Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and roll!!!!!

[ODENISGOD]

Seriously this is becoming a joke. How many times was bayless covering Dirk last night? KP please hire Jeff Van Gundy he can at least coach defense! P.S Could you please teach the team how to throw an entry pass too, I know it's asking a lot but oden is a big man not a guard. He needs someone to be able to get him the ball. Travis he is on your team bud, just look and see if the guy is wearing the same colored jersey.

 

[SodaPopinski]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

Well, according to Nate (and he reiterated this on the MSP this morning on 95.5), he doesn't teach his players to switch on the screens. To his credit, he acknowledged they switched way too much last night, and he blamed part of it on the fact that certain guys don't have the build or tenacity to fight through those screens rather than taking the easy way out and switching on to the screener.

He did say that he thinks Bayless is his best pick-and-roll defender at the PG position.

He sort of threw Sergio and Rudy under the bus a bit, saying they tend to avoid the contact because of their builds.

-Pop

 

[axs88]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

Well, according to Nate (and he reiterated this on the MSP this morning on 95.5), he doesn't teach his players to switch on the screens. To his credit, he acknowledged they switched way too much last night, and he blamed part of it on the fact that certain guys don't have the build or tenacity to fight through those screens rather than taking the easy way out and switching on to the screener.

He did say that he thinks Bayless is his best pick-and-roll defender at the PG position.

He sort of threw Sergio and Rudy under the bus a bit, saying they tend to avoid the contact because of their builds.

-Pop

Last week in a video interview, they asked Lamarcus what he needed to improve on, and he said he needs to improve his defense, so he can guard different guys, because as a team, they do a lot of switching. Go figure.

 

[Boise Blazer]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

I agree. I like Nate, I really do but this comes down to one thing: coaching. I get it, our players are young and they probably have to be coached about things like this but if they are continuing to not do it the right way over and over and over to the point where even my wife at home who knows basically nothing about basketball then there is a problem. "Honey, why is Bayless always guarding the big guy and Oden guarding the little guy?" Either the coach isnt coaching or the players arent listening. And I dont think its the players choosing not to listen. I dont want Nate fired or replaced, I just want it fixed. And it shouldnt take the whole season to get it done. If its so bad that other teams are game planning to expolit it as a weakness???? Thats a HUGE problem. And I dont want to hear about how all team have a hard time stopping the pick n roll cuz I agree with that but we are clearly one of the worst and that is not good.

 

[roydezlaw]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

He sort of threw Sergio and Rudy under the bus a bit, saying they tend to avoid the contact because of their builds.

-Pop

Outside of Joel and Greg, what's the excuse for the others not from Spain?

 

[MIXUM]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

Most teams look for matchups to exploit, figuring that if your power forward can’t guard theirs they have an advantage. The Blazers have revolutionized that concept for the opponent. If you have a mismatch against any Portland player you can just run screens until you get them matched up against you. The Blazers’ point guard on your 7-foot power forward? No problem. A center against your point out on the perimeter? You got it! Call in the next 12 minutes (because you know we can’t do this all day) and we’ll throw in a case of ineffective double-teams, three or four instances of slow interior rotation on drivers, and a lifetime supply of not getting out to your shooters. Regular readers will know this is not a new phenomenon for the Blazers. But the Mavericks with their Dirk Nowitzkis and their Jason Kidds and Jason Terrys make it painfully obvious. How many times can you see Jerryd Bayless on Nowitzki before you throw your hands up in disgust?

all you need to know from blazers edge.

like i said...i still think we miss the playoffs. this team is simply not very good.

 

[Boise Blazer]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

like i said...i still think we miss the playoffs. this team is simply not very good.

I dont think we will miss the playoffs but considering playoffs are all about the halfcourt game and exploiting matchups then this pick n roll BS concerns me more than just a little. I dont expect us to cruise through the playoffs or anything but it would be nice to give ourselves a fighting chance based to by trying to win on more than just youth and talent alone.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

If I'm not mistaken, they assigned Nate as the defensive coach to the Olympic team. Nate gets praised by other team's players and staff for his focus on defense. Nate knows defense and emphesises it. Considering they are the second youngest team in the league, I'm not surprised the team struggles on the defensive end of the floor . . . it would be a lot worse if not for Nate.

 

[hasoos]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

Last week in a video interview, they asked Lamarcus what he needed to improve on, and he said he needs to improve his defense, so he can guard different guys, because as a team, they do a lot of switching. Go figure.

