Blazers/Grizzlies game thread

[oldmangrouch]

Look at it this way: having achieved what they wanted, at least Memphis brass aren't putting Darius's knees at any more risk. We should be happy for his future health.

Probably true.....I am just having trouble feeling gracious about the whole thing.

 

[alex42083]

Chris Wallace must be so proud of the team he's built. Bad team, talented players who look disinterested at times and an empty arena. He must be proud.

 

[BengalDuck]

It doesn't necessarily matter now and might be a non-issue, but Rudy Gay and OJ Mayo are going to have to have a heart-to-heart sometime to figure out who the alpha dog is.

Both appear to have a bit of a selfishness instead of making the extra pass to help the team. For example, Gay was on a 3-on-1 when he missed that dunk late in the 4th... a dish across the lane would've resulted in an easy two, but it seemed like he wanted to get his.

And OJ Mayo not shooting the halfcourt shot at the buzzer at the end of the 1st (or 2nd...don't really remember) was a joke, too.

 

[MARIS61]

Darius has averaged 10 minutes a game over 26 games for the Teddy Bears, and I would think they would take it easy with him since they are going nowhere this year and he could be a key player for them next year if in great shape by then.

 

[mgb]

Good win. We won a game that we should and that's important at this time of year.

GO BLAZERS!!!

 

[MARIS61]

And OJ Mayo not shooting the halfcourt shot at the buzzer at the end of the 1st (or 2nd...don't really remember) was a joke, too.

That was pathetic.

Most coaches would have benched him for that.

 

[number 10]

That was pathetic.

Most coaches would have benched him for that.

I agree with Maris.

Well, not the second part, which really should read: "Most old school coaches would have benched him for that."

 

[Boob-No-More]

I would think they would take it easy with him since they are going nowhere this year and he could be a key player for them next year if in great shape by then.

Yeah, right. He's the future of their team.

BNM

 

[MIXUM]

most teams would have cut sergio

 

[blue32]

most teams would have cut sergio

That I actually don't agree with.

Sergio's problem is that in the last three seasons, he's always, always, always had to be apart of our coaches three-headed point guard monster. It's fucking ridiculous how we have three god damned PG's the last couple of years, that rotate minutes consistently. Seriously it's getting old.

I'm not saying Sergio is fucking great, or Bayless is the answer, but more importantly, DO SOMETHING. Stringing these guys along, making everyone wonder how good they can be, but then ultimately disappoint b/c they get something like 5 minutes a game is terrible, and not really conducive to helping our team in the long run.

 

[bigbailes]

Blue32 is absolutely correct...Sergio truly never had a full chance in Portland.

My quess next year.... They will bring in another PG and he will start with Blake coming off the bench and Bayless will be the new Sergio

 

[Tortimer]

Blue32 is absolutely correct...Sergio truly never had a full chance in Portland.

My quess next year.... They will bring in another PG and he will start with Blake coming off the bench and Bayless will be the new Sergio

There you go again always negative about Bayless. Next year Bayless will be at worse the main backup. That's even if we bring in another FA PG. If we don't I would guess Bayless will be starting sometime next year.

 

[PapaG]

After watching the growth of Mike Conley in tonight's game, I see a potential solution. Regardless of his friendship with Oden.

Conley has 2 assists to 3 TOs and had an abnormally good game from the field, including an incredible 3-4 from 3pt range. Yes, he had 20 points, but Blake had 13 points with 6 assists, and Blake's team won.

 

[PapaG]

Blue32 is absolutely correct...Sergio truly never had a full chance in Portland.

My quess next year.... They will bring in another PG and he will start with Blake coming off the bench and Bayless will be the new Sergio

That's somewhat true. Looking at Sergio's stats as a starter while Blake was out, he averaged 7 pts/5 ast/3 rb on 44% shooting and 46% from 3pt, much better offensive statistics than he get off of the bench. The biggest problem Sergio has had is on the defensive end. I'm not sure if there is a worse perimeter defender in the NBA at the PG position. He'd do very well in on the Knicks or the Warriors, heck, in any situation where defense is not important.

 

[mook]

That I actually don't agree with.

Sergio's problem is that in the last three seasons, he's always, always, always had to be apart of our coaches three-headed point guard monster. It's fucking ridiculous how we have three god damned PG's the last couple of years, that rotate minutes consistently. Seriously it's getting old.

I'm not saying Sergio is fucking great, or Bayless is the answer, but more importantly, DO SOMETHING. Stringing these guys along, making everyone wonder how good they can be, but then ultimately disappoint b/c they get something like 5 minutes a game is terrible, and not really conducive to helping our team in the long run.

