No one will say it but the real man to blame last night was Brandon Roy.

[KingSpeed]

He is supposed to be our leader and he was nowhere to be found in the first half last night. Period. He blew it in our season opener last year too.

 

[Miksaid]

Yeah I hope we trade him.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

He really played like a bitch last night. But it was just a bad game. He probably hasn't had that bad of a game since his freshman year at UW.

 

[alex42083]

Roy for Jarrett Jack straight up.

 

[AgentDrazenPetrovic]

I personally thought it was Aldridge. Gasol set the pace by just attacking Aldridge who had no answer. LMA is supposed to be playing a certain way, and he really wasn't. He was very ineffective offensively and especially defensively.

 

[KingSpeed]

Yeah I hope we trade him.

That's not what I'm saying, but I don't see how Travis Outlaw gets all the criticism when it wasn't his fault that Brandon Roy sucked last night. Travis and Rudy were our best players last night and I'm not just saying that because they scored the most points. They were simply the only two guys out there who could handle the pressure.

 

[PapaG]

He is supposed to be our leader and he was nowhere to be found in the first half last night. Period. He blew it in our season opener last year too.

I said it repeatedly in the game thread about Roy, but I'm sure it got lost in the dozens of posts by others whining about Travis Outlaw.

 

[KingSpeed]

I personally thought it was Aldridge. Gasol set the pace by just attacking Aldridge who had no answer. LMA is supposed to be playing a certain way, and he really wasn't. He was very ineffective offensively and especially defensively.

Yes, LMA sucked too. I have a theory that they were nervous because of Greg. They wanted him to do well and they co-opted some of his nerves. This was the first game they had ever played together. Once Joel came in, they were much more relaxed since they were used to playing with him. They won 13 games in a row with him. They haven't won anything with Greg so they were a bit out of sorts. This season MIGHT be a step back. We're playing 3, sometimes 4, rookies and it will take time for them to get used to playing together in this league.

 

[Haakzilla]

...and as "our" leader, he puts that loss on HIS shoulders [good video from practice today]

http://blog.oregonlive.com/blazers/2008/10/raw_video_from_blazers_wednesd.html

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[PapaG]

...and as "our" leader, he puts that loss on HIS shoulders [good video from practice today]

Nice vids. Did I miss the part where he was bitching about Outlaw, though?

 

[Pinwheel1]

He is supposed to be our leader and he was nowhere to be found in the first half last night. Period. He blew it in our season opener last year too.

No doubt. It all starts with He and LA. They had bad games. Happens all the time. I remember the Jazz in the Staples center last March (reg season) getting blown out worse than that in the first half in a big game for them. And they won the division. Was it Sloans fault for not preparing them? It happens all the freaking time. It is a long season and the Lakers are going to blow out a lot of teams at home this year. It is un #$%^ing believable to me how some Blazer fans get so high and so low after each game.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Call it a body of work. Roy has shown he is a good player on a nightly basis, and every player has off nights.

Can I just say one thing for the record?
































THESE IDIOTIC BLAME THREADS ARE FUCKING RETARDED!!!

Thank you, that is all.

 

[tlongII]

Brandon has already publicly placed the blame on himself. Read the paper. And I don't think many people are blaming Travis either. The primary fault lies with Nate. Travis should NOT have been starting! Not after Nicolas had been practicing with the starters and had been given Nate's endorsement. That completely fucked up the vibes of the team. I know people don't like to cite items that are not tangible, but I totally believe that was the biggest problem last night.

 

[Cake]

Brandon has already publicly placed the blame on himself. Read the paper. And I don't think many people are blaming Travis either. The primary fault lies with Nate. Travis should NOT have been starting! Not after Nicolas had been practicing with the starters and had been given Nate's endorsement. That completely fucked up the vibes of the team. I know people don't like to cite items that are not tangible, but I totally believe that was the biggest problem last night.

Absolutely agree.

 

[KingSpeed]

Disagree. I don't think Roy would've made his shots merely because Nic was out there instead of Travis. That is ridiculous. We lost because the Lakers were better. They played incredible defense and we didn't know how to handle it. I don't think starting a 19 year old rookie would've made the situation any better. AT ALL.

Sure, Nic might've played well in some practices, but Travis has played with these guys in REAL GAMES. Putting Travis in there was the right thing to do.

 

[AgentDrazenPetrovic]

I don't either. I think starting Rudy would have been better.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Brandon has already publicly placed the blame on himself. Read the paper. And I don't think many people are blaming Travis either. The primary fault lies with Nate. Travis should NOT have been starting! Not after Nicolas had been practicing with the starters and had been given Nate's endorsement. That completely fucked up the vibes of the team. I know people don't like to cite items that are not tangible, but I totally believe that was the biggest problem last night.

