Co-worker commentary on Blazer offense

[PtldPlatypus]

Received this email from a co-worker, figured I'd post it for y'all to comment on:

I’m liking what I’m seeing ever since Roy came back. Lot of nice stuff out there, now with G-Wallace it gets even better. Actually it’s not Roy; it’s that teams figured out how to stop our offense when our one and only option is drop it to Aldridge in the post. It’s really not complicated--here is how it works:
1.) Push Aldridge 4-5 feet outside of his comfort zone in the post.
2.) Play off of Andre as he tries to pass into Aldridge, we know Andre isn’t going to shoot the three so double up on Aldridge.
3.) Aldridge will attempt 1-2 moves but because he started at the 3 point line and Andre’s defender is sagging in Aldridge has no were to go.
4.) Blazers go into panic mode!
5.) At this point there should be about 5-10 seconds left on the shot clock. The offensive theme has just switched from Basketball to a game of hot potato
6.) Andre swings the ball to one of the other four blazers that have set up camp around the 3 point line
7.) Rudy will be open but after 3 pump fakes will decide to make one last pass to Batum
8.) Batum bricks another 3
9.) Repeat steps 1-8 above for the entire rest of the game

This is seriously what occurs every time down the court. It almost sounds like a joke but it’s what they actually do, I’m not making it up, I wish I was.
The Lakers figured this out in the fourth quarter and what happened to our offense, umm it shut down. Obviously the Hawks saw what the Lakers did and put 2 and 2 together, it’s not complicated.

So you’re probably saying well throw in the towel the season is over, the other teams have figured it out. WOW not so fast I’ve got a secret weapon, something I saw back in 1955 when the game was different. There is one last hope, it’s a strategy called “cutting”. Let me explain it because if you’ve watched the Blazers for awhile you obviously have no idea what this term means. See instead of setting up a 3 point contest with the worst 3 point shooters in the league you instead tell those players to run to the basket. This way Aldridge has players “cutting” to the basket. Even if you miss the 3 foot jump shot or layup you have a good chance of getting fouled and going to the line. I’m like 100% positive Nate has never heard of this concept so hours of whiteboarding would be needed to fully grasp the concept but I think he might eventually catch on, maybe not. Ok that’s the end of my rant, which was more of a short novel then an actual rant.

 

[Rhal]

loved it!

 

[mook]

That's a pretty simplistic representation of the offense. There's the Miller post-up game. The Roy iso. We're trying to post up Wallace. The Miller/Rudy give-and-go. Rudy curl with the optional lob to Aldridge. Aldridge pick-and-pop. Back door lob. Camby/Aldridge high/low. Running Batum or Rudy off screens. That's just off the top of my head.

The problem is that none of these plays work when your team is hitting three pointers at a sub-.300 clip, because there's no space to do any of that. Particularly against good defensive teams like Atlanta. You can run all the plays you want, but if there are 5 defenders in the paint it ain't gonna work.

The play your coworker describes is the go-to play when all that other stuff isn't working. It's the best of a bunch of bad options when the three ball isn't dropping, so it's what we go to to try to get out of that funk.

It's actually kind of a luxury to have a go-to play like that when your team goes through a drought (as every team does). It looks as depressing as that email describes when it doesn't work, but it beats the crap out of just walking up the court and jacking bad shots (which is what a lot of teams have to do.)

 

[Mediocre Man]

They have been better recently, but it's still so remedial

 

[oldmangrouch]

Yes, and gawd forbid that the Blazers should try to get easy baskets in transition.

 

[Shooter]

Actually it’s not Roy; it’s that teams figured out how to stop our offense when our one and only option is drop it to Aldridge in the post.

First of all, that "one and only option" produced a 6-game winning streak.

Second, we've always had more options than Aldridge posting up. Regular parts of our offense include Batum shooting the three, Wesley Matthews driving to the hoop, Andre Miller posting up or hitting the 12-foot jump shot, etc. Not to mention the lob pass to Aldridge, which works extremely well.

Last night was a fluke. It happened. Let's not draw huge conclusions based on one game.

 

[THE HCP]

Atlanta is a better team then us right now. We lost. end of story.

 

[mgb]

We have had players cutting to the basket when LA has the ball and was pretty effective with it, but teams are playing it better now and we are not hitting outside jumpers. But it's a joke to say the Blazers don't ever do that.

 

[jlprk]

A great passer at the center of the wheel helps. Walton was so great with cutters revolving around him. On TV nowadays, he says increduously with sarcasm, "Where are the CUTTERS???"

 

[Ed O]

First of all, that "one and only option" produced a 6-game winning streak.

...

Last night was a fluke. It happened. Let's not draw huge conclusions based on one game.

Yeah... I agree. The win streak MIGHT be the fluke, but at this point I tend to think it's more valuable as a point of reference than a single game where we were integrating our starting center and a newly acquired guy into the rotation.

Ed O.

 

[TripTango]

Atlanta is a better team then us right now. We lost. end of story.

THE STORY'S OVER!