Report Card
Offense
This may not have been the best week for Portland's offense, but it certainly wasn't the reason for its struggles. Portland shot better than 45 percent each night and was near, or over, the century mark in each game. They weren't exactly efficient, particularly with the awful starts they got off to in each game. But enough players stepped up to keep the Blazers within reach of victory in each game — from Jerryd Bayless' 11-point fourth quarter that helped rally Portland past New Orleans to Roy's 32-point, nine-rebound, six-assist night against Oklahoma City. The down moments they experienced were not always the type that cost a tea, games. Grade: B-
Defense
Good lord, where to begin? With the 49 percent shooting (117 of 238) the Blazers yielded in last week's games? Or the 49.3 points yielded each night in the paint? Or the 18.3 fast-break points the teams averaged — including a whopping 25 by Dallas? Pick an area of defensive play, and you can bet the Blazers stunk it up. They played just well enough to not get blown completely out of the game and continually kept the door open just a nudge. But the defense is the reason why Portland dropped two of three games last week and got embarrassed in Oklahoma City. And despite all the talk and constant emphasis on defense, it never seems to get consistently better. Grade: F
Intangibles
Somehow this team has got to find a way to get itself going earlier in games. The Blazers have made a habit of getting off to slow starts for several weeks now, and it continually puts them in a position of climbing out of holes in the second halves of games. Granted, Portland has become pretty good at heating up in the second half and pulling out wins. But the Blazers' ceiling is going to be low if they continue to play quarters like the first against Oklahoma City (37-25, Thunder), or the second against Dallas (30-16 Mavs). The slow starts pushed Portland into a position of needing to rally in all three games last week. It should come as no surprise, then, that they lost two of them. Grade: F
By the Numbers
10.3
The number of turnovers New Orleans, Dallas and Oklahoma City averaged last week, which was more than three fewer than their season average. It also came at a pace of one turnover for every 7.7 opponent shot attempts, compared to Portland's season average pace of forcing one turnover for every 5.5 attempts.
62
Rookie Jerryd Bayless' shooting percentage in last week's games. Bayless made 13 of 21 shots despite going 0 for 3 against Oklahoma City. He averaged 12.0 points in those games, better than double his season average of 5.7 ppg.
5.3
Greg Oden's scoring average last week, a drop of nearly 11 points from the productive five-game stretch that preceded it. Oden also saw his playing time (18.3 from 31.2) rebounding (4.0 rpg from 11.4) plummet as Oden has once again struggled to find any consistency in his game.
64
Percentage of Jerryd Bayless' overall scoring last week that came off fast breaks. Bayless scored 18 of his 28 points off fast breaks, 17 of which came against New Orleans and Dallas.
