i wonder if we can be ok with our pg situation…especially blake
Chauncy billups, ” Coach how am I going stop Blake tonight? And i am worried I won’t be able to get my shot off against him.”
Karl, “Ok we’ll set some picks. Melo be aggressive. Nene gotta get Oden some fouls.”
Melo,”Coach im worried blake might double….and we gotta stop that guy.”
Kmartin, “Coach i will take Blake tonight. I was talking with Kevin Garnett and he said the only way to stop Blake was a box and one. But I say box and two with me AND the Birdman on Blake….it’s the only way to stimey him.”
Pat Riley, “If we had steve blake we might be right back on top. Can you imagine Steve Blake with Wade helping him?”
Jermaine O’Niel, “Coach get that guy…he’s ice at end of games. That’s a lie he’s scared to shoot techs. I played X Box with blake and he’s got skills…ice in his veins.”
Doc Rivers, “We traded for Eddie House so we could have our version of Steve Blake. We got Marquis Daniels so we could put a bigger body of the bench on Blake. We might go 70 and 12 but we know we have to get by Blake if we want another ring.”
Pierce, “If Rondo could be more like Blake we would be solid.”
Garnett, “I like Portlands chances. Steve Blake’s Blazers are awful intimidating.”
Yao Ming, “Steve Blake is my family’s favorite player in China.”
“He is very popular. He reminds the people of chinese monk.”
Ron Artest, “The only player Im scared of is blake. He’s ghetto..A Thug on Defense. Blake is better than that guy in the NY State Correctional facility.” “Im producing a girl group called Blake.”
I can’t wait to listen to Blake
Allen Iverson, “We are talking about Steve Blake and you want to talk about practice?”
“When they make a movie about me I want Brad Pitt to play me. I though about that banjo player from Deliverence but we look to similar,” Steve Blake.
Did nellie furtado mean to say steve blake…not nash?
Juan Jose Berrea, “Coach we should trade Dirk For Steve Blake. Dirk Shoots too much and I could be like Roy If we had Blake. Im not comfortable with Kidd and Dirk. Blake is a good fit for me and he can guard my man for me.” “Coach…you could golf like Byron Scott and Blake could coach….” “He’s smart coach.”
Kobe Bryant, “I spent last summer with Hakeem. This summer with Blake.” “i’m trying to get Blake as our small forward..Odom is too in love with K.K. and my wife loves steve blake.”
All NBA 1st Team
F- Steve Blake
F- Lebron James
C-Dwigt Howard
G- Kobe Bryant
G- Steve Blake
he’s that good
Nate Macmillan, “Steve what is the pulse of the team? Im thinking of playing you at center. Oden is not coming along. Can you guard the bigs? We want to get you more touches. Everything through you. I was thinking we should share a room on the road. I want to pick your brain. During timeouts i want you to be more vocal. Take control…don’t let Brandon talk too much. Yell at Miller and Oden. This is your team. You are getting a raise…and i’m talking to Paul Allen about having you sit next to him the 6 minutes you rest a game. You are too valuable to sit next to the players and get a cold…And I want you to shoot at the end of the shot clock more. Dribble with no purpose and you and brandon decide who is throwing up the ball with 2 seconds to go.”
Ok, sorry I brought it up. Enough with the Blake hate. Somebody should look into a mal-practice suit…just sayin’…..
wow-
come on now, there can never be enough Blake bashing. I can only see taking a break from bashing Blake, to spend some quality time bashing Nate! I don’t think the good doctor was tough enough on him.
lol..ok, maybe from some different people then, eh?
Ya know Blake isn’t the problem. He has worked his ever loving tail off to get to where he is. He has worked and then worked some more to develop that rather admirable 3pt. shot. He HAS IMPROVED, at least to some degree, his defense. Which is something you can not say about too many of his other current teammates.
The problem is despite his obvious significant improvement the last few years. He started out so far behind your typical starting PG in athletic ability, over all talent, ability to read the floor then make the pass. The problem is he started out so far behind your average starting PG that even with his improvement he still is not as good as any other legit starting PG.
Even all that is not really the problem. Give Blake his due. His is better today than he was yesterday. He is a quality back-up PG. The real problem is Nate. Nate is so all over Blake. So hard pressed to appease and please Roy. The problem is El Sargo is so thick as a brick he can not seem to see what is blatantly obvious to every other coach and GM in the league. Let’s take a vote league wide. Mr. GM and team coach. If you had to pick between Andre Miller and Steve Blake as your starting PG who would it be? Anyone honestly think that other than Nate and maybe KP Blake gets a single vote? My bet is zero, zio, nada dang single vote? Anyone ???
yes agree
Nate for couch of the year.
Maybe mack jigger would be kind enough, to pass around some of what it is he’s smoking
lol..ah come on, he said couch, not coach…