How long is Blake's leash?

[Nikolokolus]

Anybody want to guess at the over-under for how many games he can play like absolute garbage at both ends of the court before Nate actually benches him and puts Bayless in the game? (Actually more likely he just benches him and goes with a Roy,Miller, Rudy three gaurd rotation now that I think about it).

My guess is pretty liberal; I'm thinking 15.5 games

 

[KingSpeed]

Remember in 07 when Jack got yanked after three games?

 

[Nikolokolus]

Remember in 07 when Jack got yanked after three games?

Yeah, but this is "Blakey" after all ...

 

[illmatic99]

Remember in 07 when Jack got yanked after three games?

Remember in 08 when Outlaw got yanked after three games?

All it took was us going 1-2 during both seasons.

 

[BrianFromWA]

...as far as the east is from the west.

 

[BoomChakaLaka]

Anybody want to guess at the over-under for how many games he can play like absolute garbage at both ends of the court before Nate actually benches him and puts Bayless in the game? (Actually more likely he just benches him and goes with a Roy,Miller, Rudy three gaurd rotation now that I think about it).

My guess is pretty liberal; I'm thinking 15.5 games

I can only hope that he institutes a starting rotation of:

Miller
Roy
Rudy
LMA
Oden

sooner than later!


Bringing in Webster as our 6th man...and Blake to spell Miller; Outlaw to spell Rudy; Howard to spell LMA; and Pryz to spell Oden.

When might we see Miller start over Blake? I wish it were Saturday.


[Had Batum not gotten injured, I think I'd be looking really hard at packaging Blake and Travis while there is still some shot an interest - for a really strong PF!]

 

[The Sebastian Express]

The real question is can we pull a Jim Zorn on Nate with he offensive play calling.

 

[ehizzy3]

The real question is can we pull a Jim Zorn on Nate with he offensive play calling.

yes im sure there are some good bingo callers(idk what the job title is called) around here.

 

[Nikolokolus]

yes im sure there are some good bingo callers(idk what the job title is called) around here.

That wouldn't work, they'd be overqualified

 

[Minstrel]

(Actually more likely he just benches him and goes with a Roy,Miller, Rudy three gaurd rotation now that I think about it).

This is what I'm hoping for. I'll put it at 10 games if Blake keeps playing like this. A few good games in the next ten, though, will probably keep Blake in the regular rotation for a lot longer.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

From pre-season to now, Blake has been invisible.

One of KP's "boys" that we are stuck with.

 

[rocketeer]

Anybody want to guess at the over-under for how many games he can play like absolute garbage at both ends of the court before Nate actually benches him and puts Bayless in the game? (Actually more likely he just benches him and goes with a Roy,Miller, Rudy three gaurd rotation now that I think about it).

My guess is pretty liberal; I'm thinking 15.5 games

i think 15 games is about right. if blake can't get things together by then, he probably moves to the bench and gets his minutes cut even more. it's not like blake has been playing more minutes than miller anyway. they played equal minutes the first game, miller had 27 to blake's 20 this game.

 

[alex42083]

Blake's pressing a ton it seems like.. just trying to do way too much. But I'll give him a little more than 2 games before pulling the plug on him as the starter. However, putting him back in there in the fourth quarter when we had the lead with Andre at PG, and then putting Andre back in a few minutes later, was a key point in the game.

 

[Blazer_Hippie]

yes im sure there are some good bingo callers(idk what the job title is called) around here.

I recommend the 2 drunk guys that call Bingo at Slim's in St. John's on Monday nights...

 

[Mediocre Man]

Thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis long


We are talking about one of Nate's precious vets.

 

[oldmangrouch]

How long is Blake's leash?

How long is Roy's penis compared to Nate's?

 

[RoyToy]

It shouldn't matter because he isn't good. This is what's frustrating.

 

[Wheels]

He seemed to have a short leash last night in the 4th quarter.

