So are we going to RUN this year?

[tlongII]

Nate says we're going to run a lot more. Do you believe him?

 

[GrandpaBlaze]

No.

 

[craigehlo]

I'm not sure if you can slow down Felton. He's always in attack mode for better or worse.

 

[Blazinaway]

Nate says we're going to run a lot more. Do you believe him?

on this subject seeing is believing and talk is cheap

 

[GrandpaBlaze]

I should clarify my answer. I hope for "Yes" but my expectation is "No". Nate has too long of a track record of being slow-go that I'm a skeptic through-and-through when it comes to his saying he wants to "push the pace".

In Nate terms, "Wolf! Wolf!" turns out to be more like "Turtle! Turtle!".

Gramps...

 

[Eastoff]

In Nate terms, "Wolf! Wolf!"

This. I'll believe it when I see it, little boy seattle.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

In Nate terms, "Wolf! Wolf!" turns out to be more like "Turtle! Turtle!"

[video=youtube;oDODT0fle50]

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

I must be like that Charlie Brown guy; I do think it is possible this year just because Brandon Roy is not on the team. He was a great player but his mind functioned a certain way and i don't think it included racing up the court. would still feel more comfortable if we had an assistant coach like Terry porter whose job was to show how to run effectively.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

 

[mook]

I'm not sure if you can slow down Felton. He's always in attack mode for better or worse.

I've always been of the opinion that Nate will never coach a fast team. Guys get the hook too quickly when there are the turnovers that come with pushing the ball. But I gotta say, Felton may be the exception.

"Look, Felton, we can't have those turnovers. Go take a seat and we'll go with...*glances at Armon Johnson*...uh, Felton pretty please just be more careful with the ball."

 

[Ghost Pepper]

I think you must define "RUN".... to each person it may be something quite different. Let's just say when I'm running a marathon and see Nate within 2 mintues of my mile time, I'm knowing I haven't trained hard enough!

That said perhaps we could use our amnesty on Nate and then the rebuild would be complete!

 

[magnifier661]

I think you must define "RUN".... to each person it may be something quite different. Let's just say when I'm running a marathon and see Nate within 2 mintues of my mile time, I'm knowing I haven't trained hard enough!

That said perhaps we could use our amnesty on Nate and then the rebuild would be complete!

I'm not a fan of a "Run and Gun" team; but I definitely like a much faster pace. It would be nice to see us get our shots off before the clock shot reaches 5 seconds or less.

 

[Mediocre Man]

I'm not a fan of a "Run and Gun" team; but I definitely like a much faster pace. It would be nice to see us get our shots off before the clock shot reaches 5 seconds or less.

For me it's all about a faster pace. I absolutely don't want to be the Warriors and Knicks. I would like to be about the league average though, like our Blazer teams were with Porter, Drexler, etc.

 

[HailBlazers]

I would like to be about the league average though, like our Blazer teams were with Porter, Drexler, etc.

Agreed, it's all about finding that right balance. And with the retiring of Roy, I think this is the year.

We have two of the most agile big-men in the league with LMA and Oden (Beat Durant in cross-court sprints back in the day) . Throw in Crash, Batum, and Wes we should be all about the easy buckets in transition.

 

[MARIS61]

If you want to run, you don't draft a chubby PG.

 

[THE HCP]

If you want to run, you don't draft a chubby PG.

Nope.... ya' trade for 'em!

 

[Ghost Pepper]

If this team under Nugget ran an effective identifiable offense I wouldn't care about pace either but DAMN what the hell are they running out there? High pick and roll with no picking and almost no rolling off the ball? Okay so Nugget can't coach offense, but he's supposed to be a defensive specialist right? How many teams had layup clinics on us last year? Nugget isn't as lost as Cheeks I'll admit, but that margin is slimming by the year!

 

[Nikolokolus]

Are they going to run or will they roll?

 

[BrianFromWA]

I'll say it since no one else will.

Sonic.
Assclown.
McScribbles.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Agreed, it's all about finding that right balance. And with the retiring of Roy, I think this is the year.

We have two of the most agile big-men in the league with LMA and Oden (Beat Durant in cross-court sprints back in the day) . Throw in Crash, Batum, and Wes we should be all about the easy buckets in transition.

