Courtside notes from 11/11

[ucatchtrout]

courtesy of Discovery 69

Blazer Courtside - Tuesday
11/11/08 6-8pm
Hosts: Jay Allen & Michael Holton
Happy Veterans Day

Summary
- Greg will probably play against Miami - off the bench
- Greg did things in practice that you don’t see the top five centers in the NBA do.
- Roy says Greg Oden is better than Dwight Howard
- Roy’s back still hurting and Joel’s ankle is hurting, but both will probably play against Miami.
- All Star Ballot is ready and Roy, Aldridge and Oden were selected.
- No problems between Nate and Sergio
- Blazers team concept and rhythm allows the team to play with or without one or two players.


Extra bonus – Brian Wheeler on 95.5 Wed. morning
- he talked to Brandon Roy and Roy said he means no disrespect to Dwight Howard, but now that Roy has played against Howard the last three years. He says that Greg Oden is better than Dwight Howard.


Monty Williams – Blazer Asst. Coach - interview
- He is in his room watching game tapes, reading, watching TV and just getting ready for the Miami game.
- He tries to be laid back and with a long NBA season he knows it helps to take advantage of down time.
Orlando game
- As a coach in the Orlando game, the blazers held the Magic to shooting only 2’s instead of making shots from the 3 pt. line. We were able to capitalize off of that, in fact the Magic feed off of those 3pt. shots from Rashard & Turkoglu. We thought if we could keep them inside the paint or inside the 3pt. line we had a chance of winning the game.
- Of course we had some good individual play of everybody. The thing that really that went by everybody was the individual play of Steve Blake, going 25 points and 4 assists. That was huge for us to get that kind of play from our PG and he nullified Jameer Nelson for us and that helped us a ton.
- And Joel got into foul trouble and people forget that he had to guard seven all-star level centers. So for him to play against Dwight Howard he didn’t get to play as well, but got the victory and that was important.
- We felt if we could keep Dwight in the lift (above the free throw line) we could do our iso (i.e. isolation), a lot of times Dwight is down in the block where he can block shots. So we lifted Dwight. After a while with Brandon not getting the ball, he pulled Monte’s coat tails saying give me the ball.
- I didn’t have to say anything as Nate had in his mind that Brandon needed the ball. So once Brandon went to the hole it got contagious. Did you see Travis drive to the hole, he figured either he was going to dunk it or he was going to be on ESPN with Howard blocking his shot.
- Our guys have no fear and Nate has never stepped in and told our guys not to shoot. He has given them a lot of freedom with the offense and they are starting to know that. As long as they do things the right way on the offense with setting screens, make hard cuts and try to play for each other.
- (mh) 13-0 run, the team with Frye, Rudy, LaMarcus, Sergio and Travis you guys were able to capitalize with a smaller lineup
- Frye normally shoots the ball well, but didn’t last night, the Magic still had to pay attention to him. Sergio, not only did he have a good offensive game. Sergio and Rudy played really well on digging on Dwight posts up. Whenever Dwight went up for a rebound and came down we had Sergio or Rudy there to slap the ball away or to slow down their transition game.
- Sergio and Rudy’s play out there really allowed Nate to rest Brandon more so he was ready for the 4th quarter.
- Nate also stressed in this game they wanted either Brandon or LaMarcus on the floor in the rotation.
- The other thing was LaMarcus’s was really effective, he brought Dwight more to the outside and that helped us with tip outs on defensive and offensive rebounding.
- That was a crucial point for us, because we were able to foul Dwight and I think he missed 4 of those free throws. That took away from their rhythm and flow of their offense and started to go iso (isolation). They jacked up a few shots they normally don’t in a game.
Greg Oden
- He looked 72-75% (he’s kidding). Greg is a great talent and athlete. He always looks good in practice. He got through practice without any pain and you have to ask him, but he look good out there.
- He made a spin move and dunk on Ike Diogu that your top five centers can’t do. He was smacking the back board and you wouldn’t know it from his face, but he looked like he was having fun.
- We are looking forward to having him back.
- We feel like we have set a rhythm and Nate has set that tone with the team and not one player is going to change that rhythm. Whether it is Brandon being out or LaMarcus the team is going to be playing a certain way. Greg is going to find out that fitting in a certain way is going to be profitable for him. He doesn’t have to go out and score 30 a night, we don’t expect that of him. We just want him to relax and play his game.
- You have to talk to Nate on whether he is going to play. Jay and Jeff have done an unbelievable job with having him come back so soon.
- Greg coming off the bench will probably take some pressure off of him and allow us to keep our flow.
- It allows us to give Joel some minutes at the beginning of the game.
- We have a good thing and it is something we are experimenting with.
- Right now it maybe a way to give Greg a chance to relax and get a chance to see what is going on.
- Most coaches scream at the start and this gives Greg a chance for the coach to calm down after his screaming.
Miami game
- Miami maybe a small lineup with Haslem and Beasley, but that is where you can get caught up in not understanding that these two guys can rebound, block shots or make hustle plays.
- They can get out on the fast breaks and also shoot from the outside to draw the defense from the inside.
- We just have to rebound and play great defense. We have these stretches where we play great defense for 18 seconds. We just have to get defensive rebounds.
Team
- (mh) – you guys scored 36 points in the paint in Orlando and one thing he noticed there was cuts to the basket, even back cuts. Sergio even had some cuts to the basket and then re-spaced the floor. Is that something you are working on.
- It’s been a four year effort with this team and trying to convince the guys the importance of movement. We took some pages from San Antonio and Utah. They move constantly and what the players are starting to realize even if they don’t get a shot, their movement will help create a shot for them or someone else.
- Most teams don’t want to defend that kind of movement, especially if you have iso guys like Roy, LaMarcus, Travis and now Greg. Now you have to pay attention to the guy with the ball and the guy moving around and that creates so much more space for our iso guys.
- We get into trouble when Brandon has the ball everybody just stares at him to make something happen.
- Now the players are realizing if they move they can have the defense trying to decide to double Brandon or follow the moving player. It is helping the blazers right now and is something they want to build on.