 

[hasoos]

I have said this before. Sometimes with Nate in order to get him to quit playing a certain player, you have to trade them from the team. Viktor Kryapa. Jarrett Jack. So in not so many words, he will never quit playing Blake until KP packages him to another team.

 

[PapaG]

I think the starting line-up should be set on a game-by-game basis. Or perhaps half-to-half.

 

[maxiep]

yes im sure there are some good bingo callers(idk what the job title is called) around here.

I'm a lifelong 'Skins fan and you and TSE are killing me! I have to laugh to keep from crying when I see what Dan Snyder has done to my team.

 

[maxiep]

Blake does one thing well that Miller doesn't--shoot the long ball. You'll note Denver sagged off him and dared Dre to shoot from outside. He didn't disappoint them when he did pull the trigger.

We're integrating a lot of new pieces. Blake will eventually be surpassed by Bayless and Miller. However, Roy has to get comfortable with them first.

 

[hasoos]

Blake does one thing well that Miller doesn't--shoot the long ball. You'll note Denver sagged off him and dared Dre to shoot from outside. He didn't disappoint them when he did pull the trigger.

We're integrating a lot of new pieces. Blake will eventually be surpassed by Bayless and Miller. However, Roy has to get comfortable with them first.

Your right. But the one thing that I point out a lot is, the best role players on teams know their limitations and play within those and don't try to do too much. Blake tries to do too much. Steve Blake should just be Steve Kerr. Shoot open 3's. He can't finish in traffic. He isn't a great setup guy. He isn't a great lob thrower. Just space the floor and shoot your 3's.

 

[maxiep]

Your right. But the one thing that I point out a lot is, the best role players on teams know their limitations and play within those and don't try to do too much. Blake tries to do too much. Steve Blake should just be Steve Kerr. Shoot open 3's. He can't finish in traffic. He isn't a great setup guy. He isn't a great lob thrower. Just space the floor and shoot your 3's.

I'm with you on his limitations. However, I think it's the very fact he plays within himself so much that Nate likes to have him on the floor. Blake has had a couple of tough games, but IIRC, he's never been a fast starter.

 

[hasoos]

I'm with you on his limitations. However, I think it's the very fact he plays within himself so much that Nate likes to have him on the floor. Blake has had a couple of tough games, but IIRC, he's never been a fast starter.

You know Nate may think that, but every time I see Blake try to do too much on a fast break, I think otherwise. The other thing I would point out is, that when it seems the game is on the line, Blake definitly exits that "within himself" box. It wasn't that long ago that the playoff game against Houston where we were only down by a bucket, that he shot a running 30 footer with 13 seconds left on the game/shot clock when we could have set something up. Just like how last night when he comes in with a tight game and throws a pass to nobody on his first play in. But there have been many games where he hits a spot up 3 at a critical juncture, and all goes well. So I don't buy that "within himself" arguement. I think Steve Blake is one of those players that when the game is fast, furious, and important, he makes bad decisions if asked to do anything else but take spot up jumpers. He panics.

 

[MARIS61]

starters

Rudy
Roy
Martell
Aldridge
Oden

bench

Miller
Blake
Travis
Nic
Joel

scrubs

Bayless
Howard


I could see bayless replacing Miller or Blake as a backup in time.

 

[hasoos]

starters

Rudy
Roy
Martell
Aldridge
Oden

bench

Miller
Blake
Travis
Nic
Joel

scrubs

Bayless
Howard


I could see bayless replacing Miller or Blake as a backup in time.

I have been screaming about going big for a long time. Both of the SG have enough PG skills to get it done while they are in together. But I would adjust your lineup by the following guidelines:

1. I would restrict the guard rotation to 3. Miller would be the 3rd guard, and they would split all the minutes unless there was foul trouble. This way they all are happy with minutes, and they are all used to playing togethr at the end of the season, rather than doing what Nate did last year, where Rudy and Roy didn't play together all year for the most part, and then he tries to change it come playoff time.

