coaches camp

[Eastoff]

i didn't see this posted yet:
http://www.iamatrailblazersfan.com/...iaView/AlbumID/5179/MediaID/3064/Default.aspx

 

[Mediocre Man]

Hopefully with one of those kids teaching him, Nate can learn something

 

[LittleAlex]

So here's what you do kids. You constantly talk in the media and on the bench about how you want to push the pace of the team to get easier baskets. This makes it seem like that is your plan. However, during games you call every single play from the bench ensuring the pace is how you really want it; slow as hell.

Best of both worlds!

Also, only play guys you trust regardless of talent level. How else are you supposed to know that your sideline plays are always followed?

One other lessson; remember that 6'8" chuckers make the absolute best backup power forwards.

 

[Idog1976]

So here's what you do kids. You constantly talk in the media and on the bench about how you want to push the pace of the team to get easier baskets. This makes it seem like that is your plan. However, during games you call every single play from the bench ensuring the pace is how you really want it; slow as hell.

Best of both worlds!

Also, only play guys you trust regardless of talent level. How else are you supposed to know that your sideline plays are always followed?

One other lessson; remember that 6'8" chuckers make the absolute best backup power forwards.

Is that a transcript of the first day of advice at Nate's camp?

 

[Wheels]

Is that a transcript of the first day of advice at Nate's camp?

No its a script that people who constantly bitch are supposed to follow.

 

[Mediocre Man]

No its a script that people who constantly bitch are supposed to follow.

Then he left out several things.

Continue to start a bottom 5 PG when you just signed a top 10 PG

No matter how badly it gets your interior guys in foul trouble, you should always switch on pick and rolls

The best offense is the one that gets you a pretty well covered fade away jumper

Even though your team is horrible at drawing FTA, you should stick with the PG that only shot 75 the entire year




I realized it wasn't a transcript of Nate when there were no uh's or um's in any of it

 

[hasoos]

Then he left out several things.

Continue to start a bottom 5 PG when you just signed a top 10 PG

No matter how badly it gets your interior guys in foul trouble, you should always switch on pick and rolls

The best offense is the one that gets you a pretty well covered fade away jumper

Even though your team is horrible at drawing FTA, you should stick with the PG that only shot 75 the entire year




I realized it wasn't a transcript of Nate when there were no uh's or um's in any of it

Yea it seems to be missing a few "Buzzwords" too.

 

[Wheels]

Then he left out several things.

Continue to start a bottom 5 PG when you just signed a top 10 PG

Why Bitch about it when it hasnt even happened. Nate is stroking an ego.

No matter how badly it gets your interior guys in foul trouble, you should always switch on pick and rolls

It works decent with Aldridge I would say

The best offense is the one that gets you a pretty well covered fade away jumper

You mean the offense that ran through Roy? Just cause Outlaw is a dipwit and fades on layups doesnt mean Nate did it.

Even though your team is horrible at drawing FTA, you should stick with the PG that only shot 75 the entire year

Again.. it still hasnt happened. And last year its not like Sergio would have been a better option

 

[Minstrel]

The best offense is the one that gets you a pretty well covered fade away jumper

Considering Portland was one of the top few offenses in basketball, adjusted for pace, it's hilarious that you use this as a "criticism" of McMillan. It's an interesting mix of "Screw actual productivity, they're bad because they play a style I dislike" and actually getting that style wrong (as a far better simplification of Portland's offense last year would be "Roy slashing to the hoop and open three-pointers").

 

[Mediocre Man]

Considering Portland was one of the top few offenses in basketball, adjusted for pace, it's hilarious that you use this as a "criticism" of McMillan. It's an interesting mix of "Screw actual productivity, they're bad because they play a style I dislike" and actually getting that style wrong (as a far better simplification of Portland's offense last year would be "Roy slashing to the hoop and open three-pointers").

OFFENSIVE REBOUNDING

 

[Mediocre Man]

Why Bitch about it when it hasnt even happened. Nate is stroking an ego.



It works decent with Aldridge I would say


You mean the offense that ran through Roy? Just cause Outlaw is a dipwit and fades on layups doesnt mean Nate did it.

