No, quite simply, it is not. But I think it’s fair to be concerned. Sometimes trends set in the early season can be habit forming. As I’ve said previously, wins or losses aren’t as important is the way a team is playing.
And this team is not playing well. I saw so many things Tuesday night in that home loss to Atlanta. How about a few of these mystifying things:
– Brandon Roy had more trouble handling the ball than I’ve ever seen him have. Don’t know what the problem was but he was losing it constantly.
– Greg Oden : Damn, you just have to do a better job of avoiding fouls. It’s like it’s getting worse instead of better. Stay within yourself, don’t try to block everything. Be a little smarter. My goodness, if this guy ever gets it figured out, he’s a rebounding machine! His rebounds-per-minute are off the charts. For that reason, stay on the floor, Greg! Frank Brickowski, who had a long career in the NBA and fouled people a LOT, said on “Talkin’ Ball” last night that maybe Greg is too nice to the officials. He advocates him going off at some point at a referee and letting those guys know he’s not going to take it any more. Given all the talk recently about grudges, I’m not so sure. But it couldn’t get much worse for the guy than it is now.
– Defense. Ugh. No help. G0ing behind screens on good shooters rather than over the top of screens. No help defense on the wings or point guards. Failure to defend the pick and roll with any consistency. No help defense. Too many fouls. Did I mention no help defense?
– Effort. Are they not playing hard? I don’t think that’s intentionally happening. I think they’re trying to play hard. But it’s hard to play hard when you are confused. And they’ve got several players on the floor who look perpetually confused about their roles.
– Rotation. Speaking of roles, I know the coach is still experimenting but while he’s doing that there is seemingly no reliable rotation. Players are being put in unfamiliar situations. That can be difficult.
– Fast break points. What fast break points? Man, averaging fewer than five FB points a game is a joke. This is a young and energetic team. I’m going to say this one more time — nobody expects them to be a Paul Westhead, crazy-running team. But you have to get the opportunity points that are out there, particularly for a team that seems to shoot long jump shots all the time in the halfcourt game.
– Rudy Fernandez. Whatever happened to him?
– 50 Atlanta points in the paint. My goodness, the Hawks don’t even have a post player. That’s just from slashes to the basket or ball penetrations — a symbol of how awful the defense is.
So yeah, that’s just a few of the things. And might I say, these are not, for the most part, new problems. They’re old ones that have been festering for a season. Panic? Not yet. But if you’re not concerned, you’re not paying attention.
Tweet This Post
Tags: Brandon Roy, Dwight Jaynes, Portland Trail Blazers, Rudy Fernandez