I would agree with this if Nate didn't have 11 other years of going slow

 

[Ghost Pepper]

I think because our roster is so torched, Nate should file for a 10 day contract and show his team exactly what the hell he's been trying to coach for the last few years by example! I think all Blazer fans would find that to be quite educational.

 

[Mediocre Man]

I'll say it since no one else will.

MR Sonic.
Assclown.
McScribbles.

You forgot to be respectful, but I fixed it for you

 

[ABM]

Two Points:

1) No Roy
2) Raymond Felton

So, yes.

 

[magnifier661]

I would agree with this if Nate didn't have 11 other years of going slow

Yeah the Sonic team with Lewis and Allen were built to run. Weren't they almost last during his coaching years there?

 

[Mediocre Man]

Yeah the Sonic team with Lewis and Allen were built to run. Weren't they almost last during his coaching years there?

He had one year where that team pushed the ball

 

[Ghost Pepper]

Nate should want to run an up tempo offense. It would help to confuse with speed how little he knows about drawing up effective plays!

 

[Ed O]

We almost certainly won't have a team that's above-average in pace. Why?

#1: Nate. He's said this before. He'll say it again. We have a thread like this EVERY year, and EVERY year there's a big chunk of people that think that Nate really REALLY means it this time.

#2: Felton. "You can't slow Felton down"? What?!? Let's look at the pace of his teams:

2005-06: 3rd of 30
2006-07: 13th
2007-08: 14th
2008-09: 27th
2009-10: 26th

His rookie year was a fluke and probably due more to Brevin Knight than to Felton... Larry Brown definitely took the air out of the ball in 2008, and I would expect Nate to do the same this year (as he always has, that one year in Seattle excepted).

Ed O.

 

[Mediocre Man]

We almost certainly won't have a team that's above-average in pace. Why?

#1: Nate. He's said this before. He'll say it again. We have a thread like this EVERY year, and EVERY year there's a big chunk of people that think that Nate really REALLY means it this time.

#2: Felton. "You can't slow Felton down"? What?!? Let's look at the pace of his teams:

2005-06: 3rd of 30
2006-07: 13th
2007-08: 14th
2008-09: 27th
2009-10: 26th

His rookie year was a fluke and probably due more to Brevin Knight than to Felton... Larry Brown definitely took the air out of the ball in 2008, and I would expect Nate to do the same this year (as he always has, that one year in Seattle excepted).

Ed O.

Ed, you can clearly see by your own stats that Felton is on the upswing.

 

[blue32]

Ed, you can clearly see by your own stats that Felton is on the upswing.

lol =) nice

 

[mook]

#2: Felton. "You can't slow Felton down"? What?!? Let's look at the pace of his teams:

2005-06: 3rd of 30
2006-07: 13th
2007-08: 14th
2008-09: 27th
2009-10: 26th

His rookie year was a fluke and probably due more to Brevin Knight than to Felton... Larry Brown definitely took the air out of the ball in 2008, and I would expect Nate to do the same this year (as he always has, that one year in Seattle excepted).

Ed O.

That's a really good point. I do wonder, though, how much of the pace on those Charlotte teams was dictated less by coach than it was personnel. You had a lard ass in Diaw (also a half-court creator), and lots of defensive types (Okafor, Bell, Crash) without much other talent. It made a lot of sense to ugly it up as much as they could. (And even then those Larry Brown teams STILL had a faster pace than we did in those years! lol)

Then he plays most of a year on D'Antoni's Knicks (pace 3rd in league), playing second most total minutes on that team for the year despite getting traded after 54 games. So while the coach might have been steering all that speed, Felton was clearly the engine powering it.

Then Felton moves to Denver (pace 2nd in league) where he never had the reins (never started, played only 600 minutes).

*shrug*

Watching the Blazer interviews, it seemed like over and over coaches and players kept talking about how much faster they were practicing to play. I don't remember talk like that ever happening in prior years, even when Miller came on. The talk with Miller was always, "Can he fit with Roy?" and not, "Can he push the pace?" Nate would say he wanted to push it more, but things like the 15 second shot clock were never brought up. And you never really heard much enthusiasm for it happening from the players.

I guess I don't expect Portland to suddenly be in the top of the pack in pace, or even average. But I do expect them to be around 20th or so, which, I think even you would agree, would be a monumental shift for a coach like Nate.