Subscribe Feed (RSS)Wow… don’t remember seeing Portland this bad all season. It’s so tempting to talk first about the offense, which was out of sync all night. But really — pin it on the defense first. You have to defend with more intensity than that to win in the NBA, particularly on the road. Here are a few thoughts:
- I’m beginning to wonder if the Trail Blazers should ever have drafted Greg Oden. I mean, seriously — what’s the point of having a seven-foot force in the middle if the coach doesn’t want to play him and doesn’t seem interested in getting him the ball even when he does use him? The guy is coming off a half in Chicago Monday night where he carried the Blazers. Not many people noticed he barely got a touch in the second half as the Portland jump shooters took over that game. But then Wednesday night, he plays 18 minutes and gets three shots. What’s that all about? Perhaps he’s hurt, or something. If so, I apologize for this — but come on now, there are a bunch of coaches in this league who would sell their first born for a chance at getting a powerful center like this to develop. Why is he playing only 18 minutes and not getting the ball? Dunks aren’t as good as 20-foot jump shots? This makes no sense whatsoever. The plus-minus in this game showed Przybilla at -13, Aldridge -16, Roy -9, Outlaw -18 and Oden +5 — the only Portland player in the plus category. Yes, I know the plus-minus hasn’t been kind to Oden this season, but the guy is improving with every game and not only needs to play, he needs to be used as the weapon he can become. This ranks right at the top of my list of several things I don’t understand about the way this team plays.
- Related to the previous item: Doesn’t everyone see how much better this team is when it plays inside-out? Aldridge, Oden and Roy should be posting up — then that will get you OPEN jumpers instead of the tough shots Portland had Wednesday night. The ball needs to get inside much, much more frequently than it does. This requires more patience, though, than anyone seems to have.
- For every night that Travis Outlaw scores 30 points or so, there are four or five nights when he wanders around the court like a guy who is looking for his lost dog. Man, you have to guard someone, you have to chase the ball down, you have to play with force, you have to make the smart pass. You have to be INVOLVED even when you aren’t shooting the ball!
- Jerryd Bayless is obviously the coach’s favorite in the backup point guard derby. Might just as well start him in Blake’s absence, too. And, I think, may as well trade Sergio, too. Nate McMillan just doesn’t seem to like him — and Sergio seems to sense it. Bayless, who doesn’t look ready for any kind of extended duty yet, is going to get it, though. Man, 1 for 11 from the field, no assists and two turnovers — yeah, meet Thursday night’s starter.
- With Steve Blake and Rudy Fernandez out at the same time, it’s going to be very difficult for Portland to win. The Blazers fire up all those outside shots and now have Sergio and Jerryd — two reluctant, almost frightened, shooters — to share the point-guard duties. If Rudy were healthy, you could at least play him and Roy together.
- Shavlick Randolph? On a night when toughness and inside scoring would have helped, why not?
- Pat’s Cheesesteaks are better than Geno’s. Sorry Blazer Broadcasting, you got that one wrong.
- Man, it puts me in a lousy mood to have to watch an entire game on a computer screen when the Blazers are playing that poorly. Feels like such a waste of time sitting there with those keys in front of you and all that information at your fingertips and you’re watching these guys flounder around without much purpose – know what I mean? Come on Directv, let’s get that deal signed with Comcast Sportsnet, OK?
Tags: Brandon Roy, Dwight Jaynes, Geno's, Greg Oden, Jerryd Bayless, Pat's Cheesesteaks, Philadelphia 76ers, Portland Trail Blazers, Rudy Fernandez, Sergio Rodriguez, Shavlick Randolph
would love to see more brandon in the post.
it’s still sergio’s time to go.
think bayless can fall asleep tonight after that game knowing he’s got harris tomorrow?
kevin durant: 21, 9, 4, 2 and 1 tonight in a win over utah.
Sometimes they just don’t pass it to Greg, but tonight it seemed like the offense never even allowed him to post up.
Your point Ben when you mentioned Durant’s line was… ?
I swear, Dwight, you read my mind all the time. WHY don’t they get the ball inside to Oden? Pound it in there and see what happens. You can only bring a guy along for so long. At some point you have to take off the leash and let him run with it.
And I also agree about Sergio – he and Nate just don’t blend for some reason. I always liked him. I hope he ends up somewhere where he is appreciated for what he does and gets to play.
