Moving up to #17?

[Fez Hammersticks]

One team we spoke to mentioned hearing that Portland is now trying to get up to the #17 pick, and that they are continuing to target Ty Lawson. They also hear that Portland will likely take Victor Claver with the #33 pick, if he’s available.

LINK​

 

[BlazerCaravan]

KP is playing games like Radar and Klinger in MASH -- trading up in tiny amounts until suddenly they have the bottle of whiskey or whatever it was they needed.

The Pritchslap of a Thousand Tiny Cuts.

 

[Shooter]

The Pritchslap of a Thousand Tiny Cuts.

Nice.

 

[Ed O]

Chad Ford has had Claver attached to Portland off and on, as well (including in his latest Mock 7.1). I think he'd be a good get in the second round.

Ed O.

 

[Mediocre Man]

To me Lawson is the worst pick of the PG's.....for us. He is an uptempo player, who thrived in his offense only because it got up and down. What in the world does Portland need that for?

 

[andalusian]

To me Lawson is the worst pick of the PG's.....for us. He is an uptempo player, who thrived in his offense only because it got up and down. What in the world does Portland need that for?

To make people that whine about our slow pace happy

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

To me Lawson is the worst pick of the PG's.....for us. He is an uptempo player, who thrived in his offense only because it got up and down. What in the world does Portland need that for?

I think he's a good and smart pick. Fast, tough, can pass, can get into the lane and break down a defense... On the other hand, I see him as a very solid PG, but no future any higher than that.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

To me Lawson is the worst pick of the PG's.....for us. He is an uptempo player, who thrived in his offense only because it got up and down. What in the world does Portland need that for?

I think Houston showed us the advantages of a fast PG in a half-court offense.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

The best half-court PG after Rubio, IMO, is Eric Maynor.

Flynn, whom I like a lot, Lawson, Jennings, Teague, are all up-tempo guards.

But I don't get this unless it's a smokescreen. Why bring in another PG when Bayless is here?

Could Bayless be part of another package?

 

[RoyToy]

To me Lawson is the worst pick of the PG's.....for us. He is an uptempo player, who thrived in his offense only because it got up and down. What in the world does Portland need that for?

McMillan has preached that he wants the Blazers to push the ball more, but had to settle with Steve Blake trying to do that. Fail.

Lawson could really help out in pushing the ball better.

 

[Mediocre Man]

I think Houston showed us the advantages of a fast PG in a half-court offense.

Houston has an offense that plays to those strengths though.

 

[Mediocre Man]

McMillan has preached that he wants the Blazers to push the ball more, but had to settle with Steve Blake trying to do that. Fail.

Lawson could really help out in pushing the ball better.

As has been discussed like a million times, Nate McMillan has been a head coach in the NBA for 9 years and all of his teams have been near or at the bottom of the league in Pace.

NATE DOES NOT WANT TO PUSH THE BALL.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Houston has an offense that plays to those strengths though.

Their offense revolves around a big badass center, an offensive-minded SG, a bunch of interchangeable SFs, and speedy PGs... looks like we're only missing one of those.

 

[RoyToy]

As has been discussed like a million times, Nate McMillan has been a head coach in the NBA for 9 years and all of his teams have been near or at the bottom of the league in Pace.

NATE DOES NOT WANT TO PUSH THE BALL.

That's complete bs. During the games you can hear McMillan telling his players to push it push it push it. Aldridge takes off down the middle of the floor and beats a lot of players every single time. If Steve Blake wasn't such a mediocre player maybe it'd work a little better.

 

[hasoos]

Houston has an offense that plays to those strengths though.

In the scheme of traditional teams you can never have too much team speed.

 

[Ed O]

That's complete bs. During the games you can hear McMillan telling his players to push it push it push it. Aldridge takes off down the middle of the floor and beats a lot of players every single time. If Steve Blake wasn't such a mediocre player maybe it'd work a little better.

How many years (YEARS!!) have we been reading that Nate wants to push the ball?

I think pretty much every year.

And yet each and every season his teams both in Seattle and Portland have been amongst the most plodding in the NBA (save, I believe, for one year with the Sonics where they were middle of the pack).

Is it strategy? Or an inability to communicate and coach? Either way, Nate's teams always have been--and seemingly always will be--slow tempo.

Ed O.

 

[Crimson the Cat]

As has been discussed like a million times, Nate McMillan has been a head coach in the NBA for 9 years and all of his teams have been near or at the bottom of the league in Pace.

NATE DOES NOT WANT TO PUSH THE BALL.

Has Nate had players that do well in an uptempo offense?

 

[Reep]

As has been discussed like a million times, Nate McMillan has been a head coach in the NBA for 9 years and all of his teams have been near or at the bottom of the league in Pace.

NATE DOES NOT WANT TO PUSH THE BALL.

As has been discussed here: there was a four second rule put in by Nate to get the ball across mid-court more quickly; there is video of Nate at timeouts in the second half of the season emploring Blake to push the ball.