I don't think he necessarily meant they do it intentionally. What he was meaning was, he ends up switched a lot. All season long I have been lamenting about certain guards in the lineup not fighting through picks. When you cheat on picks, teams tear you up. Any time you cheat on a pick, it is an automatic switch. You cannot avoid it.

Look at all the positive things that can happen when you cheat on a pick:

Cheat under, big gets swapped on to a small. Bad.

Cheat under and big doesn't show in order to try and avoid the switch, and the guard shoots over the top for an easy jumper.

Cheat under the pick, and have your big show in order to pressure the guard, and the big man rolls to the hoop.


The solution is: Don't cheat under the fucking pick. Then it solves all that bullshit.

 

[MARIS61]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

Well, according to Nate ...

He did say that he thinks Bayless is his best pick-and-roll defender at the PG position.

-Pop

I guess Nate needs glasses because it seems everyone here, and the blazersedge guy, and several posters wives, and the NBA play-by-play, see Jerryd Bayless repeatedly switching on picks and getting scored on by the pick and roll.

I can't remember a player in Blazer history who has gotten burned this often by such a basic play, because our previous coaches would simply not play him until he improved.

Sergio and Rudy actually end up getting burned less often by it because they see it coming and go over or under it to recover.

Fighting through it only works for really big, strong guys, which Bayless is not.

Fighting through picks is why Steve Blake is sitting on the sidelines in pain.

He's got a lot of heart, but being only 6'3" Jerryd needs to use his mind more and concede there are bigger men out there.

 

[hasoos]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

Hey anybody buying that bridge in brooklynn Maris is selling? I heard the government might be giving a 10% tax write off in the new stimulous package. It would make it a great deal.

 

[alex42083]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

I'd have to agree about our defense being just flat-out terrible..

But here's to MB's blog about last night's game:

My first instinct, when looking at the stat sheet in front me, is to say Portland's defense cost them this game. But, having witnessed the game first hand, I'm not sure it was that bad. Yes, Dallas shot 55 percent for the game, and that is probably as low as that percentage got throughout the entire night. They were clicking along at an amazing 67 percent midway through the third quarter, and then actually went a little cold the rest of the way.

The fact of the matter is, Dallas is hot, has been shooting like this lately, and they're very tough to beat at home. That being said, I did like the way the Blazers hung tough in this ballgame, cut the lead to just four with a little less than seven minutes left, and then had it cut to three a couple of times in the final minute.

http://mikebarrettsblog.blogspot.com/

And people actually call him out on his blog for sugar-coating things. Kind of interesting stuff.

But yeah, some defensive principles definitely need to be changed. It gets old to continue to see opponents shoot 50-plus percent in the first half and take the lead.
And then it forces us to have to come back in the second half, and I swear that was the case last season when we always had to make second-half comebacks to win a ballgame.

 

[MARIS61]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

Seriously this is becoming a joke. How many times was bayless covering Dirk last night?

Boise Blazer - even my wife at home who knows basically nothing about basketball then there is a problem. "Honey, why is Bayless always guarding the big guy and Oden guarding the little guy?"

roydezlaw - Outside of Joel and Greg, what's the excuse for the others not from Spain?

blazersedge - But the Mavericks with their Dirk Nowitzkis and their Jason Kidds and Jason Terrys make it painfully obvious. How many times can you see Jerryd Bayless on Nowitzki before you throw your hands up in disgust?

Acting tough impresses the casual observer, but smart fans like to see smart players.

Running yourself into a brick wall over and over, only to be stopped by it every time isn't smart basketball.

It's just plain stupid.

 

[Boise Blazer]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

The question is: Where is the fine line between what Nate classifies as an "emergency" to switch and what the players classify as an "emergency" to switch??? If Nate just this morning said the Bayless is one of the better pick n roll defenders doesnt that seem to imply that Nate agrees with most of the switches that Bayless makes? If thats the cases then the players are simply doing what they have been coached to do right? Then this is a coaching issue and not a player issue.

 

[MARIS61]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

The question is: Where is the fine line between what Nate classifies as an "emergency" to switch and what the players classify as an "emergency" to switch??? If Nate just this morning said the Bayless is one of the better pick n roll defenders doesnt that seem to imply that Nate agrees with most of the switches that Bayless makes? If thats the cases then the players are simply doing what they have been coached to do right? Then this is a coaching issue and not a player issue.