I criticize Nate a lot, but I don't really have a problem with how he's handled the PG position lately. If you have first tier guys like Roy or Aldridge, it's pretty easy to cement them into the starting lineup.

Blake is a second-tier starter. Somebody who's reasonably competent, but also an area where you'd love to upgrade.

With third-tier players like Rodriguez and Bayless, you have to give each of them lots of opportunities to move up into the second or first tier, because Blake as the long-term solution is just aiming too low.

I was happy to see Rodriguez get extended burn as the primary backup PG. I'm equally happy to see us move on to the next experiment with Bayless in that role.

 

[STOMP]

Sergio's problem is that in the last three seasons, he's always, always, always had to be apart of our coaches three-headed point guard monster. It's fucking ridiculous how we have three god damned PG's the last couple of years, that rotate minutes consistently. Seriously it's getting old.

the rosters expanded to 15 players a few years back... 15 spots / 5 positions = 3 players per position.

STOMP

 

[hasoos]

The difference between the Blazer bench at the start of the season, and the end of the season is pretty great. It is hard for me to believe how bad they have become. If Travis isn't shooting, nobody is scoring. Nobody rebounds. Top it all of with lately, that they can't even hit any outside shots, and it begs the question, can you fucking stink it up anymore? How can the bench play any worse?

You can make cases for playing this player or that player, but the facts are in every situation you are comparing a player who has been playing like shit, against another player playing like shit. It's hard to win out if nobody plays well. No wonder Nate is going nuts trying to get something to work. No matter what he does, it is utter futility.

 

[PapaG]

The difference between the Blazer bench at the start of the season, and the end of the season is pretty great. It is hard for me to believe how bad they have become. If Travis isn't shooting, nobody is scoring. Nobody rebounds. Top it all of with lately, that they can't even hit any outside shots, and it begs the question, can you fucking stink it up anymore? How can the bench play any worse?

You can make cases for playing this player or that player, but the facts are in every situation you are comparing a player who has been playing like shit, against another player playing like shit. It's hard to win out if nobody plays well. No wonder Nate is going nuts trying to get something to work. No matter what he does, it is utter futility.

Rudy has been terrible since Douch Bag Ariza injured him. That's why the bench has been "struggling", although they are still one of the best benches in the league statistically.

http://www.82games.com/0809/STSORT18.HTM

 

[Iwatas]

Nate gets in players' heads. For starters, they get a chance to play out of it. But the bench guys know that with one mistake, they can be pulled. So they second-guess themselves and think too much, and totally tie themselves in knots trying to please Nate.

Sergio has suffered the most, but he's not the only one, for sure.

iWatas

 

[Boob-No-More]

The difference between the Blazer bench at the start of the season, and the end of the season is pretty great. It is hard for me to believe how bad they have become. If Travis isn't shooting, nobody is scoring. Nobody rebounds. Top it all of with lately, that they can't even hit any outside shots, and it begs the question, can you fucking stink it up anymore? How can the bench play any worse?

Well, with Oden out, Joel has been starrting and we no longer have a good rebounder and solid interior defender on the second unit. That's the biggest difference between early in the season and now. Once Oden is back, whether he or Joel is starting, rebounding and interior defense will no longer be a problem for the second unit.

Also, Rudy missed two games and is struggling with his shooting touch after the injury.

Get Oden and Rudy back to 100% and we once again have the best bench in the league.

BNM

 

[hasoos]

Well, with Oden out, Joel has been starrting and we no longer have a good rebounder and solid interior defender on the second unit. That's the biggest difference between early in the season and now. Once Oden is back, whether he or Joel is starting, rebounding and interior defense will no longer be a problem for the second unit.

Also, Rudy missed two games and is struggling with his shooting touch after the injury.

Get Oden and Rudy back to 100% and we once again have the best bench in the league.

BNM

Oden will help yes. But it will still be a problem until players start coming to play. Oden being there doesn't solve the issues on the perimeter, either Outlaw for Frye at PF gives up physicality.

As for Rudy, indeed he has been doing worse since the inury, but the facts are the guy is not hitting a high percentage of his shots, and the injury is just another excuse. Excuses are for losers, especially when many of his looks are wide open.

 

[Boob-No-More]

Oden will help yes. But it will still be a problem until players start coming to play. Oden being there doesn't solve the issues on the perimeter, either Outlaw for Frye at PF gives up physicality.

With Oden back, Frye won't be seeing any minutes. It will mostly be a three man front line of Aldridge, Joel and Oden, with Travis getting spot minutes at back-up 4. You'll always have one of Oden or Joel on the court, so there won't many many teams whose 2nd units will be outmuscling us.

