Nate isn't the problem...

[RoyToy]

I just remember Roy and the Blazers being in this same funk offensively last year before Oden went down. Oden went down and the next thing you know the Brandon Roy of old emerges and leads the Blazers to a victory over the Rockets and went on to average 27pts/G on 48% shooting the rest of the month and into January.

Now it seems we're right back to Roy being left out/deferring a lot more again.

 

[Tince]

"It's not Nate's fault, the team just doesn't do what he wants"


QUALITY!!!


10 years.

1 playoff series victory and you yourself indicate the team doesn't do what he asks.

Full steam ahead captain!!!!

hyperbole: not as easy as it looks

Is it Nate's fault when we win?

Or do you believe that only players win games, and coaches lose games?

 

[Tince]

I just remember Roy and the Blazers being in this same funk offensively last year before Oden went down. Oden went down and the next thing you know the Brandon Roy of old emerges and leads the Blazers to a victory over the Rockets and went on to average 27pts/G on 48% shooting the rest of the month and into January.

Now it seems we're right back to Roy being left out/deferring a lot more again.

He wouldn't be the first superstar to coast until the all-star break. I don't like it, but it's not uncommon (if that's what he's doing)

 

[THE HCP]

Roy should try not sleepwalking throughout the whole game and maybe try and break a sweat. I was watching him all night and there's barely any movement out of him on both sides of the ball.

Brother you've been bashing our All-Star guard all night on here. He got 19/5/5. I don't understand all the hate. Are you upset that he missed the game winning shot that he routinely has made in the past?

 

[OneSport3]

To be fair, it did look like Roy was disinterested tonight. Down the stretch in regulation and OT when they really needed a bucket, Roy didn't take over the game. He deferred to everyone else. As the leader of the team, he needs to have that killer instinct to take the game over when his team needs it.

 

[BoomChakaLaka]

The days of Roy being an elite scorer one-on-one seem to be in his rear-view mirror IMHO.

It was a good ballgame. Simply put.

I agree that Roy dogs it for a bit over 50% of a game until we approach end of quarter(s), the half, and end of game. By playing this way however, when crunch time comes, he's not intensly into it.

I'd prefer Roy come out from the opening minutes and light it up. If he tires, we have Matthews. Stop "pacing" himself and play all out.

If Roy does this, we improve all around.


In the end, we lost. But it was a good game.

PS: I would have decoyed Roy, got the ball to Miller and sent LMA backdoor for an attempt at the ally-oop. Probably would have worked. So I blame Nate for the "same old play" [get the ball to Roy and have everyone just stand around hoping he wins it]

 

[barfo]

There was one weird thing I saw. Late in the game, Brandon on defense, his man had the ball, and Brandon had both hands in his jersey. Luckily the opponent didn't take advantage (or maybe Roy was trying to lure him into trying?) and luckily it was his jersey rather than his shorts. But it seemed excessively casual to me.

barfo

 

[BrianFromWA]

Concur with those who said they thought Roy was "coasting" tonight, and that that level of energy seems about the norm for him. I didn't see him D up anybody on the Thunder as hard as Durant D'd him up in the 4th. And for as ecstatic I was for the way LMA was playing in the first half and first 3 minutes of the 2nd (10-12, 20 pts), he went 1-7 for 2 points the rest of the way and finished with 4 rebounds. Against Krstic and Ibaka.

 

[Mediocre Man]

There was one weird thing I saw. Late in the game, Brandon on defense, his man had the ball, and Brandon had both hands in his jersey. Luckily the opponent didn't take advantage (or maybe Roy was trying to lure him into trying?) and luckily it was his jersey rather than his shorts. But it seemed excessively casual to me.

barfo

haha. I literally screamed "What the fuck are you doing"? when he did that

 

[Mediocre Man]

Brother you've been bashing our All-Star guard all night on here. He got 19/5/5. I don't understand all the hate. Are you upset that he missed the game winning shot that he routinely has made in the past?

Roy got 19 points on 17 shots. That is not good basketball.

 

[Shooter]

In defense of Miller, I think he'd prefer the up-tempo game.

Miller was incredible last night. The guy is one of the savviest offensive point guards I've ever seen. He did a couple of up-and-under moves that were just spectacular.

 

[Shooter]

I agree that Roy dogs it for a bit over 50% of a game until we approach end of quarter(s), the half, and end of game. By playing this way however, when crunch time comes, he's not intensly into it.