I agree it's probably a lack of clarity between coach and player. Of course you want players to be tough and not take the easy way out, or let themselves be pushed around, but our guards are not ever going to be able to go "through" most picks simply because the picker is bigger and stronger.

Sometimes you just have to face reality and adapt.

 

[Boise Blazer]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

I agree it's probably a lack of clarity between coach and player. Of course you want players to be tough and not take the easy way out, or let themselves be pushed around, but our guards are not ever going to be able to go "through" most picks simply because the picker is bigger and stronger.

Sometimes you just have to face reality and adapt.

I guess what bugs me is not much that we are stuggling with the pick and roll because I agree that all teams struggle with it to an extent but more so that compared to other teams we are easily one of the worst teams at it and all teams struggle with the picker being "bigger and stronger". So why are we SO different??

 

[Nikolokolus]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

There are a few things going on with our pick and roll defense and it's got a lot to do with our bigs (Oden being a primary offender, and LMA has been guilty lately) not fully committing to jumping out on the guard as he tries to come off of a pick and then also quickly recovering to the pick setter, the second component is that I don't think guys aren't doing much communicating on the defensive end -- a lot of that will only come with a few years of experience. Lastly I think we have to chalk up the struggles to not only youth, but youthful offensive minded players (for the most part).

I really believe KP needs to add some veterans with some defensive savvy before the deadline or during the summer for this team to take a leap, and at some point the players on the roster have to start holding each other accountable on the court -- Jerryd did this a little bit with Travis last night when he kind of called him out on the court for failing to pick up Josh Howard on an inbounds pass, which resulted in a quick non-shooting foul preventing the easy bucket he was about to get, it's a start, but also pretty damning that you need a rookie guard scolding a six year forward into keeping his assignment.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

The coaching sucks. Period. The offense is stale and moves like molasses. I really think our offense is hurting the development of the players. Rudy has become a player who blends into the background in our offense. He's almost irrelevant. "Rudy, stand in the corner and we might pass you the ball if there are 5 or less seconds left on the clock."

Greg should be getting A LOT more P&R's yet he gets very little touches and has to rely on his post game that's just not there yet.

Nate, you suck.

 

[WillG]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

As good as a defensive player that Nate was, I believe his coaching is WAY overrated.
Yes, I know, he was selected as a USA team assistant coach, so he must be good right?

Well, I think anyone on this board could coach the USA team and still get decent defense. Look at the roster Nate had to work with.

Its high time that people stop giving Nate the benefit of the doubt, the free pass based on his playing career.
As a unit one could expect this team to improve for an extra 2 to 4 extra wins per season for the next few seasons, based on youth, learning, growth as a team and experience. Yet, Nate seems to have found a way to quell even that growth.
All I see, night in night out, is a bunch of soft playing pansies who look like a varsity team compared to most opponents they face off against. I for one am sick of it.

For the benefit of these players and the teams future, Nate, you are the weakest link, it's time to go!

p.s. I'm not going to even touch the subject of his substitution rotations and adjustments.

 

[ehizzy3]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

The coaching sucks. Period. The offense is stale and moves like molasses. I really think our offense is hurting the development of the players. Rudy has become a player who blends into the background in our offense. He's almost irrelevant. "Rudy, stand in the corner and we might pass you the ball if there are 5 or less seconds left on the clock."

Greg should be getting A LOT more P&R's yet he gets very little touches and has to rely on his post game that's just not there yet.

Nate, you suck.

to be honest. rudy hasnt shown he can do much more than shoot 3s

 

[HailBlazers]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

Yes. If they don't fix this by next game I'm no longer at fan.

 

[B-Roy]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

I guess Nate needs glasses because it seems everyone here, and the blazersedge guy, and several posters wives, and the NBA play-by-play, see Jerryd Bayless repeatedly switching on picks and getting scored on by the pick and roll.

I can't remember a player in Blazer history who has gotten burned this often by such a basic play, because our previous coaches would simply not play him until he improved.

Sergio and Rudy actually end up getting burned less often by it because they see it coming and go over or under it to recover.

Fighting through it only works for really big, strong guys, which Bayless is not.

Fighting through picks is why Steve Blake is sitting on the sidelines in pain.

He's got a lot of heart, but being only 6'3" Jerryd needs to use his mind more and concede there are bigger men out there.