Maybe they can package him with Travis. It mystifies me how someone can have done nothing their whole life but play ball and STILL not do basic, fundamental things correctly. Yeah, he can throw up and make some wild shots at times, but that stuff has to be mixed with some fundamentals more consistently.
Greg Oden will never be the player that everyone was sold and bamboozled on…. Sorry.
Not as long as Nate is coach he wont. Doesn’t help when your coach has offensive and defensive sets that seem to intentionally go away from your strengths.
once again bob the troll rears his ugly head.
The truth about Oden hurts, does it not Mr.Stone?
You got that right Dwight! Pat’s is MUCH better than Geno’s! Geno’s is not good, kind of disgusting…where all the tourist schmucks go!
Wow, I’m starting to hate Portland’s fans, its critics and its writers. Buncha weak stomached whiners!
I’m glad at least someone is calling out Nate McMillan. What the hell is he doing? Why does he run plays where Oden and Przybilla are receiving and making passes and the top of the key? Can anybody explain that to me? Everyone knows they’re not going to shoot. And why when Oden shows something good the game before does Nate not once go into him. I swear he does not want us to win. It is a joke. Why did neither Greg or Joel play ANY MINUTES in the 4th quarter? He had Channing in there the whole time. We got to within 9 points, WTF!!!
I’ve been saying this for a while, but we will never win anything as long as Nate McMillan is our coach. In 9 years as a coach the man only has 2 winning teams, 2!!! How ridiculous is this. His schemes are old and obvious, his defense that teaches is nowhere to be found (I mean isn’t he supposed to be a defensive minded coach?). We play some of the crappiest defense in the league. How the hell does McMillan still have his job? He hasn’t contributed anything to this team other than losses and I think it’s about time the media starts calling him out on his piss-poor coaching jobs.
I have very little respect for Nate McMillan’s coaching ability. He might make a fine assistant coach, but he is not quick minded enough to make the decisions that need to be made by a head coach during games. It seems he always calls timeouts 3-4 plays too late, his playcalling is atrocious, and the defense he teaches is transparent. Plain and simple, until Nate is gone, we won’t win. Get used to it.
You hit the nail on the head Dwight. I coach my 7 year old’s basketball team, and even these guys know to play inside out. Oden may not be perfect, he may not ever be that hall of fame center we want him to be, but he draws immediate attention when he gets the ball. He is a good passer, so he can find the open man, and if left one on one, there are very few big men in this league who can truly stop him. The more he plays, the more he will figure out which moves work and which dont, but if he doesn’t get that opportunity he is never going to get into a rhythm.
Hell, I think Nate should’ve had him out there during garbage time. What would it have hurt?
Hey Dwight,
You seem to be interested in stats and such. Take a look at the length of each of your posts following a loss compared to the length of each following a win. Your messages seem to get across (see Bob Whitsitt). When you train a dog or a little kid you try to highlight the positives and ignore the negatives.
Your dead on about the need to develop Oden into an offensive weapon. Spend more time explaining why he was so effective against Chicago how that helps the team.
By the way I moved to Montana and can’t watch or listen to any games. If you (or anyone else reading) have any tips about where I might bump into them online I’d appreciate it.
LT, check out the game threads on blazersedge around tipoff time, someone will generally post where you can find it.
Thanks tom
LT – why don’t you sign up for NBA league pass broadband? If you are outside of the “local market” you should be able to watch any game that is not nationally televised.
Dwight – I whole heartedly agree. Use Greg’s inside presence to create offense for the team. Just look at the Chicago game. Greg was the one who opened things up in the 2nd quarter by distracting the defense, allowing Outlaw to get his buckets.
NBA league pass did some weird things with the ‘local markets’ after the Sonics moved out of Seattle. I have heard that people in parts of Washington cannot see Blazer or Jazz games. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Comcast’s evilness was keeping the Blazers out of every state west of the Mississippi.
Bobbi W, ignorance is a curable disease.
Tonight is going to be an ugly experience unless we dominate inside. For the love of God Nate, pound the ball inside. Charmin Frye is not the answer, win or lose pound the ball inside, everything will open up if you do.
If we are not going to use Oden, then yes it was a mistake to draft him. I thought maybe Bobbi W was coaching the team with the decisions that were being made.
The Blazers need to decide if the’re all in with Greg Oden. If not, trade the guy.
They need to run the offens through him. They need a real point guard who will execute that offense.