Again.. it still hasnt happened. And last year its not like Sergio would have been a better option

What Nate said was this. "Our starting unit last year won 54 games. We're not going to mess with that starting unit,"

Now to me that is more than "stroking an ego"

Yes, it did work with Aldridge, but didn't work at all with Oden or Joel

I can pin it on Nate because Nate continued to play him

 

[Wheels]

What Nate said was this. "Our starting unit last year won 54 games. We're not going to mess with that starting unit,"

Now to me that is more than "stroking an ego"

Yes, it did work with Aldridge, but didn't work at all with Oden or Joel

I can pin it on Nate because Nate continued to play him

I assume you are talking about Outlaw there.. I'm far from an Outlaw fan.. but we didnt have a better option there.

 

[Mediocre Man]

I assume you are talking about Outlaw there.. I'm far from an Outlaw fan.. but we didnt have a better option there.

Rudy? Batum? More twin towers?



When you look at the whole picture, there were a lot of options better than Travis. What Travis does really well is create his own shot. He also shoots the corner 3 well. He doesn't play defense, get anyone else invloved, or rebound worth a crap though.

 

[Wheels]

Rudy? Batum? More twin towers?



When you look at the whole picture, there were a lot of options better than Travis. What Travis does really well is create his own shot. He also shoots the corner 3 well. He doesn't play defense, get anyone else invloved, or rebound worth a crap though.

Until Rudy or Batum can play some PF I just cant think of a better option that we had. Twin Towers would be nice, yet Oden was in foul trouble all the time.

 

[Minstrel]

OFFENSIVE REBOUNDING

And high efficiency scoring.

 

[Mediocre Man]

And high efficiency scoring.

Again, see offensive rebounding. Those easy putbacks off of off ballanced clanks is only 1 possession. Take Oden and Joel away and our offense sucks.

 

[Minstrel]

Again, see offensive rebounding. Those easy putbacks off of off ballanced clanks

Portland was one of the best three-point shooting teams in the NBA. If you call swished shot "clanks," so be it. But it's hard to get an offensive rebound on a made shot.

 

[andalusian]

Our offense does not suck even without the offensive rebounds - last year, without Rudy and his high-volume 3s - we still were #14 in the NBA, add Brandon's improvements and LMA's improvement - and this team's offense is efficient even without the great offensive rebounding. Of course, when you have proficient offensive rebounders - an offense that opens the interior for them to operate is smart and effective - which is exactly what the coaching staff implemented...

 

[Mediocre Man]

Portland was one of the best three-point shooting teams in the NBA. If you call swished shot "clanks," so be it. But it's hard to get an offensive rebound on a made shot.

I was speaking more about the 2 pt jump shots. We shot 40% on those, and attempted 42% of those shots per game. To me that is not good. We only shot 33% of our shots from close in, and I would imagine that a good chunk of that is from offensive rebounding.


Our offense relies on Brandon Roy rescuing us within the last few seconds of the shot clock most of the time.

 

[Minstrel]

I was speaking more about the 2 pt jump shots. We shot 40% on those, and attempted 42% of those shots per game. To me that is not good. We only shot 33% of our shots from close in, and I would imagine that a good chunk of that is from offensive rebounding.


Our offense relies on Brandon Roy rescuing us within the last few seconds of the shot clock most of the time.

Our offense relies on Roy's brilliance at creating baskets for himself and shot attempts for others, excellent shooting on those open shots and offensive rebounding created by Oden and Przybilla feasting thanks to that spacing.

In other words, McMillan has played to the strengths on the roster to fashion one of the best offenses in basketball.

 

[Ed O]

Our offense relies on Brandon Roy rescuing us within the last few seconds of the shot clock most of the time.

Portland used 21+ seconds on the shot clock on 18% of their FG attempts last year.

http://www.82games.com/0809/0809POR3.HTM

I don't think "most of the time" is accurate, but compared to some other good teams, it sure was a lot.

Lakers: 11%
Denver: 11%
Orlando: 13%
Utah: 14%
Boston: 16%
Spurs: 17%

But... Cleveland? They used up 21 or more seconds on 23% of their field goal attempts. Wow.

Ed O.

 

[LittleAlex]

No its a script that people who constantly bitch are supposed to follow.

Actually it's a joke. I don't have much to say on the job Nate has done one way or the other outside of the team's pace.

I don't even mind the pace. I just think it is pretty odd that Nate talks about trying to push the pace when not one of his teams have been fast paced.

