Stick a fork in 'em

Good night folks. Don't forget to tip your waiter.

 

Batum, the second highest paid Blazers, continues it coast.

He'll have spurts of great play and then he'll just disappear.

The ball movement isn't there and nor is the outside shot.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Oub7M7g7EIo

 

...they're done?

Yup, and with LMA out its like the big 1. Seems Batum has reached the ceiling of his current skillset and doesn't have the confidence to score consistently. Bottom line, we need him to be an offensive threat if we ever want to become a contender.

 

6 TO's, he is so frickin lazy with his passing, really pisses me off

 

Something feels wrong ... like something internally is brewing. There is NO WAY a team that started 24-5 and was playing with a "Us Against The World" mentality all of a sudden stops competing. Yes, we have been losing a lot since the start of the new year, but this month has been abysmal. 1-4 Road Trip including a 30-point hole in Dallas. After losing a heartbreaker to Golden State, we nearly lost at home to the BUCKS! And now this gem of a road trip so far.

The passing, shot selection, and defense is wearing real thin on me right now. Outside of a few players (mainly RoLo and Will), the team just seems disinterested.

Anyone else get the same feeling?

 

I think they miss LA.

 

I got their back here. Yeah, losing these last games sucked but it's not over yet. I do think we want the 8th seed more than the 5th and that's a bit suspicious.

 

Of course they do. But we were playing like crap even with him. That Laker loss at home? With LA. That 0-4 start on the early march Road Trip? With LA.

I don't think he'll come back and magically solve these issues we've been having.

 

This. We collapsed before LA even went down the first time. This has been a gradual deflation since we lost to OKC before the All Star break and WITH or without LA, we have played badly. Our only hope now is that LMA will lead us to the playoffs. They definitely won't do it without him.

 

Ouch.

 

Be careful, maxiep doesn't like it when you shove reality in his face. He gets very upset.

 

And 3-8 in their last 11.

 

This is asking a lot, but remember preseason? The Blazers actually had the best defense in the NBA. Although our offense isn't too hot right now, it's our defense that is simply abominable. Lopez is being asked to do too much, and teams can expose his slow footspeed when that happens. And like it or not, it's our PGs who are the worst offenders.

 

Have the close losses done them in mentally? I can say that as a fan, I really cared about winning earlier in the season, but the way they've constantly come up short in 2014 has me feeling very apathetic.

They've lived and died by the 3 a lot this season and it's hard for them to win when it's not falling. I think they should also re-think the prevent defense they've been playing this year.

 

I've been saying that about Batum's passing all season, and it seemed to piss people off. I guess they wanted to imagine he was this great ball handing forward. But I don't see anyone on the other teams consistantly passing the ball right to us 4-5 times a night.

 

You know what enrages me more than anything? That Stotts won't play Claver more. I don't care if Wright can hit a three pointer - he's pretty much worthless otherwise. And don't get me started on Meyers Leonard. It's like if you're not known as a three point shooter you're invisible to Stotts. I'd actually be happy if we sat Williams in favor of Earl Watson, if it weren't for the fact that Earl Watson's game has fallen off a cliff.