Mike Barratt - interview
Greg Oden
- Greg looked fantastic and some unnamed people said they saw Greg do things he hasn’t done before.
- He isn’t sure what it was whether it was the win against Orlando or what.
- He knows that Nate has talked to Greg about the hunger and desire.
- Greg was messed up with the injury last year and the foot injury.
- It seems like Greg is back, the explosive athletic guy we know he can become.
- Unless it is some huge relapse or pain, he is going to play against Miami.
- The best way of making sure the rhythm of the team isn’t disrupted is to bring Greg off the bench.
- Nate is doing the right thing to bring Greg off the bench, because A) no pressure, B) plays against 2nd team centers and C) Joel Przybilla has earned the starting job and has done a good job against some of the top centers. I’m sure Joel would be fine coming off the bench, but for now it is good to have Joel start.
- LaMarcus is really going to benefit as teams will be backing down and letting LaMarcus have his shot while teams guard Oden
Joel Przybilla
- Joel hurt his ankle in the Orlando game, he didn’t practice and was in the pool working with Jay Jensen. Joel will probably start.
Orlando game
- Right now shots are falling with Rudy and Travis and don’t expect it to continue.
- In the Houston scouting reports a few years ago, it used to say let Travis have the outside shot, now you can’t have him have the outside shot.
- Rudy can fit on any team, that is why Rudy is an interchangeable part with the starter or bench.
Sergio Rodriguez
- Mike hasn’t seen any tension with Nate and Sergio, everything is fine between the two.
- He said it was blown out of proportion and thinks that the reports of “trading” was not true.
- He said Nate and Sergio talked for about 10 minutes and moved on and everything has been fine.
- Nate likes Sergio and he knows he wants to play more. Everybody wants to play more, even the starters.
- Sergio didn’t come out in the press and demand to be traded, he didn’t miss practices or was late or pout during practices. Sergio hasn’t done any of that.
- Nate welcomes that Sergio wants to play, but that is all he can do for Sergio as the 4th guard.
Brandon Roy
- Brandon said he came down on his heel late in the game and twisted his back.
- He said if he would not of played if there was a Tuesday game.
- He was disappointed that it hasn’t cleared up on Tuesday.
- Barratt expects Roy to play with it being Oden coming back, it’s against Dwayne Wade and it is a spotlight game on ESPN and Comcast.

