Grizzlies @ Portland Game Thread

[AgentDrazenPetrovic]

So the 20 point difference through out the second half is not a factor? I would think that comes into play. Regardless my point is that Oden did not look un-coordinated. And i don't think he did at all.

at a minimum he looked awkward. trouble establishing position when a shot went up, no real post moves other than using strength....he had a few nice dunks, that roll he did where he layed it up with finesse was nice...but some of the times he looked awkward on both ends of the floor.

some mentioning his stats, but those stats more than not were made during garbage time...he played 6 minutes in the first half...by then the blazers were already in control...when he re-entered the game, I believe the game was already 15-18 points....so he maintained. I liked that he was able to get to the FT line but he needs to improve his familiarity with the game...which will come with more game time.

 

[Erroneous Subterfuge]

Did you even watch the game? Greg looked very uncoordinated and his time in the game was garbage time for the most part. He certainly needs to be more aware....but he looked fine as a backup C right now, which he is right now.

I give the Blazers props for another big win, but I want the team to improve and be perfect and am critcizing as such.

Greg needs to be more aware on the floor. I don't think he had a good game...he had good numbers but that doesn't mean he had a good game.

I have no idea how you feel compelled to spend your entire night critizing an out-of-shape rookie for having 12/9 in under 22 minutes. Despite being exhausted for half that time I thought he dug deep and played hard til the end. When you're exhausted, things like awareness are the first to go. I know he didn't do anything as taxing and skilled as writing critical messages over the internet, but it's a start. I doubt anyone could look at Greg right now and say, "Wow, he looks like a feral Gazelle leaping along the Serengeti." The difference between intelligent people and... you, is that they can grasp the rather obvious reasons as to why that's not the case.

 

[Tince]

Wow. The Grizzlies didn't shoot any free throws in the first half. Is that a record?

I can't imagine a team shooting less, so I'm guessing it's a record.

 

[cdub503]

who went to the game and saw me choke at free throws?!!

 

[oldmangrouch]

Its not about him hurting our cap. Its about Miles playing like a lazy POS with a bad attitude his last days on the floor in a blazers uniform. He would come to practice still smelling like booze from the night before, he called Mo Cheeks an N-bomb, and he would just walk the offense as a blazer.

Well, it's partly about the cap.

The Blazers gave Miles a very nice contract when pretty much nobody else wanted him. I'd say they treated him pretty damn well. Despite that, he jumped at the chance to help Chris Wallace game the system and screw a team that had given him $18 million to retire.

As for the claim that Miles is doing this for love of the game....this is a guy who never gave a hoot about "the game", his team-mates, the fans, or the guy paying his salary. After all those years of him just going through the motions, we are supposed to believe he is suddenly motivated by love of the game?

 

[jwhoops11]

who went to the game and saw me choke at free throws?!!

I did, an was joking with my wife who doesn't make many of the games with me that as fans we should boo people who are pulled from the crowd and perform as badly. You looked as if you fairly nice form, but were short on almost every shot. I did notice towards the end when you went from a standing shot to a mini jump shot, you made a few. I did have a theory, as I watched you shoot. I figured you were a ringer, and were intentionaly missing all your shots, so you could wow us all by making the half court shot.

 

[AgentDrazenPetrovic]

I have no idea how you feel compelled to spend your entire night critizing an out-of-shape rookie for having 12/9 in under 22 minutes. Despite being exhausted for half that time I thought he dug deep and played hard til the end. When you're exhausted, things like awareness are the first to go. I know he didn't do anything as taxing and skilled as writing critical messages over the internet, but it's a start. I doubt anyone could look at Greg right now and say, "Wow, he looks like a feral Gazelle leaping along the Serengeti." The difference between intelligent people and... you, is that they can grasp the rather obvious reasons as to why that's not the case.

I'm merely calling it like I see it. I stated he looks uncoordinated out there and he needs to improve when Hammar Hadidi or whatever his name is, is outhustling Greg when going up head to head.

Nothing bad particularly about that, it was the truth. He needs to establish better position after the shot goes up, be more aware in the post and make better low post moves. Most of this is mental on his part, not due to him being exhausted.

