Buy or Sell: Bring Oden In Off The Bench

[ABM]

Nate's lost a lot of NBA games in his career, too.

Ed O.

Discounting his first two woeful years in PDX, I'd venture to guess his over all winning % is better than most, though.

 

[Ed O]

Discounting his first two woeful years in PDX, I'd venture to guess his over all winning % is better than most, though.

If he had played his best players in the starting lineup, maybe he wouldn't have had quite such woeful seasons, is what I'm thinking.

In any case, he was below .500 in two of the four full seasons he coached Seattle. His best years were his first (partial) and final ones with the Sonics. IF (and that's a big "if") you discount his worst two years, he'd be over .500 for his career, but I think that could be said of the vast majority of NBA head coaches.

Ed O.

 

[ABM]

If he had played his best players in the starting lineup, maybe he wouldn't have had quite such woeful seasons, is what I'm thinking.

I'd gamble he didn't even know who his best players were at that time. Oh, WAIT, the best ones were the knuckleheads!

 

[LittleAlex]

Sell. Portland need someone with good hands at center in the starting unit. Joel is not that guy.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Buy. He needs to learn and to stay healthy. Let him come off the bench this year. He'll still get his minutes.

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

Buy, but only for a few games.

 

[Drttimmy]

Sell.

I think we should not go to GO on offense too much, and let him slowly gets comfortable on offense. Let him play the role that Przybilla plays right now. Rebound the ball and pay tough interior defense. On offense, GO will get his own scoring opportunities by going after offensive rebounds. I have no doubt that GO will be an offensive force soon, but I think it might be better (for GO health-wise, and for the team chemistry-wise) to slowly incorporate GO in on offense.

This has been Nate's plan though, and he's said it consistently in several interviews since last season on Courtside or Wheels show. The offense will continue to be run through LaMarcus and Brandon, and Greg will slowly be worked into the fold. That's what he preaches, but it wasn't executed that way against LA. From the get-go, butterflies and the Laker D unnerved Roy and Aldridge, and they and the rest of the team looked for Oden to bail them out just mere minutes into the game. They said as much in the post game interviews and it showed.

Was that game an aberration? I dunno, this isn't exactly a team that changes their habits and behaviors easily--especially when it comes to aggression and toughness. How many times have we seen guys correct their bad tendencies for a game or two, only to revert back to old patterns? I see that likely happening with Oden back in the lineup--the team will look to him to carry them in tight situations instead of working together. Not exactly the pressure-free situation we're trying to create for him. I'm not sure what the answer is honestly? I do think bringing him off the bench for the interim will result in more immediate wins, but it might prolong the cohesion time of our primary core. On the flip side, the gelling of our core is probably more important than wins this year, but losing could also slow that cohesion. A slippery slope for sure.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Discounting his first two woeful years in PDX, I'd venture to guess his over all winning % is better than most, though.

.531 without the first two years in Portland.

.479 with them


I'd venture to guess his overall winning % is not better than most coaches that have coached that many years. Especially ones considered one of the best young coaches in the league

 

[Mediocre Man]

Buy. He needs to learn and to stay healthy. Let him come off the bench this year. He'll still get his minutes.

I'm sorry, but how in the fuck do you learn to stay healthy?


This is the kind of thinking that is ruining America on this day