Game thread 12/23/08

[Kaydow]

Sorry Boob, TO's taken by themselves are meaningless, or Nash and Kidd would be working in a car wash.

True, but when you are a two time MVP like Nash, who basically ran the most prodigious and exciting offenses in the league for the last 10 years - yeah, he gets a pass if he averages 3-4 t/o game.


He averages 18/10 over the last 5 years to boot.

In HIS case, you tend to give him a hall pass for the t/o's.

Because of the overwhelming amount of good things he does to help you win.

 

[Boob-No-More]

Sorry Boob, TO's taken by themselves are meaningless, or Nash and Kidd would be working in a car wash.

So true. What do you know, for once Maris and I agree. Which is why I prefaced my comment about Sergio's TOs with:

"So, a guy who has a career .380 FG%, a career 0.298 3FG%, can't play defense..."

Steve Nash:
Career FG% = .485
Career 3FG% = .431

Jason Kidd:
NINE times 1st or 2nd team all-defense.

When Sergio starts shooting like Nash, or playing defense like Kidd, I'll start taking him seriously as a promising PG prospect.

BNM

 

[barfo]

When Sergio starts shooting like Nash, or playing defense like Kidd, I'll start taking him seriously as a promising PG prospect.

BNM

Wow, high standards for being labeled a prospect.

barfo

 

[KingSpeed]

Wow, I love the tempo with Sergio tonight, great job..
Maris, I think your evaluation of Roy is flawed. He's our franchise player, and our star; not only is he our best player, but he's also one of the greatest passers on the team, his assists are great probably 2nd or 3rd on the team.

1st on the team

 

[KingSpeed]

Joel
LaMarcus
Travis
Rudy
Sergio

That's my starting unit.

You don't want our leading scorer and assist man? The guy who has hit two game winners, averages 23 ppg, and scored the most points by any player in the NBA in a game in regulation this season?

 

[barfo]

You don't want our leading scorer and assist man? The guy who has hit two game winners, averages 23 ppg, and scored the most points by any player in the NBA in a game in regulation this season?

Well, it does seem a little outre, but what if Roy works really well as 6th man? He might be even more effective going against other teams scrubs. No reason he couldn't get just as many minutes, and just as many points, coming off the bench.

barfo

 

[KingSpeed]

Doe's TO ever hit a wide open 3?

He's the 9th best three point shooter in the league.

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

He's the 9th best three point shooter in the league.

23% over the last 4 games

 

[KingSpeed]

Someone of you were talking about how great Denver was during the game, but then when we won, you were like "well, they don't Melo, it doesn't count." Tonight was a big win and we have the same damn record as Denver and we have played a tougher schedule and we have had more missed games due to injury. Rejoice folks. We're doing great!

 

[MrJayremmie]

MY MVP's for tonights game...

1. Sergio (when he went in the first time his energy kept us in the game... he really stepped up when we needed him and i loved it)
2. Joel (Amazing game w/ Greg doing jack shit)
3. LMA (Another great game, clutch rebound and dunk at the end, got to the line)
4. Roy (stepped up in the 4th and helped us get this win)
5. Blake (He always seems to hit a big shot when we need it)

And after a lot of thought, so far this year, I think our four best players are..

1. Roy
2. LMA
3. Joel
4. Rudy
5. Blake

Was very impressed we won this game. From the looks of it though, I think Denver is better than us. But we got our tough stretch of games out of the way... Denver is now 1-4 in their last 5 like we were. Utah lost also, so we are tied for 1st in the NW Division and 4th in the West.

Go Blazers!

 

[andalusian]

Wow, high standards for being labeled a prospect.

True. But I think BNM's standard were for the "promising" part - and he is right on the money there.

Let's face it - I am a "prospect" NBA PG as well. I am just a really lousy one.