I really don't understand why people seem to take personal offense for honest gametime observations and analysis. I don't think I'm being overly critical or reactionary. get over yourself.

 

[cdub503]

I did, an was joking with my wife who doesn't make many of the games with me that as fans we should boo people who are pulled from the crowd and perform as badly. You looked as if you fairly nice form, but were short on almost every shot. I did notice towards the end when you went from a standing shot to a mini jump shot, you made a few. I did have a theory, as I watched you shoot. I figured you were a ringer, and were intentionaly missing all your shots, so you could wow us all by making the half court shot.

haha well freaking i felt like i could shoot without jumping and then well you know 20 thousand people kinda started making me feel nervous and shit so i had to start jumping to get to the rim and also the more oranger balls were a little bit different and a tad heavier and it threw me off.... i could come up with a shit ton of excuses but i almost felt like i woulda had a better chance shooting the half court shot than the 3 but oh well shit was fun as hell haha

 

[Tince]

I'm merely calling it like I see it. I stated he looks uncoordinated out there and he needs to improve when Hammar Hadidi or whatever his name is, is outhustling Greg when going up head to head.

Nothing bad particularly about that, it was the truth. He needs to establish better position after the shot goes up, be more aware in the post and make better low post moves. Most of this is mental on his part, not due to him being exhausted.

I really don't understand why people seem to take personal offense for honest gametime observations and analysis. I don't think I'm being overly critical or reactionary. get over yourself.

Establish better position after the shot goes up? Are you talking about rebounding? The day people start complaining about Greg's ability to rebound the ball, I'll know they have lost it.

 

[Tince]

haha well freaking i felt like i could shoot without jumping and then well you know 20 thousand people kinda started making me feel nervous and shit so i had to start jumping to get to the rim and also the more oranger balls were a little bit different and a tad heavier and it threw me off.... i could come up with a shit ton of excuses but i almost felt like i woulda had a better chance shooting the half court shot than the 3 but oh well shit was fun as hell haha

How do you get picked for these things?

 

[jwhoops11]

haha well freaking i felt like i could shoot without jumping and then well you know 20 thousand people kinda started making me feel nervous and shit so i had to start jumping to get to the rim and also the more oranger balls were a little bit different and a tad heavier and it threw me off.... i could come up with a shit ton of excuses but i almost felt like i woulda had a better chance shooting the half court shot than the 3 but oh well shit was fun as hell haha

No, it's all good. I'm sure it's not an easy thing, I doubt I'd have done any better. Honestly though, the two chicks that got to shoot free throws for the shoe mill gift certificate made the same amount as you. Did you consider trying the last few underhanded?

 

[AgentDrazenPetrovic]

Establish better position after the shot goes up? Are you talking about rebounding? The day people start complaining about Greg's ability to rebound the ball, I'll know they have lost it.

Yes. I'm talking about his rebounding in the second half. On several posessions he didn't even bother to block his man out...he watched the ball go up and started jogging the other way.

Greg's a huge body that will get rebounds, doesn't mean that he shouldn't block out when the shot goes up.

 

[cdub503]

they just picked people they asked me if i could eat a lot and i said look at me im a twig and then they asked me if i could shoot a freethrow and i said ya and signed me up you just gotta look out for people with headsets basically they are the people scouting for people lol

 

[jwhoops11]

they just picked people they asked me if i could eat a lot and i said look at me im a twig and then they asked me if i could shoot a freethrow and i said ya and signed me up you just gotta look out for people with headsets basically they are the people scouting for people lol

Dude, the rib contest was stomach turning. Looking at your size during the free throw shoot, there's no way you were in the same league as the eaters, I think you chose the right contest!

 

[AgentDrazenPetrovic]

interesting my use of awkward and blazersedge.com recap for Oden:

Even though he's approaching the bucket on offense like a high school freshman approaches a senior cheerleader at the dance, Greg Oden was still the man off of the bench tonight. He had 12 points, 6 of them off of free throws. He went 6-8 from the charity stripe, 3-9 from the field. He had 9 rebounds, 5 offensive. He also managed a block and 4 fouls. The bench overall was so-so tonight but Greg helped them stay strong.