As for Rudy, indeed he has been doing worse since the inury, but the facts are the guy is not hitting a high percentage of his shots, and the injury is just another excuse. Excuses are for losers, especially when many of his looks are wide open.

Prior to the injury, Rudy was shooting >0.390 3FG% for the year. He's 0 - 6 since. 0.390 isn't bad for anyone, let alone a rookie. It's not league leading good, but above average. It's better than guys like Mike Miller, Kyle Korver, Paul Pierce, Peja Stojakovic, Josh Howard, Jason Terry, Hedo Turkoglu, etc. And, since > 60% of his shots are threes, it drags down his over all shooting percentage.

I still think the bench will be fine - more than fine - once we get Oden back and Rudy's back at 100%.

BNM

 

[MrJayremmie]

Blue32 is absolutely correct...Sergio truly never had a full chance in Portland.

My quess next year.... They will bring in another PG and he will start with Blake coming off the bench and Bayless will be the new Sergio

I don't really agree with that. He was given chances, and he had the chance to separate himself from the others, and earn major playing time. This year (and his rookie year) Nate showed that if he is playing well he will stay in the game. Last year, we simply had 2 better PGs in Blake and Jack.

This year, he has been the 2nd best PG, but when he had his shot when Blake went down, he really didn't outplay Bayless to cement anything in the rotation, especially not given the fact that Bayless will provide more toughness and defense and is just getting his feet wet (so we don't really know how good or not good he can be right now). Sergio was gettin' something like 7ppg and 5apg and 3rpg in 20-25mpg as the starter, which isn't that great when you consider poor defense and a couple turnovers. Now Nate is giving Jerryd a chance to see if he can separate himself as a quality backup, and though Jerryd played well for his first real PT of the year when Blake was injured getting 10ppg, 3apg and 2rpg, lately Jerryd hasn't really changed anything in my mind, and we still have no idea who the backup PG is and are still searching for some consistancy.

I agree with the fact that Sergio struggles under Nate/Nate's system here in Portland though, just not that he hasn't been given time on the court to prove himself, or a "fair shot". Nate's system has improved our team by plenty of wins every year, so its not like we are going to mess around with it so Sergio can fit in. Maybe Bayless will fit in better, maybe he won't, we will see.

You can make cases for playing this player or that player, but the facts are in every situation you are comparing a player who has been playing like shit, against another player playing like shit. It's hard to win out if nobody plays well. No wonder Nate is going nuts trying to get something to work. No matter what he does, it is utter futility.

Yeah, this is what i'm trying to say. But at the same time, the backup PG only has like 10mpg to play per game, and if Nate is trying to play each of them it simply won't work as with 5 minutes nobody is going to get comfortable out there (along with the fact that each PG probably feels that they can't mess up or they will get yanked, which hurts their game as well).

 

[Nikolokolus]

Yeah, this is what i'm trying to say. But at the same time, the backup PG only has like 10mpg to play per game, and if Nate is trying to play each of them it simply won't work as with 5 minutes nobody is going to get comfortable out there (along with the fact that each PG probably feels that they can't mess up or they will get yanked, which hurts their game as well).

This to me has been the real folly in the way the backup point guard spot has been handled since Steve came back from injury.

It got me to thinking about and reflecting on the way that Sergio and Jerryd played when Blake was out with his separated shoulder. Sure both had their ups and downs, but it's pretty clear that their shooting percentages, assist rates and overall play picked up substantially when they both knew they were going to be getting minutes and would have an established place in the rotation; neither feared they would be getting the hook or juggled around if they made a mistake or two.

I like Nate and overall I think he's done an admirable job with the team, but in this case I think he really fell down by retreating on his promise to make Sergio THE backup; I've been mostly a Bayless fan and I think he is likely to be the long term solution at the point guard position in a year or two, but I had no problem with Nate sending him back to the bench to wrack up DNPs and giving the 12-15 backup minutes to Sergio, but Nate did some real damage to both player's state of mind by back-pedaling and all of a sudden yanking Sergio after a couple of bad plays and then sticking Jerryd in at odd times for little bursts of minutes and getting predictably bad results.

I did see one positive development last night, Jerryd looked awful (for the most part) but Nate stuck with him even through his mistakes. Hopefully that show of confidence will calm him down so he can start playing aggressive and loose like was back in part of January and February. And even if it had been Sergio he put in there and stuck by despite some inevitable mistakes I'd be OK with that too; mostly I just want to see him pick one horse and ride it, trying to go half-way with both is ruining both players' level of productivity and ability to play with confidence.