You're kidding, right? Sergio switches on EVERYTHING as well. You must be blind if you can't notice this. And the ONLY time he goes UNDER the screen is when the point guard is a great three point shooter. If you ask me, Sergio is just asking to get his ass pulled. He goes under on Mo Williams, on JJ Barea, on Steve Nash etc. The guy has mush for a brain.

Yes Jerryd gets killed on the PNR just like the rest of our guards, but his 1 on 1 defense is light years ahead of Sergio's and Blakes, PLUS he stays on his man off the ball, unlike Sergio who loses his man on every possession and ends up looking like a stray dog on defense.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

Yes. If they don't fix this by next game I'm no longer at fan.

Jesus. I love the fucking hyperbole people spew around here sometimes ... unless you were just being sarcastic and my brain is too tired to pick it up right now, in which case nevermind.

 

[Денг Гордон]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

Orlando does this all the time.

They will say have Ben Gordon dribbling the ball. Joakim Noah comes up and sets a pick. Jameer Nelson fights through the screen and sticks on Gordon, but Dwight lets Noah roll to the basket, and attacks Gordon with a strong double team.

It's not exactly a bad strategy as long as everyone else is making the right rotations on defense.

 

[Ed O]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

Jesus. I love the fucking hyperbole people spew around here sometimes ... unless you were just being sarcastic and my brain is too tired to pick it up right now, in which case nevermind.

Brain = fried. I think it was pretty clear it was sarcasm

Ed O.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

Coaches usually get the most blame when the team is losing . . . I don't think it is justified most of the time, but understand it goes with the territory.

But here in Blazer land, we take it to a differnent level. The Blazers are performing better than expected by many analysts out there and they sit in the 4th position in the Western conference at 30-18 with the second youngest team in the league . . . and the coach still gets blamed.

If you can't beat them, join them. I agree . . . it's all Nate's fault the Blazers are 30-18.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

Brain = fried. I think it was pretty clear it was sarcasm

Ed O.

Yeah it came in loud and clear after 7 hours of sleep and a few cups of coffee

 

[MrJayremmie]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

Coaches usually get the most blame when the team is losing . . . I don't think it is justified most of the time, but understand it goes with the territory.

But here in Blazer land, we take it to a differnent level. The Blazers are performing better than expected by many analysts out there and they sit in the 4th position in the Western conference at 30-18 with the second youngest team in the league . . . and the coach still gets blamed.

If you can't beat them, join them. I agree . . . it's all Nate's fault the Blazers are 30-18.

Some of it is over the top and unjustified, but a lot of the critiques and complaints are well earned, imo. Its what a message board is for in my eyes, and its definitely interesting to hear what different members think about how we can improve the team (especially on the defensive end). I'm just not a fan of calling Nate an idiot, dumbass, incompetant or anything like that, as overall I think he has done a great job since he came. I mean we have improved by an average of 10 wins every year he has been here, and are on pace to do the exact same thing this year, which is an amazing accomplishment.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

Some of it is over the top and unjustified, but a lot of the critiques and complaints are well earned, imo. Its what a message board is for in my eyes, and its definitely interesting to hear what different members think about how we can improve the team (especially on the defensive end). I'm just not a fan of calling Nate an idiot, dumbass, incompetant or anything like that, as overall I think he has done a great job since he came. I mean we have improved by an average of 10 wins every year he has been here, and are on pace to do the exact same thing this year, which is an amazing accomplishment.

It's true that this is what the board is for, not saying these threads should stop. I justknow that when/if the Blazers hit a losing streak, this stuff will dominate the board, but didn't expect it now.

There is a saying: coaches get too much of the blame when the team is losing and too much credit when the team is winning. I don't think that saying applies to this board.

But yes, this is a message board so bashing Nate, Oden, Outlaw, Sergio, Bayless and everyone else is fair game.

 

[Natebishop3]

Re: Earth to Nate!!! Stop teaching your players to switch the pick and role!!!!!

to be honest. rudy hasnt shown he can do much more than shoot 3s

Not true. He was a much better all-around player at the beginning of the season. He has turned into a spot up three point shooter and it's sad. He was so much fun to watch in the first month of the season.

The coaching sucks. Period. The offense is stale and moves like molasses. I really think our offense is hurting the development of the players. Rudy has become a player who blends into the background in our offense. He's almost irrelevant. "Rudy, stand in the corner and we might pass you the ball if there are 5 or less seconds left on the clock."

Greg should be getting A LOT more P&R's yet he gets very little touches and has to rely on his post game that's just not there yet.

Nate, you suck.

This pretty much sums up how I feel.