2. PF off the bench would depend on the matchup. Travis doesn't matchup well if the PF are fast enough to guard him. So I would go with Howard, who is smart and would overpower smaller, faster PF types. If a slow guy is in that can't guard Travis at the perimiter, then I would put Travis in.

3. When is Batum back, can you really include him at this point?

4. If Blake keeps stinking it up he may lose his guard spot to Bayless as a 4th backup.

 

[mook]

Your right. But the one thing that I point out a lot is, the best role players on teams know their limitations and play within those and don't try to do too much. Blake tries to do too much. Steve Blake should just be Steve Kerr. Shoot open 3's. He can't finish in traffic. He isn't a great setup guy. He isn't a great lob thrower. Just space the floor and shoot your 3's.

This is the first year where I've really noticed Blake trying to play above himself in Portland.

In the past he knew he just had to be better than Telfair, Jack, Sergio, Boykins, Bayless, etc. He knew that "his game", although very mediocre, was still a lot better than those guys.

He came into this season knowing full well that a much more decorated point guard was going to take his job. So it seems he showed up in the best shape of his career (a good idea) and the idea that he was going to out-Miller Miller (a really bad idea).

Last year he had a PER of 14.4 (a career high). Kinda crappy, especially given his defense. (Andre Miller is coming off a pretty decent 18.6 PER season). But you know, we could live with that. That 14.4 player is why Nate gave him the starting job. Especially because so much of it came from killing threes.

Blake's PER as he tries to impersonate Miller is currently a whopping 2.1.

In 47 minutes of total action he's got 5 assists, 3 turnovers, 7 points and is shooting at a .222 clip. He's taken 7 three pointers and made 2.

You could chalk it up to a couple of bad games, but he was just as bad in the preseason.

Last year two losses were the difference between the 5th seed and the 2nd seed in the West. McMillan has to be feeling the pressure already to yank Blake from the starting lineup. If he has one more game in a row like the ones he's been having, I see him getting shelved.

 

[PapaG]

This is the first year where I've really noticed Blake trying to play above himself in Portland.

In the past he knew he just had to be better than Telfair, Jack, Sergio, Boykins, Bayless, etc. He knew that "his game", although very mediocre, was still a lot better than those guys.

He came into this season knowing full well that a much more decorated point guard was going to take his job. So it seems he showed up in the best shape of his career (a good idea) and the idea that he was going to out-Miller Miller (a really bad idea).

Last year he had a PER of 14.4 (a career high). Kinda crappy, especially given his defense. (Andre Miller is coming off a pretty decent 18.6 PER season). But you know, we could live with that. That 14.4 player is why Nate gave him the starting job. Especially because so much of it came from killing threes.

Blake's PER as he tries to impersonate Miller is currently a whopping 2.1.

In 47 minutes of total action he's got 5 assists, 3 turnovers, 7 points and is shooting at a .222 clip. He's taken 7 three pointers and made 2.

You could chalk it up to a couple of bad games, but he was just as bad in the preseason.

Last year two losses were the difference between the 5th seed and the 2nd seed in the West. McMillan has to be feeling the pressure already to yank Blake from the starting lineup. If he has one more game in a row like the ones he's been having, I see him getting shelved.

Using PER as a straight-up comparison isn't exactly fair considering Miller's much higher usage rate last year. I'll be interested to see what happens to Miller's PER as his touches diminish.

 

[mook]

Using PER as a straight-up comparison isn't exactly fair considering Miller's much higher usage rate last year. I'll be interested to see what happens to Miller's PER as his touches diminish.

Yeah, that's definitely true.

My point wasn't that Blake sucks and Miller's good when you look at PER. I just threw that in there as a means of demonstrating how much pressure Blake must have felt going into this season.

Miller is on the downside of his career, and yet last year his PER was leagues beyond anything Blake has ever even come close to. Blake seemed to take this threat to his minutes as a personal challenge to overhaul his game. So far the results have been a disaster.