A sampling of the reasons we lost (by no means a comprehensive list)...tell me if any of these sound familiar:
1. A standstill, jump-shooting offense with little motion (
http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/shotch...meId=281028013 -- Shot Chart)
2. Little defensive intensity (look at # of dunks/layups/wide-open 3s that the L*kers had)
3. Poor execution on our own fastbreaks (Blake fumbling it around, Travis taking contested 18-footers on a 3-on-2, Bayless taking it himself and not having runners with him)
4. Erratic rotations/minutes
5. Little low-post offense. Greg was standing at the FT line and setting pick-and-pops for LMA from 18 feet? To his credit, at least he shot it from inside the paint, though none went down.
6. This is a new one: little cohesion among the starting unit. Forget that Batum started for the last 2 weeks in practice and games...let's switch it up right beforehand. And who's the one who generally doesn't do well remembering offensive spacing or defensive sets? Let's put him in the starting lineup with no practice time!
I'm usually not Negative Nancy, but can someone tell me what they saw that showed this team in "getting better" or "growing together" or any other of the happy feel-good stuff people are saying?
With the exception of the last one, we were making all of these mistakes last year. What have we shown that we're "growing together", or "going through growing pains", or "learning"?
Since I guess I'm a "bashing Travis troll now", I'll say this again, and hope for a response. Yes, Travis made 8 of 15 shots. Yes, he was one of the only Blazers that were putting the ball in the hole. Someone please explain to me how what you saw last night from him showed any improvement in his game. He's still shooting contested long jumpers. (To his credit, he made about half of them last night) He did have 2 layup attempts in 15 shots. He did grab 2 offensive boards. But much of the 35 minutes he was standing around, going into isolations, playing C or C- defense, taking contested jumpers, not looking for the open man until he was doubled. Fine if he's on the White Squad with Sergio and Frye...not so much as a starter.
On to Blake. His 3pt shooting was ok, but he wasn't "facilitating"...he wasn't running a crisp break when we DID have opportunities, he also was playing C- defense.
Channing's shot chart looked like one of Travis's from last year: one missed layup, 6 jumpers from the 16-24 foot range, 0for7. I'm not tosing him under the bus just yet, but he needs to get tough on D and work within the flow of the offense. I didn't see Diogu pushing him for minutes, though.
Rudy really needs to be playing more. Not sure what else to say. He moves without the ball, plays aggressive D, hits 3's, finds open men, etc.
I wish we could have started Batum.
I don't think the "White Team" will be a great unit until Webs comes back, but especially if Outlaw's starting. If we're going to play like @$$, I'd at least like to get minutes for guys that may improve with them (Batum, Bayless, Sergio) or guys who know what they are doing (Rudy, Roy, LMA).
OT: I just heard Dana Jacobsen tease the Oden highlight as a "huge injury". Guh.
Someone who's blowing smoke right now could help me out by telling me how I should be encouraged about the team's progress. Not "it was a nervous night in LA" or "they're just getting better". Tell me how they showed any improvement, please.
