KingSpeed
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This season fell apart when Travis Outlaw went down.
We were 8-3 when we found out that Travis Outlaw would miss the next 3-5 months. Our three losses were by a combined 13 points. We had a chance to win all three of those games. Three of our wins were by 20 or more points. It was OUR BEST START SINCE THE 99-00 SEASON. Since he went down, we've been 6-8. And we've been blown out in some of the losses.
When people think of Webster's 24 point third quarter two seasons ago, they forget how Outlaw hit clutch shot after clutch shot in the 4th quarter to hold off the Jazz. When people think of Brandon Roy's 52 point game last season, they forget the big shots Travis hit when we needed someone else to step up.
Now, by all measures, Travis was not having his best season this year before he went down, but with his loss, we lost athleticism, lost versatility in our lineup options, and we lost someone who could take the pressure off of LMA and Roy. I can't help but believe we would've beaten Cleveland if Travis had played. We needed someone else to make a shot when Cleveland was rallying. Webster disappeared and we could've used a clutch shot from Travis. I also think we would've beaten Milwaukee if Travis had played.
Yes, the loss of Greg has killed us but really, our two biggest weaknesses right now are at backup SF and backup PF, the two positions that Travis played. Sure, we don't have a backup center per se, but LMA works at backup C if Travis is there to play PF. That lineup won us a lot of games two seasons ago.
Of course, in addition to the loss of Oden, the losses of Batum and Rudy have hurt us in several areas as well, but Roy and LMA were able to win games two seasons ago without Batum, Rudy, or Oden. But they needed Travis.
I'm very worried about the rest of our season. Moral victories have replaced actual victories.
The ONLY way that we can recover from this mess and make the playoffs this season is for KP to work a miracle and trade Andre Miller for a SF/PF who can score.
I pray that KP makes a trade.. Miller has been fine in the recent games, giving us some scoring off the bench, but if we trade him, we'll finally get to see who Bayless is about. He's our future.
Go Blazers
We were 8-3 when we found out that Travis Outlaw would miss the next 3-5 months. Our three losses were by a combined 13 points. We had a chance to win all three of those games. Three of our wins were by 20 or more points. It was OUR BEST START SINCE THE 99-00 SEASON. Since he went down, we've been 6-8. And we've been blown out in some of the losses.
When people think of Webster's 24 point third quarter two seasons ago, they forget how Outlaw hit clutch shot after clutch shot in the 4th quarter to hold off the Jazz. When people think of Brandon Roy's 52 point game last season, they forget the big shots Travis hit when we needed someone else to step up.
Now, by all measures, Travis was not having his best season this year before he went down, but with his loss, we lost athleticism, lost versatility in our lineup options, and we lost someone who could take the pressure off of LMA and Roy. I can't help but believe we would've beaten Cleveland if Travis had played. We needed someone else to make a shot when Cleveland was rallying. Webster disappeared and we could've used a clutch shot from Travis. I also think we would've beaten Milwaukee if Travis had played.
Yes, the loss of Greg has killed us but really, our two biggest weaknesses right now are at backup SF and backup PF, the two positions that Travis played. Sure, we don't have a backup center per se, but LMA works at backup C if Travis is there to play PF. That lineup won us a lot of games two seasons ago.
Of course, in addition to the loss of Oden, the losses of Batum and Rudy have hurt us in several areas as well, but Roy and LMA were able to win games two seasons ago without Batum, Rudy, or Oden. But they needed Travis.
I'm very worried about the rest of our season. Moral victories have replaced actual victories.
The ONLY way that we can recover from this mess and make the playoffs this season is for KP to work a miracle and trade Andre Miller for a SF/PF who can score.
I pray that KP makes a trade.. Miller has been fine in the recent games, giving us some scoring off the bench, but if we trade him, we'll finally get to see who Bayless is about. He's our future.
Go Blazers