Tim Duncan gets to touch the ball almost every time. Dwight Howard gets to touch the ball almost every time. Five years ago, Shaq got the ball every time.
The way things are currently structured on offense, the Blazers will be an above average team. They’ll make the playoffs, and win one series at most.
Oh my god, the Blazers lost one road game to a hot team. EVERYBODY PANIC!
I’m in Eastern Oregon, bot the league pass, and have been getting all of Portland’s games home or away. I often get the out of market feed, but have yet to experience any blackouts of home games due to the string of sell-outs. It’s a pretty reasonable price on DishNetwork for League Pass, and beats the hell out of watching on your comp. Just a little info for the masses…
Dwight, thanks for your perspective. The game was beyond
boring. No hustle, no energy but plenty of butter fingers.
We have comprised a team with no handles. I hope that Shav gets some minutes and pray that Rudy plays at Charlotte.
Joel needs to rest as his injury has gotten the best of him. GO needs major minutes and if he fouls out, so be it! Go Blazers!
Dwight, I’m glad you are being critical of Nate. Portland fans need to hear this, so they can start preparing for the coaching change that needs to happen in order for the Blazers to win championships.
Let Oden play until he fouls out. We have a great backup in Joel, and Frye and Aldridge can also play the 5. Oden is not developing fast enough because Nate is not letting him. Sure Oden looks awkward on the court sometimes, but pulling him out of the game won’t fix that! Let him play.
I completely agree Dwight, 100%!
What is disturbing is how Nate has broken down some player’s confidence levels to all-time lows: Sergio, Channing, and now Greg too!
These guys were some of the most fun loving outgoing guys that you would ever find, at least it seemed. Now they look over their shoulder play with fear, and are as confused as ever. I know it’s a man’s league and they are getting paid very well but it seems as if Nate is awesome at breaking players down, but he’s terrible at building them back-up.
I’m baffled as to why we can’t run the simple high-low when we have 4 players that are 7ft athletic and coordinated.
Paul Allen might need to sell some stock to get it done but this team is screaming for Greg Popovich.
Tony Luke’s is better than Pats & Geno’s
I was going nuts during the 3rd quater last night. The 76ers are on the ropes and in the penalty to boot! Great! Let’s pound the ball into the post, get to the stripe and stop the clock right? Nooooo not Frye!!! I’m with you Dwight, last night wasn’t Nate’s best job.
Could it be possible that the coaching staff looked at Dalembert, one of the better shot blocking/defensive centers in the league (had 3 blocks last night), and assumed he could pose problems for Greg? It does seem remote, but one has to suppose there was a reason for the madness in someone’s mind. Scratch that – just saw Dalembert is ranked 14th in blocked shots in the league at 1.6 a game. Anyway, I’d love to hear thoughts on why Nate was not commanding the rock to the block. What could the coaches game plan have been…?
You must have a man-crush on Sergio if you don’t realize how much worse he was than Bayless last night.
Sergio’s skill-set: Passing
That’s it. And Bayless is a rookie to Sergio’s third year. Wake up.
I like your points Dwight. I think you’re dead on about utilizing Oden’s (developing) post offense more. I do believe, however, this is where Nate and the team ultimately wants to do with Greg. What’s going on is that both coach and the rest of the team still have no confidence in him yet. They have a bad habit of looking for the open jumpshot first. It seems at the beginning they’ll dump it into Greg and if he has difficulty going, they abandon that strategy altogether. Also, Blake and the other guards have unwillingness or difficulty in passing to him after the pick and roll. Often it seems like a useless thing for him to roll to the hoop, flashing his hands only to be grasping air.
Blake has to be the worst starting PG in the league when it comes to passing the ball when he is moving. Can’t do it on the pick and roll, and certainly cannot do it while running on a break. Guy can shoot the lights out
Dwight – this is why I miss your column. Indeed, you pretty much walked through my laundry list of all the issues I’m seeing with the team right now:
1. Misuse / lack of use for Oden. You have one of the top 3 centers in the league, and you’re barely using the guy. So he’s unpolished on offense. So was Shaq early in his career (still is for that matter), and he was pretty darn effective. There are very few centers in the league who can match up with Oden’s combination of size, strength and agility. Why aren’t the Blazers exploiting that?
2. Over-reliance on Travis Outlaw. Sure – he’s able to put up decent scoring numbers on occasion, but still shows that he has the basketball IQ of a carrot.