 

[Ed O]

Actually it's a joke. I don't have much to say on the job Nate has done one way or the other outside of the team's pace.

I don't even mind the pace. I just think it is pretty odd that Nate talks about trying to push the pace when not one of his teams have been fast paced.

This is where I am, too... I don't claim to know enough about coaching to really know if he's doing a good job or not. There are too many variables.

I also don't have a strong opinion on how much the team should run. We're a big team and so it makes sense to slow it down, but we're an athletic team so it makes sense to get out and run. Also, high scoring games are more fun AND better for my fantasy teams (since I invariably end up with Blazers).

I am not married to an up-tempo team, but I (like LittleAlex) don't understand why Nate has been saying the same thing for YEARS about pushing the tempo and then failing to do so. I also don't understand why people keep believing him every offseason

Ed O.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Portland used 21+ seconds on the shot clock on 18% of their FG attempts last year.

http://www.82games.com/0809/0809POR3.HTM

I don't think "most of the time" is accurate, but compared to some other good teams, it sure was a lot.

Lakers: 11%
Denver: 11%
Orlando: 13%
Utah: 14%
Boston: 16%
Spurs: 17%

But... Cleveland? They used up 21 or more seconds on 23% of their field goal attempts. Wow.

Ed O.

Thanks Ed


It is interesting to see how the FG% goes down. Seems a quicker pace might help our FG%

 

[hasoos]

If we didn't need any improvement, then why did we lose in the 1st round of the playoffs last year? You can keep on preaching everything is great, but it's not. Rebounding does need improved, especially on the 2nd unit. The team does need more easy buckets. The team needs to take less shots from the perimeter. The team needs to improve on defense in several areas. Those are the facts. Pointing them out doesn't make you a bitcher, it makes you realistic. If you aren't able to identify and work on your weaknesses, you will never improve.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

OFFENSIVE REBOUNDING

Sorry I'm late to the party; this took a bit of time to put together.

Portland: 99.4 points per game (Pace = 86.6 possessions per game; League Avg = 91.7)
2 point field goals - 49.0% (2422/4939), right at the league average of 48.5% (2499/5149)
3 point field goals - 38.3% (596/1555), well above the league average of 36.7% (545/1486)
Total offensive rebs - 1060, well above the league average of 905
Offensive rebounds that resulted in scores: ~493 (League average: 415.4)
Turnover rate: .125 turnovers per possession (League average: .133)

Portland's story:
There are four offensive statistic contributing the offensive rating: effective FG%, Turnover%, Offensive Rebound%, FTs per FGA. Of those four, we are in the top 8 in 3 of them (eFG% - 8th, TOV% - 7th, OReb% - 1st), and 17th in FTs per FGA.

The high offensive rebound count contributed to the slow pace (since offensive rebounds continue a single possession), and low turnover rate, while the high 3pt percentage and average 2pt percentage allowed Portland to have an average scoring year (99.4 vs 100.0 league average).

How does Portand improve?
1. Keep the offensive rebounding high; you can't for a second consider a high OReb% a bad thing.
2. Increase the pace by running a little more. Adding four more possessions a game would increase scoring by 2 or 3 points. It may be tough to increase pace on paper with the OReb% as high as it is.
3. Increase FT per FGA. More slashing (Andre Miller, anyone?) means more 2pt FGs which is where the FTs come from. This is a cheap way of increasing scoring.
4. Go away from the 3pt shot. The percentage was good, but the number of attempts belies a crutch in the system. This is why Andre Miller is just fine; he'll increase FTs by slashing, and passing to the post.



For a lark, here's Phoenix's stats. They had the 2nd best ORtg:

Phoenix: 109.4 points per game (Pace = 96.0 possessions per game; League Avg = 91.7)
2 point field goals - 53.7% (2820/5250), blowing away the league average of 48.5% (2499/5149)
3 points field goals - 38.3% (553/1445), well above the league average of 36.7% (545/1486)
Total offensive rebs - 900, right around the league average of 905
Offensive rebounds that resulted in scores: ~454 (League average: 415.4)
Turnover rate: .144 turnovers per possession (League average: .133)


Their story is almost the opposite of ours: a high-turnover gets a high ofensive rating with a high pace and blistering 2pt fg%. The low OReb is a result of the high FG%. If they lowered their turnover percentage, they'd be insanely efficient.