 

[cdub503]

haha yeah whats funny is that when i got to the free throw line i was like oh this isnt so bad and then i was short a whole lot and i go oh fuck gotta jump gooooooootta jump haha

 

[Tince]

interesting my use of awkward and blazersedge.com recap for Oden:

Almost as interesting as there being no mention of his poor rebound positioning...

 

[Boob-No-More]

I'm merely calling it like I see it. I stated he looks uncoordinated out there and he needs to improve when Hammar Hadidi or whatever his name is, is outhustling Greg when going up head to head.

Haddadi didn't out anything Oden tonight. Greg left the game with 2:59 left and was replaced by Michael Ruffin. At that point Hddadi had 4 points and 3 rebounds to Oden's 12 and 9. Haddadi did half of his "damage" during the last 2:59 against Ruffin - a player that's 6 - 7" shorter than he is.

I really don't understand why people seem to take personal offense for honest gametime observations and analysis. I don't think I'm being overly critical or reactionary. get over yourself.

Since when is disagreeing with your opinion the same as taking something personal - especially when your opinion doesn't seem to be based on facts or agree with what the majority of people saw with their own eyes? I'm not saying the majority is always right, but if your opinion differs from the majority, you can't expect people not to disagree.

BNM

 

[Boob-No-More]

he had a few nice dunks

No he didn't. He had exactly one dunk - for 2 or his 12 points. When you can't get simple facts like this straight, it makes it hard to take the rest of your argument seriously and makes me wonder if you even watched the game.

BNM

 

[AgentDrazenPetrovic]

Haddadi didn't out anything Oden tonight. Greg left the game with 2:59 left and was replaced by Michael Ruffin. At that point Hddadi had 4 points and 3 rebounds to Oden's 12 and 9. Haddadi did half of his "damage" during the last 2:59 against Ruffin - a player that's 6 - 7" shorter than he is.

Since when is disagreeing with your opinion the same as taking something personal - especially when your opinion doesn't seem to be based on facts or agree with what the majority of people saw with their own eyes? I'm not saying the majority is always right, but if your opinion differs from the majority, you can't expect people not to disagree.

BNM

When Hadidi went head to head with Greg, he took a board Oden should have EASILY had. He also posted right up on greg for an And1. He drew a few fouls on greg and outboarded him. Read the game thread as it happened, several people pointed out Hadidi when he replaced Gasol and was doing things he shouldn't have been able to do against G-O head-to-head.

And if you bothered to read the post I was referring to, Erroneous Subterfuge was trying to take a few shots at me personally, which I responded to. He was being an ass, so I felt the need to tell him to get over himself.

 

[AgentDrazenPetrovic]

No he didn't. He had exactly one dunk - for 2 or his 12 points. When you can't get simple facts like this straight, it makes it hard to take the rest of your argument seriously and makes me wonder if you even watched the game.

BNM

ok, he had a nice dunk. i missed the first half, for what its worth.

 

[Tince]

Haddadi didn't out anything Oden tonight. Greg left the game with 2:59 left and was replaced by Michael Ruffin. At that point Hddadi had 4 points and 3 rebounds to Oden's 12 and 9. Haddadi did half of his "damage" during the last 2:59 against Ruffin - a player that's 6 - 7" shorter than he is.



Since when is disagreeing with your opinion the same as taking something personal - especially when your opinion doesn't seem to be based on facts or agree with what the majority of people saw with their own eyes? I'm not saying the majority is always right, but if your opinion differs from the majority, you can't expect people not to disagree.

BNM

Rep!

 

[AgentDrazenPetrovic]

No he didn't. He had exactly one dunk - for 2 or his 12 points. When you can't get simple facts like this straight, it makes it hard to take the rest of your argument seriously and makes me wonder if you even watched the game.

BNM

What was your impression of Greg's game tonight? Are you impressed by his offense?

 

[AgentDrazenPetrovic]

Well, it's partly about the cap.

The Blazers gave Miles a very nice contract when pretty much nobody else wanted him. I'd say they treated him pretty damn well. Despite that, he jumped at the chance to help Chris Wallace game the system and screw a team that had given him $18 million to retire.