Unfortunately, BNM is right. Sergio is a prospect - but it is hard to take him as a promising one when his D and shooting is as inconsistent and crappy as it has been so far.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Was very impressed we won this game. From the looks of it though, I think Denver is better than us. But we got our tough stretch of games out of the way... Denver is now 1-4 in their last 5 like we were. Utah lost also, so we are tied for 1st in the NW Division and 4th in the West.

Go Blazers!

We're not out of the woods yet.

Next 6 opponents:
Dallas
Toronto
Boston!
New Orleans
Lakers!
Detroit

 

[Boob-No-More]

MY MVP's for tonights game...

1. Sergio (when he went in the first time his energy kept us in the game... he really stepped up when we needed him and i loved it)
2. Joel (Amazing game w/ Greg doing jack shit)

You gotta give Joel the Player of the Game honors. The biggest difference between the two games against was rebounding. In the loss in Denver, the Blazers got out rebounded 43 - 32. In last night's win, thanks to Joel, the Blazers had a 41 - 36 rebounding advantage. I also loved the way he stepped up to the line and sunk those 4 FTs to seal the win.

I'd also put Aldridge ahead of Sergio. He had 22 PT, 8 REB on 7 - 12 shooting and 8 - 9 FT. He also held K-Mart to 14 PT and 4 REB on 5 - 15 shooting.

BNM

 

[Boob-No-More]

Wow, high standards for being labeled a prospect.

barfo

Hey, I wasn't the one who labeled him the best PG prospect in the history of the franchise. It was Maris who set the bar that high. So high that Sergio will never clear it, but at least now he can walk under it without bending over.

BNM

 

[BrianFromWA]

I'm quite curious to watch the Boston and L*ker games. If we play well on our home court and can get one of the two wins, I think that will say good things about where our team is.

If we look anything like we did in LA and BOS, then I think it's a lock we shuffle things up in a trade. You can talk about letting cake bake, but at some point you have to show you can hang with upper-echelon teams. If your contention is that that point is years away (due to the "youngest team in the league" thing, then I'll respectfully disagree.

SG:Roy is an all-star. He doesn't get the "youth" card anymore.
PG:Blake is a 6 year vet. He doesn't get the "youth" card anymore.
Crzybilla is a vet, and playing the best ball of his career. Anything we get from Oden is gravy (I will give him the Youth Card, and say that I don't think he's anywhere close to a bust yet).
PF:LMA has been inconsistent. I thought (with KP) that he was about to make the leap, but he has only shown flashes. He's a little too in love with his jumper for me. I don't know if that will change with time.

That leaves SF, and the bench. Batum makes rookie mistakes, but gets about 17 mpg or so. Travis is a 6 year vet. Webster (when he gets back) will be in his 4th year. I personally think Webs is the answer at SF.

Bench: Sergio is a 22y/o PG. If you haven't seen the improvement in his defense and shot, I don't know what to say. Rudy's 23, and a rookie, but you'd think he'd be less susceptible to falling in love with the 3 than he has. Frye has regressed, and Diogu seems spastic around the rim, though at least he knows to keep his butt in the paint. Bayless is a rookie.

At some point, this team will have to stop saying "we're a really young team" and start to say "we're a team that gets paid to win championships". I don't see why that point wouldn't be soon. When it comes, the team will have to realize that some of our team problems are not going to be solved with age.

 

[andalusian]

At some point, this team will have to stop saying "we're a really young team" and start to say "we're a team that gets paid to win championships". I don't see why that point wouldn't be soon. When it comes, the team will have to realize that some of our team problems are not going to be solved with age.

Well, there are two issues here.

1. They are young. No matter how we try to ignore it - they are the 2nd youngest roster and probably the youngest rotation team in the NBA - so taking as much time as possible to evaluate them is just needed.

2. We have a short window of cap-space and an even shorter window of trying to really capitalize on the trifecta or Raef's expiring, his insurance pay help and the bad economy.

I think that unless the team scorches their way to the trade deadline without a loss - point #2 will prevail and KP will find a way to upgrade the team - but it will wait until the very last minute - as he makes up his mind who to keep and who to deal.