 

[Ed O]

If we didn't need any improvement, then why did we lose in the 1st round of the playoffs last year? You can keep on preaching everything is great, but it's not. Rebounding does need improved, especially on the 2nd unit. The team does need more easy buckets. The team needs to take less shots from the perimeter. The team needs to improve on defense in several areas. Those are the facts. Pointing them out doesn't make you a bitcher, it makes you realistic. If you aren't able to identify and work on your weaknesses, you will never improve.

It seems like there are at least two ways to improve: to change what you're doing and to do what you do better.

If Portland were a veteran team, I could see how the only way to improve would be to change what they're doing... after all, 54 wins is great but a first round loss is unacceptable to a team that's near its ceiling.

The Blazers, though, should improve almost across the board in terms of individual capabilities. This makes improvement as a team possible even if they use the same system. Players should defend better, players should shoot better, and players should execute better overall... simply because they're maturing physically and intellectually.

I think there's actually something to be said for stability for a young team: letting players focus on improving their games within a context they are familiar with sounds like an easier process than improving themselves as they learn a new offense and whatever...

Ed O.

 

[Minstrel]

If we didn't need any improvement, then why did we lose in the 1st round of the playoffs last year? You can keep on preaching everything is great, but it's not. Rebounding does need improved, especially on the 2nd unit. The team does need more easy buckets. The team needs to take less shots from the perimeter. The team needs to improve on defense in several areas. Those are the facts. Pointing them out doesn't make you a bitcher, it makes you realistic. If you aren't able to identify and work on your weaknesses, you will never improve.

I don't think anyone is saying that Portland doesn't need to improve anywhere. They do have areas where they need to improve. But pinning problems on offense, one of Portland's greatest strengths, and using that as a criticism of McMillan is silly.

 

[LittleAlex]

Then he left out several things.

Continue to start a bottom 5 PG when you just signed a top 10 PG

No matter how badly it gets your interior guys in foul trouble, you should always switch on pick and rolls

The best offense is the one that gets you a pretty well covered fade away jumper

Even though your team is horrible at drawing FTA, you should stick with the PG that only shot 75 the entire year




I realized it wasn't a transcript of Nate when there were no uh's or um's in any of it

All but one of these were due to the players Nate had to work with. Out of starting Blake, Sergio or Bayless he choose Blake. It's hard to fault that choice, since the other two players were actually worse.

Since he pretty much was forced into playing Blake the pick and roll defense suffered. Mostly because Blake was not fast enough to get around the pick in time, nor strong enough to follow through the pick. I blame the players for this, not Nate.

See the reason one above for the FTA issue.

Both Brandon and Outlaw's game includes a fade away mid-range jumper that is pretty money. Since those are the two guys who took those shots, I am not going to complain about Nate running plays to their strengths. If Nate had plays designated to get Sergio 3 point attempts, or counted on Batum running the offense then I think you could rag on the coach.

There are two things I feel Nate did that bothered me some. I don't claim to know the reasons for them, but it sure seemed like a mistake.

1.) He seemed too married to his rotation. He would pull guys out of the game even if they really had it going.
2.) He tended not to force the other team to adjust to his game plan. It seemed like he was reactive instead of proactive. The Houston series was a pretty decent example. Once it became obvious that Portland could really not match up physically with Houston, why didn't they try to go small for stretches of the game? There may very well be a good reason, but I have to believe forcing Yao to check LA or Outlaw would cause match up problems for Houston. Sure there would have been a disadvantage on the defensive end, but keeping both Yao and Scola away from the basket on offense would have been very nice.

Other then these two things, I honestly don't know what more Nate could do with the personnel at hand.

 

[Eastoff]

i think it's been established that nate's "pushing the pace" means look for a fast break, and if it's not there, sit on the half court game.

Also consider if we had won just one more game, we would have played against NO or Utah, i'm too lazy to look this up. Granted, you shouldn't be the champions if you can't beat all the teams. But I think it would be nice to polish up a few things here and there. More offense from Batum and less fouls from Greg. Miller vs Blake, I could go both ways... Miller would help create on the second team. If Greg can bring his fouls per game down to 5.2 or less, I predict we get 56+ wins.