Jack McCallum - SI.com senior writer - interview
All Star Ballot
- [JA] – Jack was on the selection committee and Roy, Aldridge & Oden are on the all-star ballot
- It is difficult with selecting three players from each team. So the committee ends up arguing for 3 hrs. He would rather put a player like Rudy on the ballot then a veteran who has been in the NBA for a long time.
- You just never know about rookies, but Portland is playing a lot of them.
- The goal is to find the best players in the league, but you get into the Eastern Conference, you put Yi Jianlian on the list you risk him starting because of the 10 billion votes from China.
- There are considerations beyond things, like Rudy maybe a risk vs. Greg when you know he will get votes.
- An interesting concept would be to have the players pick the starters or the coaches pick the starters.
- LaMarcus Aldridge – he found Aldridge to be a delightful kid and will need to become more of a name for himself. He thinks he has an outside chance of making it.
- The cutoff for the ballot selection took place the Thursday before the season started.
- There was a big deal last year because Devin Harris was left off the ballot.
- Greg was selected before they knew about his injury.
- Finding 12 centers was difficult to find and Oden was the best selection
Blazer perception with national media
- Everybody was kind of waiting for Portland to really come back. To come back with a nice team, a good team. The franchise means a lot to people around the league.
- It was one of the sadder storylines around the league when the team went array both on and off the court.
- It’s now a good story line for the national media.
- He just loves to watch Brandon Roy play. He thinks that Brandon is such a fundamental player, not that he is athletic as well, but he is a smart player that gets along with a good coach like Nate.
- He predicts the Blazers battling for the 6th spot, maybe higher in the playoffs.
Surprises in the league
- Atlanta has become a top 4 team in the East.
- Knicks record speaks toward the home games

Brian Wheeler - interview
Greg Oden
- Nate said it wasn’t a long practice, but a hard practice. They were doing some warm-ups, shoot around and some running. Then they broke it off and split the team up into two teams.
- They had a scoring system, where a player got a point for defensive stop and a point for scoring.
- Greg was non-descript for a while and then all of sudden he had these string of plays that were just terrific. He took the ball in the right block and Ike Diogu was guarding him and Channing came to double team him. Greg went lightning quick between the two and split the double team in half and dunked the ball. Next time down, Greg dunked the ball again and slapped the backboard. Kevin turned to Wheels and said it’s all over, call practice he has seen every thing he has come to see. The next time down the floor, Steve Blake had his shot altered by Greg and resulted in a driving layup off the glass.
- He looked like he was having fun out there and was talking out there on defense and was giving everybody a good feel for them.
- Greg’s immediate contributions will come from the defense. He will definitely help the team defense in lowering the points in the paint by other teams.
- Greg is also a good passer that not a lot of people know about and can pass out to the outside shooters.
- Greg will add a more inside presence and help spread the offense.
- By not starting him, it will help him gain confidence against the second tier centers.
Orlando game
- Blazers did a good job of spreading the floor and only giving up one block shot vs. the 4 blocks Dwight averages.
- Blazers only had 5 offensive rebounds, but had 26 points in the paint.
Greg Oden – comments
- (ja) – Greg had his first full contact practice on Tuesday and by all accounts he is ready to play on Wed. Monday was a shoot around, but first full contact was Tuesday.
- (mh) – Greg is on the mend and if it is Wed. then great.
- (mh) – What’s happening is with Greg absence the team’s confidence has grown and this allows Greg to just step in as a support role as he gets his timing and conditioning down.
- (ja) – Nate is going to have Greg come off the bench for a few games and not set a timetable. Kind of lets him get his sea legs, gets back in game shape and condition. It allows him to ease back in with so much pressure and the weight of all of Rip City on his shoulders. I think it’s a good ideal to bring him off the bench for a few games.
- (mh) – It’s an interesting noble ideal that you talked about in Orlando’s 5th quarter. Should he start or not, with the weight of the world and high expectations, the truth of the matter is it is a game of basketball. A game that Greg Oden is well prepared to play, whether he starts or not is not the topic of the day. It is getting enough time on the court to get his rhythm and conditioning on the court. 2-3 games from now we won’t be having this discussion.
- (mh) – (email saying he is glad Greg is coming off the bench) – This is not unique for just Greg, many players who are out for a extended period of time will prefer to come off the bench.
- (ja) – he talked to Wheels and he said that Greg looked great, he was tremendous and look better than what he was like in training camp. Greg really wants to be on the court.
- (mh) – sounds like he has a nap in his step.
- (mh) - (email on team basketball, but with Greg can they keep it up) – Ball movement, man movement, unselfess play. Nate has always coached it and with Greg he will have to look to adapt into the new team rhythm.
- (mh) - (email on when Greg will have affect on the Blazers) – he will have the biggest impact on the defense. On the offensive end he will have an impact on getting the offensive rebound and scoring.