I have heard that excuse all day long and it seems ridiculous to me. The Lakers won the game. They were pumped up and their fans were pumped up and we were not going to win this one. They got away with more on D then the Blazers did and it was a snow ball effect. I agree with Nikolokolus, Stop blaming every loss on someone. It was the Lakers night! Travis would have been in the game after 4 minutes anyway.

 

[Masbee]

He is supposed to be our leader and he was nowhere to be found in the first half last night. Period. He blew it in our season opener last year too.

Your statement is not true.

Roy himself said he blew it as quoted in the Oregonian.

What more do you want?

 

[KingSpeed]

I'm confused. Roy agrees with me. What is your point?

 

[AgentDrazenPetrovic]

I have heard that excuse all day long and it seems ridiculous to me. The Lakers won the game. They were pumped up and their fans were pumped up and we were not going to win this one. They got away with more on D then the Blazers did and it was a snow ball effect. I agree with Nikolokolus, Stop blaming every loss on someone. It was the Lakers night! Travis would have been in the game after 4 minutes anyway.

It was that first 4 minutes that set the pace for the entire game.

 

[MARIS61]

No doubt. It all starts with He and LA. They had bad games. Happens all the time. I remember the Jazz in the Staples center last March (reg season) getting blown out worse than that in the first half in a big game for them. And they won the division. Was it Sloans fault for not preparing them?

If they came unprepared to be competitive, as the Blazers did last night, then of course it was his fault.

That is his job.

 

[DaRizzle]

I will agree that threads like this are ridiculous for ONE GAME...If it is a player who starts playing like crap for a period of time then go for it.

As for the topic, Ariza was playing Roy on the defensive side a lot. He is a very quality defender and the 2nd best (by a significant margin) on the Lakers minus Kobe. (who also guarded him)

 

[Pinwheel1]

If they came unprepared to be competitive, as the Blazers did last night, then of course it was his fault.

That is his job.

So it was Sloans fault last March when The Jazz got blown out the same way? How many road games does the average team win? Their is a reason the answer is not many. Especially against an elite team.

 

[BrianFromWA]

Disagree. I don't think Roy would've made his shots merely because Nic was out there instead of Travis. That is ridiculous. We lost because the Lakers were better. They played incredible defense and we didn't know how to handle it. I don't think starting a 19 year old rookie would've made the situation any better. AT ALL.

Sure, Nic might've played well in some practices, but Travis has played with these guys in REAL GAMES. Putting Travis in there was the right thing to do.

Sorry, King, but I think you're way off there. The last good game Travis played with these guys was March. He didn't practice with the first team this preseason. Let's just say I don't feel good about his ability to retain information over the summer (much like staying in shape).

You don't work a guy into the offensive sets for the entire preseason and then just dump him into the rotation?

FOR THE 35th TIME...Travis played about as good as Travis can play last night. It wasn't close to being enough. If you think the offense wasn't disrupted b/c he was in there, well, I don't know what to say. Enjoy Friday's game.

 

[tlongII]

Hey this is just my opinion, but....I think the game at this level is played "BETWEEN THE EARS" to a tremendous degree. This includes emotions. I just think that with a young team you have to be consistent. Nate wasn't consistent. We probably still would have lost, but I think we would have played better had Batum started.

 

[PapaG]

Disagree. I don't think Roy would've made his shots merely because Nic was out there instead of Travis. That is ridiculous. We lost because the Lakers were better. They played incredible defense and we didn't know how to handle it. I don't think starting a 19 year old rookie would've made the situation any better. AT ALL.

Sure, Nic might've played well in some practices, but Travis has played with these guys in REAL GAMES. Putting Travis in there was the right thing to do.

Thank you. Wasn't it obvious that the only two players (outside of Roy, who just didn't play well) who can create their own shots were the players who scored at a decent efficiency (Rudy/Outlaw). It's like some posters here think that the NBA should be filled with players getting uncontested shots on a consistent basis. That does not happen against good teams, and the Lakers look like they could be a GREAT team this season.

 

[oldmangrouch]

Thank you. Wasn't it obvious that the only two players (outside of Roy, who just didn't play well) who can create their own shots were the players who scored at a decent efficiency (Rudy/Outlaw). It's like some posters here think that the NBA should be filled with players getting uncontested shots on a consistent basis. That does not happen against good teams, and the Lakers look like they could be a GREAT team this season.

I had a similar thought. The "team first" guys got bogged down watching Penknife play, instead of taking the lead themselves. Travis and Rudy? Two guys who think they can get a jumper off when locked in a phone booth with Duncan! Sometimes, that no nerves/no conscience mindset is an asset.