another article ranking the West

[STOMP]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/04/SPM8193A7R.DTL

STOMP

 

[The_Lillard_King]

#3!

That is the highest ranking I have seen so far. Very nice.

 

[anique_24]

You guys pretty much change between 3 and 4 with the Nugs.

 

[KingSpeed]

Yeah, #3! I agree!

 

[Foulzilla]

You guys pretty much change between 3 and 4 with the Nugs.

I can agree with this. The Nuggest are going to be pretty good again (barring injuries of course, primarily Nene imo). I think it should be an interesting struggle for the division title.

 

[PapaG]

3. Portland: Lost out on Hedo Turkoglu and Paul Millsap, but in the wake of Steve Blake's shaky playoff performance at point guard, Andre Miller is a welcome addition. Stand back if Greg Oden stops brooding and asserts himself.

Blake's "shaky" performance.

38.5 mpg
49% FG
42% 3pt FG
10 ppg
6 apg
4 rpg
1.5 TO/g

15.0 PER

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Blake's "shaky" performance.

38.5 mpg
49% FG
42% 3pt FG
10 ppg
6 apg
4 rpg
1.5 TO/g

15.0 PER

I'm excited to see what a Miller can do with this young team . . . but Blake was not the biggest weakness on the team. In fact he was a big part of why the team was successful last year.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Blake's "shaky" performance.

38.5 mpg
49% FG
42% 3pt FG
10 ppg
6 apg
4 rpg
1.5 TO/g

15.0 PER

I think it had more to do with Aaron Brooks having a better series against us than he played in the regular season

 

[mook]

Blake's "shaky" performance.

38.5 mpg
49% FG
42% 3pt FG
10 ppg
6 apg
4 rpg
1.5 TO/g

15.0 PER

He just wasn't aggressive in creating offense for his team. 6 assists and 10 points in 38 minutes just isn't going to get it done. It's putting too much pressure on Roy to create everything. Plus his defense just wasn't very good.

Miller was the second most productive player on his team in the playoffs last year. Can you honestly say the same for Blake?

 

[RR7]

I'd take shaky to mean inconsistent.

 

[Natebishop3]

Blake was a ghost for most of that series, and that shot in game three is still burned into my mind.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

I'd be interested to see Blake's Opponent PER, which might be more telling than his own PER.

 

[andalusian]

I'd be interested to see Blake's Opponent PER, which might be more telling than his own PER.

http://www.82games.com/0809/08POR1.HTM

 

[BlazerCaravan]

http://www.82games.com/0809/08POR1.HTM

Very interesting. I definitely like Blake, and I always thought we were solid at PG with him in. If Bayless isn't the answer, I definitely want Blake as my backup PG of choice for the rest of his productive career.

 

[Eastoff]

Blake's "shaky" performance.

38.5 mpg
49% FG
42% 3pt FG
10 ppg
6 apg
4 rpg
1.5 TO/g

15.0 PER

yeah, he was just filling in outsider logic of "that must be why they got miller"

 

[mook]

yeah, he was just filling in outsider logic of "that must be why they got miller"

You really think so? I consider Blake's output pretty shaky.

If you are putting up 10 points and 6 assists in 38 minutes of play in a playoff atmosphere, you'd better be contributing a lot on the defensive end. (Blake didn't.)

He wasn't our worst performer in that series--Outlaw is definitely number one. But it's pretty fair to call him shaky.

 

[PapaG]

yeah, he was just filling in outsider logic of "that must be why they got miller"

Blake certainly didn't dominate the Houston series, or even necessarily have a "good" series, but he wasn't the sole reason the Blazers lost the series. The rookies were "shaky" in that series, and mostly "bad", which is how rookies tend to react in the playoffs.

 

[PapaG]

You really think so? I consider Blake's output pretty shaky.

If you are putting up 10 points and 6 assists in 38 minutes of play in a playoff atmosphere, you'd better be contributing a lot on the defensive end. (Blake didn't.)

He wasn't our worst performer in that series--Outlaw is definitely number one. But it's pretty fair to call him shaky.

It's fair to call every player on the roster outside of Roy "shaky" for that series, then. Even LMA was wildly inconsistent, and Scola outplayed him for long stretches.

 

[mook]

It's fair to call every player on the roster outside of Roy "shaky" for that series, then. Even LMA was wildly inconsistent, and Scola outplayed him for long stretches.

True enough.

By the way, whose job on the court is it to run the offense, direct plays, and otherwise get players the ball in positions where they are comfortable?

Could it be that many of our players were a little shaky because there just wasn't much direction from the PG position?

 

[Eastoff]

True enough.

By the way, whose job on the court is it to run the offense, direct plays, and otherwise get players the ball in positions where they are comfortable?

Could it be that many of our players were a little shaky because there just wasn't much direction from the PG position?

I can definitely agree with your reasoning, but I think Blake simply put up an average performance. I still think Outlaw had the shaky performance.

I think if McMillan could play that series again, we could win it by putting in Roy/Rudy combination instead of Outlaw or Batum.

 

[PapaG]

True enough.

By the way, whose job on the court is it to run the offense, direct plays, and otherwise get players the ball in positions where they are comfortable?

Could it be that many of our players were a little shaky because there just wasn't much direction from the PG position?

Blake isn't asked to facilitate the offense, at least not as a true PG.

 

[oldmangrouch]

Blake isn't asked to facilitate the offense, at least not as a true PG.

Bingo. Blake's mistakes tend to be "invisible" ones. EG, when Oden or LMA have position down low, and he either doesn't see them or just refuses to throw them the ball.

 

[PapaG]

Bingo. Blake's mistakes tend to be "invisible" ones. EG, when Oden or LMA have position down low, and he either doesn't see them or just refuses to throw them the ball.

That's a fair criticism.

 

[Tince]

I'm amazed Blake could average 6 assist per game considering he played mostly without the ball in his hand.

 

[Tince]

Bingo. Blake's mistakes tend to be "invisible" ones. EG, when Oden or LMA have position down low, and he either doesn't see them or just refuses to throw them the ball.

Andre Miller will be an excellent test to determine if our posts are bad at holding position or if Blake is bad at getting them the ball. If Miller (one of the better post entry passers) is unable to get LMA and Oden the ball, we know the issue is down low.

People typically blame the PG for not getting the post the ball, but just as often it's the posts inability to hold position that prevents the ball from going inside. The average fan is also quick to blame the PG when a post-entry pass is stolen, even if the big man fails to hold off the defender.