I don't care what his teams did in the past, he is clearly trying to get this team to be oportunistic in attacking early, and the holding for a good shot if that doesn't work out.

Come on MM, give the poor coach a chance.

Personally, I think this is a good strategy. Push the ball up fast and take it if it is there. If not, then slow it down for a good shot. This would have you still in the bottom half in terms of pace, but let you break when it makes sense.

 

[Mediocre Man]

That's complete bs. During the games you can hear McMillan telling his players to push it push it push it. Aldridge takes off down the middle of the floor and beats a lot of players every single time. If Steve Blake wasn't such a mediocre player maybe it'd work a little better.

So is it cherry kool-aid you are drinking, or grape?


I know what Nate says, but 9 years speaks louder than push it guys.

Maybe Nate doesn't have the ability to communicate with his players? Maybe his players have tuned him out?

 

[The_Lillard_King]

We know the Blazers requested a last minute work out from Ty and the agent was convinced enough that Ptd would be in a postion to draft Ty that he scheduled the last minute work out.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Blazers went after Lawson.

 

[RoyToy]

I'm talking about the Blazers get a rebound and you can hear McMillan yelling to push it. Pushing it doesn't exactly mean jack up a shot in 4 seconds. It's just to get down there and see if you can get an easy bucket, and if you can't, pull it back out. Blake would get stopped around the 3pt line a lot which really blows the while thing up. Lawson, being as quick as he is, can simply fly past people, probably hitting Aldridge for an easy bucket.

 

[Mediocre Man]

As has been discussed here: there was a four second rule put in by Nate to get the ball across mid-court more quickly; there is video of Nate at timeouts in the second half of the season emploring Blake to push the ball.

I don't care what his teams did in the past, he is clearly trying to get this team to be oportunistic in attacking early, and the holding for a good shot if that doesn't work out.

Come on MM, give the poor coach a chance.

9 years isn't a chance Reep?

 

[Reep]

I'm talking about the Blazers get a rebound and you can hear McMillan yelling to push it. Pushing it doesn't exactly mean jack up a shot in 4 seconds. It's just to get down there and see if you can get an easy bucket, and if you can't, pull it back out. Blake would get stopped around the 3pt line a lot which really blows the while thing up. Lawson, being as quick as he is, can simply fly past people, probably hitting Aldridge for an easy bucket.

And don't forget Batum. I don't think Roy and Oden will be breaking as much, but you could easily see Lawson running the break with LMA on one side and Batum on the other. Ooooh, not quite Kersey and Drexler, but I still get all tingly thinking about it.

 

[Reep]

9 years isn't a chance Reep?

Just to clarify, would you rather have the team shoot early in the shot clock (GSW, Phoenix, etc.) on almost every posession, or do you just want them to break opportunistically?

Right now they don't do either because they have nobody to push it. I think Nate wants them to push it early, but then slow down if its not there. This would keep with his slow pace model, but allow much more fast break opportunities. Boston in the Bird era was great at this.

If you want them shooting early in the clock on most posessions, then we will just have to disagree. But, Nate clearly wants the team to have a chance to score before the defense gets set. That wouldn't change the overall pace, but would allow a lot more fast breaks.

 

[andalusian]

9 years isn't a chance Reep?

When his point guards were Kevin Olie, Ridnour, Blake, Jack, Bassy and the like... - these are not good point guards period and the only ones of them that were not complete garbage can not play very efficiently in a fast system (See Blake, Steve and Jack, Jarret).

 

[Pinwheel1]

Yet another thread ruined by the same tired Nate arguement.. Anyway........................KP may want to move up to 17 but no one has a clue who he is targeting except the select few. Fans and media can guess all they want but we still have no clue.

 

[hasoos]

When his point guards were Kevin Olie, Ridnour, Blake, Jack, Bassy and the like... - these are not good point guards period and the only ones of them that were not complete garbage can not play very efficiently in a fast system (See Blake, Steve and Jack, Jarret).

Exactly. I have been going off all year long about how Portland hasn't had a decent PG in almost a decade, if not more. Good PG determine if you are going to run. Not the coach. No PG looks over to the sideline, looks at the coach and says "Can I run?" and then waits for the coach to answer and pushes the ball.

 

[ehizzy3]

terrence williams?

 

[mobes23]

You can't run if you don't have the horses. When has Nate had a squad where running made sense? I think the answer is not until now -- 8 of those 9 years are crappy evidence and not worth much consideration. Arguably, with all the rooks on last year's team, it might not have made sense to let them run wild. Instill some structure and then let 'em run is not a bad way to go.

The better question is can he get 'em running? I think the answer is yes, but I'm admittedly an optimist.

 

[BIG Q]

I do not wish to get into the argument on if Nate really wants the team to run. I will say that when they are playing a team that is on a back to back or three games in four days, his game plan is to run them. It is always mentioned in pre/post game interviews. They also do have the four second rule to get the ball over mid court. I will agree with MM that it is nothing that is sustained. I do not know why the players are always trying to slow it down, but you do hear Nate imploring them to run. But the history is there that Nates teams do not run.