I'd prefer Roy come out from the opening minutes and light it up. If he tires, we have Matthews. Stop "pacing" himself and play all out.

If Roy does this, we improve all around.

Heresy!! Slander!! Ignorance!! Don't you know anything about NBA basketball!!!



I made the same points in my thread "What's Wrong with Roy" and got viciously attacked for it. Watch out, my friend, you are treading on dangerous ground . . .

 

[Mediocre Man]

My issue last night was this.

Portland played an uptempo style with player and ball movement the first half, but stopped in the second half. Now I think that's the coaches fault, but I won't argue it because the players could have been at fault as well.

Coach/Player decisions that upset me last night

1. Our play at the end of regulation. It was out of a timeout, and obviously the play was drawn up for Roy to go ISO against Durant. That's a bad play call by the coach. Roy held on to the ball too long and was forced to take a bad shot. That is a bad play by Roy.

2. Westbrook killing us on the glass. There were never any adjustments made to combat that, so that's a bad move by the coach. Miller needed to man up and make sure Westbrook didn't get anywhere near a rebound, so that's on the player.

3. Miller shooting too many jumpers. Is that really the best shot we could get? If so, that's on the coach and our offense. Miller knows he is not a good shooter, so as a point guard, you need to take it upon yourself to get into another one of the 3 sets we have.

4. I liked the fact that they kept throwing the ball into LaMarcus for easy allyoops, but other than that, there was no attacking the rim. This is where we miss Bayless IMO. So I thin the coach failed because he didn't have our team attacking and drawing fouls, and I blame the players for not taking it upon themselves to get to the free throw line.

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

Absolutely loved the ball movement early in the game. Lots of easy buckets and kept OKC working defensively. Do not think I have ever seen that out of this team.

Wished I had fallen asleep for the rest of it though. There are plenty of excuses we could use (underhanded, coming off a long road trip) but give Ibaka credit for defending LA and OKC for not giving up.

 

[HailBlazers]

Should make some great game film and hopefully teach them some lessons, only solace I got leaving the RG last night

 

[BGrantFan]

Miller was incredible last night. The guy is one of the savviest offensive point guards I've ever seen. He did a couple of up-and-under moves that were just spectacular.

Miller took 18 shots last night and made 7 of them while only getting 2 FTA. Plus, Westbrook fucking owned his ass, and Westbrook's rebounding was an embarrassment for the Blazers. Has Miller heard of boxing out? When Westbrook rebounded the missed FT from behind the shooter while Miller stood there picking his nose, I about threw the remote at my 52" HDTV.

When your "point guard" has more shots than your All-Star SG, you tend to lose games. When you "point guard" gets thoroughly abused on defense, you tend to lose games. If Miller was "incredible", then Westbrook is the league's MVP.

 

[BGrantFan]

My issue last night was this.

Portland played an uptempo style with player and ball movement the first half, but stopped in the second half. Now I think that's the coaches fault, but I won't argue it because the players could have been at fault as well.

Coach/Player decisions that upset me last night

1. Our play at the end of regulation. It was out of a timeout, and obviously the play was drawn up for Roy to go ISO against Durant. That's a bad play call by the coach. Roy held on to the ball too long and was forced to take a bad shot. That is a bad play by Roy.

2. Westbrook killing us on the glass. There were never any adjustments made to combat that, so that's a bad move by the coach. Miller needed to man up and make sure Westbrook didn't get anywhere near a rebound, so that's on the player.

3. Miller shooting too many jumpers. Is that really the best shot we could get? If so, that's on the coach and our offense. Miller knows he is not a good shooter, so as a point guard, you need to take it upon yourself to get into another one of the 3 sets we have.

4. I liked the fact that they kept throwing the ball into LaMarcus for easy allyoops, but other than that, there was no attacking the rim. This is where we miss Bayless IMO. So I thin the coach failed because he didn't have our team attacking and drawing fouls, and I blame the players for not taking it upon themselves to get to the free throw line.

You only blamed Nate 5 times in this post. You're slowing down, man! What did Nate do right that made you go so easy on him?

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

Should make some great game film and hopefully teach them some lessons, only solace I got leaving the RG last night

You must not have been paying attention to the Jumbotron when that girl in the low cut red shirt started shaking it. She about knocked herself out and they panned away from her immediately!

 

[Natebishop3]

Miller took 18 shots last night and made 7 of them while only getting 2 FTA. Plus, Westbrook fucking owned his ass, and Westbrook's rebounding was an embarrassment for the Blazers. Has Miller heard of boxing out? When Westbrook rebounded the missed FT from behind the shooter while Miller stood there picking his nose, I about threw the remote at my 52" HDTV.