As for the claim that Miles is doing this for love of the game....this is a guy who never gave a hoot about "the game", his team-mates, the fans, or the guy paying his salary. After all those years of him just going through the motions, we are supposed to believe he is suddenly motivated by love of the game?

Perhaps, I don't really fault him for trying to play...lots of teams don't get medical relief..its more the exception than not.

 

[AgentDrazenPetrovic]

and regarding his rebounding, he got 4 offensive boards within 2 seconds.

3:11 MEM - Shooting foul on H. Haddadi
3:11 POR - G. Oden offensive rebound
3:11 POR - G. Oden offensive rebound
3:11 POR - G. Oden misses a tip in
3:11 POR - G. Oden offensive rebound
3:11 POR - G. Oden misses a tip in
3:12 POR - T. Outlaw offensive rebound
3:12 POR - T. Outlaw misses a tip in
3:14 POR - T. Outlaw misses a 4-foot jumper in the lane

most of them were due to him not being able to tap the ball in, he hit the corner of the rim/backboard and got 4 of his 5 O-boards on that one play. he did get fouled on his last shot attempt though and sank the two FTs.

 

[bigbailes]

i didn't get to see the game tonight but after looking over the box score, why in the hell did LMA play 39 minutes? what was the need for him to be out there in a game we handled from the first quarter on?

 

[AgentDrazenPetrovic]

i didn't get to see the game tonight but after looking over the box score, why in the hell did LMA play 39 minutes? what was the need for him to be out there in a game we handled from the first quarter on?

It seems he was left there a bit two long, probably could have had his time in the 4th cut down greatly as the Grizz were showing no signs of coming back...they were just terrible in the second half.

maybe its establishing some confidence in LMA as a primary scoring option now? He's been playing spectacularly.

 

[Tince]

i didn't get to see the game tonight but after looking over the box score, why in the hell did LMA play 39 minutes? what was the need for him to be out there in a game we handled from the first quarter on?

I think that shows exactly how much confidence Nate has in Frye. Outlaw and Batum are hurt, so playing them a ton of minutes wasn't going to happen. My best guess is that since he was resting the other 4 starters the entire 4th quarter, he wanted to have some stability in so Memphis couldn't cut the lead in half and force him to play everyone else.

 

[Boob-No-More]

What was your impression of Greg's game tonight? Are you impressed by his offense?

I was impressed with the way he was active on both ends, ran the pick-and-roll and got to the FT line. I wasn't really impressed with his 5 ORB in less than 22 minutes as I've come to take that aspect of his game for granted.

BTW, when I read your criticisms of Greg's game tonight, they sound much more like Darko than Greg. Greg is a rookie who's been injured and is still learning the game, but he's already so much better than Darko. At least Greg, as a rookie, makes an impact and looks like he belongs in the NBA. Darko is in his 5th season and still doesn't have any decent low post moves. He looks totally unathletic and like he just doesn't belong in the NBA.

BNM

 

[AgentDrazenPetrovic]

I was impressed with the way he was active on both ends, ran the pick-and-roll and got to the FT line. I wasn't really impressed with his 5 ORB in less than 22 minutes as I've come to take that aspect of his game for granted.

BTW, when I read your criticisms of Greg's game tonight, they sound much more like Darko than Greg. Greg is a rookie who's been injured and is still learning the game, but he's already so much better than Darko. At least Greg, as a rookie, makes an impact and looks like he belongs in the NBA. Darko is in his 5th season and still doesn't have any decent low post moves. He looks totally unathletic and like he just doesn't belong in the NBA.

BNM

well, i think greg is less awkward than Kwame or Darko....but he's no where near where he needs to be for him to have a big impact on the blazers success or be an elite center in the league. thankfully with LMA playing as well as he has, he really doesn't need to.

A lot of his time was garbage time and I frankly expected him to be more impactful on the offensive end especially during this time instead of getting shown up by Hadidi. I liked that he started going straight up and fouling less on some of the post shots he was defending...but he still doesn't look as good as he did before his knee chip.

I'm still waiting for more of a set low-post offense from him rather than just working off dribble penetrations of our wings. IN that respect, he's awkward at least tonight.