Brandon Roy – comments
- (ja) – Brandon injured his back near the end of the Orlando game and did not practice in Tuesday’s practice. He got some treatment on Tuesday and is listed as questionable for Wednesday match-up with Miami, but in all likelihood will play.
- (mh) – (email on resting Brandon more to keep him fresh for the whole season and allow Rudy and Sergio more minutes) – rhythm or rest has been an age old question. Michael prefers rhythm, because the blazers are trying to make the playoffs and they really need to win as many games as possible and establish your team rhythm and then fine tune it later with rest. When you introduce rest before you establish your rhythm you can really be too cautious and mess up what you are trying to develop.

Miscellaneous
- (caller asked about Darius Miles being signed by another team and then playing in the NBDL and having that count as 10 games) (ja) No, NBDL is for players in the first three years of the NBA. Also, those games won’t count as actual NBA games.

Team
Orlando game
- (mh) - Winning the first one has certainly helped the team’s confidence and rthym. One in impressive fashion in checking Dwight Howard in the second half.
- (ja) – Five blazers in double figure, blazers shoot 44% and only turned the ball over 6 times, well played game.
- (mh) – I like how the Blazers won the game. Between the 3rd & 4th quarter, a 13-0 run primarily by the second unit. When you can take your second unit on the road in a building like the Orlando Magic, it builds a lot of confidence for this team.
- (mh) – Brandon set the tone for the team by taking the ball to the hole against Dwight Howard.
Toughness
- (mh) – (caller saying the team is missing the toughness inside, the Buck Williams type player) – we have Joel Przybilla, but he understands what the caller said. When Sergio had that foul on Dwight Howard, it spokes volumes for the team.
Rotation
- (mh) – (email on rotation for Martell and Batum) – the team is playing extremely well and it is still a mystery until Martell gets on the floor and see how he fits into the rotation. They do have a log jam of sorts at the SF with Martell, Travis, Batum, Rudy and Roy all taking turns playing SF. You do have a good problem with depth, youth and virsaltity, but you can build minutes around those players / combinations.
Nicolas Batum
- (mh) – He is getting valuable experience as a starter. Batum will become the defensive stopper, energy, extra prossesion type player whether it is starting or off the bench that this team needs.
Rudy Fernandez
- (mh) – (email on chances for Rudy to be Rookie of the Year and an all star) – Rudy has a good chance of making ROY, but Beasley is in the lead. It would take a massive voting of the fans to have Rudy as an all star this year.
Miscellanous
- (mh) - Coach of the Year – Nate should be considered, but you got to look at Mike Woodson in Atlanta and what he has done with the Hawks being 5-0.
- (mh) - (email on Roy being MVP) – Roy is steadily building his reputation as rookie of the year, all star. What’s next is 1st or 2nd team all pro. As Brandon moves his game forward, he starts to deal with the Lebron and Kobe’s of the world.

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