When your "point guard" has more shots than your All-Star SG, you tend to lose games. When you "point guard" gets thoroughly abused on defense, you tend to lose games. If Miller was "incredible", then Westbrook is the league's MVP.

Most of those bad shots came in the second half when we couldn't buy a bucket. The guy had 10 assists in the first half, only one in the second. What changed?

 

[hasoos]

I see a lot of people pointing towards the offense as the problem. OKC shot over 50% both half's of the game. Portland was out rebounded by double digits. What do you think your chances of winning are when the opposing team scores on over 50% of it's posession's and gets 11+ more posessions than you do? I have said this a thousand times. If you have an efficient offense and out rebound your opponent you will win a majority of your games.

 

[HailBlazers]

You must not have been paying attention to the Jumbotron when that girl in the low cut red shirt started shaking it. She about knocked herself out and they panned away from her immediately!

Yea and the crowd started cheering! Tig ole bitties

I have said this a thousand times. If you have an efficient offense and out rebound your opponent you will win a majority of your games.

Sure did in the first half, over 60% FG. Not so much second half. Should make a great comparison for the team to see.

 

[BGrantFan]

Most of those bad shots came in the second half when we couldn't buy a bucket. The guy had 10 assists in the first half, only one in the second. What changed?

He starting dribbling more, shooting more, and passing less. It reminded me of how he played early last season.

 

[Nikolokolus]

He starting dribbling more, shooting more, and passing less. It reminded me of how he played early last season.

He didn't have a great second half by any stretch, but it's pretty hard to dribble more when you don't actually have the ball as much.

 

[BGrantFan]

He didn't have a great second half by any stretch, but it's pretty hard to dribble more when you don't actually have the ball as much.

Miller took 10 shots total in the second half and overtime. He made 4 of them. 10 shots without having the ball as much, and that's a good thing?

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

Yea and the crowd started cheering! Tig ole bitties

Another positive from last night.

 

[Natebishop3]

Miller took 10 shots total in the second half and overtime. He made 4 of them. 10 shots without having the ball as much, and that's a good thing?

I've noticed that when things start to stagnate, and nobody is stepping up, that's when Miller kicks on his offense and starts jacking up shots. It's like he feels he has to shoulder the scoring when nobody else is. I'm not saying it's a good thing, but at least SOMEONE was trying to score when the team was ice cold.

 

[RoyToy]

I've noticed that when things start to stagnate, and nobody is stepping up, that's when Miller kicks on his offense and starts jacking up shots. It's like he feels he has to shoulder the scoring when nobody else is. I'm not saying it's a good thing, but at least SOMEONE was trying to score when the team was ice cold.

Bingo. He looked to pass it to Roy down the stretch and Roy either didn't get himself open or passed it right back. At this point there's like 10secs left on the shot clock and Miller has to try and create something.

Roy needs to step up and takeover and not put his team in a bad position on offense. My favorite is instead of taking a shot with 5secs left on the shot clock Roy will pass to Camby or Miller who then take a 18ft jump shot. Really, Roy?

 

[MARIS61]

Roy has publicly stated 2 years in a row (maybe 3) that he wants the ball in his hands more. That's nice for his personal stat line, but it's a selfish demand from someone who needs to learn some humility and realize there are several players who are far better ballhandlers and setup men.

Until Roy embraces the concept of moving without the ball, learns how to catch and shoot on the run, plays lockdown defense, and trusts his teammates, neither he nor the team will reach their true potential.

We'll never challenge for a title until/unless he matures in this manner.

 

[MARIS61]

We got the lead in the second quarter with Johnson, Matthews, Batum, Aldridge, and Camby. We got the lead with amazing defense and pushing the ball.

The starters tonight are the ones who slowed the ball down. They were the ones who went ice cold in the second half. I don't think it's Nate who slows our pace. I think it's Roy and Miller. Roy never pushes the ball. He never has. We were kicking the crap out of OKC when we ran on them. Too bad the starters don't do that.

I agree it's always been Roy that is dragging us down but this is still all on Nate as the coach who decides who plays, who gets the ball, who calls the plays...

 

[Natebishop3]

I agree it's always been Roy that is dragging us down but this is still all on Nate as the coach who decides who plays, who gets the ball, who calls the plays...

Yeah, but I don't think Nate is brave enough to bench Roy for someone like Matthews or Rudy.