3. An apparent prejudice against Sergio, for reasons I can’t fathom. Sure, for his first couple of seasons, he showed a lot of immaturity. Frankly though, this year I’m much more impressed. He’s much more in control, and at the beginning of the season, when he had confidence, his shot was much improved. He runs the offense better than Bayless, and makes better decisions than Bayless. But Nate obviously prefers Bayless.
This team has a dominant center, a power forward with a highly polished offensive game, and a highly skilled shooting guard with enough size to play in the post. So what kind of an offense does the team have? One that primarily relies on outside jump shots for offense. Huh? Starting the offense in the post will open up the shooters, and create more foul shot opportunities. May put a little less wear and tear on Roy as well.
Lastly – does anyone know what sort of an identity this team has established? Are they a running team? (Obviously not, although they certainly seem to have the right pieces to be one) Defensive club? Pound it into the post? I guess they’re a slow it down, jump shooting team. When the shots are falling, they’re great. If not, well, you saw what happens.
I’m probably traversing into sacred ground here, but I have to at least ask: Is Nate the right coach for this team anymore? He did a great job instilling discipline, and a strong work ethic when it was critically necessary. He gets great credit for getting this team to where it is today. But can he evolve for what this team needs now? Is he the best choice to maximize the talents of this group? I’m not sure.
I believe Oden sat because he wasn’t getting back on D. Justified, but still frustrating.
Harrumph! Harrumph!
Looks like pretty much everyone who has posted here is a better coach than Nate McMillan. Thank goodness everyone has been able to figure out that the coach of the second youngest team in the league, who’s starters average less than 2 years experience (less than that for the next few games while Blake is out), really sucks. He sure must because they way they have been playing is just horri…..oh wait. They are 6th in teh western conference, ahead of division favorite Utah which has a much more experienced team and coach.
I am so freaking glad everyone and their dog knows more about developing a young team than Nate. After all, non of you have done it and he has. To have a team as young as the Blazers be in contention is truly amazing….and yet all you hear around Portland is the constant bitching and whining.
Jesus Christ himself could coach the Blazers and all you’d hear about is how he’s utilizing Oden wrong.
Rusty,
Jesus would have healed Greg’s knee immediately, I believe taught him the sky hook.
I think Outlaw has ADD. Put him on Adderall and he’d be a friggin’ BEAST.
This “Jesus” fellow seems promising. How do we get him?
I met a Jesus at 7-11
“They are 6th in teh western conference, ahead of division favorite Utah which has a much more experienced team and coach.”
Utah has been decimated by injuries all year. The fact that they are actually ranked 8th right now is a testament to what an amazing coach Jerry Sloan is.
For every night that Travis Outlaw scores 30 points or so, there are four or five nights when he wanders around the court like a guy who is looking for his lost dog.
You talk about not developing a young player. This kid is another example. He needs fundamentals — or maybe a Jack Ramsay type coach.
The 76er’s were more physical and they clearly wanted the game more
Before you go off and fire Nate, what he has done with Oden has been reasonable. The kid was overwhelmed and to have him focus on defense and rebounding was a good idea
With that said, I now agree it is time for us to get the ball inside to Oden as much as possible. He has gotten used to the NBA game and rigors that go with it, so it is a wise time to reallt get him some inside time on the offensive end. It would also provide a needed shot of confidence
He is coming along fine in my opinion. The team however, needs to learn how to go inside to him. We are so used to shooting jump shots that we need to realize we have a big man who can get it done
Concerning Outlaw yah he can be erratic at times and he is not the most consistent, but I don’t see any of you armchair sissies or you apple journalists complain when he steps up and gets the winning shot. Say what you want about the kid but he has major kahunas and is not afraid to step up if asked
Concerning Bayless: The guy is a rookie who has had limited time on the court. He will have some nights where he will loook like a rookie. However, he has already shown flashes of being able to not only contribute, but alter a game
I know you don’t like Bayless Janes, which gives me great pleasure everytime he does well. Get used to it, cause he will only improve with more playing time
I agree with you Dwight to an extent. I disagree with you on Sergio. Sergio has NO business playing. He will never be anything more than a 3 string player at best.
Arm chair critics. Let’s see you guys on the court. Fat Oregonians. Leave our team alone, don’t ruin their confidence. We will dominate! Go drink another lite beer and shut it.
Love your writing Mr Jaynes, but Shavlik is going to provide toughness? Oden is supposed to fully develop in 3 months? I like your other points.